Unintended acceleration
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Unintended acceleration
I currently own a 2008 LS460. Has anyone had an unintended acceleration problem in their LS460? I just had a situation where I was braking and coming to a stop, then suddenly the RPM's increased and the car started to speed up. I quickly put the car into neutral and I was able to come to a safe stop. At that time, the RPM's dropped back to the normal range. It was not a floor mat issue, or having my foot pressing on the gas pedal. I know the ES350 has had this problem, but it seems to be rare with the LS460.
#2
Lexus Fanatic
No offense, but I would bet money that your foot was indeed on the accelerator pedal and you just didn't realize it. Even in the ES it was found by the NHTSA that it was not a physical problem with the vehicle.
#3
Instructor
Kind of offensive...I would take that car to the dealer and let them give it the once over. Let them check it out; because once you have an accident, any injured person can say you knew your car had an issue (due to this post) and you didn't address it.
#4
Lexus Fanatic
If you do some research into unintended acceleration claims across all manufacturers you'll find that all of them have been linked back to operator error in one way or another. I've actually been in a car where the driver when backing up unintentionally slammed the accelerator instead of the gas. Scary to be sure and he also did not immediately realize what he had done.
After the whole Toyota accelerator fiasco numerous magazines tested to see if the driver applied the brake when accelerating at full throttle what would happen. What happened was the car stopped, the accelerator could not over power the cars brakes. People who have this issue often say they apply the brake fully, well it's been proven that had they done that the car would stop even with the throttle at WOT. So, the logical result is that while they thought they were full on the brakes, they were actually full on the gas.
After the whole Toyota accelerator fiasco numerous magazines tested to see if the driver applied the brake when accelerating at full throttle what would happen. What happened was the car stopped, the accelerator could not over power the cars brakes. People who have this issue often say they apply the brake fully, well it's been proven that had they done that the car would stop even with the throttle at WOT. So, the logical result is that while they thought they were full on the brakes, they were actually full on the gas.
#5
I've experienced this with a Lincoln Town Car.
Coming to a stop, slowing to approximately 3 to 5 mph & the vehicle would lunge forward. Engine would rev slightly.
I've no recollection of how I solved it. I believe I cleaned the throttle body. It was several years ago, so memory on the fix is distant.
Coming to a stop, slowing to approximately 3 to 5 mph & the vehicle would lunge forward. Engine would rev slightly.
I've no recollection of how I solved it. I believe I cleaned the throttle body. It was several years ago, so memory on the fix is distant.
#6
Lexus Test Driver
Agreed. There were several times I didn't realize I had part of my foot touching the gas pedal while applying the brakes. Sounds exactly like what I experienced.
#7
Instructor
If you do some research into unintended acceleration claims across all manufacturers you'll find that all of them have been linked back to operator error in one way or another. I've actually been in a car where the driver when backing up unintentionally slammed the accelerator instead of the gas. Scary to be sure and he also did not immediately realize what he had done.
After the whole Toyota accelerator fiasco numerous magazines tested to see if the driver applied the brake when accelerating at full throttle what would happen. What happened was the car stopped, the accelerator could not over power the cars brakes. People who have this issue often say they apply the brake fully, well it's been proven that had they done that the car would stop even with the throttle at WOT. So, the logical result is that while they thought they were full on the brakes, they were actually full on the gas.
After the whole Toyota accelerator fiasco numerous magazines tested to see if the driver applied the brake when accelerating at full throttle what would happen. What happened was the car stopped, the accelerator could not over power the cars brakes. People who have this issue often say they apply the brake fully, well it's been proven that had they done that the car would stop even with the throttle at WOT. So, the logical result is that while they thought they were full on the brakes, they were actually full on the gas.
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#8
Lexus Fanatic
I'm sure she will take it to the dealer, are you willing to take a bet that the dealer will find the car is operating normally? I'd bet any amount of money on that one lol
#9
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
I hear what you are saying, and no offense taken. I would like to say that the newer LS460's have a feature called "Brake Over Ride System" which allows the brakes to over ride any acceleration due to pressing the gas pedal at the same time. However my 2008 does not have this feature. Also after driving the car for 8 years, I'm 99.99% sure that I was not pressing on the gas pedal at the same time while braking. Corporate Lexus has requested that I drop it off to my local Lexus dealership, so they can do some tests. We will see what the out come is. Thanks to all for your input.
#10
Lexus Fanatic
#11
Lexus Fanatic
I hear what you are saying, and no offense taken. I would like to say that the newer LS460's have a feature called "Brake Over Ride System" which allows the brakes to over ride any acceleration due to pressing the gas pedal at the same time. However my 2008 does not have this feature. Also after driving the car for 8 years, I'm 99.99% sure that I was not pressing on the gas pedal at the same time while braking. Corporate Lexus has requested that I drop it off to my local Lexus dealership, so they can do some tests. We will see what the out come is. Thanks to all for your input.
Regardless, even so if you stand on the brakes and the gas, the car will stop. The accelerator cannot overcome the power of the brakes. Think about it, the force required to stop a 5,000lb car from 80MPH in 120 feet is huge...The force required to do that is much greater than the force to move that vehicle from a stop.
Everybody always swears they didn't do that, but in reality they did and just didn't realize it. It happens.
#12
1986, Audi 5000, the original unintended acceleration car. Audi had a huge hit with that sports sedan. Then the tv show 60 minutes basically rigged a car to prove it accelerated by itself. Audi sales crashed in the US. Couple of years later Lexus and Infiniti came along and it took Audi years to recover sales. BTW this is why you must depress the brake to shift out of park first, didn't need to before. NHTSA did a study in the 80's and found misapplication of pedals was almost always the fault. In 1989 NHTSA exonerated Audi, but the damage was done.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden...d_acceleration
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...ation-debacle/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden...d_acceleration
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...ation-debacle/
#14
Driver School Candidate
#15
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Well as some of you said, Lexus could not find a problem and stated that everything checked out as normal. I still have a hard time believing this, however there is not much I can do to prove the problem that I incurred. I did ask the dealer about the software update for the brake over ride system, and they did not seem aware of this as being an option for a 2008. Has anyone had this done? SW15LS you mentioned that this should have been done by the dealer after 2011. Thanks once again for any input.