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.
2001 Toyota Prius, 60649 odometer miles. After backing out of a driveway and coming to a full stop, the steering wheel shook violently back and forth (right and left), traveling at least 1 (maybe 2) inches in each direction. Between 5 and 10 oscillations occurred. I was not trying to turn the wheel at the time and the motion jerked the steering wheel out of my hands (I was quite shocked). It was all over in less than 2 seconds. I then drove the car back into the driveway (no problem) and had it towed to the car dealer. Dealer found bad sensor in the steering rack requiring replacement of the entire rack.
Check engine light came on in vehicle. Took to dealer for service and was told the power steering rack had a malfunction and needed replaced. They replaced the rack and electric link assembly and did a front end alignment at a cost to me of $1500 dollars. The service advisor told us that this was the third time this year that he had seen this problem. After researching this problem further, I found that many people have had this same problem. Why should I have to pay for a faulty part?
Steering rack problem.....needs replacement due to a broken item in the steering rack. Causes high pitched noise whenever steering wheel is turned. Toyota agreed to replace part, but requires us to pay for the labor to replace the part. ($500).
The power steering cuts out at random times. The dealer says I need a new steering rack, but it has been weeks and no rack has shown up. Now I'm hearing from other Prius owners that this problem is widespread and Toyota is redesigning the whole steering system. Meanwhile I'm stuck with a car where the power steering can cut out at any time.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Afton, MN, USA