I was sitting in the driver’s seat of my Rav4 yesterday talking to the passenger. The car was running, but I didn’t have my foot on the brake because we were just talking. The passenger was had their hand on the gear shift and was able to shift it from Park to Drive. I didn’t think you were able to move it anywhere if you didn’t have your foot on the brake. Is that right?? I tried to do make the car do it again, but I couldn’t.
It should not be possible to shift from PARK to DRIVE without stepping on the brake pedal.
If this happened, you need to take your vehicle to your Toyota dealer and let them check it.
I have to ask; are you SURE the vehicle was in PARK?
Shifting from park to drive is moving the lever quite a bit, you would have been in reverse before drive. I agree with mcparadise question. Are you sure you were in park and not neutral?
Yes. Because I was in the store, then got in the car and started it and that’s it. I didn’t do anything else, but I was watching my passenger’s hand playing with the gear shift while we were deciding where to go for ice cream. Is it possible to turn the car off and lock it without it being in park?
Positive
The point is you can not duplicate the condition. If the Dealer wont pickup the cost you should (BTSI replacement,possible brake light switch stuck on one time?).
Can you explain a little more? I don’t understand.
Not to be contrary but the brake lock out is a relatively new thing. For many many years there wasn’t such a thing and people got along just fine without it. In fact you could even start the car in gear. If you can’t duplicate it again, I guess I would just forget it and learn to not rely so much on the lock out devices that can always fail. Just my 2 cents.
If you are sure your car has this safety defect but the Dealer refuses to fix under warranty because the problem can’t be duplicated (you are still under warranty aren’t you?) You should go ahead and get it fixed out of your pocket,it is safety related and you know the car did malfunction.
Second the problem is likely in the Brake Transmission Switch Interlock or less likely the brake light switch sticking on.
Thanks! That makes a lot more sense. I didn’t know what a BTSI was.