This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Violent shaking in steering wheel upon ignition; sporadic jerky steering; repeated loss of power steering at various speeds including highway speeds. This seems to the same phenomenon that was the subject of a safety recall of 2001 priuses. The recall should be broadened.
The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the vehicle would shake abnormally when first started. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and serviced under NHTSA campaign number 11V304000 (steering), however the failure was not corrected. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 100,000 and the current mileage was 170,000.
I was exiting off (turning) the highway in exit 10.270 md, when the steering wheel became really hard and a warning ps signal appeared, I had to pull over and after switching off the engine and back on. I continued driving.
The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while attempting a right turn, the power steering assist failed and the steering wheel seized. The power steering warning light illuminated on the instrument panel as the failure occurred. The contact spoke with the manufacturer and was told that entire power steering and motor system needed to be replaced. The VIN was not available. The failure and the current mileages were 147,800.
The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving various speeds, the power steering assist failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the contact that the power steering rack needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously serviced under NHTSA campaign id number: 11V304000 (steering). The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.
- Sussex, NJ, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
Violent shaking of the steering wheel while stopped or at slow speeds. Particularly in the winter time, first thing in the morning. Stopping the vehicle and sometimes shutting off and back on will address the issue.
Toyota issued a recall in August 2011 on gen. 1 Prius for a steering issue. We took the Prius into local dealer and they replaced steering nuts per recall. Within a week after recall fix, we noticed a violent shake to the steering wheel during a cold morning start. It had never done that before the recall. We took the car in after it occurred again and were told that our rack and pinion was wore and needed to be replaced. During the recall work, the dealership did a complete inspection of the car and nothing unusual was noted. How did they do work on a rack and pinion and not notice wear on it then? we believe when they torqued the new nuts to the steering pinion, this created undo stress on the torque sensor and is why the afterwork shaking is occurring. Toyota needs to come clean and replace these racks free of charge for possible damage to alot of gen. 1 Prius's when they did the nut recall. There is more of a safety issue now with the violent steering wheel shaking out of unsuspecting drivers than a nut that's going to break off. NHTSA, force them to do a recall now!!!!
The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the steering shake violently while turning, reversing, or in drive. The steering had to be held with both hands to be able to keep the vehicle in lane. The steering would stop shaking whenever the accelerator pedal was released. The manufacturer advised that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign id number: 12V537000 (steering). The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 37,000.
When driving on the freeway, after a 300 mile drive, a pothole was struck. The steering wheel vibrated forcefully from side to side for about a minute, then power steering failed. Steering was possible, but only with great physical effort. After the vehicle rested overnight, symptoms were not present.
I was turning left into a parking spot when the steering sounded and acted odd. The ps light came on. I brought it to a Toyota dealer and had to replace the power steering gear mechanism at a cost of over $2600. I was told the recall on this was V.I.N. specific and did not apply to mine. My concern is if this is the same issue that is addressed in the recall, and my car had the issue, why is it not taken care of by the company.
On cold days, when driving for the first time, the steering wheel will start shuddering back and forth violently and rapidly if I try to turn the vehicle. This occurs regardless of the road condition at speeds of less than 10 mph. The shuddering stops only when I straighten out the wheel.
Day leading up to incident, steering wheel would pull to right very easily or while rolling, but could be pulled back to center without issue. On day of incident, backed car out of parking space and a clunking sound was made under car. Steering wheel would then only turn about a quarter turn and would not turn the wheels at all. We had the car towed to the dealer who determined that the steering rack was bad and the spiral cable which provided power to the airbag was bad as well. This was a very disturbing finding for us as we could've been driving the car on the interstate at interstate speeds when the steering broke. Additionally, the airbag would not have gone off if we had gotten into a crash. Dealership and Toyota were contacted regarding warranty replacement of both items. Dealership and Toyota refused to provide any warranty or discount to correct the issues. Had the car towed home. Ordered used steering rack and spiral cable and installed them myself. Car is functioning now, but I have concern that the same thing will happen again. I still have the bad steering rack and bad spiral cable.
I have a 2002 Toyota Prius with 140K miles on it. The steering wheel started to shake violently last fall when I put the car in reverse. It now does this at low speeds, particularly around corners and is becoming an increasing problem at higher speeds. The power steering cut out on the freeway at 70 miles per hour last week. That convinced me I need to get a new car. I tried to trade it in at a local Toyota dealer last summer and couldn't understand why they wouldn't give me more than $2.5K for it as I had paid $15K for it 2.5 years earlier. Admittedly, I had been T-boned and a lot of work had been done on the car, but my dealer had it fixed it to where you wouldn't know it was in an accident unless it was pointed out. I researched the problems online and found this is a well -known design problem with the cars steering rack. I can't sell it to anyone as is. I'm stuck with having to do a $3K repair to a car that's worth less than that to its dealership. It scares me to drive it. They only made 26K of these cars. Does every one have this problem" I spoke with Toyota and they said they did offer an extended warranty repair on this, but since my car had >100K, the burden would be mine. They should be willing to resolve this design flaw. What is my recourse" again, I am afraid to drive it as I don't know what will happen.
Steering wheel, uncontrollable shudder, will literally rip itself out of your hand or grip. Usually happens during the first of the day when it's relatively cold. While slowly moving the vehicle, the steering wheel will start to vibrate violently, in an un controllable manner. Sometimes the power steering will just error out while driving down the street during the day, loosing all power steering as well.
Repeated problems with steering, including uncontrollable vibration of steering wheel and loss of power steering. Car has 39K miles. Problem has recently grown worse, with complete loss of power steering and appearance of ps warning on computer screen during highway driving. Problem is especially prevalent in cold weather. Very dangerous.
The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Prius. The contact was driving approximately 45 mph when the power steering warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering rack would need to be replaced. The dealer deemed as unsafe to drive. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000.
Steering wheel shakes violently for a few seconds then stops. Up until yesterday it did this sporadically while backing and turning. Yesterday, it did it during wet weather, 50 degrees Fahrenheit, backing and turning. Then it did it again while driving and turning in a parking garage. This was the first time it has ever done it going forward. This problem has been occurring for approx 8 years on and off. Toyota dealership says they cannot reproduce problem.
Electronically-assisted power steering rack assembly defective on 2002 Toyota Prius, particularly vehicle id number [xxx]. information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Denver, CO, USA