This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Corolla. The contact was driving 5 mph and attempting to park when the vehicle abnormally accelerated. The contact was unable to control the vehicle and crashed into the cinder block wall, knocking a hole into the cinder block. The vehicle crashed into the wall with such force that is also caused a portion of the cinder block to shoot through a neighboring wood fence, fracturing the fence. The vehicle sustained moderate damages to the front end. The contact was uninjured. The vehicle was not repaired and the incident was reported to the manufacturer. The approximate failure and current mileage was 94,000.
I was driving on cruise control on a highway (approx. 60mph) in my 2003 Toyota Corolla S. suddenly, it started accelerating on its own and started swerving. I hit the brake pedal and attempted to counter-steer but lost control of the car and crashed front-end into the guard rail, then the car started spinning and I believe it must have hit the guard-rail further down. The front is demolished, the driver side was bent in so could not open the door fully, the back bumper was gone and the passenger side was heavily scratched. The airbags never deployed.
While attempting to park in a mall parking lot at a lot speed, the engine accelerated without using the gas pedal. This occurred twice within a span of 30 minutes. I was able to apply the foot brake, emergency brake and shift the vehicle into park without incident. Then I turned the car off. I then started the car after shutting it down and the car ran normally.
The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Corolla. While slowing down at a traffic light, the engine suddenly revved and accelerated through the intersection. The contact immediately turned the vehicle off and restarted it; the engine reset itself. The contact called the dealership and was told that the mats were probably the cause of the sudden acceleration. The contact pulled the mats away from the accelerator pedal and the failure had not occurred since. She also called the manufacturer in January 2010 and filed a complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000. The current mileage is approximately 85,000. Updated 09/21/10. Updated 09/23/10
The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Corolla. While driving at speeds of 45 mph, the cruise control light illuminated. She was unable to deactivate the cruise control since the rpms began increasing excessively. The vehicle abnormally accelerated and would not stop despite her attempts to apply the brakes. The contact was able to shift into neutral gear and continue to apply the brakes. There was smoke present in the vehicle as it began to decrease in speed to 15 mph. Since the contact was unable to stop the vehicle, she then jumped from the drivers side as the vehicle proceeded and plowed into a snow bank before stopping. The vehicle sustained substantial body damage. The dealer stated that the transmission was destroyed due to her shifting into neutral gear from the park position. The transmission was replaced and a representative from Toyota was scheduled to further investigate the failure. The investigator could find no failures within the vehicle speed control. There were no repairs made to the body of the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000 and the current mileage was approximately 118,000.
- Gansevoort , NY, USA
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My 2003 Toyota Corolla le which was purchased in 2003 had a acceleration problem, I took it to the oakbrook Toyota while it was still under warranty and was told that it was all in my head and moreover the electronics for this function was factory installed and there was nothing the dealer could do with it. This was the last time I went to this dealer.the car would accelerate from 500 RPM to 2000 RPM in idle this would lurch the car forward and the only way I could drive this car was to change the ceramics brake pads every 10000 miles. In 2007 the car lurched forward at a traffic light and broke the rear bumper of a Hyundai santas fe and cracked my bumper too I tried to explain to the police officer that I was stopped and suddenly the car lurched forward, it did not help I was given a ticket and told to tell my story to the judge, luckily the lady I hit did not show up in court and I was discharged but that did not make my insurance company all state from raising my premium and I still have the car and still has the highest premium. The car is used for running errands locally.
I was driving along the interstate at about 60-65 miles per hour when the engine suddenly turned off: All indicators in the dashboard turned off/went to zero and there was no way of accelerating. I had to somehow pull over to avoid an accident. When finally on the side lane the engine just turned back on. My husband would not believe this but we now found an article on www.spiegel.de that related to this. Hence my reporting it now.
Our 2003 Toyota Corolla has twice mysteriously accelerated. First in '07 causing extensive damage to auto and property. Dealer didn't take seriously and claimed driver error that he had foot on accelerator instead of brake. Car was repaired and returned. On 1/11/10 it accelerated a second time while I was going downhill with foot on brake. Stopped car by throwing into neutral. Toyota was notified and given case number [xxx]. dealer checked car on 1/15/10 and could not duplicate problem. Have documentation but are unable to contact Toyota for follow-up. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Corolla. While slightly depressing the accelerator pedal at traffic light, there was a sudden increase in the engine rpms as the engine became louder than usual. The vehicle abnormally accelerated suddenly and crashed into a curb. The contact could not maintain control or stop the vehicle. The vehicle proceeded to accelerate up hill, crashing into a tree and immediately rolled over three times from the force of impact. The contact was injured. When the vehicle finally came to a stop, the engine was still exhibiting high rpms and the unusually loud noise. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure mileage was 45,000 and the current was 45,000.
I had unintended acceleration on Toyota Corolla 2003 le model. This problem happened to me two times during one year of 30,000 miles drive. I suspected the cruise control system was the cause of the problem.
Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) purchased 2003, Toyota, Corolla, VIN: [xxx] with daughter. Veh was purchased from Toyota of orange in ca. Two days later a hit and run driver forced veh to skid across five lanes on interstate 10 in Ontario, ca, and landed atop center divider. The vehicle was sent to repair shop and "repaired" after approximately 5-8 months. However, the car was never properly repaired, and I complained to both Toyota, and to the insurance company, allstate, but Toyota adamantly stated the veh was without problems. The car was continually in the shop for the brakes. Eventually the carpet caused the accelerator to become stuck and the car went out of control. I was forced to reach down while the car moving and pull the carpet with both hands to release the accelerator. Stepping on the brakes did not help. Neither Toyota repair nor allstate would help resolve our complaints since 2003, we were simply told that the veh was fine. Additionally I believe the frame is bent, lack of interlocking brakes causing skids, brakes are soft and drop to floor, and poor steering column. This car is dangerous and is impossible to drive without involving near miss accident episodes. The car skids if going as little as 5-10 miles per hour. I offered to give the car away to anyone who was willing to investigate my complaints, all to no avail. I just recently learned that one of the problems I heard in the brand new car was a hole in the exhaust system. Toyota continually denied this for 5-6 years, then by accident a very young newly employed staff at Toyota of orange, informed us that our complaint about loud air sounding noise was a hole in the exhaust, which had been continually making the noise, and burning of eyes (migraines). The brakes were repaired every 2-4 months or less until I just reported less frequently. The car is now no longer under warranty. Currently it needs some brakes, rotors, drums, calipers, and shocks as always.
I had a 2003 Corolla that I purchased in 2002, one of the first delivered to a worcester MA dealership. In 2003 when I was driving on a highway going up a hill the car started to accelerate. First I thought maybe I had hit the cruise control button but I hadn't. I was probably going at least 65mph when it started to accelerate, I had to keep hitting the brakes to make it stop accelerating.
When driving on the highway, car started speeding up. Despite pushing the brake, the car would not slow down. Driver lost control due to speed and went off the road rolling the car several times.
In November of 2009 I was driving South on interstate 93 from andover in bumper-to-bumper traffic when I suddenly found that my car, a 2003 Toyota Corolla, was accelerating despite my using all my energy on the brake pedal. For some scary moments I was certain that I was going to collide with the car in front of me. Just as suddenly my car started to brake. However, there had been the possibility of a serious accident and dire consequences for all involved. I had not had such an experience with the car before and have not had one since.
My car accelerated by itself while I was driving in a rotary and resulted in a head on collision with a guard rail. It continued to accelerate even after it hit the first guard rail and caused me to hit a second guard rail. This crash resulted in injuries and completely totaled my 2005 Toyota Corolla. I filed a complaint with Toyota as well as an accident report with the police department and the Massachusetts rmv and insurance company.
2003 Toyota Corolla le automatic transmission 4 door. First time incident. Westbound highway 401 near woodstock Ontario with cruise control @ 100 kmh in right lane and slightly accelerated to middle lane to avoid merging incoming traffic from roadside gas station. Accelerator pedal went to floor without driver assistance. Strong braking did not stop car. Stomping on accelerator did not stop car. Turning off cruise control did not stop car. Fastest speed was 150kmh @ 7500 RPM. Shifted into neutral and when speed at 120kmh @ 4000 RPM, the brakes started working. Slowed and pulled off onto shoulder and parked the car. Two minutes later, still in park, idled at 1900 RPM. Able to drive to work. Over the phone, dan from competition Toyota told me that probably the throttle box or throttle cable had become gummed up and should have been cleaned as part of the Toyota 60,000km maintenance. I have not used Toyota dealer to service the car due to affordability. I do have a regular mechanic who services the vehicle. Took it into competition Toyota and problem was a dirty throttle plate which was cleaned at a cost of $70. Dealer also did a recall repair on a window and said there were too many mats on the drivers side which should be removed. I told dan that driver mats were not the cause and in the presence of two Toyota employees, I showed him photos that I took of the dashboard just after I pulled off the highway. I asked if the car was safe to drive, he said yes, and I have been driving the car since. Reported this incident to Transport Canada.
Accelerator pedal problem on Toyota Corolla 2003. The floors mats used to come on top of the accelerator and make driving unsafe. I changed them to buy different brands of floor mats and finally I stopped using the floor mats several years ago. I see no mention of the 2003 Corolla in the recalls and surprised by it.
The cruise control on my wife's 2003 Toyota Corolla has acted up on occasion while driving on interstate highways. When using "resume" the car would accelerate well past the previous set point. Mostly this was a minor annoyance as the car doesn't have a big enough engine to take off like a rocket, and switching off the cruise control and restarting it seems to cure the problem. I never was able to figure out the sequence that would reliably repeat the problem and pretty much figured we'd live with it. (she doesn't use cruise control and I use it when we are taking trips.) with the recently identified cruise control problems on the newer Corollas, I'm suspicious that the problem may go back further than reported. This problem has occurred at various times over the past three or four years(while we have owned the car), so the date indicated below is a dummy date to get tot the next screen.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Pasadena, CA, USA