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.
Toyota Prius dashboard failed in idle and while driving posing a death risk due to mileage per hour not displaying and the inability to shut off your car when stopped this is a serious matter and Toyota needs to recall the whole Toyota Prius and give everyone there money back for over paying for this car in 2007.
After the car has been parked for awhile, the dashboard was completely black. The car powered on, but there was no speedometer, no fuel display, and no odometer. The car will drive and gas engine and hybrid system works as usual, but there are no power steering, the turn signals do not work, and the wiper does not work. After driving for 5 to 15 minutes, the dash would light up and car drives like normal again and the problems mentioned go away. Based on internet research, this seems to a common problem. There are almost identical complaints on this site including NHTSA id number 10544698. Significant safety concerns exist due to the temporary lost of power steering, no turn signals, and no wiper during a rain.
During cold weather I lose all odometer speedometer backup light gas gauge. Back up lights have caused a lot of close call when I'm backing up one time I got close to hitting a pedestrian because they did not know I was baking up I have ran out of fuel on the freeway and I never know how fast I'm going. This problem is well documented and Toyota knows a bout the problem but will not issue a recall.
When the car was turned on in the morning after sitting overnight, the dashboard was completely black. The car powered on, but there was no speedometer, no fuel display, no odometer, and no back-up camera when put into reverse. When I got to my destination, approximately 15 minutes drive time, I was unable to power off the car after repeated attempts. The car finally powered down after I held the power button for several seconds. When the car was turned back on after about 11 hours, the dashboard was working again, also powering down worked as normal.
I was driving on a dark country road when both headlights went out. I turned the headlight control off and then on and then the lights came on again. The car has a long history of the passenger side headlight going out intermittently. When it was just one light intermittently going out, I had reported this to the dealer and later to an independent mechanic. I was told that they didn't find a problem. After this most recent experience with both lights going out at the same time, my mechanic again said that it was not happening when he test drove the car. I asked him to keep it longer for more testing since I was afraid now to drive the car at night. He kept it longer and did experience the driver side headlight going out. He recommended replacing both bulbs for a total price of $548. I called the Toyota dealer to ask what they could do for me. Since the car is past 50,000 miles they said they would have to charge $475 to change both headlights. I researched online and discovered that this is a very common problem in the Prius. In my opinion it is a serious safety issue and not a normal part maintenance issue.
- Chadds Ford, PA, USA
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Toyota sold me a brand new Prius with a headlamp not working. After I signed all the purchase papers, they pointed out that the right headlamp was not working and told me that it was alright to drive home and return the next days for repair. After four or five trips to the Toyota service department, they replaced the defective control unit. At a later date when the car had about 50,000 miles, I was driving on a freeway from los angeles to menifee, ca, at night in the hov lane. I seemed to have difficulty seeing the road and thought something was wrong with my eyes. So I switched lanes to the slow lane where, with less glare from the oncoming cars, I realized that both headlamps were not working. This was a dangerous situation on the high speed crowded freeway, so I pulled off the road at the next exit. Toyota replaced the headlamps, and I was compensated for the cost of repair upon the outcome of a class action lawsuit. Recently I noticed that the headlamps were failing again at around 115,000 miles. Immediately I had Toyota repair both headlamps, as I didn't want to experience the hazard of both headlamps failing again. From my personal experiences, there is a dangerous design flaw in the Prius that must be addressed especially before both headlamps fail again. I am concerned the next time the headlamps fail I will have no advanced symptoms and both might fail again simultaneously while I'm on the road at night.
I purchased my 07 Prius from a dealership in September of 2012. There was only 1 previous owner & at that time my car's mileage was around 55K. I commute 1 hr and 20 minutes to work (one way) & my first incident occurred after dropping my son off at daycare early in the morning, almost a month after purchasing my car. I noticed my right headlight was out. When I got into my car, I turned the headlights off and back on. Both my headlights came back on so I didn't think twice about it. Afterwards, almost every month I noticed my right headlight turned off, which started to concern me, but after getting quotes on how much the repairs would be I knew it would take some time for me to budget the costs into my monthly expenses. After another month or so, I found myself driving on highway 55 westbound (cary, nc) at around 9pm at night & both of my headlights suddenly shut off. Highway 55 does not have much lighting in the first place & I am very lucky that my 2 year old son was not with me. I panicked but quickly turned my headlights off & on again. Fortunately, they turned back on. Now almost every month, & aside from one of my headlights failing nearly every 2 days, both of my headlights randomly shut off. In fact, my headlights shut off again this morning at around 5:45am during my commute to work on highway 55. I did some research but found Toyota has only agreed to pay for repairs for '04-'09 models (with the same hid headlight issue) through the earlier of 5 years warranty and 50,000 miles or reimburse drivers who have already paid to have the problem corrected. I've already contacted Toyota at 1800-331-4331 and filed a complaint but I was told that my car (at 102K miles) was now ineligible for this program. This issue should be an official recall to avoid any severe accidents it can cause for owners who cannot afford upfront repairs.
Passenger-side high intensity headlight started intermittently failing. The light goes out randomly and unexpectedly. Turning both headlights off and back on again temporarily fixes the issue.
After taking the vehicle in for a recall for a steering column issue, 3 of the buttons on the steering column fail to operate once the recall repair was complete. The dealer says it's an issue with the clockspring cable and are not willing to repair it at no cost.
After short period of servicing a recall on steering extension shaft #C0T, some of steering wheel buttons stopped functioning due to damages to clock-spring cable. The dealership don't want to admit their technician fault failing to realign the steering wheel to center position. Many of Prius second generation hybrid owners been recalled have this issue after fixing the shaft. Is the damaged spring cables already were or due to lack of expertise?
Both headlights went out without warning. This has recurred numerous times since then, also with taillights. I've been pulled over 4 times by police for lights out. Next day, they're fine, or a different light is out.very dangerous and scary, as we live in a rural area with windy roads and no street lights.
Both front head lamps shutoff at the same time while moving at about 25 mph. Turning off the head lamp switch and turning the switch back on restored the lights.
The plastic weld process or other type of gluing process used to make the vehicles exterior front and rear turn signal, brake and back up light lense assemblies or housings fails. All four, two front and two rear, exterior combination light lense assemblies suffer this premature and serious failure. When these exterior lenses begin to fail they allow water intrusion from the exterior of the vehicle. This allows moisture to penetrate into areas of the lense assembly which support all of the light bulbs used to warn or signal other drivers or pedestrians. At a very minimum this problem results in premature bulb failure for all of the signaling systems specified above. Researching your site this problem has been reported to you many times and Toyota motor Corp. Is also aware of this problem. What you don't seem to be aware of is the most serious concern resulting from this problem; if the right (passenger side) rear lense suffers this problem and begins leaking, the water runs or drains directly into the interior 12vdc starter battery well. This battery well is as deep, or deeper than the factory installed 12vdc starter battery is tall and can result in water overtopping the battery. This causes shorting/grounding across the positive/negative 12vdc starter battery terminals. This prevents the operator from starting the vehicle and cuts off power to all 12vdc electrical systems including emergency flashers. It could easily result in serious damage to the 12vdc starter battery and many expensive 12vdc electronic components or systems. This problem is more serious in areas that receive high amounts of rainfall. I called a Toyota authorized dealership, lum's auto center, and reported my car wouldn't start. They suggested I bring it in. After 4 days they were unable to find the problem. No diagnostic codes were logged. This is a serious problem needing immediate attention!
Since two years old the headlights have occasionally flickered, and the pass. Side has gone out. Turning them off momentarily and back on solved the problem. Lately it's gotten worse, and I finally had my mechanic replace the pass. Side bulb. The new bulb ($85) was worse and now I'm told the "ballast" needs replacement for hundreds of dollars. Of course the safety issue at night is primary, but Toyota was derelict in their duty not to advise customers of this highly unusual, potential cost when selling me the car. I've never paid more than $15 for a headlight and have always replaced them myself. Also, the owners manual suggests an easy replacement. My mechanic had to partially remove the headlight assembly. That was another misrepresentation.
Headlights work intermittently and the passenger side taillight also goes out and comes back on intermittently. Car is not driven often at night and this has been going on for several years.
The dash board did not display when I turned on my car. Only the blinkers, and air bag lights work on the dash. The gas gauge and the speedodometer do not show, it is black. And my car will not turn off. It seams to me that this issue is a major safety issue.
My car will not turn off. After my dash went black my key will not release and my car will not turn off. This is a big safety issue and needs to be resolved asap!
The following described incidents have taken place at least three times with no warning. Upon starting the vehicle there is no instrument panel display which is digital. The vehicle could still be driven. The vehicle's engine would not turn off without making numerous attempts.this has sometimes taken up to 10 min.. then for whatever reasons after several hours the mentioned malfunctions stop and everything works correctly.I am very concerned the dash display showing speed and other necessary information will malfunction while the vehicle is being driven.especially at night.being able to turn the vehicle off immediately is also important.this vehicle is regularly serviced by Toyota who have been unable to locate or correct the problem. I have researched this issue online and have found that there is a large number of Toyota Prius owners having the same type of safety issues with their vehicles. I have read but not confirmed that Toyota is aware of the mentioned problems with the Prius. There are some serious safety issues with this make and model of vehicle that need to be addressed as soon as possible. I hope NHTSA will be able to assist in this matter. Thank you.
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving 65 mph, the gauges all failed. The failure recurred numerous times. The contact took the vehicle to a dealer for diagnosis and was told that the failure could not be replicated. The manufacturer was notified but offered no assistance. The vehicle had not been repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The failure and current mileage was 80,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Saratoga Springs , UT, USA