Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (accelerator pedal, throttle, sudden acceleration, cruise control).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
My Toyota FJ Cruiser accelerates by itself. Typically, when it is stopped and idling, like at a light or stop sign. It does this when either I or my mother is driving it. The particular event I want to tell you about happened in August 2009. I was at a stoplight, in the center lane, and was going to change lanes when the light changed. I turned the wheel to the left before the light changed. When I took my foot off the brake, the vehicle accelerated rapidly into the left lane. I did not touch the gas pedal. My vehicle was struck by a pickup truck approaching in the left lane. The young girl driving the pickup truck was talking on her cell phone and did not expect my vehicle to move in front of her so fast. Damage to my vehicle was about $1,800. I took my vehicle into a local shop for 30K service and shortly thereafter and they did not find any problems. …
When stopping at a red light or stop sign, the automatic transmission has not down shifted to first gear. So while stopped, the car will suddenly lung forward as if hit from behind. This is extremely dangerous for pedestrian crossing in front of the car. There is a very real potential for the car to hit a person when it lunges forward. Since realizing this problem, I intentionally hold down the brake harder than I should have too. There are other issues with the transmission but I though that particular issue is very dangerous. The vehicle has approx 70,000 miles and although this problem was happening from time to time, it is becoming more frequent to where I have to assume it every time I come to a stop.
Tl contact owns a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser. While driving 80 MPH, the contact noticed that the cruise control stopped working. He also noticed that the speedometer was moving constantly. He pulled the vehicle to the side of the road and noticed flames coming from the back seats of the vehicle. The fire department extinguished the fire and a police report was filed. The contact did not notice any differences beforehand. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The VIN was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 9,800.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser. While driving 45 MPH, the vehicle accelerated on its own without warning. The vehicle had to be placed in neutral in order to stop. There were no warning indicators illuminated before the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (john elway's crown Toyota, 1201 kettering dr, ontario, ca 91761), but the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and stated that the dealer would handle the situation. The failure mileage was 154,209.
On last March 12th , I bought from you a Toyota FJ 2007 with 13968 miles, it looks like new. My son andres was driving two weeks ago in ocala, florida and something happened, the car seems like block a wheel by itself with doing nothing, causing that car move to different places and was difficult to drive. Then the turn on several lights in the panel and with those lights on you can drive a car, when it turn off, the car block again and is difficult and dangerous to drive. I gave a car at your services department two times given me an excellent attention. Yesterday afternoon I went to your company to pick the car up and a service advisor told me that you change a speed sensor that was a problem. I was driving to my home and every thing was OK. …
Driving my 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser v6 4x4 on a long stretch of two lane highway in clear weather conditions. Cruise control was set at 70 MPH. Vehicle started speeding up on it's own to about 85 MPH. I thought something was wrong with the cruise control. Turned off cruise control, nothing happened. Car was still accelerating. Hit the brake pedal and nothing happened. Car was still accelerating on it's own. I was getting ready to put the car into neutral, or pull the emergency brake... When I decided to hit the brake pedal hard with both feet several times. Car finally started slowing down. It was like the vehicle had a mind of it's own. This occurred just before 7/20/09 and I took the vehicle into Toyota for repair when we returned home. They couldn't find anything wrong with it. Haven't had the issue since, but am afraid to drive the car on long stretches of highway. …
I took my 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser into the dealer around the end of 2007, it had 12,000 miles on it at the time. I told them that my gas pedal had stuck and I had to hold the brakes down and turn off the key to get it to stop. I then had to get out of the car in the middle of the road and reach down to release it. They told me that it must have stuck on the floor mat and to just watch it. It then stuck again about a year later and I was able to release it this time by kicking at it. I didn't think anymore of it until all the recalls started coming out on Toyota gas pedals and I thought that you should know about this because it happened on a model that is not on the recall list and that the problem came up over two years ago. This incident is documented at thompson Toyota in placerville, ca. I bought the car new at folsom Toyota 2/2007. …
I recently purchased a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser with 95K miles on it. All was fine for about a month until I started experiencing unexplained accelerating and RPM surging when driving below 30 MPH and regularly while stopped in traffic with my foot on the brake. It's not a huge rev, but rather the engine will suddenly rise from normal idle RPM to about 1300 RPM, then back down again. I can feel the transmission grabbing and I have to keep the brake depressed to keep from taking off. The surge generally lasts for less than 10 seconds and then goes away for a short time. I can get it to duplicate the problem (at a stop, in gear) almost anytime. If you are not paying close attention and happen to lift your foot off the brake, the vehicle will lurch forward start to accelerate until the transmission downshifts. …
2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser. I've had acceleration issues with my Toyota FJ Cruiser, as mentioned in the current recalled models. While attempting to come to a stop, the engine revs and "accelerates" at an uncontrollable level throwing the car out of control. This has happened a minimum of 3 time already and possibly more that I wrote off as other issues. 2 of the 3 times I turned sharply to the right and off the road without hitting anyone or anything, applying the brake until the engine slowed down and I could come to a full stop. I called Toyota, (May 2009) and they thought it might be a computer issues affecting acceleration, of course this was before the widespread recall. These issues were not due to floor mats or sticky accelerators. I understand that my car, 2007 FJ, is not part of the recall, but has the same issues as the recalled models.
I drive a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser. I've owned the vehicle since August 2006. Two times since I've owned the vehicle, it has accelerated unexpectedly. Each time, it has taken me off guard. One time I was in a 35 MPH zone and it got up to 50 or 60 MPH. In both incidents, I switched the car into neutral and the engine continued to rev. I waited for the engine to return to normal before putting it back into drive. Both times, I think I was going a slow enough speed that the brake helped slow the vehicle down also. I have inspected my floor mat and it was never near the gas pedal during any of the incidents. I assumed that these were just rare occurrences. Now, after hearing other Toyota owners describe similar issues, I'm wondering if this is related to a mechanical defect.
Acceleration complaints in other FJ Cruiser years
Frequently asked questions
How common are acceleration problems on the 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser?
NHTSA has 24 complaints about the speed control & acceleration of the 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser, 4% of the model year's 593 complaints. The component named most often is accelerator pedal (3 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser acceleration problems?
No. NHTSA lists no speed control & acceleration recall for the 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser, though it has 8 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser acceleration problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 28,000 miles, and 50% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 1 crash, 1 fire and 0 injuries to speed control & acceleration problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.