streetbird

No, you are not supposed to put your car into park when you are stopped, that causes accidents. Say you are at a red light, you put the car in park, then you forget and the light turns green. You go to move but the car just revs and the person behind you slams into you thinking you were going to move. It make no sense what so ever that a car is not supposed to stay stopped when you foot is on the brake. That is the whole point of the brake.

Okay, I don't think I'm explaining this correctly. I pulled into my driveway with my foot pressing on the brake to slow down. I brought the car to a complete stop and just when I was about to put it into Park the car sped up very quickly and with such power (with my foot still on the brake) that it went straight through my gate and then hit the porch. The car did not do what it was designed to do and that is stay at a stop with the brake is pressed.

Well, if you read all the previous posts you will see my point: I also know exactly what happened to me when my car accelerated when my foot was pressed on the brake. I never questioned if I pressed on the accelerator by accident b/c I know my foot was on the brake. I was just about to put the car into park when it took off.

And here is why I will never park in the driveway again. My baby........who thank goodness was inside when the car "lurched" foward.

2nd picture of the damage

Here are the pictures of my car and the damage. I also included a picture of my puppy who sits on the porch and watches to see what goes on in the neighborhood. This is the reason I will NEVER EVER park my malfunctioning car in the driveway again.

jragosta, I have done my research on the NHTSA website along with filing a complaint. I also know exactly what happened to me when my car accelerated when my foot was pressed on the brake. I never questioned if I pressed on the accelerator by accident b/c I know my foot was on the brake. I was just about to put the car into park when it took off. If this was an isolated incident then why does the dealership have a name for it, why are there other people coming fwd with the same problem and why is the "electronic throttle control" being mentioned all over the internet? Lexus/Toyota must step up to the plate and take responsibility for their cars and customers. If they keep telling their customers that it is their fault and not a problem with the car, most people will believe them. That is why I'm writing to find out how many people this has happened to and to hear their stories so the drivers stopped being blamed for something that happened that was out of their control.

Myth, I think if we can get more people together on this we can get the National Highway Safety board to reopen this case about the electronic throttle control malfunctioning in the 2002 Lexus ES300s. They said they will keep an eye on this and if they get more complaints they will look into this again. If you want, send me a PM and give me your email address so we can start the ball rolling on this. Like I said in my previous message, my husband's friend's wife had the same thing happen to her so right there we have found 3 people in the matter of a couple of weeks. I'm sure this has happened to alot more people and we have to make Lexus take responsibility for their products.

It's the dealership who installed the wood. I paid an extra $700 to have the whole console overed with the wood paneling. Yes, they did fix the wood and window b/c it was under warranty but this should not be happening!!! That's the point I'm trying to get across. When this whole thing happened with the DBW I went through all the proper steps. I put in a claim with customer service 800-25-LEXUS. After I spoke with them they told me they would be in touch with me. I called back several time with no call back from them. I also asked for the person who took the info in the first place and he would not take my calls. The inspector went down to the body shop about 1 1/2 ago and no one called to tell me. My car was sitting in the body shop, ready to go for 2-3 weeks and no one from Lexus, the manufacturer or the body shop contacted me. The only professional and helpful person was the manager of the body shop who took care of my rental car payment. Other than that, Lexus was no help to me at all. My only other option right now is to go public with Fox 5 problems solvers or some sort of media attention so they will take another look at these cars b/c there obviously is a problem. I will also file with the National Highway Safety office.

Oh I forgot, I never took pictures of the wood and like I said I just got the car back today and they fixed the console however the steering wheel was not changed out. As soon as I can, I will take pictures and put them on the website. I will also post the pictures of the damage.

When the wood on the steering wheel faded when I only had the car for 2-3 months and it was garaged. The wood on the console began peeling about 2 months ago (I've had the car for a little over 2 years) and I don't even touch that part of the wood. It is where the clock is in the middle of the console. I didn't use anything that would make it peel off. What about the back window. It all of a sudden stopped working. THis is my 5th car. All my other cars were built in the early 80's to late 90's and I never had these problems before. The reason I bought a Lexus was b/c I wanted a reliable car that would last me a long time. Big Mistake!!! I will never put kids in this car since the surging happened 2x already. Now, what if it happens again, will Lexus take responsiblity???? I just picked up my car today from the body shop (with over $8000 worth of damage) about 2 hours ago. They did a great job repairing it but I was very uneasy driving it. Always thinking is it going to lurch fwd on me a an intersection or near pedestrians. No one from Lexus seems to care about their existing customers just potential ones.

In August I went to park my car (2002 ES300) in my driveway when all of a sudden it picked up speed crashing through my brand new fence and side porch. It must be noted that I had my foot on the brake, the car was stopped and all of a sudden it took off on me. My foot never moved off the brake the whole time; the car came to a stop when it hit the porch. The day before I was driving with my mom and as I started to slow the car down b/c I was coming to a stop sign and the car all of a sudden picked up speed, but thankfully at that time I had time to press the brakes down harder and stop the car. When I park my car in the driveway it is only a couple of inches from the gate and from the gate it is about 2-3 feet to the porch so there was no way to avoid this accident. When Lexus inspected the car they found nothing wrong with the DBW (electronic throttle control). I find this to be a coverup of some sorts b/c I've been driving for years and never had this happen to me before. I know first hand that is is not a driver error it is a manufactor's defect. I need to know if anyone else has had the same problem. I know it went into investigations and they are not recalling the cars b/c there was not ENOUGH evidence that this really happens. Since I've been bringing this issue to light I recently found out that the same thing happened to my husband's friend's wife last year. Her car took off on her and went through her garage. Other problems with my 2002 Luxury vehicle is that the wood paneling on the console began to peel off, my steering wheel wood changed to a dull purple and about 2 weeks before the accident my back window on the drivers side stopped working. Is this the standard for Lexus???? The dealership and manufacturer are not taking any responsiblity so I want to hear from other owners if they have had the same problem so maybe it can be brought back into investigations. This dangerous problem is ovbiously not going away. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.