Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | |||
| 01/05/2011 | 75500 | ||
| The smart key on my 2004 toyota prius locked the doors on its own, even while in the car. i unlocked the doors with the smart key, placed my baby in his carseat, buckled him in, placed his diaper bag on the floor in the backseat as always, with the smart key in a pocket of the diaper bag, and as i was closing the back door so that i could get in the driver seat, all of the doors locked on their own. the smart key was in the diaper bag inside the car, as was my baby, and i could not get into the car. i had to call my wife and have her bring the second smart key to unlock the door. luckily my baby was not freaking out, and it was not a hot day. it was an extremely dangerous and scary situation. | |||
| LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES - HATCHBACK/LIFTGATE - LOCK | |||
| 02/04/2005 | 1 | ||
| In the 2004 toyota prius there is a button on both back seats by the headrests that unlatches the seatback. my four year old can easily push down this button with one finger, and my concern is that a child (or others) could unlatch the seat without the driver knowing. should the car crash or stop suddenly the seat could come down, possibly with a passenger in it. i told the car dealer and a toyota customer service rep about my concern. i was told the button is not designed that way, but when i contacted a second dealership their 2004 prius did the same as the car i tested. i was told that it was designed so that you had to continue to hold down the button in order to pull the seatback forward. this is not the case in reality. the button needs to be childproofed either by moving it so it is not easily seen and reached by a child, providing a cover, or adding a light on the dash so the driver is aware of the seat being unlatched. i was told that it was also designed so that the seat could not be unlatched while the car was in motion. also not true. i was the first to notice this unsafe feature, and we were in motion when i unlatched my seat.*ak | |||