2002 TOYOTA SEQUOIA Complaints

A HYUNDAI TUCSON RAN A RED LIGHT AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED (APPROX 50 MPH) HITTING US HARD ENOUGH TO FLIP US 360 DEGREES CAUSING US TO ROLL OVER ANOTHER HYUNDAI TUCSON AND LAND ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF A FOUR LANE HIGHWAY. WE WERE HIT ON THE PASSENGER SIDE WHEREBY THE DOOR JAM BETWEEN THE FRONT AND BACK DOORS TOOK MOST OF THE HIT. DUE TO THE WAY WE ROLLED AND BOUNCED OFF THE HOOD OF THE STATIONARY CAR, I, ON THE PASSENGER SIDE TOOK MOST OF THE HIT. MY HEAD HIT THE WINDOW AND THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY BACK AND RIGHT ARM WERE BRUISED. MY HUSBAND, WHO WAS DRIVING, INJURED HIS SHOULDER. I THINK IF WE WERE IN ANY OTHER VEHICLE WE WOULD HAVE BEEN KILLED OR FAR MORE SEVERELY INJURED. OUR SEATBELTS HELD US IN PLACE, BUT THE DRIVER AND PASSENGER CURTAIN AND SIDE AIRBAGS (THAT I PAID EXTRA FOR) DID NOT DEPLOY, WHICH I THINK IN A SIDE IMPACT ACCIDENT AND ROLL OVER, THEY SHOULD HAVE. PERHAPS IF THEY DID, I WOULD NOT HAVE HAD A CONCUSSION. *TR

FRAME OF VEHICLE IS RUSTED AND VERY THIN IN AREAS. THE SUSPENSION AND REAR AXLE HOUSING IS RUSTING ALSO. FRAME IS VERY CLOSE TO DEVELOPING HOLES AND IS DE-LAMINATING I BELIEVE IT IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE AND TOYOTA WILL NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. *TR

WHEN DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEED, IN DRY CONDITIONS, THE VEHICLE SKID CONTROL (VSC) AND TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM (TRAC) WARNING LIGHTS SUDDENLY BEGAN FLASHING AND BEEPING. THE STEERING WHEEL BEGAN DIFFICULT TO CONTROL AND A LOUD GRINDING NOISE CAME FROM THE BRAKE PEDAL AS THE ABS SYSTEM WAS ACTIVATED. THIS MADE FOR A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION AS THE VEHICLE WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO CONTROL IN HEAVY TRAFFIC! AFTER ABOUT FIVE SECONDS, THE GRINDING/ABS ACTIVATION AND WARNING BEEPS STOPPED, BUT THE WARNING LIGHTS STAYED ILLUMINATED. WHEN TAKING THE NEXT HIGHWAY OFFRAMP AND APPLYING THE BRAKES, THE WARNING LIGHTS AND GRINDING STARTED AGAIN AND THIS TIME IT ALMOST CAUSED AN ACCIDENT WHEN THE BRAKING WAS OVERRIDDEN BY THE ABS! ONLY AFTER TURNING THE CAR OFF AND RESTARTING DID THE WARNING LIGHTS TURN OFF. THE 2003 SEQUOIA WAS RECALLED FOR THIS SAME PROBLEM. THE 2002 SEQUOIA SHOULD ALSO BE RECALLED. DOES THERE HAVE TO BE ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES BEFORE THIS WILL HAPPEN?? TOYOTA NEEDS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS DANGEROUS DEFECT. *TR

DEALER REPORTS THAT FRAME (CROSSMEMBER) IS ROTTED TO THE POINT OF BEING UNSAFE TO DRIVE. *TR

A COUPLE OF YEARS BACK WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEED THE 2002 TOYOTA SEQUOIA I WAS DRIVING SUDDENLY HAD THE ESC ENGAGE WITH OUT WARNING THE BRAKES ENGAGED AND THE SUV MADE A GRINDING NOISE AND THE VSC TRAC LIGHT LIT UP... I TOOK IT TO MY DEALER AND $4000 LATER IT WAS REPAIRED: THE REPAIRS INCLUDED REPLACING THE ABS COMPUTER AND NEW BRAKES AND ROTORS....NOW ITS JUNE 2012 AND ITS DOING IT AGAIN BUT NOW IT ENGAGES RANDOMLY REGARDLESS OF SPEED OR TERRAIN... I HAVE DONE SOME RESEARCH ON MY VEHICLE AND HAVE FOUND OUT THAT TOYOTA HAS ISSUED A RECALL ON THE SAME PROBLEM BUT ONLY ON THE YEAR MODELS 2003-2005...I CALLED MY DEALER TO REPORT THE PROBLEM AND THEY CONFIRMED MY YEAR MODEL IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL... THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE PLEASE GET TOYOTA TO OWN UP TO ITS RESPONSIBILITY AND REPAIR THE DEFECT...I NEVER SHOULD HAVE PAID FOR THE REPAIR THE FIRST TIME BUT THERE IS NO WAY IN [XXX] I AM PAYING AGAIN FOR THE SAME DEFECT.... *JS INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE IN THE LEFT HAND LANE. TRIED TO MERGE INTO THE RIGHT HAND LANE AND NOTICED A CAR IN MY BLIND SPOT SO I WENT BACK INTO THE LEFT LANE. HOWEVER, MY VSC/ABS LIGHTS WENT ON, THE CAR BEEPED, MADE A HEAVY GRINDING NOISE, AND THEN, WITH MUCH FORCE, VEERED HARD TO THE RIGHT. I TRIED TO STEER IT BACK TO THE LEFT HAND LANE, THE OTHER DRIVERS SAW ME WRESTLING WITH MY STEERING WHEEL AND THE CAR STARTED TO FISHTAIL SO FORTUNATELY THEY STAYED WELL BEHIND ME. THE CAR BECAME IMPOSSIBLE TO CONTROL AND STEER AND BRAKING DID NOT HELP. DESPITE MY BEST EFFORTS TO CONTROL THE CAR, APPLY THE BRAKES, STEER OUT OF THE SKIDDING AND FISHTAILING, MY CAR THEN WENT OVER INTO THE RIGHT LANE, OVER TO THE SHOULDER, AND THEN THE WHEEL SUNK INTO THE GRASS NEXT TO THE SHOULDER WHERE THE VEHICLE ROLLED OVER SEVERAL TIMES. MY SON AND I WERE AIRLIFTED TO THE TRAUMA UNIT. I SUFFERED 2 BROKEN VERTEBRAE IN THE C AREA OF MY NECK AND A COMPRESSED DISC IN THE T REGION OF MY SPINE, CONCUSSION, CUTS, BRUISES, GLASS EMBEDDED NEAR MY EYE, AS WELL AS A SPLENIC ANEURYSM. MY SON HAD A CONCUSSION, WOUND ON THE HEAD THAT REQUIRED STITCHES, CUTS, BRUISES AND A SPRAINED ANKLE. MY SON AND I WERE BOTH UNCONSCIOUS AT THE ACCIDENT SCENE.MY TWO DAUGHTERS HAD MINOR CUTS, SPRAINS, AND BRUISES. WE WERE FORTUNATE TO HAVE COME OUT OF THIS ALIVE AND NOT TO HAVE HIT ANYONE ELSE. I AM STILL IN A NECK BRACE AND UNDERGOING MEDICAL TREATMENT. TOYOTA NEEDS TO RECALL THIS MODEL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. WE COULD HAVE ALL BEEN KILLED. UNFORTUNATELY, MY CAR WAS TOTALED AND THERE WAS NO BLACK BOX IN THIS MODEL. I WILL NEVER BUY A CAR FROM TOYOTA AGAIN. HOWEVER, FOR THE SAFETY OF OTHERS, I DO HOPE THEY RECALL THIS MODEL AS I WOULD HATE FOR OTHERS TO SUFFER WHAT WE HAD TO SUFFER, OR WORSE. *TR UPDATED 10/19/12 *CN UPDATED 10/23/2012 *JS

THE TRACTION CONTROL, VSC LIGHT IS ILLUMINATED INTERMITTENTLY OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS. I AM SCARED THAT IF I NEED TO AVOID A IMPEDING ACCIDENT THAT BECAUSE THE VSC SYSTEM NOT WORKING THAT I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY AVOID A POTENTIALLY FATAL ACCIDENT. I AM ALSO SCARED THAT THE VEHICLE MAY ROLLOVER WHEN DOING A FAST TURN TO AVOID AN ACCIDENT. BASED ON MY RESEARCH, I HAVE FOUND THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM AMONG THESE VEHICLES AND THAT THERE WAS A 2003 RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM. THERE ARE A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH THE 2002 VEHICLES AND IT NEEDS TO GET FIXED. MUST WE FIRST HAVE AN ACCIDENT TO WIN RIGHTS TO BE ACCOMMODATED. DOES TOYOTA NOT WANT TO MAKE GOOD ON IT'S PRODUCT AND SATISFY ALL OWNERS/CUSTOMERS. I WORRY EVERY TIME I DRIVE MY VEHICLE AND THANK GOD EACH TIME I REACH MY DESTINATION WITHOUT INCIDENT. *TR

I HAVE HAD TO REPLACE THE REAR LATCH ON MY DOOR 5 TIMES. THE BODY SHOP SAYS THAT THE REAR DOOR IS SO RUSTED OUT THIS TIME, THAT IT CANNOT BE FIXED. THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM TO TOYOTA AND THEY IGNORE IT. I HAVE SEEN MANY WEBSITES WITH THE SAME COMPLAINT. IT IS A POOR DESIGN AND THE DOOR IS RUSTING FROM THE INSIDE! *JS

DRIVING ON DRY ROAD AND VSC ENGAGES. CAN NOT USE BRAKES. CONTINUES TO DO THIS FOR A FEW MINUTES THEN STOP, THEN ENGAGE AGAIN. HAPPENED IN OCT. 2011 HAD A STEERING SENSOR REPLACED ADVISED BY TOYOTA AND IT IS DOING IT AGAIN. THIS IS VERY UNSAFE BECAUSE I HAD NO CONTROL OF VEHICLE WHILE THIS IS ENGAGED. I WAS GOING MAYBE 10 MPH WHEN IT HAPPENED. NO WARNING JUST ENGAGES. *TR

WAS ACCELERATING ONTO THE FREEWAY TODAY AND IT FELT AS IF THE LEFT BRAKES CAME ON ALONG WITH A SCREECHING SOUND AND IT MADE ME SWERVE LEFT. I WAS ABLE TO AVOID SWERVING INTO MERGING TRAFFIC BUT I NEARLY CRASHED. OVER THE LAST WEEK THE VSC OFF LIGHTS HAVE STARTED GOING ON AND OFF AND AFTER REVIEWING SOME LITERATURE ON LINE IT SEEMS THAT HUNDREDS OF OTHERS HAVE HAD THE SAME TYPE OF PROBLEM. THE 2003 SEQUOIA WAS ACTUALLY RECALLED FOR THIS SAME THING. VERY DANGEROUS AND NOW I WILL HAVE TO CONTACT THE DEALER TO SEE ABOUT IT GETTING FIXED BEFORE SOMEONE IS KILLED. I HAVE TWO YOUNG CHILDREN AND THIS REALLY PISSES ME OFF. EVEN IF THERE IS NOT A RECALL I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MADE AWARE OF THE DANGER I WAS PUTTING MYSELF IN. I HAVE BEEN HAPPY WITH MY TRUCK FOR 8 YEARS BUT AFTER THIS INCIDENT AND SEEING WHAT OTHERS HAVE GONE THROUGH I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER TOYOTA!!! *TR