I've heard about unintended acceleration, but we're having a problem that I haven't seen discussed and I'm looking for help. We have a 2011 Prius Five. It has the Advanced Technology Package, which includes features such as Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, Pre-Collision System, and Lane Keep Assist among other stuff.
My wife drives the car most of the time, and she loves it. Except for one major issue. Every once in a while - it can be months between events - the car momentarily slams on the brakes when driving at highway speeds while nothing else is going on. We know it's not operator error. It's happened to my wife several times and me once. When it happened to me I was driving on a dry, lightly traveled divided highway. Everything on the dashboard lights up, alarms go off, the car decelerates like I suddenly stomped on the brake pedal though my foot never moved off of the gas, it lasts for maybe a second and then the car is back to normal. It's the same each time it's happened. Luckily each time this has happened we haven't had anyone tailgating us.
We've taken it to the dealer multiple times. The first couple of times they looked at us like we were loony. They checked it out and we got it back with a message that said the technician checked the computer and test drove it for 20 miles and the car was operating as designed. Except it wasn't and it happened again. We finally convinced them that this was maybe a legitimate issue and they said they brought in a Toyota Field Specialist who checked the car out and they said that they found the issue and it was the PCS wave radar sensor that was slightly out of alignment. That didn't fill me with confidence - if a car can behave that erratically when a sensor is slightly out of alignment it sounds like a poorly designed car. But the car behaved itself for about five months. Until yesterday...
Anyone out there have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I've heard about unintended acceleration, but we're having a problem that I haven't seen discussed and I'm looking for help. We have a 2011 Prius Five. It has the Advanced Technology Package, which includes features such as Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, Pre-Collision System, and Lane Keep Assist among other stuff.
My wife drives the car most of the time, and she loves it. Except for one major issue. Every once in a while - it can be months between events - the car momentarily slams on the brakes when driving at highway speeds while nothing else is going on. We know it's not operator error. It's happened to my wife several times and me once. When it happened to me I was driving on a dry, lightly traveled divided highway. Everything on the dashboard lights up, alarms go off, the car decelerates like I suddenly stomped on the brake pedal though my foot never moved off of the gas, it lasts for maybe a second and then the car is back to normal. It's the same each time it's happened. Luckily each time this has happened we haven't had anyone tailgating us.
We've taken it to the dealer multiple times. The first couple of times they looked at us like we were loony. They checked it out and we got it back with a message that said the technician checked the computer and test drove it for 20 miles and the car was operating as designed. Except it wasn't and it happened again. We finally convinced them that this was maybe a legitimate issue and they said they brought in a Toyota Field Specialist who checked the car out and they said that they found the issue and it was the PCS wave radar sensor that was slightly out of alignment. That didn't fill me with confidence - if a car can behave that erratically when a sensor is slightly out of alignment it sounds like a poorly designed car. But the car behaved itself for about five months. Until yesterday...
Anyone out there have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks.
- Dave T., Woodstock, MD, US