Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| VISIBILITY | |||
| 01/20/2011 | |||
| The driver's side hid headlight, intermittently, unpredictably and inexplicably shuts off. it will occasionally return to service on its own, but usually requires a cycling of the light's power switch before full function is restored. after which, the length of time before the light shuts off again varies from a few seconds to not at all. after researching this issue, it seems to be a rather systemic problem with the 2004-2009 prius. obviously, the situation this condition creates is unsafe at best, can place me personally in an unexpected illegal position - and (should both lights go out together, as some have reported) could quite possibly be life threatening. for the safety of the driving public, i would strongly urge nhtsa to investigate this issue. toyota must take responsibility for their design flaw, and engineer a resolution to this problem. | |||
| 01/15/2008 | 90000 | 1 | |
| Multifunction touch screen display (mfd) malfunction disables the windshield defogger. one must wipe the windshield by hand. if the windshield fogs while driving on a narrow and winding road or busy highway, the driver and passengers are at high risk. there is a website that shows what the problem is and how to fix it (http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/mfd/). a multi-pin connector has a faulty pin. the soldering cracks over time resulting in a loose connection. toyota does not provide an affordable solution. they offer to remove the two computer units from behind the mfd and replace them for approximately $3,000, rather than simply re-soldering the connector pin. i cannot afford to repair this, and toyota has not offered any viable solutions. this affects all early type 2 priuses. *tr | |||
| 02/05/2010 | 71132 | 1 | |
| 2004 toyota prius cost $449 (includes labor) to replace passenger side head light. *tr | |||
| 12/30/2007 | 1 | ||
| The multi-function display (mfd) failed. (cross reference nhsta complaint #10173892). this is a known design defect (cross reference analysis on web: http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/mfd/compare.html and http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/mfd/). toyota issued a technical service bulletin (either el-002-04 or el-002-05 - conflicting info on this) on jan 10, 2005. when the mfd fails, one cannot control the amount of airflow to the windshield (defroster). this presented me with visibility problems during the morning commute. as such, i consider it a safety issue. toyota has been aware of this for 3 years, given the date of their tsb. the root cause appears to be an undersized solder pad on one of the electronic cards of the mfd. this results in a cracking of the solder joint. because my problem was intermittent, coming and going on a frequent basis, i presume it was a micro crack. this does not help when the windshield is fogging over. all of the various error messages that were displayed on the mfd were consistent with the information on the above referenced web url's. the problem is with the release f of the electronic card assembly and was corrected with release g. there are pictorial comparisons between the two releases on one of the web url's. given that this has an impact on visibility during the winter months, i am shocked that toyota chose to sit on this problem. the supplier of this part to toyota is fujitsu. *tr | |||
| VISIBILITY - DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER SYSTEM | |||
| 07/10/2012 | 28000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota prius. the contact stated that the multi-display module for the heater and defroster units failed, causing the windshield defogger to fail. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who advised that the multi-display module needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was notified and stated that there were no recalls for the vehicle. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 28,000. | |||
| VISIBILITY - POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS | |||
| 11/01/2009 | 68000 | 2 | |
| About 40% of the time, my toyota prius doesn't want to stop or slow down when the brakes are applied. under these conditions, i have to apply the brakes hard and then the car will slow down. it feels like the car wants to run away when the brakes are applied. it exhibits this behavior in many circumstances: stopping at a stop light, slowing down on an expressway, or slowing down on a city street. *tr updated 11/23/09 *bf the check engine light illuminated. the passenger front window switch wasn't opening or closing the window unless the master switch was used. the throttle body had to be cleaned. the fan belt and brake light switch were replaced. updated 11/24/09 updated 01/06/10 *bf updated 01/07/10.*jb | |||
| VISIBILITY - WINDSHIELD | |||
| 11/18/2007 | 1 | ||
| With 34,000 miles on my 2004 prius, the glass has developed severe pitting, not only on the windshield, but on their side windows as well. when the sun hits the windshield visibility is greatly reduced. *tr | |||