I was parking at about 3 mph, took my foot off the accelerator pedal and pressed down on the brake pedal to slowly ease the car to a stop at the parking spot. The vehicle jolted forward and accelerated. I hit a pole and the vehicle sustained terrible frontend damage. I have a 2003 Toyota Corolla and it is over 188,000 miles.

- Carson, CA, USA

Rear wheel bearings failure (safety defect) -- 2003 Toyota Corolla. Excerpts from my E-mail to Toyota motor sales, U.S.a. Inc. Follow: "the local Toyota dealership has recently recommended replacing the rear hub axle bearings due to a humming noise, at a cost of over $1,000. This recommendation has floored me as this type of repair for a vehicle with only 90,000 miles does not seem to be consistent with the quality standards promulgated by Toyota motor corporation. Apparently, this problem is widespread as a technical service bulletin (NHTSA #10015608) was issued." The Toyota customer experience center subsequently acknowledged the rear wheel bearings issue addressed in my E-mail above, creating case # 1703301220. Despite Toyota having issued technical service bulletin #00105 on this very matter, the Toyota representative at the customer center clearly stated in a subsequent phone call there is no warranty coverage, no customer notification, and no-recall issued. After contacting the Toyota customer experience center, I was reluctant to replace the rear wheel bearings for almost $1,000 if the only issue was with humming which blended in with normal road noise. But the mechanics at the local Toyota dealerships subsequently warned me that failure to have the rear wheel bearings replaced meant I was driving a car with a serious safety hazard with a significant probability of wheel failure (I.e. the bearing(s) could completely fail at any time and cause the rear wheel to fall off the car). I then authorized the local dealership in April 2017 to replace the wheel bearings (at my expense). One cannot but wonder how many accidents or incidents in connection with rear wheel bearings have occurred with Toyota Corollas for drivers who unknowingly drive their vehicles with rear wheel bearings that have been compromised or failed.

- Camp Hill, PA, USA

We were parked in a parking lot. My wife got into the car, put her foot on the brake to take the car out of park, and put the car in reverse. The car accelerated rapidly backward with the engine revving and no effect from the brakes, and hit a pole. With the engine still racing, my wife then put the car in drive, still with her foot on the brake, and it sped forward running into the back of a pickup truck. The engine was racing and there was no effect with pushing on the brake. The pickup truck was pushed forward about a foot hitting a guard rail in the front of the parking space.

- Durango, CO, USA

While I was driving on the highway to work, driving at approximately 70-75 mph, I started to brake. Instead of decreasing in speed, my car accelerated and everytime I would push the brake, my car would increase in speed (unintended acceleration). Within the span of about 3 months, this incident has occurred a total of 5-6 times, making it very unsafe to drive.

- Alameda, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that while driving 20 mph, the rear brakes malfunctioned as the contact attempted to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was diagnosed but the contact was not told what caused the defect. The vehicle was not remedied. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 80,000. Updated 04/14/14 MA updated 04/18/14

- Daly City , CA, USA