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.
One afternoon, in the Summer of 23, I entered my Toyota Prius to run some errands. Once I proceeded to power on the car, none of the dashboard lights illuminated. This included the gas gauge, speedometer & transmission indicator. Fortunately, I was only driving a few blocks down the road from my residence as I live in a small rural town with little congestion, little traffic and mostly two-lane roads. I can't imagine this occurring in a much larger metropolitan city. When I arrived at my destination, I discovered that my Prius wouldn't shut off. This dashboard malfunction was preventing the Toyota from powering off. I quickly completed my errands with my vehicle running during this entire ordeal. Finally, when I returned home, I frantically researched on YouTube regarding this issue and discovered many others who also were having these no-illuminating-dashboard problems. Some YouTubers offered workarounds but the solutions will be temporary as the problem will eventually worsen until the Prius owners have no working dashboard lights. From the way I understand it, this problem is nothing more than a small computer board that's behind the speedometer and this computer board has a small diode that tends to burn out on all kinds of Toyota Priuses when it reaches around 150,000 miles.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while his wife was attempting to stop the engine and turn off the vehicle, the vehicle failed to turn off. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact's wife was able to drive safely to the residence. The contact disconnected the battery and conducted a personal diagnostic test and the vehicle was operable. The vehicle was not diagnosed by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 265,817.
According to the Toyota dealership where I have my car maintained, my 2006 Prius is in need of a new motherboard. Apparently there was a recall on this prior to so many miles on the vehicle but I have missed this deadline as my car did not show these symptoms prior to the cutoff.. my Prius when turned on does not turn on the dash board features so I have no idea how fast I am driving. Once I reach my destination I am unable to turn my car off. The power button does not respond, usually for several hours. In these cases I usually leave my car on in the parking lot where I am and return over the next several hours to check on it. It tends to turn off after taking the car for a long drive several hours later. This occurs about twice a month now.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 64 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was unable to restart. The vehicle was towed to hartford Toyota superstore located at (135 w service rd, hartford, ct 06120) where it was diagnosed that the battery and two ignition coils needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure persisted while the check engine warning light and the esp fault warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to lynch Toyota located at (179 tolland turnpike, manchester, ct 06042) where it was diagnosed that inverter water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 237,000.
I was driving on a highway 95 South, almost to Delaware, at night in the rain, after 4 hours on the road, everything stopped working. I couldn't accelerate, I had no brakes, and eventually even my lights went out. The entire electrical system was out. I was in heavy traffic, and don't even know how I got off the highway, and to a gas station. The tow truck driver couldn't even jump the battery enough to get the car in neutral, and had a difficult time getting it up on the flatbed to tow it home. I couldn't even lock the doors. I had a new key made at the dealership on 10/17/19 and I was using that key for hours driving to ct and a couple of days later I was half way home when everything in the car stopped working. I was towed to my home in md because I needed to be able to unpack my car and computer before taking it to the dealership. When the second tow came the next day, I handed him the key by the front door, which was my old key, and he was able to get the car in neutral right away, and at the dealership the car worked just fine. The only difference was the new key. The technician found that "the immobilizer ECU has an intermittent open circuit failure, causing the key to be seen as unauthorized and stall the engine." From jim coleman Toyota. Apparently there is a part of the computer system that shuts off all systems if it detects an "unauthorized" key--I.e. if it believes the car is being stolen. It seems to me that this is a very dangerous program in this car. I had been using that new key for several days, and had no problem, but for it to decide in the middle of the highway after hours on the road that the key was a fake, I could have been killed or I could have killed someone else. I would much prefer that my car be stollen than that someone might get killed but shutting off everything while it was on the road.
- Chevy Chase, MD, USA
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My car overheated suddenly, showed multiple warning lights, and was diagnosed as having a failure of the electric water pump --symptoms exactly identical to those described in !2V536000. My car did not stall but had the secondary conditions shown when Toyota engineers tested the likely results of failure of the faulty coil wire.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. While driving, a whistling noise was heard coming from the engine. In addition, the check engine, ABS reqd, air bag, and brake warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 232,000.
I had this car for 4 year and it had been more in the shop getting fix and on the road, repairs are very expensive but one wants to take care of the environment that I could say almost got me kill I was driving in the freeway at 60 when the car with no warning stop, that was really scary, I got it fix I would say a month after the samething happen but thank god this time I was in a freeway. Although my 3 kids were with me and got really scare.
Afternoon 07/11/17 while driving downhill @ 50 mph my 2006 Toyota Prius turned off- no steering, exterior lights, dash/computer lights, radio- except for front interior dome light. No warning lights prior to or after car turned off. I was able to brake (very stiff brakes) & pull over. Replaced 2015 12V battery hoping for quick fix. Car still would not turn on, could not be towed on flat bad for fear of damaging transmission. Car was towed to closest mechanic. On 07/12/17 independent mechanic said both coolant pumps failed and the leaking shorted a fuse and turned off the car. Every time they attempted to replace fuse it would pop fuse again. Mechanic replaced water pump (including coolant/antifreeze) & inverter electric pump (including inverter cooler water) & changed auto transmission fluid & filter ($1,115). Early morning 07/14/17 dash display would not light up when car was turned on- no speedometer, odometer, gas gauge, reverse camera. (happened couple of times in past but could not duplicate for dealer.) while driving to Toyota dealer I noticed computer screen stuck @ 48 mpg & 61 miles driven, but never increased miles as I drove 18 miles or updated mpg calculation. Refused to turn off car until someone from Toyota dealer looked @ dash to verify condition. Toyota dealer says combo meter (combination meter) failure, which is not recall but "campaign" that expired & repair costs $1,111. Motherboard part can take up to 3 weeks but car cannot be driven while Toyota "burns" my computer's information into new computer part. Toyota dealer provided loaner car until repair is completed. On 07/14/17 called Toyota & filed complaint about water pump & combo meter. Toyota says hybrid electric water pump campaign did not affect my VIN, which I do not believe. Toyota says combination meter campaign expired for my VIN. Pending call back from Toyota at this time.
The computerized throttle control on the Prius can get you into trouble. A Prius will not reverse up a steep driveway. No matter how far you depress the accelerator, the engine will not go above about 1000 RPM, and the car will not move. Now, if based on sound of the engine, you place the transmission in forward without first removing foot from accelerator, the car will rocket forward (and likely crash). It is quite easy to do this, as the engine is stuck at idle, then furiously revving with no change of driver input. Father-in-law, and various pedestrians, were miraculously uninjured, but a very near thing indeed.
The contact owned a 2006 Toyota Prius. While driving approximately 30 mph, another vehicle suddenly stopped in front of the contact's vehicle. The contact depressed the brake pedal to the floorboard, but the vehicle failed to stop. The contact's vehicle crashed into a road sign. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact coasted to the side of the road and the engine failed. The contact was not injured and a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a dealer and an insurance lot. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 196,000.
Engine failure; driving on roadways, highways the main warning light on dash lights up, followed by sudden engine failure seconds or minutes there after. Toyota professionals have failed to properly diagnose this danger/malfunction, or recommend a proper solution. I have been caught on the interstate in very dangerous areas with total engine loss. This represents a major malfunction and could lead to serious injury, accidents and death nationwide. Please alert others.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. While operating the vehicle, the power steering suddenly malfunctioned and caused the steering wheel to become very difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering ECU was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Also, while driving the vehicle, it suddenly stalled and would not restart. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the throttle body was faulty. The failure was repaired. The contact also indicated that the air conditioner blower stopped operating and the front windshield could not be defrosted. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 200,500.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. While driving 20 mph, the check engine warning light illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the failure recurred six times. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed nor repaired. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 12V536000 (engine and engine cooling, hybrid propulsion system). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 106,082.
On the morning of may,04,2015 upon entering the car and starting it up the instrument panel fails to display. Not certain what the issue was I performed various check including the the accessory battery and attempted multiple times starting and stopping the car to no avail. I left the car where it was and a few hours later when I returned everything worked fine for a few more weeks then the issue occurred again. However, I have noticed that the issue is occurring now more frequently including when driving (stopped then go). Furthermore, whenever this issue occurs it becomes almost impossible to power the engine off and since their is no cluster display to let you know vital safety information, including speed, gas, mileage, gear (D-R-N) this creates an unsafe and hazardous condition for operators of this vehicle. Toyota motor Corp. Is very much aware of this hazard which results from a manufacture defective combination meter.
Automatic transmission selector shifted from drive (D) into neutral (N). This could be temporarily corrected by manually re-selecting D, but in about 3 seconds, it shifted back to N. we drove by keeping one hand on the lever to keep it in D. after we stopped, the same problem occurred in reverse (R) -- the selector shifted into N after a couple of seconds. Again, we were able to move the vehicle by maintaining pressure in the direction of the R selection. I've found several references to this problem on websites. It appears to be solved by installing a new selector assembly.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. While driving 55 mph over a pothole, the contact lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle went airborne and the seat belt disengaged and caused the contact to be ejected from the vehicle. Additionally, the front driver side tire detached from the vehicle and the contact crashed into a ditch. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was not filed and the contact sustained unknown injuries that required medical attention. The vehicle was towed to a dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 220,000. Updated 2/24/15 updated 03/02/15
This complaint has not been qc'd. the contact submitted an email and requested that the official IVOQ be written verbatim to the email. Kmj I have multiple situations with my Toyota Prius 2006 in the beginning of May 2014 I a loud beeping noise filled the car. The system had multiple lights displaying showing including the emergency brake light ( while I was driving), ABS, vsc, a red triangle with an exclamation point in the middle, etc. As, this was happening car immediately started slowing down and I was forced to pull it to the side of the street. This same thing happened to me three other times while I was on the freeway. One time I was driving home from work and my car again started decelerating while I had multiple cars around me on the freeway. All of the lights were displaying, I put my hazards on and was forced to move to the side of the road while I was almost hit by the car behind me because my car was rapidly slowing down. I took the car to the dealership service center and they didn't know what the problem was. They did a diagnostic test, multiple test drives, but at that time they didn't know. So they told me to drive the car home and come back if it happens again. Within the week I was exiting off of the freeway with my children when I start hearing the loud beeping noise, all the lamp lights came on, and as I am waiting in line to exit the freeway onto a busy street the car stops. I panicked, put on the hazards, the car wouldn't allow me to shift it into drive it had moved to neutral on its own. I turned off the car, turned it back on and was slowly able to move the car. This time I took pictures of the lamp display to show the service members as well. My children, myself, and other drivers could have been seriously hurt! the Toyota service center told us we have a bad computer, the problem is with the ECU, and the car went into a fail safe mode.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Hayesville, NC, USA