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.
On November 14, 2020, my 2007 Toyota Prius had a loss of steering the steering wheel was no longer connected to the front wheels of the car. Parking on a city street atlantic Toyota did not perform the recall on March 12,2013 for the cot recall this is what caused the loss of steering. The car was repaired at a private garage for the loss of steering and the part that failed was the steering intermediate extension shaft the part that should have been replaced under the cot recall done at atlantic Toyota. (the shaft replacement depends on whether the bolt hole has a 'countersink', according to the technical instructions issued to dealers, T-cp-C0T-A510-D. the shaft that was removed and, in my possession, has a countersink). How could this happen Toyota identified a defective part and issued a recall I brought my car to a Toyota dealership and the work was not done. With the loss of steering there is a concern about safety and confidence in the vehicle, and nothing is more important than that. I am sending this email today because we know that something has gone terribly wrong. The system meant to safeguard against faulty vehicles has failed, and it needs to be fixed.
We noticed the red triangle light and so we checked the engine oil. The dip stick was dry. I put oil in the engine and the red triangle went away. I kept an eye on the oil level occasionally I needed to put more oil in the engine. 3 months after taking the car for a regular oil change at the Toyota dealer the red triangle came up again and this time I spoke to the dealership about the issue. The response was that it would be expensive to repair the car and the best solution was to buy a new car. I was never told about the 2011 tsb for excess oil consumption that Toyota had issued. Today, July 17th, 2020, I called the dealer to ask about the tsb, and I was told that the tsb has been out for 10 years so I had had until 2017 to qualify. I do not believe I ever received a letter notifying me about the issue. Had I received the notification I would been the first person in line at the dealership. Also, my steering wheel feels like it is loose, if the speed is over 45 mph it feels unsafe, the slippery sensor light comes on when I am turning the wheel slightly on a dry road, and there is an excessive noise inside the car even with the windows closed. This happens during highway driving. I am about to donate the car so that it can be used for parts. I love the car now I know to check with NHTSA when I purchase my next car.
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 steering intermediate extension shaft in this car was recalled and replaced in 2015. This part was noticed to be failing again by the mechanic while in for an unrelated issue. The mechanic deemed the car to be unsafe to drive as if this part failed while driving I would have been without any steering. Both the dealer and I feel that Toyota should be responsible for the repairs, which they have declined, but equally as important that all the other cars involved in this recall should be checked. There is also no warning light or any indication for the driver that they may be unsafe. The recall notice would not scan but Toyota reference number is below. Ref.# T-cp-C2T, date of issue: November 14, 2012
The dashboard don't work sometimes, sometimes tha break light turns on and the breaks stop working it change it self to neutral and the power steering w. get really hard.. all this hapens when the car is in motion on city streets.
- Austin, TX, USA
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My car has a clunking/rattle sound when going over bumps or uneven roads even without brakes slightly engaged. It also does this when driving over 60 mph on smooth roads but if I turn wheels slightly left or right the sound stops and when I turn them back straight it begins again. It is so bad that you can feel it on your feet and strongly thru the steering column. Also the front tires wear heavily on the inside edge. It feels like steering column may be loose at times. Also the horn keeps blowing fuses and when you put a new fuse in the drivers side door will shock you E every time you try to exit the vehicle. And the outside air temp will not read temp. I had new tires put on to replace old front tires and rotated all and balanced and just had new brakes put on from dealship. Radio reception is horrible even though other vehicles in same area get great reception. I love this car but I did buy it used so I am not sure if all recalls have been fixed or if they need fixed again. It seems like a lot of mechanics have no idea what they are doing. Consumer stated vehicle has been repaired.
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. While driving at an unknown speed, a warning chime was heard and the steering wheel seized to the right. As a result, the contact crashed into a sign. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.
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
While driving uphill on a curved, shoulder-less road, my car spontaneously shifted into neutral, causing it to lose all power as well as power brake. I attempted to physically hold the gear shift in "drive", but this did not bring power back, nor did it change the light on the dash from "neutral". at first the car would shift into reverse, and I was able to back into a wider part of the road. It then stopped shifting into any gear. I ended up having the car towed home in neutral, with poor (non-power) braking. I've since done a google search and see that this is a recurrent problem with 200-something priuses, based on Consumer Affairs, Toyota nation, Prius online, and car problem zoo.
The steering on the car failed completely. There was a popping/snapping sound while turning the car, and afterward I could turn the steering wheel without any resistance (much less than usual) and the wheels did not turn at all. A little earlier in the drive I could feel the steering on the car feel a little off: I had to turn the wheel a little more to get the wheels to turn and something just felt loose. I'm incredibly grateful that the final 'snap' occurred while in the parking lot and not while on the highway/at higher speed. Apparently fox news ran an article about an incident that describes the same issue: fxn.ws/1ezmqpy. as of April 29,2015 consumer stated car has been repaired.
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. While driving at 20 mph, the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the steering wheel module coil needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact mentioned that the vehicle was previously repaired under NHTSA campaign number: 12V537000 (steering).the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 85,000.
I bought a used and regularly serviced 2007 Toyota Prius in September 2014 with 69,000 miles. This week of April 5th, the airbag symbol showed up on the dash along with the headlights not working properly. When I took the vehicle in to the local Toyota dealership, I was told that the steering wheel spiral coil was broken and ;that my airbag system was disabled. This happened at 85,000 miles. It cost me almost $500 to have this coil replaced. The service manager said this was simply due to normal wear and tear. I also have outside hatch rubber opener that is gooie and sticky and the hatchback door often will not open. Updated 10/31/2017
The buttons on the steering wheel began to stop working. One by one, each began to fail. I wasn't too worried since they're simply the climate and stereo controls, however, as I began researching all signs pointed to this being the "clock spring" assembly. This also controls the airbag and is a huge safety issue. I went to the dealer who confirmed and said this would cost $500 to repair. When I asked about the airbag they said they do not recommend that I drive the car because the airbag "might not work" anymore. After seeing a sufficient amount of posts here, I wanted to also add my feedback as it appears this is far more widespread than just an isolated incident. I have drive 4 other (non-Toyota) vehicles for well above 200,000 miles and never had this issue. My father (automotive mechanic for another car brand) said he's never had anyone come in with this issue before. Considering that toyta prides themselves as having safe vehicles, I would hope that they consider a recall on this life-threatening part failure.
I had my car in for 110,000 mile service on April 25. They changed the oil, rotated the tires, installed a new air filter and said that I needed new front brakes and they cleaned and adjusted the back brakes. Yesterday after backing out of the garage the brake light warning light along with the ABS and vsc light came on briefly. On interstate 90 nearing downtown cleveland all of these lights came on again along with a noise. I called the Toyota dealer and talked to the service advisor and asked if it was safe to go to cleveland and back and he said if the brakes work, it probably just a switch and it would be ok to bring it in tomorrow. While I still had him on the phone, we lost all power to the vehicle and it decelerated down to 30 before we were able to reach an exit ramp and stop the car in the grass. I was informed today that the problem is a low volt battery that needs to be replaced for $299. At no time did a low battery light come on and I have not had trouble starting the car nor do I have dim lights. We were fortunate that we were not killed on interstate 90 without power, steering or brakes. I think this is definitely a safety issue that needs to be addressed.
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.
The traffic report said I lost control on a curve. I was knocked unconscious and do not know. Six days before the accident my husband took the car to Toyota to replace the headlamp for the third time. He said there was a recall on the steering part ?? and they were going to replace it. They gave us a recite that they had replaced the part with the part number. My husband said they only had it back there for less than 15 minutes. Six days later I had an accident stating 'I lost control'.
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?
Loss of power steering assist that caused the vehicle to become difficult to keep in the proper lane of traffic. The power steering assist loss remained at all speeds including standing still at a traffic light. The Toyota dealer checked the steering and "reset" the steering computer and torque sensor which returned the steering to normal. Several weeks later while driving on the interstate the loss of power assist returned. The car was brought back to the Toyota dealer and the same procedure of "resetting" the steering computer was performed. The vehicle's steering went back to normal again ! the dealer stated "no" fault codes were ever present, and Toyota denied having an issue with the 2007 steering system. I believe the steering computer does not properly store the torque sensor zero point, thus should be replaced. The Toyota dealer disagreed and told me not to worry about it because the vehicle's steering was in perfect operating condition. My concern is the steering will lock up or do something terrible and cause a serious accident !
The steering failed on my Prius about 45 degrees into a right turn on Saturday, 9 Feb 2013. I heard a loud "pop" and my car lost steering completely and immediately. It almost caused an accident with the driver side of a car that was waiting at the stop sign to my right. There was no warning or "feeling" accompanying the steering loss (I.e. it didn't "grab" or "lock"). the steering wheel just suddenly no longer had any effect on the direction of the vehicle. The Toyota dealership who investigated found that the spiral cable sub-assembly needs to be replaced, which they claim is not related to any current recall. This doesn't feel like a "normal wear and tear" issue, because it could have caused a serious accident.
While driving the power steering went out suddenly causing a total loss of assisted steering. Which caused an abrupt change in steering ability almost causing me to hit a car while turning. The dealer determined it was the ECM and needed a new one at an astronomical cost of over $1000 to fix.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Swampscott, MA, USA