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 prior Prius was repurchased by Toyota 09/09 with severe electrical issues which only escalated. I believe the man in ca because that happened to us on the highway, and our car behaved as if it were 'possessed'. now my 2010 is having intermittent issues, including an anti-skid/ braking light that we'd thought was remedied by resetting an ABS actuator Friday-it was on since test driving the car-but I was told many excuses, and eventually they were aware but did not know how to correct this. (?) I'm concerned about driving this vehicle as my 2007 trapped us in the car twice-911 called in a panic-plus my small daughter's safety was at risk just by owning that crazy car. Please see if you can locate that car and inspect it-you will see this is not some chance situation-and now I am extremely concerned about our new car 'performing as designed' when brake warning light comes on when applied! feel free contacting me on this!!
I have a 2010 Toyota Prius. There are three driving modes: Ev, eco and power. Ev is all electric, for very short distances at speeds under 25 mph. Every time I use the ev mode, and accelerate past 10 (ten) miles per hour, the system beeps and the display alerts that I am exceeding the speed, and shifts onto another mode. I am unable to use the ev mode as advertised by Toyota. I have taken the auto to the dealership and they refuse to acknowledge the auto operates in full electric mode, at low speeds, for short distances.
Driving my 2010 Prius when suddenly the auto turned off. Interior lights came on and dash stated key was located within the cabin indicating car was off. Dealership notified and computer saw the error message. Dealership stated that they don't know what happened but call back if it happens again.
Purchased 2010 Prius on Aug ll,09. Have returned to dealer 5 times, beginning on Sept.29, 09, to report same problem...which is that at random times when I shift from "P" to either "D" or "R", the vehicle lunges and when I apply the brake, it is like hitting a brick wall. This process is repeated several times in sequence...lunge, brake, lunge, brake..then it corrects itself and drives normally. I cannot predict when this will occur, sometimes it is weeks and hundreds of miles between occurrences; sometimes only a few miles and hours between incidents. The dealer always says they have not been able to reproduce the problem, therefore no diagnosis or repair. I have reported to Toyota customer ser. And was assigned a case #. have had ongoing conversation with tcs rep to report this and several other problems, I.e. various warning lights at inappropriate times..."key detected in vehicle" while driving down the road... etc. Am always told "scan shows no problems". I think there is a problem with electronics. Unsafe, frightening. Latest incident on 3/05/10. Dealer installed software fix for brake recall on 2/10/10. At times must repeatedly move gear shift lever before it responds.
I own a 2010 Prius. I have owned the car since Oct 2009. Twice I let the car sit in my garage without driving it for 6 days. The battery completely discharge over the 6 days such that the car has to be jumped in order for it to start. Both times I took the car to Toyota service center and both times they did not find anything wrong with the car. There solution was to not let the car sit undriven for that long. However, if I took the car to the airport and left it while I was gone for a week, it would not start when I return. This is not acceptable to me since I travel a lot. According to Toyota I have no recourse.
- Yardley, PA, USA
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The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact took the vehicle to an authorized dealer to have the recall repair performed; however, the turn signals began activating on their own after the repair was made. The warning indicator illuminated which indicated that the vehicle was in danger or the front wheels were going to spin out of control. There was also a very loud buzzing indicator that startled the contact while he was driving. The dealer was informed about the failure and advised the contact not to drive the vehicle. The contact has not spoken with the manufacturer. The vehicle has not been repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 400 and the current mileage was 435. Updated 04/21/10
1. on Friday, February 26th, 2010 I had my 2010 Prius "fixed" at a Toyota dealership for the brake/acceleration recall. I had experienced braking/acceleration issues only 3 times in 5 months of owning the vehicle before having it recalled. 2. in the last 2 days I have experienced the braking/acceleration problem twice. The problem seems to have gotten worse. Essentially what occurs is a sudden jerking forward of the car, whether or not the braking system is depressed, typically when going over rough terrain or uneven pavement. I occurred both times at relatively low speeds between 10-20 miles an hour and the acceleration lasted only a second or 2, but is very alarming, especially if a car is in front of you.
2010 Toyota Prius software defect in the engine control system. Consumer states while reversing before the start up operation is complete the brakes grab. The consumer parked facing an upslope at the dealer to get his license plate installed. To leave, the consumer put his foot on the brake and pressed the power button. As the dashboard started to light up, he shifted into reverse, released the parking brake and the foot brake and started to ease down the ramp. As the consumer applied the foot brake, the brakes grabbed badly. The consumer released and re-applied them, and again they grabbed. The grabbing was severe enough that the vehicle was not safe to drive and the consumer just stopped. The consumer believed the behavior indicated a defect in the software that controlled the start-up sequence. The control computer should not allow the vehicle to be shifted into drive or reverse until the power-on operations have been fully completed.
My 2010 Toyota Prius does not always recognize the key and will not open doors and not start the vehicle. The gear shift jumps out of gear going from reverse to drive and vice versa. The heater does not work properly. I am afraid to drive my newly purchased vehicle. Please advise.
I purchased a 2010 Toyota Prius in August, 2009. During the fall, 2009, I experienced two incidents, which in retrospect, I think involved sudden acceleration. On both occasions, I was driving home from work and went over a spot on the road which, because it was dark, I couldn't see for sure, but which felt like a pot hole. (I also think it may have been raining on both of these occasions, although I can't recall for sure). Immediately after hitting what I think was a pot hole, I felt the car suddenly and dramatically accelerate. Both times I applied the brakes and the car stopped accelerating. At the time, it did not occur to me what was going on. But, now thinking about it, I think it likely that the sudden jolt to the car, perhaps combined with moisture, caused some type of electrical malfunction, which thankfully, was short-lived (or at least stopped by braking). Shortly after these incidents, I mentioned them to my wife. She reported that she had experienced very much the same thing on a separate (I.e., a third occasion) driving our Prius.
While slowing down (foot on the brake) for a light or road bump, the car suddenly accelerates until I press harder on the brake. This has occurred about 10 times since I purchased the car summer of 2009. No accident but almost rear-ended the car in front of me several times. Brought to Toyota and told nothing was wrong and I wasn't used to the ABS system. This can't explain the sudden acceleration and near miss accidents.
1. I bought my 2010 Prius new from a Toyota dealer in early December of 2009. 2. when I am applying the brakes to slow down, if I hit a pothole, bump, or speed bump the brakes will stop working and the car will lurch forward. I have experienced this brake failure at least 20 times, with varying severity. It can happen any time I am trying to slow down and hit a bump or pothole (e.g.. trying to slow down because the car in front of me is stopping, or because I am approaching a stop sign or red light, or because I am turning or going into a curve). So far, this brake failure has not caused an accident but it has caused me to come very close to hitting the car in front of me on one occasion. I have come to no longer feel safe driving my Prius because I cannot trust the brakes when there are bumps or potholes in the road. 3. I brought my Prius to the service center of the dealership where I purchased the car. I brought the car in on 2/4/2010. That evening when I spoke to the mechanic, he told me that the brakes are normal and that he did not do anything to fix my car and that I could pick my car up. I then spoke with the manager and told him that I did not feel safe driving the car until they fixed the braking problem. My car is still at the dealership and has not been fixed because they are refusing to acknowledge that the brakes are not functioning safely.
My 2010 Prius stalled in traffic cutting off all power including emergency flashers. The vehicle would not restart for 8 minutes. I immediately took car to the dealer and reported my problem. I was told it was a software glitch which was immediately corrected.
I own a 2010 Toyota Prius. Since purchasing it in August, I have been aware of odd, completely reproducible braking behavior. I have not reported the complaint until now because I assumed it was something normal within the operation of the Prius, but with the report in the New York times that Japan is investigating the Prius braking system, I thought I should file a report. I live near train tracks that have a grade crossing in the middle of a block. The crossing itself is in ann arbor, mi, on w. william St. Between S. ashley St and S. 1st St. When driving westbound on william St, one travels downhill and encounters the grade crossing near the bottom of the hill, about 20-30 feet before an intersection. Every time I cross the train tracks at this grade crossing--regardless of weather conditions--I notice an alarming loss of braking power that occurs exclusively when crossing the train tracks. At first I thought this was normal, that perhaps the car was just slipping, but now it seems as if this represents the conditions that are under investigation in Japan. The problem is 100% reproducible. Typical travel speeds are 15-30 miles per hour. The braking action is only interrupted while traveling over the bumpy surface of the rail tracks, and then braking action is restored. However, if there are cars queued up at the bottom of the hill at the intersection, it often leads to short braking times and has caused concern regarding the effectiveness of the brakes. I have not spoken to my dealership regarding the problem, nor had any service performed on the vehicle regarding the problem. Again, I believed this to be more of a design issue than a performance problem, but it is alarming, nonetheless. Thank you for your hard work keeping America's cars safe.
2010 Toyota Prius - when braking, if you hit a bump or pot hole in the road, the car lunges forward (accelerates). You have to really pay attention for this occurrence or you will rear end someone. I has happen about 5 times now. This seems to be a electronics issue not a pedal problem.
We recently purchased Prius 2010 V with technology option. After driving it for two weeks car design has caused a life-treating situation for driver and two passengers (one of them being a child) by stopping at the intersection in a non-drivable condition in a way of high traffic in the night. Car had to be blocked out by police for 1.5 hours and later towed to dealership. Later investigation revealed that inability to drive was caused by instrumental panel light dimmer turning off instrumental panel when headlights are switched on. Note that dimmer itself was not operated by the driver (it might have been moved unintentionally some times earlier) and actual act of turning instrumental panel off was triggered by turning on headlights which increased dimming level to "full off" state. This car does not have any "non-electronic" instrumental panel and so is not drivable with it off. In fact both driver and passenger was not aware that car is even on at that time because there is no "drive" shift indicator except on instrument panel, and first reaction was to try and restart the car, which further make drive shift position uncertain. This is extremely unsafe design. Dimmer should not be able to make care not operable. In this car without any non-electronic instrumental panel, it should be never possible to completely turn it off. This function should be eliminated to prevent an eventually fatal accident that is waiting to happen (or maybe already happened). Note that car manual does not mention: 1) that instrumental panel can be completely off with the dimmer 2) that there is a dependency between dimming level and headlights. This issue has been experienced by multiple other users as indicated by these threads: priuschat.com/forums/gen-II-Prius-audio-electronics/11744-blank-instrument-cluster-panel.htmlpriuschat.com/forums/gen-II-Prius-care-maintenance-troubleshooting/9053-when-my-headlights-my-dashboard-dark.html.
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- Tampa, FL, USA