Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 08/26/2006 | 104000 | 3 | 05/01/2001 |
| 2001 toyota prius sudden loss of power at highway speeds three incidents late aug 2006 first week oct 2006 second week oct 2006 in all cases vehicle will not start for 15 minutes but then runs normally. brought to dealer after first incident and they completed a recall replacement of crankshaft position sensor. brought to dealer after third incident they have been unable to diagnoses problem or reproduce after 90 miles test driving. call to toyota customer service line revealed toyota has no central point to collect vehicle safety problems when specifically asked if toyota was interested in discovering the safety problem in my vehicle, the answer was no i have been reassured by toyota that the crankshaft position sensor replacement was performed properly there is no software problem with 2001 prius similar to the 2004 prius problem which resulted kin sudden loss of power and lead to recall action. they are unaware of any problem similar to mine with 2001 prius. *jb | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 10/26/2001 | 108543 | 1 | |
| My wife's 2001 toyota prius with 108k miles stopped being able to be driven when she was driving it home. it stopped on a major highway and more warning lights than i'd ever seen came on. it would not drive more than a few mph and would shake and run roughly. it had to be towed approx 81 miles to a toyota dealer near our home. they told us the transmission needs to be replaced for about $7000 including labor. after doing some research online, i found that this is a somewhat common problem with other owners (priuschat.com). also, that there were several references to toyota covering part or most of the bill, even on vehicles not under warranty. if that's not admitting a defect, i don't know what is. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AXLE ASSEMBLY | |||
| 08/12/2001 | 1 | 07/01/2001 | |
| At 45mph on dry pavement, clear weather conditions i disengaged cruise control by tapping brakes. so that i could accelerate into traffic. the vehicle pulled hard to the left. i then found myself in a counterclockwise skid across the pavement as i left the pavement i felt the rear of the vehicle drop. now spinning i bounced off a tree and into a drainage ditch with about 1 and 1/2 foot of mud and water. it was then i noticed that one of the wheels (left rear) had separated from the vehicle and was on the other side of the ditch. it all happened so fast i have no idea of the actual cause. the studs which hold the wheel to the axel shearedoff, ans axle snapped, the undercarrage and supports were tangled. fhp officer at site indicated it could have been mechanical malfunction of some sort. because of conditions i contacted toyota as well as insurance co (progressive). no one has yet evaluated the cause. toyotas first comment was what do you expect from an investigation my answerwas to prevent a similar event in the future. as i related the event to every one i also noted that the steering didnot let me correct the skid. the vehicle is currently held in limbo by insurance and toyota. while i am walking. all safety equipment functioned properly.*ak | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AXLE HUBS | |||
| 08/17/2006 | 90000 | 1 | 06/04/2001 |
| Potential for fatal injury due to loss of control because of faulty driver's side rear axle hub bearing failure with separation of wheel from vehicle at 137,758 miles (such bearings should have effective life, or mtbf, of greater than 300,000 miles) -- intermittent noise began in 2003 and continued to get progressively worse culminating in 80-100 decibel sound level in passenger compartment -- inspection of vehicle indicated rear axle hub bearing grinding noise on drivers side rear axle hub -- replaced rear axle hub assembly on august 17, 2006 and noise is now completely gone -- the removed hub is nearly at a complete failure point with severe grinding in its sealed bearing -- i have retained removed hub and can ship to nhtsa or ntsb for inspection -- please advise at fscorpio@sbcglobal.net or 209-937-0644 (office day phone). *nm | |||