I am reporting a severe, recurring safety hazard on my 2020 Toyota Corolla. The vehicle suddenly displays 'Drive-Start Control Malfunction' and completely cuts off engine power in motion, leaving the car stranded in active traffic. This happened after accelerating from a STOP sign on a main avenue. This is an inherent manufacturing defect present since delivery. In total, this chronic electrical surge has burned through 6 batteries and 3 Engine Control Modules (ECMs) at different mileages. Within the first weeks...
Read the full complaint
of purchase, it burned its first battery, which was replaced at Toyota and documented under the VIN history. Dealer staff deceptively called it 'normal,' leading me to replace subsequent batteries at AutoZone. [[redacted]] Toyota received the vehicle 4 times for this exact failure under Service Advisor [[redacted]]. They replaced the ECM twice, replaced a destroyed battery on a third visit just 400 miles later, and during this fourth visit on [redacted], they only diagnosed the current burned ECM. Under Order [redacted], I paid for 4.5 hours of specialized diagnostic labor, but the shop negligently just swapped parts and ignored the root cause. On [redacted], an Operations Chief from Toyota Corporate called me under active BEC Case #[redacted]. He issued a final, verbal denial for Goodwill assistance based solely on mileage and age. Crucially, the Operations Chief explicitly admitted during the call that Toyota does not know what is causing the ECMs to burn out and does not know how to perform the proper diagnostic procedure to isolate the electrical root cause. He gave me to understand that my only option was to pay to replace the computer again and just put the car back on the road without a real fix. He actively refused to provide this denial in writing, forcing an unsafe vehicle back onto public roads. I have all four invoices to prove this chronic pattern. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)