My 2007 Toyota Prius will not stay in gear off an on. It will go into reverse or drive for a few seconds then pop into neutral. This has happened 9 times in the last 2 weeks and always on a hot day after being parked at work. I have to drive home while holding the shift lever in gear. Sometimes if this happens and I turn off the air conditioning it will stay in gear, but not always. Is this a gear shift lever problem?

- Sun Prairie, WI, USA

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. The vehicle was in parked in the driveway and another vehicle bumped into it causing the gear shift to move into reverse. The vehicle traveled over an 18 inch snow bank and crashed into a tree. The front and rear bumpers were damaged. There were no injuries. The vehicle was driven to the dealer. A representative from the manufacturer performed a diagnostic test and found that the gear shift being placed in and out of park several times caused the gears to slip into neutral and then into reverse. The contact confirmed that the vehicle was in park. The contact was not offered any assistance with the repair. The failure mileage was 44,000.

- Rosemount, MN, USA

My 2008 Prius has a transmission-related problem recently, and I believe it may be connected to the sudden accelerator issues. The transmission stopped operating properly about three months ago, and the Toyota dealership checked it and could find no problem. However, my gas mileage has dropped about ten mpg, and the transmissions vacillates between being sluggish (barley going up normal hills, ) or the engine sometimes racing. I wonder if the car is safe, and if the computer running the transmission is the problem on other vehicles, the ones whose "accelerators stick" maybe it this the electronic program on the transmission, not the accelerator. I am afraid to drive mine now - am using my ten year old farm truck instead on many occasions.

- Rio, WI, USA

While turning into a parking spot, I experienced a total loss of braking while the vehicle began accelerating without gas pedal pressure. After jumping a curb, the brake pedal became active and the car was stopped.

- Leesburg, VA, USA

My wife and I were on our way to the Toyota service center, 1357 richmond rd., charlottesville, va 22911, for a 50,000 mile routine service appointment for our 2007 Prius. While driving at about 45 miles per hour in traffic on route 29 the accelerator pedal suddenly lost power. The brake, steering and display panel continued to function. We rolled to the side of the road, cutting through one lane of traffic without power. We stopped at the side of the road and turned off the ignition. When the ignition was turned back on the power returned to the accelerator and we continued to the Toyota service center without further incident. We described our problem to the Toyota technician. When I picked up the car at the end of the day the technician said that they checked the computer system and did not find any problem so no action was taken. This was the first time that this car lost power to the accelerator. We have not had any problems with it until now. We are concerned about the possibility that this could happen again since the problem was not diagnosed. It could result in a serious safety problem if it occurred in traffic on a highway.

- Barboursville, VA, USA

Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) [xxx]I own a 2007 Prius that I bought new in 2007. It's been a good car except for one dangerous safety problem. Background: I am 57 years old and a 20 year + car salesman and that happens to be a certified Toyota consultant. My background also includes 5 years as a service manager for a domestic. The 2007 Prius has an automatic cvvt transmission with a traction control feature. Problem: The danger is the moment traction control is triggered a lost of traction by a signal from the wheel area it "powers down" the engine to no power for 1-2 seconds it takes the system to recover. Hitting a manhole cover or a pothole going down broadway at 30 mpg can set it off but the most dangerous situation is pulling onto a busy road. The seconds it takes to recover seems a lot longer when you are in traffic. The sensors in the wheel areas that activate the traction control feature are set up too sensitive. The Toyota advisors know of no reprogramming fix either. Toyota offers no shut off for this feature. It is horrid trying to get up the slightest snowy incline. I'm no engineer but suspect it's a feature selected by Toyota to protect the cvvt transmission against the enormous torque produced by the hybrid motor's almost 300 foot lbs. I would be happy to show you. The Toyota service advisors did not need to drive it. They are aware of the complaint. I contacted the service departments at both groove Toyota on S broadway and go Toyota on arapahoe both were very courteous and professional. Both of the service advisors told me that there is no fix because the system was designed that way. I have 39,500 miles and am on my second set of 4 tires. The two advisors I talked to told me that there are many of the same complaint and that Toyota's suggest to keep new tires on the car. I found it strange that both said to call Toyota but that I won't get anywhere.

- Denver, CO, USA

I own a 2007 Prius with 35,000 miles on it. We have been a 2 Prius family for 6 years, so I am highly familiar with driving one. I have had three very frightening incidents happen in about the last 4 months in my car. Each has happened in exactly the same spot during a commute that I do several times a week. I have been exiting from a freeway, going 65 mph, down a gentle downslope. When I exit (continuing the downslope) the engine starts revving at a speed that I never have heard during any normal driving circumstance. This is while I am braking to stop at a light at the bottom of the exit. I have had a car next to me roll down the window and the driver ask if I needed help. Over the last 15 years I had done this exact exit thousands of times, in many different vehicles, and have never experienced anything remotely like this. Each of the three times I shifted the car into neutral, but the high rev continued. The only thing that stopped it was to pull over and to turn the car off and restart. I immediately checked the floor mat each time and it was mounted securely exactly in place hooked on the mounts. This has happened three times, completely randomly. I took the car in to be serviced at Toyota of berkeley on 2/2/10 and was told that until the car did this on a "frequent" basis that there was nothing that Toyota could do. He checked the log for warning lights and there were no entries (I checked the dash each time this has happened, and no lights warning lights were on.)

- Berkeley, CA, USA

Several near miss incidents due to no acceleration on slippery surfaces - wheels do not even spin to no traction is even possible. This is especially so when pulling into traffic on snowy days. Simply unable to get out of the way of oncoming traffic. Toyota dealer tells me "this is normal." I am 63 and of all the vehicles I have owned, this Prius is the only one with this problem. I could be dead, or someone else could be dead.

- Lakeville, MN, USA

This was a first time occurrence for my 2007 Prius. I was stopped midway on my mountain, long & steep, dirt driveway trying to park along the rock side. It was too tight to park so decided to continue down to the bottom. I was in reverse and shifted, with my foot on the brake, into drive. The car suddenly bolted forward propelling me through the fence and down a steep embankment to our deck where 12 people were having a dinner meeting. My brakes didn't work, nor did the steering. The bolting force was heard by all on the deck. There is no way I would have pressed the gas by mistake for two reasons: Your foot must be on the brake to shift; and as is typical on our steep gravel roads, one never presses the gas pedal while proceeding down. The car propelled 10 or 12 feet forward crossing the drive at a diagonal, crashed through the fence boarding the drop off, and proceeded down the embankment stopping only when it hit the big tree by our deck. To my right were all the guests and my husband, just feet away from the oncoming, out of control car. Had I missed that particular tree, I would have rolled down an even steeper ravine because of rocks to bounce off and very sharp drop off.

- Boulder, CO, USA

May 22, 2008 Toyota motor sales, U.S.a., Inc. 19001 South western ave. Dept. WC11 torrance, ca 90501 dear sirs: I have been a long-time Toyota customer and last year purchased a 2007 Prius. I am also a subscriber to consumer reports magazine. Although I am delighted with the comfort, headroom, gas mileage, convenience, quiet and appearance of the car, there is a real safety issue. When I was initially researching a new automobile, I dismissed some peoples' reports of 'sudden acceleration' as being inaccurate. However, it is real, and I have figured out under what specific circumstances it occurs. At the end of deceleration for a stop light, stop sign, or just before a turn, when the car is traveling 5-10 mph, more commonly on a downhill incline, and most importantly, when the pavement is irregular or bumpy, my Prius will transition from electric to gasoline power and make a sudden forward lunge forward lasting 1-2 seconds. On most occasions, the lunge is mild, require a little extra brake pressure. But some times, the lunge is more severe, requiring firm brake pressure to avoid striking the automobile in front of me. I reported this to my local dealer, huntington Toyota, in huntington, New York, at my last maintenance visit. The technician wrote that the car was 'operating normally, ' although I imagine it is difficult to test these exact circumstances. I would appreciate your reply and investigation into this safety issue. Sincerely, paul L. krawitz cc: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration consumers union.

- Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA