TOYOTA TIMELINE
Issue/Incident
Date
2003 The My 2003 Camry Owners Manual warns that the installation of a
mobile two-way radio system could affect electronic systems,
including the electronic throttle control system, etc.
3/3/03 NHTSA advised Toyota it was doing a preliminary investigation of
the Camry to determine if the throttle system could be the cause of
SUA’s.
5/27/03 A Massachusetts resident filed a defect petition for his 1999 Lexus
LS 400 and multiple episodes of SUA.
7/17/03 NHTSA starts investigation 1997-2000 Lexus LS 400’s, G’s and
400’s for SUA
9/23/03 NHTSA – says info, gathered on Lexus cars do not indicate they are
over represented with SUA’s or vehicle speed control problems.
11/19/03 Camry owner reports SUA incident with a 2002 Camry to the
NHTSA in July 2003 and it was not investigated further.
2/17/04 Another Lexus owner filed a defect complaint for multiple episodes
of SUA’s and she noted 37 other instances similar to hers to the
NHTSA.
9/03-4/04 8 deaths with SUA reported to NHTSA with 2002 to 2004 Camrys.
7/22/04 NHTSA filed a closing report of the Camrys and SUA’s. They had
July-August
2004
narrowed their definition of SUAs which eliminated a number of
events of SUA’s and concluded there was no real data to support a
problem.
Lexus dealers in Canada complained about the Lexus ES 330’s
accelerator problems possible related to the electronics systems.
These documents came to light in a 2006 lawsuit filed by a Toronto
couple whose 2004 Lexus ES 330 crashed into a tree. Toyota blamed
the driver for the crash. Dealers were told that the problem would go
away once the electronic acceleration controls learned to recognize
the driver’s habits.
8/5/05 NHTSA opens an investigation of 2002-2005 Toyota Camry Toyota
Solara and Lexus ES
11/15/05 Toyota filed a response that their systems have multiple redundancies
and the electronic throttle could not malfunction without error being
caught and therefore can’t cause SUA.
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