Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 07/24/2012 | 86998 | 1 | |
| I am the original owner of a 2006 toyota prius. last week, at 86,000 miles, while driving on the highway in traffic, a large red triangle warning light showed up on my dash with the low tire pressure light. i pulled off the road to check the manual and turned the car off. when i turned it back on many warning lights came on and i was unable to get the car out of park. called the dealer. they told me to get towed to the dealer, which i did. after 2 days they determined that it needed a new hybrid transaxle for $5,000+ plus miscellaneous other repairs totaling $7,723. toyota says the transaxle is covered under the powertrain warranty (60,000 miles) not the hybrid warranty (100,000 miles). there is a tsb for this repair, t-sb-0306-08 that states that it is covered under the california emission warranty in certain states, depending on model year, up to 150,000 miles. there seems to be new information that transmission fluid should be flushed at 30,000 miles. my dealer had only suggested this 2 weeks prior to the problem, when i was in for an oil change before a trip. i planned on doing it at my next service. i have a few questions? is this a common enough problem that it could be a ?defect?? i read somewhere that if 4% of cars have the problem then it is a defect. is that right? over what time period if so? if not, how does that get determined? how can i find out how many transaxles have needed to be replaced before 100,000 miles on 2004-2008 model prius?s? is this repair covered in carb states or not? i believe that maryland is a carb state now. would this warranty be retroactive to my car? is toyota responsible for not suggesting i get the transmission fluid flushed prior to this? *tr | |||
| 06/15/2012 | 65000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. the contact stated that the driver was reversing into a parking space when the vehicle unexpectedly stopped reversing. the vehicle operated as normal once it was shut down and restarted. the failure had since recurred intermittently. the contact stated that he eventually noticed that the vehicle was unexpectedly shifting into neutral during the failures. the contact also stated that the failures occurred during very hot weather. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and the contact was informed that the gear shift needed to be replaced. the manufacturer offered no assistance. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 65,000. | |||
| 06/15/2012 | 65000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. the contact stated that the driver was reversing into a parking space when the vehicle unexpectedly stopped reversing. the vehicle operated as normal once it was shut down and restarted. the failure had since recurred intermittently. the contact stated that he eventually noticed that the vehicle was unexpectedly shifting into neutral during the failures. the contact also stated that the failures occurred during very hot weather. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and the contact was informed that the gear shift needed to be replaced. the manufacturer offered no assistance. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 65,000. sm. | |||
| 11/05/2011 | 52000 | ||
| Combination meter failed, there was no dash display, no speed display, and vehicle would not shut down. fortunately we were not out of town so we drove the vehicle to our regular toyota dealer,ourisman fairfax toyota, fairfax, va, and left it there. | |||
| 01/26/2010 | 44000 | 1 | |
| We own a 2006 toyota prius. the car was purchased new,has been dealer maintained and is our primary vehicle. on january 26, 2010 at 2:05 pm my wife experience uncontrollable acceleration and despite attempting the strategies recommended by toyota was involved in a crash causing her and others injury. the weather was clear, the road was dry and straight and my wife was approaching an intersection with plenty of unobstucted visibility. we had followed the initial recall instructions and had been in contact with the local dealer about any follow-up instructions pertaining to our vehicle. after the accident i contact, in person, the service manager at performance toyota in lincoln, ne. he stated our vehicle was not part of the most recent recall involving faulty gas pedals. i advised him i understood that however my wife experienced uncontrolled acceleration and despite attempting to employ the recommended strategies was involved in a crash resulting to injuries to her and others. i asked the service manager how to proceed and he advised me to call the toyota customer experience line and speak to them. when i stated i had tried many times and was unable to reach a person he insisted that was the appropriate manner to deal with the situation. i left the dealership feeling extremely frustrated due to the fact the recorded message on the toyota customer experience line advised if you had experienced and accelerator/acceleration problem contact your dealer immediately. we are aware that many toyota owners have experience this issue with their vehicles and in more models and years than are involved in the latest recall. it is not possible for an individual middle class citizen to challenge a major automaker to first admit and then correct a defect in an automobile they produced and sold . we request you investigate this incident in addition to the many more that have been reported. we will be available and cooperative in any fact finding you may wish to do. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 01/16/2011 | 54689 | ||
| My 2006 toyota prius was parked in a driveway. i powered it on then tried to put it in drive. the shift kept bouncing out of drive without my moving it, into n, r and finally back into drive at which point i released the hand brake, then eased my foot off the brake pedal. i did not pushed the accelerator pedal in order to turn onto the road slowly. but the car suddenly accelerated really fast. as it did so the red triangle 'problem - check engine' symbol came up on the dashboard. the car went across the road and into a neighbor's front yard where there was a lot of snow and a snowdrift by the road, and ran straight into the snowdrift which stopped it. i was then able to turn off the power. the foot brake had had no effect. the car was heading on a line at right angles to the house and had there not been that snowdrift there, would have hit the house head-on. this was not driver error, but 'uncontrolled acceleration'. there may be a connection to the following battery failure: on 1/11/11 a recently installed start-motor battery (installed 1/3/11) went dead, after 1636 miles, and had itself to be replaced. the car is now being checked by the local toyota service and dealership. | |||
| 02/14/2007 | 15000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. the contact stated that in extremely cold weather conditions (20 degrees below), the automatic transmission would begin to slip and not shift. it would make a noise and not engage the engine. he noticed the issue everytime the weather was extremely cold. he took the vehicle to the dealership and the vehicle was test driven with the dealer. the problem was duplicated and he was told that he would have to let the vehicle warm for at least 5 minutes before driving. he had not spoken with the manufacturer to-date. the current mileage was approximately 95,000. the failure mileage was approximately 15,000. | |||
| 01/07/2010 | 85178 | 1 | |
| 2006 prius was arriving at work and pulling into a parking space. my foot was removed from gas, but accelerator stuck open. the car bounced over the concrete curb, over a snow bank and over a second curb into the university driveway. car sustained $3800+ in body damage and another $370 in service repairs for brakes, tires, suspension and dash warning systems that erupted. vehicle was recently repaired. local dealer would not accept any responsibility or acknowledge any problems with the car. final repair invoice states the vehicle floor-mats, abs and pedal stroke sensors were all working properly. claim was made to our insurance company [erie insurance]. *tr | |||
| 02/04/2010 | 100 | 1 | |
| I have a 2006 prius. when going over bumps, i experience a total loss of power for 1 or three seconds -generally. a yellow light also comes on the dash board. it often happens daily. i have only had one or two experiences when the power didn't return so quickly and then i was afraid because i had no brakes and was just skidding. i believe that i have seen this problem discussed by other prius owners of chat sites. it can occur at any mileage speed but i was only able to put a mileage number in the box can it be fixed? *tr | |||
| 07/31/2007 | 41404 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. the contact was driving approximately 30 mph on normal road conditions. there was pressure applied to the accelerator pedal, followed by an unintended increase in acceleration. the driver applied pressure to the brake pedal and the vehicle failed to slow down. the gear shift failed to operate in the neutral position. in addition, the entire gear indicators illuminated at the same time. the vehicle was driven into a barrier of dirt as a result of the vehicle coming to a complete stop. the failures occurred on four separate occasions. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer. the technician was unable to duplicate the failure. the vehicle has not been repaired for the malfunctions. the failure mileage was 41,404. | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL) | |||
| 04/27/2008 | 55000 | 1 | |
| Yesterday (april 27, 2008), i put my prius in park and stepped out of the car, the car was put into reverse and i was hit by my own car. at the same time as putting the car into park, my shirt sleeve caught the shifter knob and placed the car into reverse (my only thought at to how this could happen). this is a race condition that i tested out several times. the shifter knob (drive, reverse, neutral) has precedence over the park button. therefore if the shifter and park are used at the same time, the shifter knob wins every time. i would think that the park button would have precedence and maybe lock out the shifter for 1sec or so to avoid this. i am very lucky, that i was not run over and injured/killed, the only thing i have is a bruised arm and a sore back (i was hit by the door). is there a way to update the software in the car to make the park lock out the shifter for a specific amount of time and remove the race condition with the park and shifter? *tr | |||