I survived! On December 21, 2015 at about 7:30 PM I left my house to get some KFC for my husband and myself. After pulling out of KFC onto Oddie Blvd. in Reno, Nevada the accelerator in my 2010 Corolla LE went crazy. It did slow down when I stepped on the brakes, but every time I tried to take my foot off the brakes the car would accelerate. This was a frightening two mile trip. When I got home I put the car in park. The accelerator went full throttle, engine racing. I turned off the engine and jumped out of my car.
I loved my car. I bought it new in July 2009 and paid it off about a year ago. It only has 54,000 miles on it. I was planning to keep it for a couple more years until the evening of Dec. 21st. Now the idea of ever driving my car scares me to DEATH.
The next day I had my car towed to the dealership. The service manager told me I was the first person (at that dealership) to complain about this issue. I filled out lots of paperwork and was told they would review the data from the car's computer and then let me know the results. Two days later I got the telephone call to come and pick up my car. They couldn't find any issues with the accelerator or the data. Then he told me even NASA couldn't find a problem.
At first I just wanted to get rid of the car ASAP and replace it. This is what bothers me the most. The next person who buys this car eventually will get killed.
Aftermath..
My main goal is to prevent anyone from ever driving that car again. I told my story to the service manager on Dec. 22nd, the labor manager on Dec. 23rd the dealership owner's son (left a message on his cell phone. He was out of town so he told the service manager to "take care of it"). I called Toyota Corporate offices in Torrance, Calif. several times. I have a case number but the case manager said the only thing I can do is fill out a customer claim form and send it to the NCDS. I think it has something to do with the lemon law. They're charging me $695 a month, $175 a week for a rental car. My car is still at the dealership. Have any of the network news programs run a story on this such as 60 minutes, Dateline or 20/20. The Dealership has given me one option-trade my car in for a new Toyota. It seems like it isn't just one model. This whole thing scares me but I have to keep going forward with this.
I was so wrong about Toyota. I thought Toyotas were the most dependable, reliable and safest cars on the road until the evening of Dec. 21st. I can't afford the $695 a month for a rental car (furnished by the dealership) so I'll have to do something in the next few days. I've been getting calls from the sales staff trying to sell me a new car. I think I'll pass on that.