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.
My 2007 Toyota Prius accelerated unintentionally during a lane change. I hit the brakes and this remedied. The floor mat was not involved. I might have had the cruise control on, but I don't remember for sure.
I own a 2007 Toyota Prius. About a year ago, my accelerator malfunctioned while I was driving. My car suddenly wanted to dramatically increase speed and I had no control over it. I almost got into a really bad car accident. Now I'm hearing that this exact thing is happening to other people with the same car as me. I have tried calling my local Toyota dealership, and they just tell me that there is nothing they can do about it until I get a recall in the mail. I have tried calling customer service, and no one ever picks up the phone. I have emailed Toyota expressing my very strong feelings about this, and I have yet to received an email back. I am very upset about this. I am very scared to drive my own car, and I do a lot of driving. I can't pay to get my car fixed because I am a student. I feel like Toyota is just telling people that they are doing everything they can to help their customers, but I feel that they have treated me with the exact opposite attitude. I also feel like they aren't going to take this problem seriously until there is a tragedy from this malfunction. I really need my car fixed before I get into a bad car accident, but Toyota doesn't seem to care.
Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) 2007 Toyota Prius (VIN: [xxx] ) - cruise control malfunction. Set cruise control for speed limits between 55 mph and 75 mph; within a few seconds of the cruise control being switched on, car automatically accelerates to an uncontrolled higher speed until the brakes are applied (usually in panic of plowing into another vehicle's rear end).
I drive a 2007 Prius. Recently when driving over pot holes, the stability control kicks in and the vehicle lunges forward ( unintended acceleration). This behavior is pronounced on bigger pot holes and less in severity on uneven roads or smaller pot holes.
I own a 2007 Prius, and have enjoyed the car...however, sometime in October,2009, I was driving to a wedding shower and the car suddenly accelerated when I was entering a multi-lane expressway.. it would not decelerate when I eased off the accelerator..and I had to veer across lanes to avoid hitting a truck in front of me. Simple braking did not stop the acceleration, only very hard and continued and panicked braking. On the way back, on an area of interstate that was free of vehicles, I was able to recreate the acceleration by 'stomping" on the accelerator. Again, it would not stop accelerating when I took my foot off the accelerator..and only after stomping the brake a lot did it return to regular responsiveness. I have not "tried" that again, and my husband did try, but could not duplicate my experience. We contacted our local Toyota dealer (greentree in clarksville, in) and they were not responsive. Later in the fall, after the recall about floor mats, we were told to take the floor mat away on drivers side, and a "fix" would be developed. I am now fearful of the car. I am reporting now because I do not believe that the Prius problem is a simple floor mat issue (never did, but am a woman and certainly not "knowledgeable" so as to refute Toyota's engineers..).
- Jeffersonville, IN, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. The contact experienced a sudden acceleration while driving 18 mph. The failure occurred when the contact a stop light. As the contacts foot released the accelerator pedal, the vehicle continued to accelerating. After three attempts the contact was able to apply enough pressure to the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. The current and failure mileages were 43,279.
I have a 2007 Prius, and every time I go over a bump in the road, my car accelerates, and I get a run away feeling that lasts about 30-45 seconds. In addition, when I am at rest, and the motor is on and my foot in on the brake, the car makes a noise as if the horn is lowly honking. I have described both of these things to my dealership, and they told me that they never heard of this problem before. They said that they checked it out. It still remains.
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. Whenever the contact placed the vehicle in park or neutral the vehicle suddenly surged forward without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where the contact was informed that the failure could not be reproduced. There were no prior warnings. The current and failure mileages were 54,000.
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius hybrid. The contact was driving approximately between 60-65 mph on normal road. The accelerator pedal began to stick. The driver side floor mat was entrapped underneath the accelerator pedal. The driver was able to remove the floor mat while pressure was being applied to the brake pedal. The vehicle was able to slow down. The identical failure occurred on a separate occasion. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing. The technician was unable to duplicate the failure. The failure mileage was 60,000.
Since owning our 2007 Toyota Prius, we have called at least 4 times with a problem we have been having. Crazy accelerating at high speed with cruise control. It usually happens when we resume cruise control. Sometimes it extremely speeds up and keeps going beyond the speed set. The only way to get it to stop accelerating is to brake or reset the speed control.
My near death experience drive my 2007 Toyota Prius on August 30, 2007** **while driving my 2007 Prius behind a 16-wheeler and at an average speed of 60mph, suddenly my Prius' engine & motors roared and the speed surged so strongly that if I didn't ride the brakes, I saw myself ramming into the back of the 16-wheeler in front of me. Also at this time, a Cadillac SUV was following me to close on this Georgia secondary-highway#121 whereby I visualize a tragic accident about to occur. After about a half-mile riding the brakes and feeling the pulling torque of those powerful electric motors on the front wheels, I saw my chance to exit ahead where two trash dumpsters appeared. As I stopped the Prius, I notice smoke coming over the hood. So I jump out of the Prius. I saw flames round the front wheel well that soon flamed out. I contacted aaa auto club South and had the Prius towed 45 miles back to the ann taylor Toyota dealership/service center where I originally purchased the 2007 Prius. Five days later, I was notified by the service center that a piece of flexible "carpet mat" suddenly "rigged" enough in order to become wedged onto the accelerator and no additional services required. (invoice#tocs368561 dated 09/05/07) now in disbelief and scared, I had my 2007 Prius re-inspected at precision tune auto care (invoice#165110 dated 09/06/07). This inspected yielded evidence of a previous fire and burned rotors! I contacted by phone Toyota Corp customer service and usaa auto insurance. I contacted a legal attorney that advised me that my circumstances required hiring a mechanical engineer to disprove Toyota's assertion or drive the vehicle until the run-A-way acceleration occurs again. As of this date, having been "stonewalled" the past two years, I want to verify that your department has a record of my incident.
This has happened dozens of times, to myself and my wife. We are braking, and whilst braking drive over a pothole or drain. The traction control comes on, and the car disengages the brakes and the car lurches forward. After clearing the pothole, the traction control then disengages, and the brakes re-engage. Several times, I have come close to hitting the car in front. Conditions: Clear, sunny, dry roads. Car: Toyota Prius, year 2007.
1. safety ' while driving on a bumpy road in darien (West avenue near the train station) last year the Prius brakes did not stop the car. Although the speed was low (about 5mph), the resultant accident damaged its front end and the car in front of us. 2. drivability and safety ' the cruise control holds the minimum speed but allows over speed conditions. While returning from danbury on route 7 the cruise control holds 40mph until going downhill. On downhill slopes the speed increases and intervention is required to turn off the cruise control and apply the brakes. 3. drivability ' during cold weather the main battery accepts a charge but does not return much energy to the drive system. The mileage decreases by 10-15mpg. Toyota of stamford refused to do a free safety inspection.
Accelerating from a stop light, at about 30 mph the Prius engine felt and sounded like it began to accelerate at maximum rate. Braking had no effect on slowing the vehicle resulting in running through a major intersection at a red light. The car was stopped by shifting into neutral, coasting to a stop, and pushing the power button. After waiting 2 minutes, the car was restarted and ran with a problem. This occurred once in September 2009. Toyota's remedy is to replace the floor mats, however, the floor mat was secured to the carpet and was verified at the time of the incident that it was far from interfering with the gas pedal.
I am experiencing momentary brake failure while driving over bumpy roads in my 2007 Prius similar to that described by owners of some 2010 priuses (www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/020410_toyota.pdf). I have experienced this since I bought the car new and have treated it as a quirk of that particular car. After hearing about the recall and software fix for 2010 models, I inquired of my local dealer about a software fix for my '07 model. They said there was no recall of the '07S and therefore the repair would be at my own expense. I live atop a hill, and the road coming down it is often bumpy, causing the momentary loss of braking. But we are used to it by now and know to begin braking extra early on this stretch of road, but if there is an available fix for this problem, I want Toyota to provide it soonest.
I have owed both a 2005 and 2007 Prius and have experienced two problems with both vehicles that are a safety concern, although no accident has resulted from these problems. 1) in snowy conditions, when traveling up an incline, the traction control system can turn off power to both drive wheels with the result that the car can not make it up the hill. Granted this can happen even to a more conventional car, but the Prius does this under circumstances when other cars have no problem negotiating the hill. The owners manual claims that this is to protect the electric engine, however, it seems that there should be an override of some sort that allows the internal combustion motor to turn the wheels when traction is poor. This system has also led to circumstances in parking lots during snow, where it becomes impossible to move the car even though other conventional cars are able to negotiate the snow without a problem. 2) in circumstances where the Prius must merge quickly into traffic for instance when turning into busy traffic at an intersection, if you floor the gas pedal the car initial accelerates, but then the acceleration fades dramatically, before it resurges. This can be circumvented by not pressing the gas pedal so hard, however, the instinct is to step on the gas as hard as possible. This is not only hair-raising when it happens, but also could lead on an accident.
First time the Prius surged the car had just left the freeway and the cruise control was still engaged. The Prius surged at 55 miles an hour for a hundred feet till we gained control. The second time several months later we left the freeway with the cruise control still engaged and could not slow the car. We raced through hood river, or at speeds in excess of 60 miles an hour riding the brake through traffic and pedestrian crosswalks- our brakes smoking. Finally the driver found a parallel parking place to slide into and were able to punch the button and turn off the car. The driver having the car in park turned the car on again. The motor was still in full throttle. The driver left the car to find a restroom. I stayed in the car with the engine off. I reached down to the accelerator pedal and with light pressure pulled the pedal up. When the driver returned and started the motor it was at normal speed. We took the car to griffith motors in the dalles, or on the Dec. 10, 2009. The factory rep drove the car ( w/ 21,690 miles on it after he drove it) and on his report wrote "no problem found".
Sudden acceleration in 2007 Toyota Prius when using cruise control to increase speed in small increments. Canceling cruise control and resuming manual control regained control of the vehicle. This happened twice. I have not used the cruise control since this incident and have told my wife not to use it either.
Car did not stop and seemed to accelerate when brakes hit during turn into driveway. Hit curb. Lost steering control and car had to be towed because of significant damages to wheel and also possibly steering. Snowy road. I was already driving very slowly. No reason why this much damage to my car or this level of impact unless car suddenly accelerated beyond my current speed while I braked. Car seems to accelerate on slippery, uneven surfaces and evs light comes on, even when brakes applied. Acceleration is beyond that seen with normal slippage. It is not simply slippage but actual brief acceleration.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Burbank, CA, USA