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.
Instrument panel cluster failure. Panel goes black while driving and lose power. Vehicle won-€™t start or shut off. My vehicle was getting serviced at the dealership and they couldn-€™t start the vehicle. I was told the instrument panel cluster was the problem. I contacted Toyota Customer Service, and was told they were aware of the issue. They had issued an extended warranty and sent out a letter to all owners this warranty has expired in 2016. If you purchased your vehicle after 2016 you would not have received any notice regarding this. While driving you can-€™t see you speed, your gear selection, fuel level, lights and no warning lights. The warning is that your vehicle won-€™t start or shut off.
instrument cluster panel goes completely out and blank, speedometer lost, and dash lights gone and causing other issues such as not being able to turn off vehicle, loss of cruise control, unable to open trunk, navigation screen unable to turn off, backup camera not functioning, front lights going on and off while driving at night.
For a months the car im driving has become more and more dangerous from steering to speed, braking and drastic wobbling of entire car I've taken pictures and video its unbelievable and outrageous.
The main dash.display, speedometer, will not show up due to electric problem. Power from rear, aux, battery is interrupted some how. The cruise control will be inop in this situation. There is no way of knowing when the condition will show up, but when door is opened, the indicator light will not come on. Car will have been parked, turned off. Different fixes on the net. My fix is to in plug rear battery's 2 connections, wait then hope, and try again
- Lancaster, PA, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
Taka inflator, I was in a car accident and none of the air bags deployed. It was head on accident. Also my car just started to speed up. I ended up hitting a billboard.
I was driving about 35 mph on a city street when the car suddenly shifted into neutral. I tried to put it back in drive, but it kept shifting back into neutral. Luckily there was enough distance between me and the car behind me was that it didn't result in an accident. I held the gearshift in drive with my right hand and steered with my left until I was able to turn off of the street into a parking lot. I could not put the car in park. I pressed the park button and nothing happened. I turned the car off, waited a minute and started it again. I could shift into reverse, but it continued to pop back into neutral when in drive. I had to drive home holding the gearshift in drive with one hand.
The dashboard went black with no visibility to speed, fuel tank gauge, or other instruments in this panel. Also, car would not power off. The instrument panel went dark while I was driving on a city street. The engine power down problem occurred in my driveway upon my return from my city use.
On warmer days the car will not stay in gear and will move into neutral by itself. This happens in drive and reverse. It also does not go into park from neutral. This happens regularly, and happens most often when the car is starting to move from a standstill and drive or reverse are first engaged. The car starts to move and then pops into neutral and stops accelerating.
Driving on a rainy day, ABS and vsc lights on dash came on. My car violently fishtailed almost 180 degrees, back and forth 6 times on a curve getting off a freeway (about 45 mph) nearly crashed. I proceeded very slowly to side street. Car shimmied to right making a left turn. Felt like I was driving on ice. Called a tow truck. Dealership found rodent damage to wires to wheel speed sensor. I discovered manufacturers using soy oil on wiring. $1300 repair.
Combination meter failure while driving. Unable to view speedometer or dash lights. Car sometimes locks up, unable to view ABS signal because dashlights become inoperable. Unable to turn car off during dashboard/combination meter failure.
The electronic dash (heads up instrument display) on our 2007 Prius has intermittently failed to light over the last year. Yesterday, it failed and also wouldn't turn off. We always use the remote (keyless) ignition system. But, after the failures yesterday I put the electronic key fob into the hole in the dash thinking that might help. Instead, I couldn't remove it. I tried every combination of pressing buttons (the park and power buttons) and other controls, brakes pedal, shifter and it still wouldn't shut off or light up the display. After holding the power button in for an extended amount of time, it turned off and ejected the key fob. But then the car wouldn't light up the instrument display or start. This morning, again, it would not start. I was told by an experienced Prius mechanic (also an owner) that these were classic symptoms of a failing power amplifier for the display and that it was a "secret warranty, " a voluntary repair to avoid a government recall, but that Toyota would only do it for 10 years. The dealer refused to do it under warranty even though the symptoms began before the car was 10 years old. They told me the recall was only good for nine years. They want $765 for the repair. It strikes me that this is a safety failure and should be covered, period. With no indication of speed or other functions (ABS function, traction control, etc.), or to turn the vehicle off, it is unsafe to operate the vehicle. The various failures, including loss of cruise control while in motion, took place when the car was cold and when it was warmed up. At rest and in motion.
After speeding up to pass another car on a slight upgrade (2 lane country road), my Prius continued to accelerate. I could not slow the car down to the speed limit using the brake pedal. For about fifteen minutes, I kept trying to slow the car down, looking for a place to pull over where I wouldn't hit anything. The accelerator pedal was not stuck & no floor mat was touching either pedal. The only way I could stop was with the emergency brake. I thought the car might explode, but later realized the smoke was pouring out from my brakes. I maneuvered to the berm of a bridge over a lake, just before the road went down to one lane for construction. Then I turned the car off. Ten minutes after this ordeal (vehicle was stationary), I restarted the car, but the engine began racing again without any touch on the gas pedal, so I quickly turned it off. Luckily, I hadn't collided with anything.
The traction-control system in the Prius is, I believe, dangerous. When the slightest degree of wheel slip is detected, it essentially shuts off power to the wheels for a moment. On a number of occasions, when accelerating to merge in with traffic on a wet road, the system's reaction has slowed me down to what I believe is a dangerous extent. On a couple of occasions, I have ended up stuck in snow because the system is so eager to keep me from spinning wheels at all. I contacted Toyota, and their reply was to the effect that this system is designed to protect the drive train, and that they are not going to do anything to remedy what I see as a dangerous flaw. The only conceivable way such a system could be protecting the drive train would be by limiting engine RPM to a safe point; however, the system goes far beyond just keeping RPM down. Please note that the response to "when did this happen" is not really accurate. It has happened on a number of occasions, and the date listed is merely the most recent occurrence. Also, the speed is just from the most recent occurrence.
While backing slowly into a parking spot of an inner city supermarket in a busy residential area the car suddenly accelerated. It went over a 1 ft concrete curb limiter into the street and after a 180 degree loop in reverse I finally hit the E-brake hard while at the same time I ran over a pedestrian traffic light and hit a tree with the rear passenger side to a full stop. Air bags did not deploy. During all this period of probably less than 10 seconds the foot brake was not responding any more. After impact the engine did not start anymore and the car was towed from the scene.
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at low speeds, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration which resulted in a crash in the garage. The failure occurred on two occasions. There were no injuries. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 79,626. Updated 01/21/16
When applying the brakes in traffic on a city road with a posted 35 mph speed limit, the car felt as though it surged forward briefly and accelerated followed by the anti-lock brake dashboard light coming on and off and then the brakes finally started working to slow the car down. This has happened about 10 times the last few weeks and has nearly caused me to rear-end other vehicles on the road.
On Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at 5:04 pm while traveling at about 57 mph South on hi way 101 at about the mile post 255.5, my 2007 Toyota Prius suddenly and without any change in steering by me, veered to the right off the road and into the guardrail. There seemed to be no reaction to my frantic steering and braking in the attempt to return the car to the road. After the car hit the guardrail it traveled about 15 feet spun back out into the southbound lane and was hit on the rear right side by a car traveling in the southbound lane. This caused the car to be propelled across 2 northbound lanes of traffic and come to rest with rear of my car embedded into the far side guardrail. Miraculously no one was hurt. The police were called and my 61 year perfect driving record was ruined. My car was totaled by the insurance company...updated 08/27/15 update 9/15/15 updated 4/21/20
On May 16, 2015, while driving my second-generation 2007 Toyota Prius on the freeway, I experienced a sudden loss of power, along with the illumination on the instrument panel of the malfunction indicator light, master warning light and hybrid warning light. I was able to maneuver the car to the side of the road and summon emergency help. A nearby Toyota dealership replaced the hybrid inverter water pump, which fixed the problem. However, the dealership did not advise me of a safety recall. Toyota customer experience center today stated that the original hybrid inverter water pump was replaced on April 7, 2011, under Toyota limited service notice A0N; hence, Toyota refused my phone request for reimbursement of my may, 2015, repair expense. The 2011 "A0N" replacement pump appears to have failed by the same failure mechanism leading to recall campaign "C0U", which is different from the A0N failure mechanism.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Mcminnville, OR, USA