In December 2023, my wife made the wise decision to stop trying to drive a 22-year-old BMW 40,000 miles a year, and instead bought a Toyota for that task. She chose a 2012 Scion iQ for its combination of cutesy weirdness and Toyota reliability. We have driven this car more than 56,000 miles since then, and some bizarre issues have cropped up. The most annoying among them is the fact that the car keeps bricking itself (possibly not its fault — possibly because of a modification), and nobody seems to have a concrete explanation for why.
One of the perks of working from home is that I don’t need to have a “daily driver.” I basically never drive anywhere unless it’s for fun, for an appointment, or to visit friends and family. Because of this, I probably drive my own vehicles no more than maybe 5,000 miles a year, and the vast majority of those miles are put onto something like a single motorcycle for fun weekend rides. Thus, I own basically nothing but cars that were either known for unreliability or would be impractical for a road warrior. People are always surprised when they find that I don’t own a single “normal” car, but that’s the catch: I never have to depend on my cars for anything too serious! If one of my cars breaks down on the road, I can also bodge them back together enough to get back home.
It’s the exact opposite for Sheryl. She is in her car six to seven days a week, and may drive anywhere between 30,000 miles to 40,000 miles annually. Realistically, she doesn’t really have the luxury of having her car broken for more than a couple of days at the most. She can’t really own a car with super rare parts or really finicky build quality. My cars are decent vehicles to drive in the case of an emergency, but I cannot guarantee that my Volkswagens, BMWs, or Smarts won’t try to do something stupid while she’s in downstate Illinois. She also doesn’t have my ability to fix a broken car just enough to limp to a destination.
The Scion iQ was supposed to be the best of all worlds. It’s a weird car like my Smarts, but with Toyota reliability! I have seen lots of iQs with more than 250,000 miles on them, too, so I know they’re good for the long haul.
Love At First Drive
Things were great at first. The iQ had all of 67,000 miles on it when we picked it up, and it was a tight car. The steering was sharp and precise, and it went down the highway surprisingly well for a city car. My favorite part was how the iQ needs basically no space at all to perform a U-turn. The stereo was also a big highlight, and reflected Scion’s old attempts to attract younger buyers with bold colors and loud speakers. Sheryl said that she scored 40 mpg without even trying.
Look, I’m such a huge fan of Smart that I used to own six Fortwos, and even I have to admit that Toyota built a better car than a Smart. Unfortunately for Toyota, building a better car didn’t result in better sales.
Perhaps the biggest test of Sheryl’s iQ was when, in early 2024, we drove the car basically across America along the old path of Route 66. That little car felt like it had conquered America, the Rockies, and all, even though it was really built to rule the confines of New York City or Chicago. We’ve driven this car as far west as the Grand Canyon and as far east as Asheville, North Carolina. The car’s Carfax suggests that, in the hands of previous owners, it’s been even further east.
The iQ has also survived one heck of a beating in our fleet. The car has taken on a full truck tire “gator,” been involved in two minor crashes, and, of course, about 56,000 miles of hard driving. Thankfully, Sheryl’s driving has reduced to about 30,000 miles a year, but that’s still a lot, especially for a car that was never designed to race down the American autobahn. Yet, the iQ has taken the hits in stride, mostly.
After our Route 66 trip, we identified the worst problems with the iQ, namely, the car’s seats, which had about the same long-term comfort as transit bus seats, and the cruise control, or, specifically, the lack of it. Since the iQ has a wee 1.3-liter four with 94 HP on tap and a CVT, you’re usually giving the pedal some push to keep it at typically American highway speeds. That gets tiring on a super long road trip, as the iQ doesn’t have cruise control.
Thankfully, the aftermarket has long solved this problem, and we had a cruise control installed. At least in the Scion iQ, there’s a plug-and-play harness, but also wiring that needs to be tapped into an existing harness. The cruise control cost $800, of which $315 was for the unit.
The Car Bricked Itself A Year Ago
Sheryl then drove 15,000 to 20,000 miles before an insane failure happened. From my previous post:
Every once in a while, the car randomly went into limp mode after misfiring. The check engine light flashed, the car lost power, and slowed down to a crawl. Thankfully, restarting the vehicle restored all functions. The issue didn’t happen again until October. Then, out of nowhere, the issue came back and it appeared both frequently and seemingly entirely at random.
I pulled the codes and found myself baffled. The vehicle recorded a misfire on every cylinder but also a P2121 “Throttle/Pedal Position Sensor/Switch Circuit Range/Performance” code. The vehicle has fresh, name-brand plugs and excellent compression on every cylinder. I couldn’t find any obvious reason for a supposed total engine misfire. Even the car’s battery tested healthy. Eventually, the reported misfires disappeared, so I’m not entirely sure what’s going on there.
What didn’t disappear was the flashing check engine light and limp mode condition. It seemed as if at least once a week Sheryl would report the car going into limp mode with the P2121 code being thrown during the event. Then, this hit a fever pitch. One day, Sheryl left a southern Illinois courthouse to find someone actively slashing her tires. She scared off the guy before the tool went through the tire. But then something truly confusing happened during her five-hour drive home that made us think the vandal did something else. A few minutes after she entered the highway, the engine’s revs shot to redline. She didn’t change her pressure on the pedal. Instead, it seemed the car was trying to accelerate entirely on its own. Thankfully, the car entered into a safe mode where it wouldn’t travel faster than about 10 mph while the engine was seemingly running away.
Eventually, Sheryl was able to limp the car off the highway at 10 mph while the engine redlined. She let the car sit for 30 minutes, and then the vehicle allowed her to drive the five hours or so home without incident.
Once the car got home, I was able to replicate her issue, and it was shocking. A light would turn green, I would hit the gas, and the engine would bang off the rev limiter, but without any movement from the car. Or, alternatively, I’d hit the gas and nothing would happen. The car just sat as if I didn’t have the pedal welded to the floor. If I were lucky, the car merely went into limp mode and I had a top speed of 45 mph. Sometimes, the car could be cruising at 60 mph, and suddenly, the pedal would stop working.
I had a theory as to what happened here. About once a month or so, a Smart owner comes into a forum or group and complains that their gas pedal mysteriously no longer works. Back in my IT days, I learned that a great way to troubleshoot is to uninstall modifications first, and then start with a stock system. So, that was the advice I gave those people. I noticed that nearly all of the people who had pedal issues in their Smarts also had aftermarket cruise control systems. I’d have them disconnect their cruise controls, and in an instant, their gas pedals began working again.
As it turned out, some aftermarket cruise controls in Smarts have substandard soldering, and when the soldering goes, the gas pedal gets bad signals. This is because the cruise control routes directly through the digital pedal, so bad signals coming from the cruise control go into the pedal.
It sounds like there might be a similar issue that can happen with aftermarket cruise controls in Toyotas, too. At any rate, the cruise control had a warranty, so Sheryl had the dealer investigate. Here’s what was found:
A couple of techs at the local Toyota dealer worked through the weekend to replicate and troubleshoot the problem. The limp mode issue never showed up for them.
However, the tech who installed the cruise control found a bunch of fault codes stored in the cruise control unit itself plus that persistent P2121 from the car. Their diagnosis? The cruise control is having a failure of some kind, which sends bad signals to the accelerator pedal sensor. As for the P2121, it was found that the pedal sensor was also failing. The consensus is that the cruise control failure damaged the accelerator pedal sensor.
Unfortunately, the cruise control warranty covered only the unit itself. Since Toyota does not sell the accelerator pedal sensor itself, you have to replace the entire gas pedal. We ended up paying out of pocket to replace the pedal. It stung, but Sheryl got her car back with a shiny new pedal that actually worked better than the car’s original one.
The dealership then had us drive the car for a month with the cruise control disconnected to see if anything happened. The car drove just great, so the dealer decided to replace the bad cruise control with a new one. Finally, I thought, it was all over.
Here We Go Again
That was back in December 2024. It is now October, roughly 10 months and about 25,000 miles or so later. Sheryl has been telling me that her car is broken again. This time, the car has new and exciting issues for us.
The first is that our old friend P2122 came back. This time, the error manifests itself in a weird way. In most instances, we hit the gas and nothing happens. But as a twist, restarting the car doesn’t fix it, and hitting the gas after a restart results in the same non-movement. Sometimes, we have to restart the car two or three times before the pedal begins working again.
The other issue is that, at least once a day, as soon as I hit the gas, the engine sputters, stalls, and shuts down. Restarting the car sometimes results in it immediately sputtering and shutting down again. This issue is always accompanied by the pedal not working. If the pedal is working, the car isn’t stalling. Annoyingly, the car is not producing any engine codes when this happens. I don’t even find any “secret” codes with my fancy Autel scanner. Just the frustrating P2122.
There are two more issues, too. The CVT emits a concerning whine, and, when idle, I can feel a slight miss in the engine. Some of this is explainable. The car has 123,000 miles now, and according to the service records I could find, the car has its original spark plugs. I bet the slight miss will be solved with a spark plug change. That should also fix the problem we’ve been having with the car scoring only 23 mpg recently.
The rest of the issues are leaving me scratching my head. This time around, the dealership is unsure if the cruise control is a cause of the issue or just a symptom of it. At any rate, their solution is to just replace the pedal and the cruise control again. I don’t like this resolution, because that’s what didn’t work last time, and there’s no guarantee it’ll work this time. The pedal is a $200 part, and it’s insane that we’ve now lost two pedals in the span of just 10 months.
But I’m not really sure what to do about this. I’m not entirely sure how to troubleshoot this outside of just deleting the cruise control entirely, replacing the pedal again, and hoping we don’t end up right back here 10 months from now. But Sheryl loves the cruise control, and will hate staring at a dead cruise control stick, knowing she spent $800 on a pile of crap that she can’t use.
I feel like there are three possibilities here. Either the new cruise control encountered an error and killed the pedal again, or the pedal is dying because of some other issue with the car, or there’s some issue within the pedal part itself. Worse, since it takes 20,000 or more miles for the pedal to die, replicating it isn’t easy.
Solutions?
At the very least, I have a temporary solution. There’s no way around it; the current pedal is trash. So I’ll buy another one. Only two bolts hold it on, so I’ll install it myself. This time, instead of having the dealer replace the cruise, we’ll just disconnect it. We also called up an independent Toyota mechanic just to get a second opinion on what’s going on here.
Replacing the spark plugs is a bigger job than it should be. To get to the spark plugs, you have to remove the windshield wipers, the cowling, the airbox, and move around the rubber hoses. It’s a royal pain, and that’s due to the really tight packaging in the engine bay. I’m thinking about replacing the ignition coil packs while I’m in there.
Normally, I would not touch coil packs unless I know they are having issues. However, there are three things on my mind. The first is that these packs have 123,000 miles on them already, and Sheryl beats the crap out of this car. The second is that, if I replace the plugs, button the car back up, and find out the coils are bad, I’m not going to be happy to have to tear it back down again. The third is that, as I stated earlier, Sheryl doesn’t have the luxury of downtime. The car can’t be broken while I’m futzing around with coils and diagnosing issues. So, I’m feeling like I’ll just throw a fresh set of OEM coils in there as peace of mind. In the worst case, the original coils can be spares.
I’m hoping that, between the new plugs, coils, gas pedal, and disconnected cruise, the car will stop bricking itself and go back to being the reliable Toyota that it used to be.
Sadly, I’m not entirely sure what to do about the CVT aside from changing the fluid again. We changed the CVT fluid at 80,000 miles. The transmission has been whisper-quiet until about 5,000 miles ago. Now it’s loud again, just like it was during our Route 66 trip. The dealer says that the transmission will “either whine for the next 150,000 miles or blow up next week.”
At the very least, I have been able to confirm that there are plenty of complaints online about dying gas pedals and CVT whine in Scion and Toyota iQs. That bit is fascinating, but also reassuring. It’s good to know that it’s not just us experiencing these bizarre issues. I suppose it’s also sort of sad. You’d think that drive-by-wire would be so reliable that the idea of pressing the gas and nothing happening would be nearly impossible. Yet, here we are.
Anyway, here’s where I turn things over to you. Am I on the right track here? Am I missing something? Is this darn car haunted? Hopefully, the next time I write an update about this car, it will be a bit happier.
A lot of you seem to be insinuating that I bought her this car and forced her to drive it, and therefore I’m being a dick to my wife. She bought it with her own money. It was her decision to get it. I just made sure that, at the time of purchase, it wasn’t a pile of junk.
She is now considering just getting something boring, but functional, like a Prius.
2nd gen, make sure it has JBL sound option. Fantastic cars.
Neither you nor Sheryl seem like the kind of people that would put up with being “forced” into putting up with anything you didn’t like. And I mean that in the best possible way.
Good.
Yeah. I prefer a funky car but my commute for the last 15 years has been short and I have plenty of project cars to use as backups. I am starting a new job with a 1 hour commute each way so it is time to get something reliable, even if it is boring.
Good to hear re the Prius or similar. I believe the tangential point a lot of us were making is that you’re the car person in the relationship. With the ability to emphatically point out the pros and cons of car decisions. Prius: Pro: Good reputation, economical to run, good gas mileage. Con: Boring to those who value vehicle dynamics (not relevant on 30k+ year freeway slogs), may be noisier on highway due to focus on lightweight construction. If being kept over 200k, may cost more to fix than a regular Corolla that gets good mileage as well.
The Prius gets a lot of flack for poor vehicle dynamics but (at least the 2011 I drove for a while) it’s no worse than any other Toyota outside of their sports cars. The power steering isn’t as overboosted and it has less body roll than most of their other vehicles
Frankly, should she get two, given her milage? Would a dedicated salt season make sense? She’s running enough miles that two cars doesn’t seem stupid.
Will you actually hold on to the Prius this time or loan it to an irresponsible person who will then total it again? 😉
But yes, that’s definitely the right answer. Fuel efficient, dead nuts reliable (except the gen 3 head gasket issue…), and not nearly as awful to drive on the highway as I have to imagine an iQ is.
That was a lesson that cost us thousands to learn the hard way, and I wish I were kidding. Now, whenever someone asks to borrow a car, I just politely decline.
Glad to hear it. I’m super happy people like you and your wife exist and I don’t want to see you get taken advantage of.
Good call. There are companies that specialize in that! And if they don’t want to lend the person a car, then you certainly don’t either.
I think a lot of it comes from a place of genuine advice, but with the way internet commenting tends to go, it’s all too easy for sincerity to be lost in translation, and a well meaning comment misses a few words and comes across as condescending. Don’t let it be a cloud on your day, that’s all I’m sayin’!
What’s the over/under until we get an article regarding 2nd Gen Prius head gasket replacement.
Why was a person trying to slash her tires at the courthouse?
Never mind, found Sheryl’s comment below, at courthouse where either a defendant or plaintiff, sometimes both, will blame the lawyer for the outcome of their previous actions. Good work to represent those who do no have the means to hire an attorney, being charged is not the same as being guilty, hell sometimes being found guilty is not the same as being guilty. Stay smart, stay safe. Hopefully it is legal to carry pepper spray or a taser in the state or states where you practice.
If you are considering a Prius, how about its sibling the Lexus CT?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus_CT
It’s a Prius in a Lexus suit, with the same engine, hybrid system etc, but a different body and a nicer interior (it almost certainly has cruise control as standard)
Sold in the US between 2011-2017 in far greater numbers than the IQ, so finding a nice one should be easy.
A friend built his own cruise control in 1980. It had its own speedometer and a knob to set the desired speed. You would set the speed and push a button to engage the cruise control. The carburetor would go to wide open throttle until you got to the desired speed then close to maintain speed. I think it was vacuum controlled.
This was in a 1960s Dodge station wagon with a 440 engine. The whole thing was quite amusing.
These cruise control systems that splice into a drive by wire system sound like a real hairball by comparison.
Time to start shopping for a low mileage Aston Martin Cygnet? I’d imagine they must have had a factory cruise control. /s
I bought a new IQ with dealer added CC. Similar issues, but never to the point of limp home. Felt like “dead spots” in the pedal, then it would re-awaken. Never set a code, but was wonky. This was the first year IQ and I didn’t keep it long enough to research the exact cause. At the time, I don’t believe I ever considered the CC as the culprit…
I am sure this has been a frustrating experience, but ultimately I think you were seduced by Toyota’s reputation for quality. My suggestion would be there are a bunch of GM and Ford products capable of high mileage that can work for your wife while also being cool and also be easily serviced throughout the Midwest.
How about a Camaro or a Mustang?! What would be cooler than having your legal superhero pull up in a bad-ass muscle car?! (Make sure it has stripes!)
As a boring, practical person, I would go get a Malibu hybrid, put steel wheels on it and call it a day.
(I won’t suggest an SHO because cop-vibes are probably the last thing you want in that situation.)
They broke their good Toyota by installing aftermarket crap in it.
Hello everyone! Sheryl here. I love how everyone is so interested in my car! I just want to correct a couple of things because, being a lawyer and all, I am *incredibly* pedantic. lol
First, I would never ask Mercy to sell any of her cars for me. Asking her to sell multiple cars is a nonstarter. One of the reasons I love Mercy is her love of weird and quirky things that go. Hell, I have a bizarre love for mid 90s GM -bodies with 3800s. They’re too old to be reliable dailies now though.
Anyway, just to clear a few things up. I run a name-your-own-price, pay-whatever-you-can solo law practice for people who otherwise couldn’t afford representation. More than half my cases are pro bono, and in many others I’m appointed. This isn’t traditional lawyer money – truthfully, I take a massive loss on most of my cases – and the reality is that no car is going to stand up to driving 300 miles one way every day for very long. People don’t realize how much lawyers like me are the overstretched backbone of the legal system, but they DEFINITELY don’t realize how much this work is only possible because of Mercy. A really nice car like a Lexus means a higher payment or more expensive maintenance, and more money in a car means fewer cases. That means fewer people get helped.
And truthfully, I WANTED something unusual. See, as it is, if I’m spending this much time in my car as it is, I want it to be something fun. I can’t afford a car that’s fun because it’s fast, so fun because it’s weird is just as good. And frankly, I was the one who picked out this car because I thought having a more reliable Smart whilst married to the Queen of Smarts would be romantic. I don’t regret it, even if “Ike” makes me tear my hair out sometimes.
So yes, it probably would be better to have something a bit more traditional. But I’m not exactly a traditional kind of gal. And Mercy spends so much time and money and energy supporting my work for absolutely nothing in return. I am so very, very blessed. I’m not going to ask her to sacrifice even more just so I can have a different car. I could be at a traditional law firm making six figures. Instead, I’m a lawyer who deliberately loses money working for clients who can’t pay.
Thus, we’re technically a two job, sort of one-ish income household, plus I have a progressive chronic illness and need a couple thousand dollars per month in medication. I’d drive a Wheego if I had to. I’m the luckiest girl in the world. If I ever hit it big, sure I’ll upgrade. But we have bigger plans than just a nicer car for me, and my Crohn’s meds aren’t cheap either.
I bought the iQ with my own money, and I’m proud of it. And I’m proud of my wife too.
Damn… you are a legend! And honestly, I cannot stress this enough, if you do decide to get another car and you are driving this much (which is a LOT of miles).
Do your body, your sanity, and your fuel mileage a favor and see if you can find anything reliable with adaptive cruise control (with auto stop/go). I think that the very last year of the Ford Fusion (and fusion hybrids) had this, and those can be found for not terrible amounts of money.
I didn’t think I’d care about this feature until I had to start a very long/shitty commute daily (>100 miles round trip). It took my road rage and overall stress down by about 50%, and I came home a much happier person to be around.
Lexapro and weed helps too. haha
That’s just so awesome. Good for you both.
Sheryl, you have an important job and to do it well, you need the right tool. The right tool may be boring, but others rely on you so you have to be able to rely on it. I agree that you should not ask Mercedes to sell any cars, so I will. Mercedes, sell some of your dang cars and buy your wife what she needs. Not one of those cars have ever cried a tear for you.
Amusingly, I have a story about that! One of the Volkswagens I used to own used to spray oil onto the underside of its hood, which would then leak onto the headlights. It looked like the car was bawling its eyes out after every drive.
But yes, you do have a good point!
I don’t have any useful advice, but I appreciate all you do.
You’re doing the work this world needs. Good for you.
Regardless of your funding, there is good reason to believe a newer car might actually cost less to run. According to Mercedes’ posts in this thread, my crew cab truck uses less fuel than your Scion… That adds up over 30,000k.
-Are you familiar with a ‘Total Cost of Ownership” calculation? Might be a good place to run some of your potential vehicles through. Include the realistic cost of repairs, fuel and resale value.
Have you talked to a tax professional about the best car for your needs? If you’re self employed or have an incorporation, you might be able to write off a significant portion of a lease payment on a new vehicle.
Never mind a lease, you can write off a signifcant portion of a purchased vehicle as well. Either an initial writeoff and continued depreciation including all maintenance/repairs or a per mile reimbursement, doesn’t matter the vehicle as long as it is business usage. However that goes against the profit, so if there IS no profit, then there is no writeoff, just a further loss.
Helping others is very commendable however one has to help themselves first. If one is struggling themselves, there isn’t much point to helping others as sooner or later one will themself become the victim, it’s usually not sustainable over the long term. While there are needy people today there will always be needy people, there is nothing wrong with getting oneself into an advantageous position first and THEN giving back by helping out however possibe. The overall societal benefit may likely be even greater this way over the long term.
Fantastic points all around.
Replacing the sparkalators would hopefully fix the abhorrent fuel economy. It used to get 40 mpg in the past. But I am pro-Prius or Avalon for the replacement. Prius would get awesome fuel economy and feel better on the highwy (plus factory cruise), while an Avalon would be a more comforting ride for less than Lexus money.
There is something to be said for a larger car eating miles more comfortably. I think the NVH just happens at a lower frequency, which is less fatiguing. I image the Avalon would have nice seats too…
Have you thought about a Camry Hybrid? Would kinda split the difference between the Avalon and Prius.
I get all that, but with the miles you are putting on, you should really be focusing on MPG. I’ve suggested prius a few times because they’re just GREAT all around cars… but if you like small cars, I suggest the 1st gen Honda Insight. Can even get one with a 5spd. I bought mine for $3k at 180k miles. I’m at about 300k miles now.
I’ve had to replace 2 control arms, a temp sensor, clean out the EGR passage (free), a coil pack, and a couple wheel bearings. Maybe an axle. It’s been an extremely reliable vehicle, and I’d drive it across the country tomorrow without a 2nd thought.
And in that time, I’ve saved SO MUCH MONEY on gas. With snow tires, I get 52mpg. With narrow all seasons, I can get 60+. I know you guys are in the midwest, and the beauty of the insight is that it’s an aluminum chassis and wont rust out.
I know Mercedes loves smarts, and you have…sort of one… but I always thought those cars were sort of stupid because the 1st gen insight exists. They hold the same amount of people, the insight is slightly longer and a lot lower, way more efficient, likely safer, more unique, more fun to drive, etc. I just don’t understand why the Smart car exists when the Insight already existed, since the Insight does everything better.
Also I may have one for sale soon. Just saying. Cheers
Edit; if your heart loves 3800 GM vehicles, don’t discount them! You can find low mileage ones as boomers are dying off, I have one now and it’s a very reliable car, but usually around 25mpg. 30 is possible if you drove slow, I think… but then the the Prius and the Insight start making wayyyyyy more sense if you look at the running costs.
I fixed a bad TPS sensor with Deoxit... might want to try it on your old pedal assembly, then return the one you just bought in case it works.
Ah! Yeah. It’s just we’re putting new coversheets on all the TPS reports before they go out now.
Have you looked at the OEM troubleshooting steps for P2122? Not that it helps much but you can check the throttle position on a scan tool and maybe check the wiring between the pedal assembly and the ECM. Otherwise it looks like it’s all internal to the pedal assembly. Here’s a poorly formatted copy/paste:
P2122 – Throttle / Pedal Position Sensor / Switch “D” Circuit Low Input
This Electronic Throttle Control System (ETCS) does not use a throttle cable.
These DTCs relate to the accelerator pedal position sensor.
The accelerator pedal position sensor is built into the accelerator pedal assembly and has 2 sensor circuits: VPA (main) and VPA2 (sub). This sensor is a non-contact type sensor and uses Hall-effect elements in order to yield accurate signals even in extreme driving conditions, such as at high speeds as well as very low speeds. The voltage, which is applied to terminals VPA and VPA2 of the ECM, varies between 0.5 V and 4.5 V in proportion to the operating angle of the accelerator pedal (throttle valve). A signal from VPA indicates the actual accelerator pedal opening angle (throttle valve opening angle) and is used for engine control. A signal from VPA2 conveys the status of the VPA circuit and is used to check the accelerator pedal position sensor itself.
The ECM monitors the actual accelerator pedal opening angle (throttle valve opening angle) through the signals from VPA and VPA2, and controls the throttle actuator according to these signals.
P2122 – VPA is 0.4 V or less for 0.5 seconds or more when the accelerator pedal is depressed (1 trip detection logic).
Here’s an imgur album with tables and the wiring diagram- https://imgur.com/a/WbZiTER
I though it was P2121?
Look, I legit love the iQ just as much as you two, it’s a fun quirky car, but I think it’s time to admit that it just isn’t the right choice here for Sheryl.
I think it’s pretty obvious that the cruise control unit is the problem, and just replacing it again is going to run into the same issues and cost.
The iQ wasn’t designed for the kind of driving she does, and it would be much more comfortable and less of a headache to buy something that actually was meant for those kinds of miles and driving with a factory cruise, like a Prius?
Yeah, a nice 2nd gen Prius would be a great car, cruises effortlessly at 75, gets 45mpg, lasts forever, HUGE inside! I loved my 2nd gen Prius.
Thirded. Sheryl has a lot on her plate and does a ton of good out in the world. Please get this woman a gently kept Prius or something that is stone dead reliable, sufficiently comfy, and gets excellent mileage.
I would also say used Lexus, but then, I always say that, and people might not wanna. It will use more fuel (did the us get the 220d?), but it won’t break.
also a good option that would def let her eat the miles in comfort, but from previous posts, I think that brand would draw too much attention and cause different headaches.
She needs something innocuous that blends in.
I guess, yeah. Mind you, over here, is220d = ‘classy shitbox’. Dunno if that holds true in the States tho. A decent one is less than 3k
Apparently, only if the ‘wire’ is a mechanical, push/pull wire cable.
The amount of driving she does? I’d get her something dead reliable with cruise control from the factory, like a Prius, Corolla, Civic, etc.
I can offer no troubleshooting advice, but just wanted to say that’s a decent looking car, especially in that color and with those alloys. Like a Honda Goldwing, the iQ is something that I’ll never own myself, but I’m glad it exists and am happy to read about it. 🙂
It’s clearly the crappy aftermarket cruise control that’s causing these issues. Stop trying to make it work, because you’re just going to keep facing the same problem every year and 20,000 miles or so. If she wants to keep this car and have it run reliably then you guys need to accept that it won’t have cruise control. The $800 spent on the aftermarket is a sunk cost; don’t throw good money after bad and deal with more unnecessary headaches and repairs.
If the cruise control is a dealbreaker then it’s quite possibly time for another car. Sell this thing before you get into super high mileage territory and it’s still worth something. Buy something newer, preferably a CPO vehicle with a warranty known for reliability and run the crap out of it. Ideally something more comfortable and meant for long road trips; a bit larger, a more comfortable ride, something that was intended to get up to and maintain highway speeds without breaking a sweat. I get that it sucks to pile miles on a more expensive car.
I used to drive 30,000 miles a year for work, put 90,000 miles on a brand new (thankfully affordable) sedan in the first three years. But the peace of mind and reliability were invaluable. I drive significantly less now and that car’s coming up on 200,000 miles, but if I still drove as much as I did then it would’ve been replaced long ago. Good luck.
> put 90,000 miles on a brand new (thankfully affordable) sedan in the first three years
Was it an underrated ’90s Buick, by chance?
Sounds like the car you want is the Prius C with cruise control. 50mpg all day, cruise control, small. I think mine is up to about 200,000 miles now with nothing other than fluid changes. Sold it to a friend and it’s still his daily. Looked at the iq when we bought the Prius C, but it didn’t make sense. It was much smaller, worse mpg, and costed about the same. The Prius C is still a relatively small sub compact.
I concur. I have a Prius C with cruise and I’m so glad I bought it. I replaced a Subaru Impreza with it, so I lost AWD and 48 hp, but the fuel economy and smaller size, since I now live in a city, more than makes up for it. It’s a small car, but unlike the iQ, it’s still practical, with a useable back seat and decent trunk space. It even has a spare wheel, unlike most hybrids today.
Go Aqua! 🙂
My only knock on the car was it was a bit loud on the highway, couldn’t do conf calls very well. A much more expensive option would be the Camry or Corolla Hybrids.
It is kind of loud on the highway, that’s true. I think it’s because as a cheaper car, it doesn’t have much sound insulation, and considering it only has 99 hp on tap, the engine has to rev kind of high to stay at highway speeds. My girlfriend has a Camry hybrid and it’s much more refined.
If you ever care about improving the handling, a set of shock\springs or coilover + 17×7 wheels and 215 width tires + alignment took out all the understeer from the factory and had no negative impact on MPG.
My car had massive understeer from the factory. With the battery being low and in the back, it handled pretty decent. Had that setup for about 110K miles before I sold it and average 50MPG each tank.
I get that the IQ is cool and beloved but… time to give up on the charming modified city car and get Sheryl what she actually needs: a common, reliable highway-eater. Comfy, actually intended for long drives, and with millions built.
Corolla, Prius, Civic, etc.
here to say this. I was thinking CR-V or Rav4 but Prius is the best answer
Yeah, good choices but I bet you can get used sedans for much cheaper than used everybody-wants-one SUVs.
I was thinking what she really needed to replace the BMW with was a Lexus ES.
I thought in some previous article Mercedes mentioned Sheryl prefers something humble so as not to put off her clients?
I wonder if Lexus seems too high-end, even if it’s an old one…
Makes sense, though a CPO one says I’m practical but want to be comfortable. As suggested elsewhere the Avalon would be a good move then, as would a Camry.
If Mercedes really wants to Mercedes this, she could get Sheryl a low mileage 25 year old Toyota badged Lexus from Japan.
Many people don’t differentiate the difference between driving a used luxury car or a new one. Nor do they know if it was purchased new or used.
Plenty of people couldn’t tell the difference between a 2010 and 2025 E-Class.
Jason’s Marshall, maybe?
My hybrid Camry eats highway miles in efficient comfort. A Lexus ES or Avalon would be even better, though less economical.
Stop trying to square-peg-round-hole. Get an actual, long haul commuter car and be done with it
I’m confused,
Then later,
Which is it? Either way, I think your problem is deeper than just spark plugs. While changing those certainly won’t hurt anything, and if you can feel it missing, and with the crappy MPG, it does make sense that the change is needed, but I still think you’re going to need more than that. Having said that, I’m an idiot, so don’t take my advice very seriously.
I thought she had the dealer do the plugs, she did not.
Oh ok that makes more sense. Confusion in the older article. Yeah definitely time to do those then!
The last thing I would ever do is install some third-party electronics between the GO pedal and the engine/ECU. If you can’t control the accelerator you have big problems.
Rather than keep patching up a car that was not meant to do this, please listen to the crowd and buy her a reliable, newer car with a factory cruise control that was meant for the highway, not for city driving. She’s doing way too many miles to be in something that you can’t trust that was never fit for this purpose when new, much less at 13.
I always say the same thing when people talk about adding Pedal Commanders.
There are a lot of comments telling you to do reasonable things. I agree with them, but also:
Replace the plugs. They have a 120k service life and I prefer to replace them earlier than that.Leave the coil packs alone. Toyota OEM coil packs routinely last 250k+ miles before failing. I’d be shocked if they are problematic, you’d just be throwing away money. Besides, they don’t all fail at once. If a coil pack were bad you’d have a misfire on a specific cylinder, not a random misfire.Throw the aftermarket cruise control unit in the trash. Two of them have failed on you now, each after about a year.The throttle pedal might not be broken this time. You’d probably need TechStream to tell whether it’s failing. Either get the Toyota dealer to tell you this, or just see how the car acts after you remove the cruise control.
If you want to add cruise control again, pick a different aftermarket unit (ideally made by a different company).
Mercedes, I love you and your stalwart defense of and love for the automotively weird. It’s a deeply autopic lifestyle and is to be celebrated.
As a guy with an unapologetic love for econoboxes – the awfuller, the better (helloooo, diesel Chevette) – I am right there with you and would, but for the lack of parking space and my spouse’s limited patience, have a small collection of the scroungiest of bottom-tier penalty box economy cars you could imagine.
And an AMC Eagle. And possibly a Gremlin. I like orphans, what can I say.
But Sheryl should be in something less weird. Her life isn’t weird cars, her life is, apparently, a shitload of driving. Sheryl needs a GenIV Prius.
Or a Corolla.
Spec it down. Get the stripper. The fewer addon geegaws it has, the fewer things there are to fail and possibly disable the car. Cruise control, good sound system aaaaannnd that’s about it.
Prii are notoriously reliable and long-lived, with the occasional exception for the earlier GenIII models that were susceptible to head gasket issues. GenIV is the largest, borderline fun to drive (squint a little and have a low threshold for that one) and rack up hundreds of thousands of miles with nothing more than basic maintenance. Interesting it is not, but neither is a bricked car when you’re supposed to be going somewhere.
This, so much this. I was thinking Camry, but a Prius is such a a better suggestion.
Either one would be a perfectly reasonable suggestion. It would really depend on which she was more comfortable in at that point since either should be a reliable highway mile eater. Although putting that kind of distance on that little car suggests she would probably be comfortable in almost anything.
Some cars just are cursed. It’s time to say goodbye to the Toyota and get something not as fun but reliable. Even if not going the Prius or Avalon suggestion way something different at least. This one is just cursed.
“Perfectly Reliable”
You keep using those words. I do not think they mean what you think they mean.
Yeah. I don’t care if it’s a Toyota or a 1970s British Leyland.
13 year old car + aftermarket modifications (to the car’s critical systems?!?) does NOT = reliability.
There is a reason fleets buy or lease new and let go of the vehicle before the warranty runs out.
Is the car dead? Or mostly dead?
It’ll take a miracle!
Remember who her boss is. A man with a “rust free” J10 “in great shape, body wise, if you consider how old it is. It’s got a little rust hole in the hood, a little rust on the back of the cab, a little hole here and there in the door jambs, a little bit on the floorboards, and a little in the bed, but it’s otherwise clean. “
Seriously Mercedes, y’all should just consider getting her a Toyota that doesn’t come from the depths of low-volume hell.
Any of their hybrid vehicles would probably be just what the doctor ordered. Plenty of them to choose from on the used market, and most will come with factory cruise control.
When a Scion comes along, you must Brick it.
If it won’t move along, you must brick it!
Brick it. Into shape!
Clearly, you all (like Mercedes) are showing plenty of Devo-tion to the Scion.
There aren’t many vehicles more Devo than an iQ.
Except perhaps a Gremlin. Or a Pacer.
Not sure about taxation in the US, but is Cheryl’s business incorporated? Could she not get a lease on a newer car (with the appropriate mileage allowance) and write off the payments? This seems likes a much easier alternative.
Sounds reasonable to me. I am not overly familiar with tax laws, but I know people do this.
Sheryl is a lawyer. If anyone can figure the tax law stuff out she can. I’d be surprised if her law business wasn’t already an incorporated entity.
She likely works for a firm though, it’s possible she’s out on her own, but I always assume lawyers are working for firms, which would of course be incorporated, but would come with their own rules regarding stuff like that.
Mercedes has mentioned enough things to make me think she works on her own.
I swear I’m not a stalker, I just have a freakish ability to retain the most useless information from an article.
Fair. I can see where you’d get that from, I guess I never really processed a thought about it until now.
It may be time for the ultimate Toyota for bulk miles:
A Prius.
Absolutely. When my wife was driving over 120 miles a day we picked up a used 2010 Prius with 110k on it. She took it to 235k with tires and oil changes. That car was a warrior and definitely earned my respect.