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.
The following described incidents have taken place at least three times with no warning. Upon starting the vehicle there is no instrument panel display which is digital. The vehicle could still be driven. The vehicle's engine would not turn off without making numerous attempts.this has sometimes taken up to 10 min.. then for whatever reasons after several hours the mentioned malfunctions stop and everything works correctly.I am very concerned the dash display showing speed and other necessary information will malfunction while the vehicle is being driven.especially at night.being able to turn the vehicle off immediately is also important.this vehicle is regularly serviced by Toyota who have been unable to locate or correct the problem. I have researched this issue online and have found that there is a large number of Toyota Prius owners having the same type of safety issues with their vehicles. I have read but not confirmed that Toyota is aware of the mentioned problems with the Prius. There are some serious safety issues with this make and model of vehicle that need to be addressed as soon as possible. I hope NHTSA will be able to assist in this matter. Thank you.
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving 65 mph, the gauges all failed. The failure recurred numerous times. The contact took the vehicle to a dealer for diagnosis and was told that the failure could not be replicated. The manufacturer was notified but offered no assistance. The vehicle had not been repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The failure and current mileage was 80,000.
The headlights on my 2007 Prius goes out constantly especially at night time there which causes total darkness and blindness. When I flip the switch they will come back on for a while. I know you know about this problem. I feel you should make Toyota recall these cars. The dealer will charge $300 per headlight to replace the bulb but we know that is not the problem. They wouldn't come back on if it was the light.. please please do something!! its terrifying and very dangerous. The liability for you and Toyota will be great should fatalities occur. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Approx 12/19/12 I went outside to start my 2007 Prius. When I hit the power button the car started up, however the dashboard lites did not work (speedometer, gas gauge, heat, A/C, etc). I turned the manual control wheel on the dashboard back & forth, thinking that would solve the problem but the lites still did not work. I backed out of my driveway and drove forward, thinking once I put the car in drive the lites would come back on, however that did not work either. I pulled the car back into my driveway, put it in park and hit the power button, but the engine would not shut down. I held the power button for an extended period of time and the car still would not shut down. I sat in it (in 32 degree weather) for about 20 min. And it shut down on its on. On the following day I took the car to Toyota & left it there all day long. They told me they could not determine why it had malfunctioned because the battery checked out good and all the diagnostic tests were all good. I had the same thing happen again on 01/13/13 and on today, 01/20/13. I do believe that this is a safety violation that Toyota refuses to recognize and I just want my complaint documented in the event something serious happens as a result of this situation. Thanks...
Headlights are intermittent on both sides. Major safety issue. I have replaced the bulbs twice in less than a year and the issue still persists. It isn't the bulb the headlights are defective.
- Auburn, CA, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
The headlights on this car have intermittently worked since the car had about 30,000 miles. The lights randomly turn off. Usually one at a time but sometimes both go out. Turning the lights off and back on fixes the problem, but only temporarily. I read that this is a problem with the bulbs going bad but I can attest that it is a clear defect. Replaced the bulbs and it still happens periodically.
Total dash board failure.....design is composite so all instruments go dark except check engine light which is the least of a safety issue...instrument panel should have separate circuits so safety isn't dependent on any single point of failure.
The passenger side headlight frequently fails to turn on. Sometimes it turns on, then shuts off within the course of a drive. Sometimes it doesn't turn on at all. It seems like it must be a problem with the electrical system, as the bulb itself continues to light, it just doesn't light all the time. The driver's side headlight, in the mean time, is perfectly fine and never has problems, which also suggests some kind of electrical/connector issue.
The front headlight started going on and off periodically while driving, we went on a trip to hungary and the light started acting up. We have taken it to two Toyota dealerships within germany with no resolution but expensive bills due to the mechanics hooking it up to computer systems to diagnose the problem. This is causing us safety issues while driving especially on not clear days due to the early morning fog. I have consulted with my brother's body shop to see if there has been any recalls or defects on the lights, nothing. I am taking it again this week to the Toyota shop in mannheim germany. This problem has not been resolved since Feb 2012. I would appreciate some resolution to this problem before the lights cause us an accident. I have had the two front headlight bulbs replaced which are not inexpensive. Thank you if you need to contact me do it via email, this is my parents phone number in pa, I cannot type in my number in germany. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
When I turned my car on to go home my dash lights did not work or backup cam or seat belt alarm nothing was showing I could not tell if I was going forward or backwards etc I parked it turned off 2 times then 5 mins later it can back on automatically fixxx this.
Left headlight started just going off completely at nite, now both are going off while driving. Checking online, it seems that many other Toyota owners have had same problem, and one of the vendors of headlights for Toyota manufactured defective headlights. Thus not all Toyota have the prob, just the ones with this vendor's headlights. But it still shows many do have the bad headlights. Toyota is not standing behind this issue and repairing the defective ones as they should. It is a very expensive...almost 2000 dollars to replace the computer controllers and headlights.
In 2010 (approximately), the dashboard display of my Prius would intermittently not display when the car was first started. This condition makes it impossible to know how fast the car is going, how much fuel there is, etc. I visited dealers and independent mechanics and no one claimed to know anything about this problem. However, I have subsequently learned that Toyota issued a service bulletin on this very issue in 2009! (T-sb-0172-09). I've also since learned (due to my own research) that the most likely cause of this problem is a faulty combination meter (as per the Toyota sb). One independent garage in san francisco, ca has even started a blog about this because they are seeing so many repairs for this condition! it is absolutely a safety issue and the problem continues in my car today (I've just discovered the potential fix of replacing the combination meter). In addition to the dash display not working, often other issues, such as the engine not turning off, key not releasing from ignition, and rear hatch not releasing are also associated with this problem. Toyota admits in its sb this is due to a faulty computer design from one of its suppliers but refuses to issue a recall notice. NHTSA should force Toyota to address this issue as the problem happens not only at start-up, but sometimes while driving. Losing speedometer visibility is a serious safety issue; as is not being able to disengage power in the normal fashion.
We have had some unseasonably hot weather here recently; on the day in question the car thermometer said it was 91 degrees in full shade. The rubber gasket covering the hatch opening switch was attached when I parked. When I came back, it looked like the gasket had literally melted off one of the screws; the covering was just hanging on to screw on the driver's side by a few gooey threads. That left a melted, tar-like residue on the hatch opening switch. Now the switch is covered in gunk and nearly inoperable. The Prius does not have a trunk release, and without a repair the hatch is nearly inaccessible. This is a major safety issue because the hatch on the Prius is a safety access point (the largest on the vehicle); the hatch is also the only way to access the batteries stored in the rear in case of fire or accident. When I googled the issue, I found multiple reports in hot weather areas of exactly the same issue, but I found no official response from Toyota. My understanding is that this is a very common problem, especially here in southern California, and dealerships keep the part on hand in hot weather for exactly this reason.
The rubber covering on the rear hatch opening mechanism is melting. I have two other model year Prius vehicles (2004 and 2006) and this has not occurred on those - only on this 2007 car. It is becoming difficult to open the hatch and it will probably fail completely soon.
I was driving on freeway (us 101 southbound in marin county caat 8:30 am), dry weather 60 deg F. entire dashboard went black (speedometer, fuel gauge and other indicator lights all quit providing readings) and the energy monitor screen panel, while still lit, quit providing data (the miles shown on this panel were stuck at 107). Therefore, no speedometer readings were available. More importantly, I had extreme difficulty turning the Prius off when I reached my destination--depressed and held power button several times, with foot on brake and auto in "park". radio and air conditioning kept running, door would not lock and the energy monitor still showed background information. Otherwise, Prius drove normally. This was the second time this happened in last two weeks. After several tries, holding power button down for several seconds, I finally did get the Prius to shut off. And, when restarted, the dashboard appeared to operate normally. Not having dashboard indicators while driving is disturbing, but auto could be operated. Not being able to turn vehicle off is more problematic because it is difficult to tell Prius was not shut down (the fan continues running when the car shuts down normally and electric motor is almost silent)--my indication was that the radio was still on and air conditioning was still running. If the car had been in drive, it could have taken off as electric motor was still on (I tested when I thought it was peculiar that radio was still on).
When I started my Prius and the dash lights did not come on (fuel gauge, mileage, speedometer etc). I put the car in reverse and the backup camera picture did not appear on the screen. The screen was on but continued to show the consumption screen. I then put the car in park and hit the power button and the car would not turn power off. I put the car in drive then park and reverse then park several times hitting the power button after each try and the car eventually powered off. I started the car again and headed to the golf course and called Toyota and made an appointment for the same day. The next time I got in the car (about 4 hours later) the dash lights came on and I drove home and the car powered off normally. I cancelled the appointment at Toyota for now and will see what happens. The service person at the dealership said that she had not heard of this problem.
Headlamps turn off on their own intermittently. The left light will go off more than the right. I usually correct the situation by turning off the lights then back on. This problem has increased in frequency. I read in an online forum (priuschat) that this is a common problem.
1. the right-front headlight often goes out after the car has been driven for a while. (fortunately, both headlights don't haven't out yet!) this really should be considered a safety issue - why isn't there a recall? 2. the back-up camera often stops working for a few days at a time. This is a problem, given the very poor visibility the mirrors have behind this car.
The headlights keep going out. This happens at any speed and in any climate. Flickering them off and on alleviates the problem. Been happening for close to 2 years now.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Montague, CA, USA