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.
We own a 2007 Prius. I was pulling into a parking space doing maybe 5 mph, and my car suddenly lurched forward and ran into a cement planter approx 2 ft tall. My front bumper ended up top of the planter. I know I did not have my foot on the gas pedal. We had already removed the floor mats. This resulted in over $6K in damages to my car, that my insurers paid for; except my deductible. We also had the problem with the intermittent loss of our headlights; and replaced both of them. We just received a notice from Toyota telling us we will be receiving a 'credit' for the either part or all of the cost of the headlights; which was substantial. We did take pictures of the damages from the accident.
I have a 2007 Prius. I don't know if it is the braking system or a sudden acceleration but I have definitely experienced a surge when braking. This does not happen all the time but has happened on more than one occasion. It feels like the car stops braking for a second and surges forward before re-engaging the brakes.
My 2007 Prius touring can/does experience braking issues when slowing/braking downhill and coming in contact with a manhole cover, pothole, or other "even" road surface. Thought it was the tires, so replaced the original bridgestones for nokians, but the issue still occurs. The "sensation" is you feel like you've lost control of the car momentarily. As a result, I've changed my commute route home and drive much slower (was already driving slower since Prius mileage is dependent on mph). On occasions, the speed (on a straight away) set with cruise control will increase by itself... by a couple mph.... w/O me doing anything or touching anything. So I'm forced to tap brake........ occurred this weekend with passengers - they said they felt the surge.....
I have owned my 2007 Prius since July, 2007. On an erratic basis, as I am braking (often as I am going over a bumpy road), the car seems to surge forward. It is as if the engine starts running harder. The light that indicates poor traction also comes on - it is as if I am not making good contact with the road. I have had no accidents but it is terrifying for me and I am fearful when someone/family member drives my car who is not aware of or has not become comfortable with dealing with this problem. Fyi: Even before Prius said we should use different floor mats, I had made the change. I am not one to make a complaint but think that this is the time to make my concerns heard.
On Friday, December 4, 2009 at about 4:15 pm, I had a sudden acceleration incident with my 2007 Toyota Prius. I had not had any prior difficulty with this vehicle in the approximately 34,000 miles I had driven since I bought it new. However at this time when I tried to back the car about 50 feet backwards into a motel parking spot (actually there were 3 open spots in a row), it responded very abnormally. I started the car, put it in reverse and gently applied pressure to the gas pedal. Instead of creeping backwards at ~5 mph as I had intended, the car "took off" at about 30-40 mph. I stomped on the brakes with both feet and initially didn't slow down. I felt an impact as my car grazed a parked vehicle. My car jumped over the curb at the parking lot edge, passed over some short bushes and entered a culvert. Somehow I was able to turn the car and it carved a 180 degree curve and came to a halt about 75 feet after it passed into the culvert. Fortunately I did make this sharp turn since there is a 4 lane highway on the other side of the culvert. There were no injuries and only slight damage to the other car, but an estimated $7000 of body damage to my car. The police were called as well my insurance company. The owner of the other vehicle was located. My car was towed to a local Toyota dealership. Since that time, the local Toyota regional office sent out a representative who inspected my car and "during a road test no abnormal braking or acceleration problems were found." I have since been in contact with Toyota usa in torrance, ca. I have spoken with a "case representative" who has not been helpful. Finally after 5 or 6 phone calls, I was able to get the address of the legal department. I wrote them a letter on January 20 and have heard nothing from them. I also called and left messages on February 2 and 4. as a physician interested in public health I don't want my family or anyone else to drive this car. My faith in the Toyota company is diminished.
- Rochester, MN, USA
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I have a 2007 Prius the following has occurred any time driving over rough patches of road or over rr tracks: The car loses traction and power for a sort time until smooth pavement returns. The vsc lamp on the dash shows up when this happens. I shudder to think what would occur on a rough mountain road or in wet weather. This type of event sounds very much like what's being reported by the drivers of the 2010 Prius. In 47 years of driving I've never had a car react in this way. I've compensated by driving cautiously and wait for traction to return but it doesn't feel quite right when it happens.
When driving over pot holes, my 2007 Toyota Prius tends to "slip" I.e. goes out of control momentarily until all 4 wheels return to a smooth surface. One of the annunciator panel lights (anti-skid?) also lights up when this happens. I thought this was a peculiarity of the car but now I see many others have experiencing it as well.
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. While driving approximately 25 mph the vehicle will lunged forward and accelerated. The dealer stated that the vehicle was responding normally for an electrical engine. The failure continues to occur on a more frequent basis. The failure mileage was 26,000.
I am a 2007 Prius driver and I want to report that I too have encountered the brake problem described in the news. I never attributed the problem to the car until I read the article. The problem always happens on ice for me and has always occurred at slow speeds. I press the brake and nothing happens, my stability control doesn't kick in, and my ABS doesn't engage and my speed didn't change. At the time I attributed the problem to ice. I had to tap my brakes several times before the system reengaged and the car slowed down. I've read that some car owners experience a feeling like the car isn't slowing down because of a switch from hydraulic to electrical braking but my braking distance was greatly increased and I ended up past my intersection. Luckily no one was around me at the time and I've been very cautious about brake distances on ice. I live in Minnesota and we've had a very icy winter. The first time this happened was just a few days before christmas and it happened twice since, always on ice. I've had the car for three years and this year is the first time I noticed it but this is also the first very icy winter we've had since I purchased the car.
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. The contact stated as he was driving his vehicle surged and accelerated forward. The contact stated when he hits the brake sometimes the vehicle will stop and sometimes it does not stop. An independent mechanic test drove the vehicle and stated it does surge and it should be service at the dealer. This happens a couple times a month while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated there is nothing wrong with the vehicle. A claim was file with the Toyota manufacturer. The failure mileage was 37,000. Updated 05/11/10.
I have a 2007 Toyota Prius and I have experienced poor braking and slippage when traveling over bumpy and/or wet surfaces, the most noticeable of which is the non-asphalt surfacing around and between railroad tracks. I understand you're aware of this on the 2010 models, but it happens on the earlier models too, and these should be made part of the recall. This has happened to me on multiple dates, the latest is below. Luckily, I leave more room between me and the car in front than the average person.
I have a 2007 Toyota Prius. When braking, the brakes feel "tacky" and/or there is a judder feeling, which makes the car stop suddenly or abruptly. This occurs when only applying a very light touch to the brake. Secondly, when applying brakes over icy patch or bump, car will continue to roll for a split second. There is an electronic sound at the same time the brake and roll occurs.
We own a Toyota Prius. When we turn on the heater and turn it to the feet, warm air starts blowing from the vent on the driver side to the face. We took it to the dealer "capitol Toyota", capital auto mall, san jose, ca. The dealer said that they would charge big time to fix it since we were just over 36,000 miles in 30 months. We didn't get it fixed. We believe that this issue is somehow related to its electrical/electronic systems issue. We also noticed about 2 weeks ago when we were parked in the line for gas, that the engine suddenly was roaring as if we were revving it to very high speeds without even the heater or A/C being on. We also think it has related front defrosting issues.
When I apply brake on a pothole or a small patch car does not stop and didn't immediately respond to the brake pedal, and it is always scary for me, in los angles you don't have good roads in many places.
On October 19, 2009 I was driving South bound on the I-5 when the gas pedal on my 2007 Toyota Prius got stuck and it wasn't the floor mat. I know this because I didn't have a floor mat in the first place. The major problem is on the Prius the push start button failed so you couldn't turn of the vehicle and when you tried to put it in neutral it would fail (not sure why), I am assuming do the speed you are going the computer does not allow you to put it neutral or turn it off.
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. While driving approximately 45 mph, the accelerator pedal became stuck and she could not slow down. She immediately engaged the brake pedal and turned off the ignition. When she restarted the vehicle, it began to operate normally. The dealer stated that there were no diagnostic codes indicating that there was a failure and that the floor mats may have caused the failure. She was also told that the computer was set to the driving habits of the driver and her inconsistent driving behavior "confused" the computer. The failure previously occurred in 2007. She called the manufacturer and was offered no assistance. The current mileage was approximately 10,000. The failure mileage was approximately 425.
I have also experienced the unintended acceleration in a 2007 Prius. It would not slow down; but it readjusted after about 20 seconds of me tapping the gas pedal to regain control and alternatively hitting the brake. Just wanted to make sure that you had the data point.
Unexplained spontaneous acceleration in 2007 Toyota Prius. In mid-may of last year I was driving alone on the hollywood freeway in approximately 45 mph traffic. Suddenly the car accelerated dramatically, as if I had punched the accelerator, or the cruise control suddenly kicked in but at full speed (the cruise was not on). I was shocked and scared, and I hit thebrakes, nothing happened, and the car kept accelerating. I thought about the mat and hooked my foot around the pedal to see but the pedal was up. I kept hitting the brakes again, and also pumped the accelerator to make sure it wasn't stuck and then the car stopped accelerating. The whole thing lasted less than 10 seconds, but was pretty scary as I got pretty close to traffic in front of me. It immediately occurred to me that it could have been the mat as that had happened in another car, but the mat was clipped to the floor, and was not in any way interfering with the gas pedal. Also, bear in mind, as I'm writing about this it sounds as if I was analytical and methodical, but actually I was pretty frantic and my feet were flying on the pedals.... I told my partner mark about it, told him to watch out for it, but then in June we bought another car and mark primarily drove the Prius after that. I then I forgot about it, as I thought it was just an anomaly and based on what we paid for the car and Toyota's reputation for safety. I had not heard of any acceleration issues at the time, and in fact didn't until much later after the chp officer's crash in the Lexus. I'm actually now pretty freaked out about it in hindsight, and we have gone over the drill repeatedly to make sure mark knows what to do if it happens again. I sincerely doubt it had anything to do with the pedal or the mat, and in my gut I suspect it is electronic in nature. I am pretty nervous about it.
On 11/29/09 in the afternoon as I was pulling into a parking slot in a trader joe's parking lot, my 2007 Toyota Prius suddenly accelerated forward over a curb, across a crosswalk and came to rest against a tree. Space covered by the car from acceleration to the tree was about 20-25 feet. Witnesses attest that I was using my brake as they saw the lights. I did not have time to attempt to shift the car to "neutral." The floormats were not interfering with the accelerator pedal (I have pictures) and the floor mats were hooked down. Fortunately no one was hurt including me. There was slight damage to the front drivers side bumper of an empty car parked facing me. There was substantial damage to the front of my Prius. As I stated, there were two witnesses who gave me their contact information and said they would be willing to testify for me if necessary. There was a trader joe worker who called a tow truck. The driver of the other vehicle with the minimal damage was quite upset and called the police who came and wrote a report. My car has never suddenly accelerated before - this was the first time. The car was towed to hooman Toyota in long beach. In response to my complaints to Toyota, a regional team was sent to evaluate the accelerator mechanism. The car is currently being repaired however Toyota has not been in touch with me to tell me their findings. Toyota's behavior to my complaints of safety issues has been to tell me that the only problem they have is floormats and that my problem has never been reported before. Their implication is that I was at error. My insurance company state farm initially held me responsible for not controlling the vehicle. When I refused this decision, sf did more research and changed their ruling to find fault with Toyota and will try to get reimbursed for repair costs and my deductible. I expect my car to be ready next week and am deeply concerned that the problem will not be fixed.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Walla Walla , WA, USA