Help Diagnosing Unintended/Uncommanded Acceleration Issue

[nylion]

My 2006 Prius (pkg 8) has on several occasions decided to accelerate on its own. This always happens when the car is stopped. Lifting my foot from the brake causes the car to accelerate as fast as it can. Up until yesterday I wasn't totally sure my senses weren't lying. I had read a couple of articles where people complained of this problem. In the earlier cases, I was stoped at a flow control light on a freeway ramp, so the rapid acceleration wasn't a problem and when I stepped on the gas, it stopped.

Yesterday I was on a surface street and stopped at a light. When I gently lifted my foot from the brake to start the car rolling, the car revved the ICE and acted as though I had floored the accelerator (my foot was still on the brake and I hadn't released full pressure yet. When I pushed hard on the brake, the car stoped and the ICE stopped reving, repeating gently easing up on the brake made the same thing happen again.

Needless to say, I was getting concnerned. I tried shifting to neutral (no deal) and finally turned the cruise control on and then off (it was off). This stopped the acceleration. I have made a service appointment, but the dealer claims they never heard of this problem before.

I did some research on the Web (search Prius unintended acceleration incidents) and discovered this has happened more than a few times for others. According to my reading, Toyota has denied the problem and claimed the floor mat was pressing on the gas. In my case, the first thing I did is check my mat (heavy rubber that never moves) and it was safely tucked under the pedals.

If there is a fix for this, I haven't seen mention of it. I did report it to the NHTSA. I will report on the dealer's response. In the meantime be aware this has been happening on 2004 - 2008 cars. Some of the reports claim it is a cruise control issue. Who knows?

I will be most interested to see how Toyota responds.

[F8L]

What were your internet sources if I may ask?

[Tideland Prius]

Could you videotape it for us? You could also send that tape in to NHTSA

[galaxee]

the heavy rubber mat that never moves tends to migrate upward on the passenger side anytime someone is in the passenger seat in my car. do you have the mat hooks on the driver's side so that the driver's mat can't migrate up?

[Bob64]

wait a sec?
shifting into neutral and it STILL accelerated?

[flatline16]

I have heard about this, but I cant remember what caused it. I saw an article on line.

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by Bob64

wait a sec?
shifting into neutral and it STILL accelerated?

Good catch. The Prius can't rev its engine in neutral.

[FL_Prius_Driver]

Originally Posted by nylion

My 2006 Prius (pkg 8) has on several occasions decided to accelerate on its own. This always happens when the car is stopped. Lifting my foot from the brake causes the car to accelerate as fast as it can. Up until yesterday I wasn't totally sure my senses weren't lying. I had read a couple of articles where people complained of this problem. In the earlier cases, I was stoped at a flow control light on a freeway ramp, so the rapid acceleration wasn't a problem and when I stepped on the gas, it stopped.

Yesterday I was on a surface street and stopped at a light. When I gently lifted my foot from the brake to start the car rolling, the car revved the ICE and acted as though I had floored the accelerator (my foot was still on the brake and I hadn't released full pressure yet. When I pushed hard on the brake, the car stoped and the ICE stopped reving, repeating gently easing up on the brake made the same thing happen again.

Needless to say, I was getting concnerned. I tried shifting to neutral (no deal) and finally turned the cruise control on and then off (it was off). This stopped the acceleration. I have made a service appointment, but the dealer claims they never heard of this problem before.

I did some research on the Web (search Prius unintended acceleration incidents) and discovered this has happened more than a few times for others. According to my reading, Toyota has denied the problem and claimed the floor mat was pressing on the gas. In my case, the first thing I did is check my mat (heavy rubber that never moves) and it was safely tucked under the pedals.

If there is a fix for this, I haven't seen mention of it. I did report it to the NHTSA. I will report on the dealer's response. In the meantime be aware this has been happening on 2004 - 2008 cars. Some of the reports claim it is a cruise control issue. Who knows?

I will be most interested to see how Toyota responds.

I'm not sure Toyota can do much more than just take you report. It may be very advisable to get rid of the floor mat or hard secure it to the floor like the stock mats are. If it occurs with no floor mat, you have a much stronger case. All it takes for this to happen is for a small piece to hook the pedal. You don't fine out until you take you foot off the brake long after the hooking occured. When it happens, you are a LOT more preoccupied with solving the situation than sticking you head way down to look to see what might be catching the pedal.

I would point out that this is very common, yet the claim is usually the electronics went haywire. As long as you have an unsecured, non-stock mat on the floor, you will have a hard time making a strong case.

[jpadc]

3 years no posts and now this just after a recent biased, not to mention reference free, article got printed many places...

- Smells a lot like password hacking troll here...

[firepa63]

How did the OP buy a 2006 package 8? There is no 06 package 8 to my knowledge...