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.
When I was driving down the highway, my friend (who was sitting in the passenger seat and likes to sit with his knees up) accidentally bumped the gear shift into neutral. I was in the passing lane on a busy highway and found that all of the sudden I had no power to the wheels. It was very frightening. I pulled over as soon as I could. I feared that if I put the gear shifter back into drive, the car would drastically lurch (faster or slower). After this happened, I noticed that the gear shift is actually located closer to the passenger side than the driver side and easily bumped into neutral. I called a local Toyota dealer and asked that they fix the problem. I was told that all cars are designed to be able to switch into neutral should you be sliding on a slippery road. And that they therefore could and would do nothing about this problem. I have read only great things about Toyota but after this experience, I plan to sell this car and never get another Toyota. This, I think, is a very, very serious safety design flaw. People with kids in the passenger seat must have this happen to them all the time. I think these cars should be recalled. No automatic gear shift should be easily accidently tapped into neutral while driving on the highway.
Whenever the brakes are appliedthe transmission would shift into neutral on its own. Took to dealer several times & had vehicle test driven. Brakes were tapped lightly & transmission shifted into neutral. Mechanic could not find cause of problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Allentown, PA, USA