We have a 2006 Toyota rav 4. on Dec.18, my wife, pulled out of a parking lot and the vehicle started accelerating faster than she wanted to go. She pushed on the foot brake but could not slow or stop the vehicle. When she let up on the brake, it sped up more, and even applying the brake as hard as she could, it did not stop. She bumped into the back of another SUV and then a little further on jumped the curb and smashed into a concrete filled steel pole which did major damage to the right front. She then managed to turn into a parking lot and got it stopped using the hand brake. My insurance company opted to repair the vehicle. At my request, the body shop took it to the Toyota dealer who checked it out mechanically and electrically and, of course, declared all systems within "factory specifications" in thinking back, my wife can recall other times when the rav 4 seemed to accelerate more than she expected, but she was able to control it. She has been driving over 50 years and is a cautious driver. During this wild ride she conscientiously checked to see that she was pressing on the brake pedal and not the accelerator. The floor mat is secured by little hooks so it cannot slide up under the accelerator or brake pedals. (in the idle position, the accelerator pedal is almost 2 inches above the floor).

- Albuquerque, NM, USA

My Toyota Rav4 (2006 model) seemed to accelerate on its own. A hard slam on the brakes slowed it down, but we almost hit another car. We were driving in the city of Chicago. It was a one time event in Jan/2010.

- Chicago, IL, USA

Purchased Rav4 in May 2006. Noticed soon after that car would surge forward, especially when you want to slow down and let your foot off the brake to coast. I have had it to the dealer numerous times and they can find nothing. It makes for a very rough ride, but even more importantly if concerns me that I will crash into something or somebody. I even took it to the dealer I purchased the car from and left it for a week while I went on vacation. Nothing found.

- Ooltewah, TN, USA

This is the second complaint I have had on my 2006 Rav4 V6 2wd emission system causing my vehicle stability, traction control, and speed control systems to fail. The first event is ODI number 10268422. The second event was due to a mile of driving slowly in light snow causing a fuel evaporation filter to break a tube fitting off. Water entered the broken tube and failed the fuel evap charcoal canister which in turn failed the vehicle stability, traction control, and speed control systems (ODI number 10268424). I see no reason to tie emissions into safety systems such as these unless it is to "encourage" owners to bring their vehicles in for emissions service. After some wrangling, the dealer agreed to submit it to my extended warranty and it was covered in full. I was told the charcoal cannister would have cost me $700.

- Smithfield, VA, USA

2/25/08 instance #1: I have had three instances of emissions components on my 2006 2wd Rav4 V6 being damaged in the 65000 miles I have driven it. The first instance manifested itself when the vehicle stability control, traction control and cruise control systems shut-off and lights in the instrument cluster came on. A damaged "charcoal canister" was replaced at the dealer under my extended warranty on 2/25/08. (this occurred a second time on 3/19/09 after an evaporation filter was damaged on 3/3/09 after driving a mile in less than an inch of wet snow. Each event shut off the vehicle stability control, traction control and cruise control systems and the associated system lights in the instrument cluster came on. The dealer felt the damage was due to my operation of the vehicle and at first denied submitting it to my extended warranty. I insisted the part was defective to fail in these circumstances and they eventually covered all repairs.)

- Smithfield, VA, USA

This is the third complaint I have had on my 2006 Rav4 V6 2wd emission system causing my vehicle stability, traction control, and speed control systems to fail. The first event is ODI number 10268422. The second event was submitted also, but I did not get an email- hopefully is submitted. This third event was due to a mile of driving slowly in light snow causing a fuel evaporation filter to break a tube fitting off (second event). Water entered the broken tube and failed the fuel evap charcoal canister which in turn failed the other systems listed in this third event. After some wrangling, the dealer agreed to submit it to my extended warranty and it was covered in full.

- Smiithfield, VA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Rav4. On March 17, 2008, while coasting into a parking space with her foot on the brake, the engine revved and the vehicle accelerated at a high rate of speed and crashed into another vehicle. There were no warning signs prior to the failure. The vehicle had undergone regularly scheduled maintenance before the crash occurred. The weather was dry on the day of the crash. The vehicle was released back to the contact; however, it had to be taken back to the shop due to riding roughly when placed into overdrive. The dealer stated that the torque converter was locking everytime the transmission was placed into overdrive. A police report was filed. There were no injuries and the contact was not cited. The current mileage is 17,690 and failure mileage was 17,687. Updated 5/13/08 the dealer determined there was a problem with the overdirve. Updated

- Mantua, OH, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Rav4. The vehicle automatically accelerated. The contact had to depress hard on the brakes and/or shift into neutral in order to keep the vehicle from entering into traffic. The failure occurred on March 2, 2008. The failure mileage was 12,125 and current mileage was 12,135. Updated 03/25/08.

- Media, PA, USA

Our 2006 Toyota Rav4 has had issues on several occasions of either hesitating when the gas pedal is pressed or lunging forward when trying to slow down for traffic or a stop light. We have made several complaints to our dealer, but they keep saying nothing is wrong. We feel this car is unsafe/ reliable at this point.

- Garrison, NY, USA

The engine on Toyota rav 4 started to race at maximum rpms while I was parking the car. Fortunately it was in neutral. I pumped the accelerator but that did no good. I turned the key off and then restarted the car. The problem repeated. I did this several times before engine started to idle normally. I took the car to the dealer, but they could not find anything wrong with it. I' was concerne dthe problem would happen again while driving.

- Delanco, NJ, USA

Hesitates to accelerate. It would not go over 20 mph for over 2 miles. I live right off a major highway, and when I try to pull on highway, car does not want to go. I had it to the dealer about 4 times, but they could not get it to go. Once they claimed it was the floor mat jamming under the gas pedal. They kept it for a week and found nothing. Also, they looked on a website and found no other complaints. I am very unhappy. Not sure what to do.

- Sugar Grove, OH, USA

I own a 2006 Toyota Rav4 4cyl, 4WD. I currently have just under 15K miles and I've had an issue with the car hesitating (or the throttle lagging). At times, usually one a week or so, if I push on the gas pedal when I need to speed up, it's as if nothing happens. I have to let the pedal go and push it again to speed up. It usually happens if I'm trying to merge into faster traffic, or at times when I'm taking a slow turn and then go to speed up afterwards.

- Billerica, MA, USA

The lag and/or sudden surging of the car upon light acceleration is very dangerous. While attempting to moderately accelerate the vehicle paused, then downshift accelerating much faster than conditions permitted. I nearly struck another vehicle because I was unprepared for the car to not function in a controlled manner.

- Woodinville, WA, USA

I was driving my 2006 Toyota Rav4 when I applied the brakes from about 25 mph to stop for traffic at a light. As I applied the brake the engine accelerated and I had to stand hard on the brake to keep from hitting the car in front of me. After a few seconds the engine speed came back to normal. At that time I double checked my foot position on the brake pedal and am confident that I was in no way contacting the accelerator pedal.

- Falmouth, MA, USA

- the contact stated that his 2006 Toyota Rav4 accelerated while his foot was on the brake. The contact took the vehicle to dealer and the computer was replaced. On 12/27/06 the contact stated he was involved in an accident. While his foot was on the brake and he was stopped at a light, the vehicle lurched forward and struck the vehicle in front of him. The contact heard a loud noise before the incident. The failure mileage on the vehicle was 94000. The contact was able to drive the vehicle. There was damage to the front of the vehicle. The dealer told the contact that the front end damage will need to be repaired before they can diagnose errors in the computer. The contact has a police report and a repair invoice from the first incident. When making turns left or right the consumer indicated that the steering wheel felt hard. The dealer ordered a power steering computer. Updated 02/16/07.

- Bronx, NY, USA

- the contact stated the he owns a 2006 Toyota Rav4. While driving his vehicle at 5 mph and he was tried to come to a stop when the vehicle accelerated. The contact stated that this happened 3 times before he took the vehicle to dealership. The dealership did run a computer diagnostic and found no errors. The contact stated that the vehicle ran fine for a while and on 12/29/06 while driving the vehicle tried to make a turn and to stop when the vehicle accelerated again. He stated that this has happened 4 times that day. The contact stated that the second time the vehicle would not come to a stop and ran into stairs which damaged the guard that protects the bumper. The contact called Toyota's regional office in Chicago. The contact met an investigator at a dealership to run more diagnostic testing. The contact stated that the investigator found nothing wrong with the vehicle, but is waiting for the official test results. The consumer stated the third time the incident happened, he ran into a deck and caused damage to the vehicle. Updated 03/07/07

- Mercer, WI, USA

We purchased a 2006 Toyota Rav4 4X4 limited in March 2006. Since the day we purchased the vehicle, we have had issues with the acceleration either not responding or lurching forward. When taking off from a stop, it occasionally takes the car several seconds to engage and accelerate. Other times, when slowing down to stop at a light or sign, the car continues to rev the RPM''s and lurches forward. In order to stop the car from lurching forward, we have to put the car in neutral and slam on the breaks. This is very scary if you are coming up to an active intersection. From reading other complaints, Toyota needs to address this issue!

- Garrison, NY, USA

I purchased a 2006 Toyota Rav4 limited 4 cyl in January/February of 2006. I noticed a problem in acceleration/hesitation after driving the vehicle for about a week. I have experienced acceleration problems on a daily basis. Steady pressure on the accelerator yields no response, or a stutter as though the car is about to stall. When this occurs, the only way to get the car moving is to push the pedal all the way to the floor, at which point the engine races and the car speeds up. This hesitation happens throughout the day. The first time this occurred I was pulling onto a major highway from a side street and was nearly rear-ended because the car simply would not go (until I slammed the pedal to the floor). This is very unsafe for everyday driving. I reported the problem to the Toyota dealer who stated that this problem was 'normal' for Toyota and something I needed to get used to. They did checkout the car and said no error codes were generated and they were unable to duplicate the problem.

- Nashville, TN, USA

: the contact stated when the vehicle was not warmed up, there was little power when accelerating, then the vehicle surged forward extremely fast. The last occurrence happened while driving 30 mph. The vehicle was taken to the service dealer twice for the problem and the manufacturer was notified. Updated 12/1/2006 -

- Connelly, NY, USA

2006 Toyota Rav4 sport - inconsistent throttle, acceleration delay. From a coasting position there is a delay in response when engaging the accelerator, usually followed by a sudden high speed acceleration. At low speeds the accelerator is hypersensitive. Impossible to predict sudden high speed responses despite my best efforts to moderate and control pedal pressure.

- Redondo Beach, CA, USA