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.
Combination meter display not illuminating when the vehicle's ignition is turned 'on' I have a 2008 Prius that I maintain regularly at authorized Toyota dealers without a miss. Dashboard on Toyota Prius stops working intermittently. When it fails, one can't know the speed of vehicle, milage, gear (D/R/P/N) etc. This happened couple of times even during middle of drive. When it happens, I can't even stop the car. I had do bit more research to figure out how to stop the car when this happens. I took it a dealer near by they diagnosed its due to defective combination meter. The quoted $800 to fix this. When I asked dealer about warranty, he said there is a warranty enhancement but it will only cover 9 years from date of purchase. Upon further research on internet, this issue appears to be very common in Toyota Prius models and found a reference to warranty enhancement. I never received any such communication, more over this is a real safety issue that involves no consumer fault. I found no reference to this in Toyota web pages in "my Toyota" section, rather found references in internet (attached). I called 1-800-331-4331 number the dealer gave me, they weren't willing to honor the warranty because 9 years gone from my date of purchase. I tried to explain why its safety issue with no consumer fault. Fix is very costly for consumer for problem caused by Toyota.
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. When the vehicle was started, the instrument panel gauges did not display. On several occasions, after turning off the vehicle, the engine continued to operate. The failures were not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer and an unknown dealer were notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 30,000.
Combination meter failure - went to start car and no response. Looked like an electrical short, nothing on dashboard lit up, nothing worked. Weather had recently turned cold. Online research shows this is a common problem. There's an expired extended warranty: Bulletin no.: pol12-05 this should be a recall.
For several years our Toyota Prius has exhibited the following issue: Intermittently, and without warning, when you start the car the dashboard does not light. As a consequent, you cannot not see the speed you're driving at, the fuel level of the car, any warnings such as check engine, low tire pressure etc, and you're not able to use a number of other important features such as cruise control. In addition, you are not able to turn off the car when you reach your destination. Because you cannot turn off the car, you cannot lock it. Undisclosed to customers, there has been for several years an extended warranty being offered by Toyota, to the dealerships, to fix this problem (warranty policy bulletin, pol 12-05). This information is provided only to dealerships. As I customer, I never received information about this extended warranty. I only found out about it via other customers. Our local Toyota dealership (Toyota of olympia) has refused to apply the extended warranty and fix the problem. We contacted the dealership several years ago about the issue, which they have a record of. Toyota customer service also refuses to help us get this issue fixed and apply the extended warranty. The case number with customer service is 1812072507. Both Toyota and the dealership state that the customer most replicate this intermittent issue to a dealership mechanic before either entity will authorize fixing the issue. Several weeks or months may go by before the issue appears and it appears only for an unpredictable duration before "going away", so this is an impossible burden of proof for the customer -- the customer has to take the car to a dealership at the moment the intermittent issue occurs, and must arrive at the dealership and get the mechanic to immediately drop their other work in order to hopefully witness the issue before it "goes away".
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing electrical failures, which caused the fuel gauge, odometer, cruise control, and speedometer to malfunction. In addition, the entire instrument panel would black out. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to carson city Toyota (2590 S carson St, carson city, nv 89701, (775) 882-8211) where it was diagnosed that the speedometer would have to be replaced. The other failures were not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and did not assist. The failure mileage was 220,000.
- Carson City, NV, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
2008 Toyota Prius como meter failure. Combo meter fails in cold weather, creating a dangerous driving condition. Cannot read speed, fuel, climate controls unresponsive. Very unhappy with my Toyota Prius when they told me it was out of date for the warranty repair. They want $1300 to fix one of their safety violations. There should be a safety recall for this part. My car has had this problem stationary and moving.
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. While driving 20 mph, the brake, anti-lock braking system, vehicle stability control, and traction control warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. Additionally, there was a triangle symbol flashing. The vehicle was taken to autonation Toyota leesburg (1 cardinal park dr SE, leesburg, va 20175, 571-357-3965) where it was diagnosed that the anti-lock brake system actuator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and provided case number: 1809122780. The manufacturer stated that the vehicle was not covered under a warranty. The failure mileage was 206,970.
Defective engine required replacement prior to 139K miles (due to cylinder malfunction and excessive oil consumption), at a cost of $3700 for a used one. This has also damaged the catalytic converter, quoted at $900. At 149K miles, the hybrid battery has failed as well, which has a quoted replacement cost of $2400. While slightly outside of warranty, the engine and hybrid battery are both core components that are expected to last significantly longer. In carb states, Toyota even warrants the hybrid battery for 150K miles. The cost of replacing them exceeds the kbb value of the car, which is unacceptable for a 10 year old vehicle with average mileage that was properly maintained. I contacted both the dealership and manufacturer, and neither will accept any ownership in the matter, or provide assistance on repair costs.
This is a ridiculously dangerous car. The push button system for starting is extremely dangerous for kids. My wife loads my three year old in the Prius with her keys in her bag. The older son who is five likes cars and jumps in the drivers seat at the base of our driveway on the hill where he can start the car since she is within 10-15 feet of the car.
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. While driving various speeds, the instrument panel failed to illuminate. The contact also stated that the rear hatch button melted. The vehicle was taken to South dade Toyota (29330 S dixie hwy, homestead, fl 33033, (786) 465-7908) where it was diagnosed that the wire connections were disconnected. The contact was also informed that the rear hatch button was a manufacturer defect and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failures and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in a recall. The approximate failure mileage was 75,000.
Toyota has acknowledge an issue with its combination meter in the 2004-2009 Toyota Prius but has not recalled the issue and instead wants payment to fix the problem. Toyota has documented this under the Toyota service bulletin T-sb-0172-09: "some 2004-2009 model year Prius vehicles may experience an intermittent condition where the combination meter display will not illuminate in cold weather conditions. An updated combination meter ECU is now available to correct this condition" Toyota offered a 3 year warrenty window for this but being outside this they want almost $1000 to fix this. This issue stops the speedometer for illuminating which creates a safety hazard when gauging the correct speed for the road and conditions.
Combination meter is defective, light panel, including speedometer & fuel levels go dark, unable to tell speed of vehicle or remaining fuel, multiple incidents, all began (thus far) while vehicle was stationary.
Combination meter is failing. U was told by a dealer that Toyota had issued a warranty enhancement, instead of a safety recall. Since I am not the original owner I was not notified of the problem and by the time I discovered it, the warranty extension has expired. Toyota refuses to pay for repairs. Instrument panel not working is a safety issue and Toyota has to be forced to issue a recall.
Lighting on speedometer only works when it is warm outside. I can't tell how fast I'm driving or if I have any gas.happens when vehicle is moving and when stationary.
My mother has a 2008 Prius that has two serious issues that Toyota has acknowledged and even offered to fix under what they call a support program. Sounds great right" here's the problem. 1. she never received a letter notifying her of the problem and that it needed to be fixed (and only now that the issues have become her issues is she aware there was a recall and 2. Toyota set a time frame to fix these issues which she is now past. Again, sounds like they tried to do the right thing" the first issue is an internal leak causing her brake booster to malfunction (which is a Toyota issue, not an age or wear and tear issue) and the second issue is that there are no lights on her dash board(combination meter) which means that for a Prius, there is no way to tell your speed or gas levels. So take that in. She has a car, that has two major issues, one of which Toyota fixed up until Dec of 2017 and the other Dec of 2016 and are caused by faulty parts and labor by Toyota, and they will no longer fix these. The break issue cost $2400 and the dash $800. For an issue that is caused by Toyota not the driver or wear and tear and is a serious safety issue. This is the kind of company Toyota really is. Several years ago my mom received about 14 letters stating she needed to come in and replace her floor matts because they were part of a recall. Floor mats! she's received recall issues on her door lock among other things that she promptly had fixed. She took her car to the Toyota dealership many times and no one ever mentioned these issues or "support programs". but breaks and dashboards aren't as important as floor mats or door locks. I would love for Toyota to explain to me and everyone else, how something they acknowledge is a Toyota issue, has an expiration date to get fixed by them.
I was in an automobile accident in Feb of 2015 I hot another vehicle going approximately 15mph no air bags were deployed and the police officer and body shop both were surprised no air bags deployed. I'm curious if this was due to a fault you airbag and luckly I wasn't seriously injured. My dash computer sensor went out in 2015, causing me to not be able to read an odometer, speedometer, etc. I had this part replaced at my expense due to the safety hazard it potentially could cause I'd like to see a formal recall for this part. Toyota acknowledged the safety error and did issue a extended warranty which I was not covered by. I replaced my inverter a third time in 2017 die to over heating. After the recall was performed I did noticed deceased power which greatly affected the performance of my vehicle making it more sluggish. Due to the performance loss I've not been able to use the car for normal trips that were taken previously due to safety concerns.
Headlight will unexpectedly turn off, despite working bulb. This happens without warning when driving. Both headlights will work fine for a while and then one will turn off, even though the headlight bulbs are ok. We bought the car used around 2014 and has happened about 4 times a year since then. No other problems with car.
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. While driving approximately 30 mph, the instrument cluster failed. Also, the vehicle became sluggish and stalled. The vehicle was taken to riley Toyota (2105 christy drive, jefferson city, mo 65101) where it was diagnosed that the combination meter failed. The vehicle was currently at the dealer to be repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000. The VIN was not available.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- San Jose, CA, USA