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 wife and 2 daughters were driving on interstate 90/94 when the entire steering column slowly dropped. I double checked the lever underneath to adjust it, but that was tight. I could see wires and bolts where the column had dropped several inches. I lifted the column up and thought it would lock in or click back in place. When I did this, the entire column collapsed in my lap. An alarm sounded and I had no control of the steering while going 70 mph. Somehow I managed to get the vehicle to the side of the road and had the vehicle towed to the dealership. Dealer fixed the vehicle and wrote, "upper steering column plate came out of bracket, possibly not locked in all the way from factory." Dealer had a field tech come look at and take pictures. Approximately 2-3 weeks later had a call from the dealer saying some engineers wanted to replace more parts and wanted vehicle again. This time they replaced the entire column rather than fixing pieces. At this point we had no faith in the vehicle and began dealing with Toyota to get a new vehicle as this Prius only had 6,293 miles.
Driving a 2010 Prius at speeds between 65 and 75 mph the car wanders in the lane and requires constant corrections. With windy conditions it is near impossible to stay in one lane. This is on I-75 in sw Florida which is newly paved, flat, and straight. This has continued to happen since the car was bought new in Dec. 2009. Software recall did not fix the problem.
My 2010 Toyota Prius drifts when I'm trying to drive the car straight. The car is very difficult to maintain a straight ahead position. I have to constantly be turning the steering wheel left then right, especially while driving at highway speeds. The car drifts both to the left and right. It won't go straight for more than a few seconds. It's not the driver as I have let others drive the car and they notice it to. It is also not the road surface because it happens all the time on all roads. I now have about 10,000 miles on the car and I've noticed this problem from the 1st day I owned it. At 1st when I bought the car I thought it was me and that I needed to get used to the car. But the car still acts this way, drifting left and right when I'm trying to go straight.
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. When the contact tried to pull down the visor, the garage door opener slipped off the visor and fell into the steering column. He had not taken the vehicle to the dealership but did have an appointment. He also had not spoken with the manufacturer to-date. The vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. The current mileage was approximately 3,900. The failure mileage was approximately 3,800.
We own a 2010 Prius. Although the hesitation in the braking has been at issue, we quickly learned to overcome the hesitation. Of more concern for us is the inability to steer the car on wet or smooth surfaces. When on water or snow there is no communication between the computer and the steering wheel. Warning lights come on and all steering ceases. This has resulted in several near misses when driving in traffic. If you look on edmunds.com and Prius chat.com you will see that this is a major concern for Prius owners and could potentially be a deadly problem if it hasn't been already. A car that doesn't steer or brake is a deadly combination.
- Winchester, VA, USA
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I have contacted my auto manufacturer about a steering problem. The car will not drive in straight line, it is ether going left or right. They have not responded to my complaint. I have to be very careful driving this car because it will wonder off of the road.
Events leading up to failure: Hitting the brakes and hitting a bump in the pavement of the road at the same time. How often: All the time, if you are hitting the brakes, and hitting a bump at the same time. What was done: Nothing. Toyota claims nothing is wrong.
2010 Toyota Prius steering wheel has a place where rings can snag causing an over or under turn situation. Toyota service manager said that replacing the part that causes this lock up would not help the problem. One time occurrence for me but was very scary at the time.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Madison, WI, USA