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 emergency brake has failed. I park on a hil and my car almost went down without me in it, I was getting something out of the back seat when the eb failed, luckily the drivers door was open and I was able to jump in and brake with the normal brakes. Also while braking and going over a bump my brakes fail for a second.
Without warning, while traveling downhill at about 45 mph and braking, the car lost power and was very difficult to control. Several dash warning lights came on. I was able to drive a short distance, at 10-15 mph, to the dealer for repairs. A transistor in the inverter had over-heated and failed. The event occurred on 28 Jan 2017. Toyota knew of this potential failure and recalled the car for a software fix (eoe recall ssc#eoe agg09A ), installed in the car on 29 April 2014, by dch Toyota ( 2955 pacific coast highway, torrance, ca) also the dealer who repaired the failure. I only recently learned the recall and the failure were related and I believe the failure could repeat with potentially catastrophic results.
My car is a 2010 Toyota Prius with nearly 100K miles. I was traveling on the highway at approx 65 mph when another vehicle was trying to merge onto the highway. I usually maintain my speed but in this situation of traffic I slowed slightly and flashed my headlights for the driver to go ahead of me. The driver seemed to be unsure of merging safety and pulled over to the shoulder of the road. In that process I braked to slow and then accelerated in an effort to maintain speed with ongoing traffic. Then oddly the acceleration went from under foot as if a 'ghost' was pressing the accelerator pedal. At first I thought perhaps the floor mat was improperly pressing it. I pressed the brake a bit a few times and looked to the hazards to alert other vehicles but never pressed them instead intuitively trying to regain control of the car. The process of pressing the brakes and accelerator gently seemed to reset things. Hard to say as most of my attention was focused on trying things to stop the accelerator. I just got lucky I think. I was able to regain control of the car within a short time that felt like a long time in retrospect. Perhaps a moment or two that felt like longer. I did not see indicating lights on my dashboard and they may have lit up- I was doing my best to notice cars around me and maintain control of the vehicle. My car has been 'fine' since but I have not gone back on the freeway. I have not returned to the Toyota dealership but thought about going today. I'll wait to hear back in case there are specific instructions I should follow for that to help. I looked once stopped and the floor mat is nowhere near anything that could catch a petal. Weather clear on the evening of Feb 1 approx 6 pm medford Oregon on northbound I-5
We were driving on the highway at about 70 miles per hour when the reading lights and dashboard flashed on and then off in a matter of about 5 seconds. The dash showed a triangle indicator light with an exclamation point. The dash also seemed to reset and showed the display as is the car had just been turned on. This incident happened twice within a 4 hour period. Once on the highway and once on a back road going about 40 mph. The car did not stop either time, but it is still concerning.
Excessive oil consumption starting at 100,000 which worsened. I now have to put a quart of oil every 750-1000 miles in my 2010 Prius. No one at Toyota will admit this is a problem, albeit there are an extreme amount of these complaints online through different blogs and web sites. Really, we Toyota owners bought this car to decrease our carbon footprint...ironic, right?
In the past year I have had 2 occurrences of unintended acceleration. The first in February of 2016. I was exiting a parking ramp up hill and stepping on the accelerator. I was driving straight then turning to the left (90 degree turn). When I took my foot off the accelerator, the car continued to accelerate and I was unable to get it slowed/stopped for about a block even though I was applying heavy brake pressure. The car was revving against the brake pressure. No damage or injuries occurred. I took the car to the dealership where I purchased it (purchase date 8/3/13). They checked the car over and found no apparent cause for the acceleration. I took the car home, and it drove normally until 11/26/16. On that date I was driving very slowly in a flat parking lot, and the car began accelerating without my pushing the gas pedal. I was driving straight and then turning to the right (90 degree. I got the car stopped in a few feet by pressing extremely hard on the brake. My car did not hit anything. Technicians from the dealership have not been able to find a cause and I have not been able to get past Toyota's customer service department to escalate the issue for more detailed diagnostics. I have attached the timeline of trying to get the car diagnosed and the issue escalated as well as why I don't think user error is a factor.
Tire light keeps coming on. Third time. There is no problem with my tires. Started this summer and continues today. I am taking my vehicle into a Toyota dealer for the second time for this problem.
On Feb 19, 2016 I was driving my 2010 Prius. The sunroof exploded, without being hit by anything. It exploded upward. I called Toyota, but they said it was not their fault. I had to replace the glass. I have photographs.
While driving in boston, I attempted to beep the horn to warn a car that was cutting in front of me, but the horn did not work. Toyota diagnosed this as a bad clock spring in the steering wheel. The inability to use the horn is a safety issue. An online search seems to reveal that this is a common problem with multiple Toyota models.
In July, I was braking to a stop on a Suburban street but my brakes wouldn't allow me to come to a complete stop in time. It was raining. I finally came to a stop in the middle of the intersection, where I was hit on the drivers side by an oncoming car. Additionally, my side airbag (curtain) didn't deploy. I was traveling less than 15 mph at the time.
Intermittent failure of for door locking/unlocking mechanism. Apparently a fairly common occurrence in this make and model. Safety risk : inability to exit the vehicle in an emergency e.g. accident, fire, if the locks fail unexpectedly.
In Feb 2015 after owning the car for a few months, the sunroof exploded on the freeway at a speed of 60 mph. The break was directed up to the outside (not down as if something struck the window). The side windows were cracked so it was not an issue of the heat/cold change or too much cabin pressure. Now Aug 2016, the exact same thing happened again. This time Toyota is refusing to acknowledge there is an issue with the sunroof. In both instances, the sound was loud like a shotgun and extremely startling. Glass could have rained down on me or I could have been startled causing an accident. I do not understand how the sunroof can break twice in the same manner within 1 1/2 yrs owning the car. This seems like a dangerous issue and am concerned that it will happen again. I have pictures but am unable to load them. I also have a video camera in my car to show that there were no other cars near me at the time this happened.
A recall issued for an electronic component of my vehicle in February 2014. After searching the recall database by my VIN, I learned of the recall and made an appointment (March 8, 2014) to have my car serviced by the same dealership where I purchased it (North hollywood Toyota, 4606 lankershim blvd, North hollywood, ca 91602). When I went to pick up the vehicle, I was told by dealership employees that the recall did not apply to my car, and therefore no fix was made. The recall website shows that the recall remains to this day, and is marked incomplete. It is unacceptable (and dangerous) that I brought my car, with a known recall, to a Toyota dealership, and when I inquired about the recall, I was apparently lied to.
I along with an alarming amount of others have experienced the 2010 Prius begin to burn oil at an alarmingly high rate around 60-80K miles. This is accompanied with an emission into the cabin of noxious fumes during high oil burn rate (heavier acceleration) moments. We have all been told by the dealerships that this is "normal". this has led to burning over a quart of oil every 1000 miles, headaches from the fumes, and now I have found out there is substantial soot buildup in the engine resulting from the oil burning requiring very costly repairs. Toyota refuses to do anything to help or even acknowledge the costly issue.
Car would not drive, or reverse it shifts to neutral since first week I bought the car in Aug 2010. I bought a Toyota Prius III 2010 (from the dealership Toyota of kearney mesa in san diego) in 2010. The car from the beginning would shift back to neutral when I set it to drive or reverse. I bought the car and am the only owner). After I encounter this, within the week I took it to the dealership where I bought it (san diego kearny mesa) and they told me that it was not a problem. Yes, it was a problem and they refused to fix it. This has happen to my car from week 1. now 5 years later, today, the car would not engage in "D" or reverse. I tried at least for 10 minutes. I called a dealership now in seattle (since I take my car here for service) and I was told that they never heard about it. I searched online and I found that this problem/bug does happen. Today I could not set my car to drive or reverse for about 10-15 minutes. It's a safety issue. My steps: 1. depress power button (to turn on) 1.1. wait about 5-10 seconds 2. depress the break + engage in D (drive) or (R) reverse. 3. the car goes to "N" neutral and cannot be put in gear drive or reverse. 4. turn car off. Go back to step 1 until your car engages.
On May 30, 2015, our home burned to the ground. The firefighters are certain the cause of the fire was my 2010 Prius - they know the fire started in the rear of the garage, the only other item in that area was a bicycle. Arson, faulty wiring and accidents were ruled out. Investigations continue, but they have identified an arc between the battery and the relay switch. My homeowners insurance carrier (erie) is trying to decide whether they should expend the additional $1,500 to open the relay switch box to see if they can determine if the arc was the cause of the fire, or a result. From the video footage, it is obvious that the water being poured onto the garage increased the intensity of the fire, which was due to the magnesium battery. Thestarpress.com has all the video: www.thestarpress.com/videos/news/2015/06/03/28436619/ we were trapped in an upstairs bedroom for 40 minutes - and given up for dead before the 911 operators heard my labored breathing over the still-open phone line. A heroic firefighter threw himself through the wall of our second-story bedroom to rescue us. My husband was not breathing when he was removed from home, but we have both recovered. We had been out to dinner earlier in the evening, but the car had been parked in our garage for several hours. I have heard of many other Prius fires, and wanted to alert you to our experience.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Bountiful, UT, USA