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Complaints of runaway Toyotas pour in, but the issue is likely overblown
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Some Toyota owners have complained of cars that accelerate out of control. In such a case, a driver would only need to give the shifter a slight push from the D position (the lower white dot in this illustration) to N, or neutral (the higher dot) to take the car out of gear and coast gently to a stop. (photo by Lexus)
High-profile media coverage has likely given you some idea about the troubles facing Toyota -- some 2,000 owners have complained that the company's Toyota and Lexus cars accelerate by themselves out of control, sometimes coming to a halt only after a fatal collision.
In an extensive back-and-forth and a large-scale recall, Toyota has said some of its all-weather floormats might slide forward and get tangled in the accelerator, a problem that would be resolved temporarily by removing the mats and permanently by holding them down better. But some owners have insisted the issue is a mechanical defect within the car's throttle system.
Whether there is actually a widespread issue with Toyota's throttles is entirely unknown. It is entirely possible that there is simply large-scale bandwagoning around a few high-profile accidents, most notably a Lexus ES350 that went flying out of control and killed its occupants in California earlier this fall.
But even if Toyota has somehow failed to design a functioning accelerator and/or functional floormats, the fact remains that no properly trained driver would lose control of a car over an "unintended acceleration" issue.
Perhaps it is not as widely taught as it should be -- too few media reports highlight this -- but as soon as a car is moving forward against your will, you should simply shift it into neutral. Neutral is almost always one shift position above Drive (see the photo below for an example of a rare exception), so just one little push of the shifter will take the car out of gear. The engine will rev and rev but no longer deliver power to the wheels, and you can coast to a stop. You'll have had a scare, but no harm done. Toyota notes on its website that if the neutral trick fails (there is no reason it should), drivers should either switch the engine off with the ignition key or, if equipped, hold down the start-stop button for three seconds.
This Toyota Prius has an unconventional shifter arrangement, so
drivers must learn how to put it in neutral in case of an unintended
acceleration emergency. As the printed shift pattern shows, you
must slide the shifter to the left to take the Prius out of gear.
(photo by Brady Holt)
But what uninformed drivers will instead do is stomp on the brakes. This instinct is a failed one. A car's brakes are often not as strong as its engine, and they will give out first, especially if you're pumping them. Once the car is in neutral, the brakes will no longer be fighting against a surging engine and will have no trouble whatsoever bringing the car to a halt.
As of now, there is nothing but a collection of anecdotes suggesting Toyotas have a problem. It's a large collection, yes, but Toyota does sell a huge number of cars for these complaints to be drawn from. There has been nothing published concluding that there aren't also high numbers of isolated incidents of drivers losing control of their Fords or their Hondas or their BMWs or their Kias.
There is nothing to be afraid of from your Toyota, or the Toyota that you're considering buying. Even if it does turn out that the company is producing flawed products, the flaw is not a dangerous one if you are aware of how to deal with it: just slide the shifter to N, and switch the engine off when you've stopped.
Nothing worth getting carried away over.
UPDATE: An article from the Los Angeles Times suggests that Toyotas do in fact seem to be demonstrating a higher rate of complaints about unintended acceleration. However, even if there does prove to be a problem, going into neutral would prevent any accident.
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