I was driving onto the highway and the entrance curved. The road was wet from a recent start of rain. I tried to brake my car and the brakes did not catch and I spun out on the entrance ramp and hit a reflector pole and ended up in the dirt on the shoulder of the on ramp.

- Manchester, CT, USA

Toyota Prius loss of electical power, loss of steering resulting in crash in May 2009 while driving in a residental neighborhood at low speeds, Prius lost all power resulting in loss of steering and loss of brakes resulting in crash into a high curb. I had Prius towed to Toyota dealership and filed complaint with dealership as well as with main California complaint center. They said that it would take them 4 months to investigate complaint. They recommended my storing car at dealership for four months if I wanted an investigation. They would not investigate otherwise. They told me there was no cause for concern and that the power loss must of resulted after the crash. They said that Toyota had no safety complaints about power loss or steering or brake loss. I went on line and found same year model recall in australia. They told me the products were dissimilar and not a cause for concern. I disagreed. My routine mechanic at merchants tire and auto could find nothing wrong. I repaired the structural damage and sold the car since Toyota assured me there was nothing wrong. Toyota corporation's methodology of investigation appears to be designed to stifle any meaningful determination of baseline safety fault. The requirement to store a car for months at owners expense and for driver to have no access for transportation would appear to discourage any meaningful investigation of safety concern. Given the current finding of brake and other safety defects in Toyota products, I am concerned that the power loss may have been under-reported because of their unethical business practices. I report it to help you determine if there is a pattern of power loss, loss of steering and loss of braking in the Prius.

- Bethesda , MD, USA

This incident involves my 2007 Toyota Prius hybrid that I have owned for almost a year. As I was driving approximately 40 mph and put my foot on the brake as I approached a red light, the red brake warning came on the dash as did the ABS warning light. My foot went all the way to the floor and I had no brakes. Luckily I had a right turning lane that I could veer into and not hit the stopped vehicles in front of me. As I continued to push the brake to the floor and maneuver the vehicle out of traffic, it seemed to catch a little and I was able to slow the vehicle eventually to a stop. I put the vehicle in park as it was still running, and pulled out the owner's manual. The manual specifically stated that if these two warning lights came on at the same time, you were to "stop immediately and contact your Toyota dealership". this is exactly what I did. I had the vehicle towed into their facility that evening. The next day I was interrogated by the mechanic after a diagnostic report was done on my car. He wanted to know when I let the car run out of gas. I have never let my car run out of gas, and in fact that just filled the take the day before this incident occurred. The mechanic couldn't tell me what was wrong and contacted Toyota's corporate office. Two days later, I was advised that the reason the brakes didn't work was because I "let the car run out of gas "and this caused the engine to shut off. I argued that the car had never run out of gas and the engine didn't shut off, the brakes went out. The service manager pulled out the diagnostic test showing that "at some point" the car had run out of gas----this test doesn't give a date of when this may have happened. I advised the service manager that the car had 223 miles on it when I purchased it-- this test result could have happened when the car was still at the dealership, not in my possession. The service manager advised me that his "hands were tied" and that Toyota had made their decision.

- Anthem, AZ, USA