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.
After driving for a combined time of 4 hours in a 5 hour period, my wife left a store she visited off zebulon road and I-475 near macon ga. When attempting to re-enter southbound I-475 the car failed and would not accelerate. A few seconds after the drive system shut down and would not restart. The dash indicators said check hybrid power system. The car was towed to a dealer rogers Toyota in macon ga, where it now is. The dealer says that the problem was the engine control module though the inverter is being replaced under an existing recall issued last week. It is not clear if the engine control module is covered by the recall.
I started noticing a high pitch noise sporadically on my car after it was a few months old. If I stopped and restarted the car, the noise would go away. When I brought it to Toyota they could not reproduce the problem. It would happen about 1-3 times per month and some months not at all. On this particular trip about a month ago, I did not notice the noise on start up (I had a cold that affected my hearing), but did hear it after getting on the highway. There was no where to reasonably pull over and restart the car safely, so I kept driving. After about 15-30 minutes the speedometer cluster/dash that displays the speed, fuel and drive position went blank and the noise went away. Searching online there were at least a handful of others who either had their speedometer replaced under warranty or otherwise with the same issue. I also found a recall on the 2009, a year earlier, Prius for the same issue and yes the same company makes the part. I brought my car to the dealer asap and the dealer wanted to charge me $120 to diagnose. When I questioned them, they said they need to take the dash apart, which is a lie as this would be more expensive as per our conversation. I asked for a quick computer diagnosis and they refused. I then called Toyota who said my car is long out of warranty for this part and that because I didn't pay for a diagnosis they would not take it further. When I pressed on with them they hid behind confidentiality when I asked about others who had this issue and then they said even if I paid for a diagnosis and this was found defective there are no promises. They want ~$1,200 to fix this defect.
I was driving with the flow of traffic (around 30 mph) on a main surface street in a middle lane of a multilane street when suddenly the engine stopped, and I was unable to make the engine respond. The car immediately began to slow down; I could not make it accelerate to keep in the flow of traffic. I managed to carefully drift over to the right and maneuver through an intersection and glide to a stop on the right side of the road. I turned off the engine and repeatedly tried to restart it to no avail. I called for towing service and had the car towed to my Toyota dealer, where the service people said it was an "internal failure" and replaced the inverter assembly. What has terrified me is that I could have been on the freeway driving at least 60 mph, where the consequences would be devastating to me and others. I asked if Toyota would be reporting this to the NHTSA, and they said that was an internal determination. I asked if this had happened before to others and did not receive a clear answer.
Driving 45 mph down busy 4 lane street when car just went out of gear from drive to neutral and wouldn't go into gear. Car came to a stop in heavy traffic and I was almost hit by several vehicles. Had to push to side of road. Called dealership and they sent a tow truck. They said they had never heard of this happening before but while I was sitting there waiting for a ride I went online and saw that this has happened to hundreds of people. The others affected by this defect said that heat causes a magnet to detach taking the car from drive to neutral. I am very thankful that this did not happen on the freeway or could have caused fatalities. Toyota has not recalled any vehicles or made notification to owners. This is dangerous and I'm only putting complaint in now since I didn't know how to previously. Found out 2 days after incident that the dealership has had this issue with more than 100 vehicles and that they were not being honest when they said they never saw this before. Toyota needs to get the word out before someone is killed.
- Mojave, CA, USA
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The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving 65 mph, the low beam head lights failed and could not be re-illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated that the light bulbs needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred five times. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 40,000. Updated 10/29/13 the consumer stated both of the low beams went out simultaneously. Also, when the wires were wiggled the lights would come on. The dealer suggested to turn to the vehicle off, and then turn it back it on. The consumer believed there was an electrical or computer problem.
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving approximately 15 mph, the engine stalled without warning. Upon restarting, the vehicle resumed normally but the failure later recurred. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnosis where the volt battery was replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 49,312...updated 10/30/13 updated 10/31/13 the consumer stated the dealership did not put the engine guard on the vehicle properly, the engine cover detached, the tires went flat frequently, lights needed to be replaced, and the battery completely powered off. A separate dealership informed the consumer that the vehicle was defective. The consumer stated that the second time the vehicle shut down was at 60 mph the vehicle powered off 10 within 10 minutes on the same day during rush hour. Updated 11/4/2013 the consumer stated the vehicle powered off twice while driving on the highway. The first time it happened, she was driving 15 mph and the second time it happened she was driving 60 mph and she lost power all together.
While driving at ca. 20 mph a sudden jolt and clunk occurred and the car was stalled. Various dashboard lights came on, and the dash displayed "check hybrid system." Towed to a Toyota dealer, the problem was stated to be a failed inverter-converter that needed to be replaced.
I nearly hit a person while backing out of my driveway. The person was yelling but I could not hear them. Good thing they moved quickly. My radio was off and I was not using a cell phone. However the Prius beeps loudly inside the cabin while in reverse. It is loud, distracting and frankly annoying. Our Toyota highlander does not beep while in reverse. No other car I ever owned or operated beeped inside while in reverse. Some larger vehicles have an external beeper but none that I know beep inside. The dealer told me the beeping was necessary to remind me I was in reverse. The car is part electric so they say I need the beeper to know I am in reverse. That argument is plain stupid for the obvious reasons. The dealer stated that electric hybrids must have an internal reverse beeper by law. I think beeper is a hazard ie: I almost ran someone over. Is the reverse beeper indeed a law " can I get it disabled "
Our 2010 Prius suffered a near total power failure on 5/10/13 when the car suddenly and without any advanced warning, lost power decelerating from about 35 mph to about 4 mph in less than 5 seconds. Every idiot light came on at once on the dash panel and a "hybrid system failure" notice came up on the alphanumeric display. Luckily, I was on a city street and not the highway when this happened. I was able to get the car safely off to the side of the road and call for a tow. Our Prius has approx. 44000 miles on it, is regularly maintained at the dealer, not mistreated in any way and gave no advanced warning indication that there was anything wrong with the electrical/propulsion system. The car lost almost total power, limped about 50 feet past parked cars and just died at the curb after I put it in park. It would light up across the dash, but never start the engine. We have had this car about 36 months. As this is my wife's car, I am greatly worried about the safety of the car and having this problem happening again, especially to her at high speed, multi-lane highway driving. It has been repaired at a local Toyota dealership. They installed a new 12V battery and eventually the main fix, a inverter/converter. The car now runs like day one. However, how do we trust this car in the future if it did not give any warning of imminent propulsion failure ? I am getting nowhere with Toyota about their providing some kind of advanced warning to get the car onto the shoulder of the road and keep it running for about 1 - 5 minutes. Thank you
The display that shows the speed indicator and which gear you are in has a double image and looks as though it is out of Focus. The rest of the display to the right looks fine. I took it to my local Toyota dealer and asked them to fix it and they said that this problem is on all gen III priuses. He took me to a brand new 2013 Prius and it to had the same problem. I believe this is a hazard and should be fixed. Here is a link to a website that talks about it. priuschat.com/threads/why-the-double-image.60604/.
Starting my vehicle and leaving my garage at 2 mph the master warning light, check hybrid system light, and malfunction indicator/check engine light were all lit up. With a terrible smell electrical/fuel. I immediately shut the car off and let it sit. After a few seconds I tried again with the same result. The owners manual says to not drive and contact Toyota dealer immediately. When the tow truck arrived I again tried to start the vehicle and the warnings were not present. The dealer investigated and said it was over ethanol in the fuel. The fuel has been tested and found to be 6-8%, which is acceptable. The dealer at the time of the repair wanted $450 to drop and clean the tank. Instead I chose to go with the phillips Toyota (leesburg Florida, phone 352-728-2030) dealer service manager, david newton to the closest gas station and fill up. Since then there has not been a problem, but I am concerned for my safety in now driving the vehicle. As this is a hybrid which I purchased to help our country with energy security (56 mpg) but am afraid as a retiree with my wife that this could have ended differently if we were on the interstate traveling. With the reputation of Toyota and the unexpected acceleration we are concerned that the initial problem has not been found and will recur. This could happen on the interstate highway with a much different outcome. I am reporting this to go on record with this problem just in case an accident or fatality is involved the next time, if it happens again. Thank-you and I can email my file which has been sent to shellcustomercare@shell.com under their reference#[xxx], and Florida division of consumer services, [xxx]. I have also requested a meeting with the Toyota corporation representative through the dealer service mgr. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
The problem that is causing the head lights to burn out simultaneously needs to be resolved. It is a safety hazard for this to continue. Purchased a Toyota Prius 2010 in December 2010. Since that time, the head lights have been a problem. Each time there is a problem, both head lights burn out simultaneously. The first time the head lights failed was August 7, 2012 when there were five of us in the car driving 15+ miles with about a third of the drive on many residential streets that were not well lit. The dealership in Florida was called and it was explained that both headlights burned out at the same time and that it must be something other than the bulbs because headlights do not burn out together at the same time. The service representative quoted that the cost of the repair to replace the head lights was about $150. He did not ask if the car was under warranty and he did not acknowledge that it could be something in the electrical system. He did not suggest that the car be brought in to have them put it on diagnostic machines to verify where the problem may be.we opted to replace the bulbs ourselves. The second time both head lights burned out simultaneously was October 21, 2012 and we again, replaced the bulbs ourselves. The cost of the bulbs including tax is $54.36. This morning is the third time both lights have burned out at the same time again. The Prius has 35,840 miles. This is not reasonable. We have already spent $108.72 to replace the bulbs twice. It is unreasonable. It is extremely unsafe not knowing when and where the head lights will burn out. We have teenage drivers and it is upsetting to know they are not in a safe vehicle.
My commute is 62 miles, one way. Tonight I realized my low beam headlights were not working. My high beams work. I drove the 62 miles with my high beams on. The fuses were fine. It is odd that both low beam lights were out at the same time but the high beams were fine. I searched online some and there were numerous similar problems with the Prius low beam lights.
2010 Toyota Prius at dealership for 25000 mile service. On 11/07/2012 at 1700 the dealership called and reported that the car is "infested with rodents." Stated that headliner is saturated with urine/ feces, air and cabin air filters destroyed, wires chewed, rodents found to be living in dashboard, in door interiors, and other areas. Reported that this was "the worst case we've seen." Car is owned by two professionals- no children who would have dropped food and no food ever eaten in vehicle. Purchased new from this same dealership 01/02/2011. Dealership now reports that the car is a health/ safety hazard and could cost "thousands" to repair. Our internet research revealed that rodent infestation is common in the Toyota Prius, reportedly because rodents are able to gain easy access through the car's ventilation system. Owners reported contacting Toyota, who denied liability and denied request for assistance.
Panel light dimmer inoperable when parking/head lights are turned on (I.e., there is no display on instrument panel for current speed, fuel volume, fuel consumption, etc. When driving with head lights on). This similarly affects the audio/HVAC display.
The contact was driving a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact was driving 40 mph when the vehicle stopped in the street. Prior to the vehicle stopping, a beeping/alarm sounded, the seat belt locked in place and the warning on the dashboard flashed brakes.
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid. The contact stated that while driving 10 mph, the vehicle stalled and a hybrid system failure message came on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to come up with a concrete diagnosis but stated that the failure might had been caused by a one volt over charge on the hybrid battery which happen as a result of excessive braking. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 41,000 and the current mileage was 43,000.
Our 2010 Prius is unsafe during the daytime driving when we are required by road sides to turn on our headlights in certain roads, when we comply the headlights go on, but the dash lights go dark and we are unable to read the speedometer etc. I went to a toyoda dealer and they said nothing could be done to fix the problem. Today, Aug 6, I personally spoke with toyoda motor sales in torrance ca., on my complaint 1107281155, and was told toyoda could do nothing on 2010 Prius which all have the same problem. I offered to pay to fix it as I am on roads requiring daylight head lights on several times a month. I feel that toyoda should recall all Prius and fix that problem, there is no excuse for a dangerous sistuation like that especiallly when I can receive a ticket for not using the headlights during the day or if I do not being able to read the speedometer etc. I feel that throughout the West many roads require onlight headlights. I would like a formal investigation about this matter.
Second occurrence of this problem in three weeks. Driving downhill on a residential street at 25 mph, slowing to a stop without applying the accelerator. Suddenly lost engine power. Applied accelerator, no response. Continued to lose speed as I rolled silently downhill toward the intersection. Applied brakes and stopped. Restarted the engine and it started up fine. The previous incident also occurred on a downhill grade, on an exit ramp from an parking garage. Fortunately both incidents happened at low speed and not in heavy traffic. I previously reported the first incident. Toyota dealer checked vehicle after each incident and could not replicate the incident or find a computer code that would explain it. Since this was the second occurrence and was familiar to me, and since I was not in traffic, I let it happen while observing my own actions, trying to check for driver error. My foot was not on the brake.the car was in drive. While the car was slowing, I tried pressing the accelerator deeply and then pumping the accelerator to see what would happen.. there was no response, and no sound. The same was true three weeks ago-no response to pushing the accelerator, even deeply, and no sound. Three weeks ago, the first time it happened, I also tried cycling through the "modes" (ev, Prius, eco, power) with no effect. Each time, I hit the power button to power off, and then I hit it again to restart. Powering off and then restarting, both times, seemed like "rebooting" a computer. Fortunately traffic conditions both times gave me ample time to reboot. Will this happen again?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Alexandria, VA, USA