Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 03/02/2013 | 87000 | ||
| The problem has occurred whenever the donut tire is being used on the vehicle as a temporary replacement for a flat tire - this has occurred on both the two occasions that in which i have had to used them both times on the front tires, once on the left tire and the second occasion, most recent on the left. apparently, the donut tire because of its smaller diameter causes the car's slip differential system to activate (surmised by the icon i see on the dash when this occurs), often for periods of half the driving time - what then happens is that there is a total loss of engine power to the drive chain, the car cannot accelerate or even maintain speed - it essentially coasts or slows. this occurs even when/if the accelerator pedal is depressed to try to feed power to the wheels - the engine is unresponsive. intermittently, the power is restored, and then the cycle begins again. although i have not had an accident due to this loss of vehicle control, i consider myself lucky not to have. use of a donut tire is the only option open to temporarily replacing a flat tire. i think that this system's response to use of the donut tire (which is manufacturer's supplied) is a defect that is dangerous. a driver must be able to maintain and control vehicle speed to prevent and/or remedy a dangerous situation. sincerely, barrett ripin | |||
| 02/27/2013 | 102200 | ||
| Master warning light came on along with vehicle stability control, brake & check engine lights. took it to my toyota dealer (rice toyota, greensboro, nc). i work 79 miles from home. i called my toyota dealer, a service rep said it was ok to drive as long as the warning lights weren't flashing.diagnostic codes indicated the hybrid converter/inverter was bad, they cleared warning lights, which stayed off. they said it may have been a glitch, if warning lights returned, bring it back. they returned on 3/1/13 while driving to work. i lost power while on i-540, pulled over onto shoulder, turned off engine, restarted it, got back onto i-540 & exited at nearest exit. lost power again. pulled over, went thru stop/start process, drove 3 miles to work. drove home with warning lights but no power losses. took it to rice toyota next morning. this occurred barely 2 weeks after the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty expired, galling to say the least, as this part is the hybrid system per the service rep. have you received other complaints about this component? | |||
| 03/02/2013 | 87000 | ||
| The problem has occurred whenever the donut tire is being used on the vehicle as a temporary replacement for a flat tire - this has occurred on both the two occasions that in which i have had to used them both times on the front tires, once on the left tire and the second occasion, most recent on the left. apparently, the donut tire because of its smaller diameter causes the car's slip differential system to activate (surmised by the icon i see on the dash when this occurs), often for periods of half the driving time - what then happens is that there is a total loss of engine power to the drive chain, the car cannot accelerate or even maintain speed - it essentially coasts or slows. this occurs even when/if the accelerator pedal is depressed to try to feed power to the wheels - the engine is unresponsive. intermittently, the power is restored, and then the cycle begins again. although i have not had an accident due to this loss of vehicle control, i consider myself lucky not to have. use of a donut tire is the only option open to temporarily replacing a flat tire. i think that this system's response to use of the donut tire (which is manufacturer's supplied) is a defect that is dangerous. a driver must be able to maintain and control vehicle speed to prevent and/or remedy a dangerous situation. sincerely, barrett ripin | |||
| 02/27/2013 | 102200 | ||
| Master warning light came on along with vehicle stability control, brake & check engine lights. took it to my toyota dealer (rice toyota, greensboro, nc). i work 79 miles from home. i called my toyota dealer, a service rep said it was ok to drive as long as the warning lights weren't flashing.diagnostic codes indicated the hybrid converter/inverter was bad, they cleared warning lights, which stayed off. they said it may have been a glitch, if warning lights returned, bring it back. they returned on 3/1/13 while driving to work. i lost power while on i-540, pulled over onto shoulder, turned off engine, restarted it, got back onto i-540 & exited at nearest exit. lost power again. pulled over, went thru stop/start process, drove 3 miles to work. drove home with warning lights but no power losses. took it to rice toyota next morning. this occurred barely 2 weeks after the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty expired, galling to say the least, as this part is the hybrid system per the service rep. have you received other complaints about this component? | |||
| 03/02/2013 | 87000 | ||
| The problem has occurred whenever the donut tire is being used on the vehicle as a temporary replacement for a flat tire - this has occurred on both the two occasions that in which i have had to used them both times on the front tires, once on the left tire and the second occasion, most recent on the left. apparently, the donut tire because of its smaller diameter causes the car's slip differential system to activate (surmised by the icon i see on the dash when this occurs), often for periods of half the driving time - what then happens is that there is a total loss of engine power to the drive chain, the car cannot accelerate or even maintain speed - it essentially coasts or slows. this occurs even when/if the accelerator pedal is depressed to try to feed power to the wheels - the engine is unresponsive. intermittently, the power is restored, and then the cycle begins again. although i have not had an accident due to this loss of vehicle control, i consider myself lucky not to have. use of a donut tire is the only option open to temporarily replacing a flat tire. i think that this system's response to use of the donut tire (which is manufacturer's supplied) is a defect that is dangerous. a driver must be able to maintain and control vehicle speed to prevent and/or remedy a dangerous situation. sincerely, barrett ripin | |||
| 02/27/2013 | 102200 | ||
| Master warning light came on along with vehicle stability control, brake & check engine lights. took it to my toyota dealer (rice toyota, greensboro, nc). i work 79 miles from home. i called my toyota dealer, a service rep said it was ok to drive as long as the warning lights weren't flashing.diagnostic codes indicated the hybrid converter/inverter was bad, they cleared warning lights, which stayed off. they said it may have been a glitch, if warning lights returned, bring it back. they returned on 3/1/13 while driving to work. i lost power while on i-540, pulled over onto shoulder, turned off engine, restarted it, got back onto i-540 & exited at nearest exit. lost power again. pulled over, went thru stop/start process, drove 3 miles to work. drove home with warning lights but no power losses. took it to rice toyota next morning. this occurred barely 2 weeks after the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty expired, galling to say the least, as this part is the hybrid system per the service rep. have you received other complaints about this component? | |||
| 12/24/2012 | 86000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. the contact stated that she shifted into park and exited the vehicle. upon returning, the contact noticed that the vehicle independently shifted from park, rolled away and crashed into a pole while occupied with the contact | |||
| 12/24/2012 | 86000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. the contact stated that she shifted into park and exited the vehicle. upon returning, the contact noticed that the vehicle independently shifted from park, rolled away, and crashed into a pole while occupied with the contact | |||
| 12/24/2012 | 86000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. the contact stated that she put the vehicle in the park position and exited the vehicle. when she returned to the vehicle she found that the vehicle had independently came out of the park position and rolled across the street and crashed into a pole with her handicapped daughter inside. no air bags deployed. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis but no remedy was found. the contact stated she would have the vehicle taken to a dealer. the manufacturer had not been notified. the vehicle had not been repaired. the failure and current mileage was 86,000. dt | |||
| 06/05/2012 | 63000 | ||
| Transmission shifted out of drive and into neutral causing loss of power. had to pull off the highway. this incident has happened a number of times. prius service bulletin t-sb-0142-11 | |||
| 08/29/2012 | 75000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. the contact stated that the gear shifter failed. as a result, whenever he attempted to shift into reverse the vehicle would shift into neutral independently. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 75,000. pmb | |||
| 08/29/2012 | 75000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. the contact stated that the gear shift failed. the contact stated that he tried to put the vehicle in reverse but the vehicle continued the to shift into neutral on its. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 75,000. ap | |||
| 07/05/2008 | 100 | 1 | |
| I have a 2007 prius, and every time i go over a bump in the road, my car accelerates,and i get a run away feeling that lasts about 30-45 seconds. in addition, when i am at rest, and the motor is on and my foot in on the brake, the car makes a noise as if the horn is lowly honking. i have described both of these things to my dealership, and they told me that they never heard of this problem before. they said that they checked it out. it still remains. *tr | |||
| 08/30/2007 | 8097 | 1 | |
| My near death experience drive my 2007 toyota prius on august 30, 2007** **while driving my 2007 prius behind a 16-wheeler and at an average speed of 60mph, suddenly my prius' engine & motors roared and the speed surged so strongly that if i didn't ride the brakes, i saw myself ramming into the back of the 16-wheeler in front of me. also at this time, a cadillac suv was following me to close on this georgia secondary-highway#121 whereby i visualize a tragic accident about to occur. after about a half-mile riding the brakes and feeling the pulling torque of those powerful electric motors on the front wheels, i saw my chance to exit ahead where two trash dumpsters appeared. as i stopped the prius, i notice smoke coming over the hood. so i jump out of the prius. i saw flames round the front wheel well that soon flamed out. i contacted aaa auto club south and had the prius towed 45 miles back to the ann taylor toyota dealership/service center where i originally purchased the 2007 prius. five days later, i was notified by the service center that a piece of flexible carpet mat suddenly rigged enough in order to become wedged onto the accelerator and no additional services required. (invoice#tocs368561 dated 09/05/07) now in disbelief and scared, i had my 2007 prius re-inspected at precision tune auto care (invoice#165110 dated 09/06/07). this inspected yielded evidence of a previous fire and burned rotors! i contacted by phone toyota corp customer service and usaa auto insurance. i contacted a legal attorney that advised me that my circumstances required hiring a mechanical engineer to disprove toyota's assertion or drive the vehicle until the run-a-way acceleration occurs again. as of this date, having been stonewalled the past two years, i want to verify that your department has a record of my incident. *tr | |||
| 09/05/2008 | 15200 | 1 | |
| I have a 2007 toyota prius. i turned it off and went in the house. when i came out it had gone into my garage door and damaged the front end and the garage door. obviously accelerated after being shut down. *tr | |||
| 01/01/2009 | 15000 | 1 | |
| When i bought my new prius in 2007 i knew there was something strange. everytime i went down this big hill near my house the car would shoot forward a bit and it would be hard to brake. i called my dealer and they told me it was an advanced safty feature. the more i drove the car the worse it got. i would avoid routes with hills in the rain. in 2009 when i had my 2nd child i decided to get rid of the car because the problem was getting worse. it was as if i was sliding on ice in the middle of the summer *cn | |||
| 05/30/2007 | 300 | 1 | |
| I've complained -- with no response or help -- to a toyota dealer about 2 concerns i have with my 2007 prius that i've always believed were manufacturer/design defects: 1) the brakes skip when i hit a pothole, especially the one i traverse every weekday turning into my worksite. 2) during hard acceleration early in a drive (the uphill left turn leaving my neighborhood), there is a hesitation for about a second or two -- like the engine is going to stall and die (it hasn't yet.) when i 'floor it to move into a hole in traffic, i get full power for a couple of seconds, followed by no power for a second and then a return of power. it's as if i took my foot off the accelerator, only it hasn't moved. my fear is that some time the delay will cause me to get hit and that some time the engine will just die. i've noticed this from when the car was within the first month old (i took delivery 4/30/07). stevinson toyota (golden, co) said they hadn't heard of such complaints. when i took it in about a year ago, they said they couldn't reproduce the problems and did nothing. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 07/29/2011 | 48000 | ||
| My 2007 toyota prius will not stay in gear off an on. it will go into reverse or drive for a few seconds then pop into neutral. this has happened 9 times in the last 2 weeks and always on a hot day after being parked at work. i have to drive home while holding the shift lever in gear. sometimes if this happens and i turn off the air conditioning it will stay in gear, but not always. is this a gear shift lever problem? | |||
| 12/01/2009 | 47000 | 1 | |
| My 2008 prius has a transmission-related problem recently, and i believe it may be connected to the sudden accelerator issues. the transmission stopped operating properly about three months ago, and the toyota dealership checked it and could find no problem. however, my gas mileage has dropped about ten mpg, and the transmissions vacillates between being sluggish (barley going up normal hills, ) or the engine sometimes racing. i wonder if the car is safe, and if the computer running the transmission is the problem on other vehicles, the ones whose accelerators stick maybe it this the electronic program on the transmission, not the accelerator. i am afraid to drive mine now - am using my ten year old farm truck instead on many occasions. *tr | |||
| 03/04/2010 | 52000 | 1 | |
| While turning into a parking spot, i experienced a total loss of braking while the vehicle began accelerating without gas pedal pressure. after jumping a curb, the brake pedal became active and the car was stopped. *tr | |||
| 03/02/2010 | 50000 | 1 | |
| My wife and i were on our way to the toyota service center, 1357 richmond rd., charlottesville, va 22911, for a 50,000 mile routine service appointment for our 2007 prius. while driving at about 45 miles per hour in traffic on route 29 the accelerator pedal suddenly lost power. the brake, steering and display panel continued to function. we rolled to the side of the road, cutting through one lane of traffic without power. we stopped at the side of the road and turned off the ignition. when the ignition was turned back on the power returned to the accelerator and we continued to the toyota service center without further incident. we described our problem to the toyota technician. when i picked up the car at the end of the day the technician said that they checked the computer system and did not find any problem so no action was taken. this was the first time that this car lost power to the accelerator. we have not had any problems with it until now. we are concerned about the possibility that this could happen again since the problem was not diagnosed. it could result in a serious safety problem if it occurred in traffic on a highway. | |||
| 02/10/2010 | 38000 | 1 | |
| Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6) [xxx]i own a 2007 prius that i bought new in 2007. it's been a good car except for one dangerous safety problem. background: i am 57 years old and a 20 year + car salesman and that happens to be a certified toyota consultant. my background also includes 5 years as a service manager for a domestic. the 2007 prius has an automatic cvvt transmission with a traction control feature. problem: the danger is the moment traction control is triggered a lost of traction by a signal from the wheel area it powers down the engine to no power for 1-2 seconds it takes the system to recover. hitting a manhole cover or a pothole going down broadway at 30 mpg can set it off but the most dangerous situation is pulling onto a busy road. the seconds it takes to recover seems a lot longer when you are in traffic. the sensors in the wheel areas that activate the traction control feature are set up too sensitive. the toyota advisors know of no reprogramming fix either. toyota offers no shut off for this feature. it is horrid trying to get up the slightest snowy incline. i'm no engineer but suspect it's a feature selected by toyota to protect the cvvt transmission against the enormous torque produced by the hybrid motor's almost 300 foot lbs. i would be happy to show you. the toyota service advisors did not need to drive it. they are aware of the complaint. i contacted the service departments at both groove toyota on s broadway and go toyota on arapahoe both were very courteous and professional. both of the service advisors told me that there is no fix because the system was designed that way. i have 39,500 miles and am on my second set of 4 tires. the two advisors i talked to told me that there are many of the same complaint and that toyota's suggest to keep new tires on the car. i found it strange that both said to call toyota but that i won't get anywhere. *tr | |||
| 01/10/2010 | 34000 | 3 | |
| I own a 2007 prius with 35,000 miles on it. we have been a 2 prius family for 6 years, so i am highly familiar with driving one. i have had three very frightening incidents happen in about the last 4 months in my car. each has happened in exactly the same spot during a commute that i do several times a week. i have been exiting from a freeway, going 65 mph, down a gentle downslope. when i exit (continuing the downslope) the engine starts revving at a speed that i never have heard during any normal driving circumstance. this is while i am braking to stop at a light at the bottom of the exit. i have had a car next to me roll down the window and the driver ask if i needed help. over the last 15 years i had done this exact exit thousands of times, in many different vehicles, and have never experienced anything remotely like this. each of the three times i shifted the car into neutral, but the high rev continued. the only thing that stopped it was to pull over and to turn the car off and restart. i immediately checked the floor mat each time and it was mounted securely exactly in place hooked on the mounts. this has happened three times, completely randomly. i took the car in to be serviced at toyota of berkeley on 2/2/10 and was told that until the car did this on a frequent basis that there was nothing that toyota could do. he checked the log for warning lights and there were no entries (i checked the dash each time this has happened, and no lights warning lights were on.) *tr | |||
| 12/24/2009 | 20000 | 1 | |
| Several near miss incidents due to no acceleration on slippery surfaces - wheels do not even spin to no traction is even possible. this is especially so when pulling into traffic on snowy days. simply unable to get out of the way of oncoming traffic. toyota dealer tells me this is normal. i am 63 and of all the vehicles i have owned, this prius is the only one with this problem. i could be dead, or someone else could be dead. *tr | |||
| 08/14/2009 | 43000 | 1 | |
| This was a first time occurrence for my 2007 prius. i was stopped midway on my mountain, long & steep, dirt driveway trying to park along the rock side. it was too tight to park so decided to continue down to the bottom. i was in reverse and shifted, with my foot on the brake, into drive. the car suddenly bolted forward propelling me through the fence and down a steep embankment to our deck where 12 people were having a dinner meeting. my brakes didn't work, nor did the steering. the bolting force was heard by all on the deck. there is no way i would have pressed the gas by mistake for two reasons: your foot must be on the brake to shift; and as is typical on our steep gravel roads, one never presses the gas pedal while proceeding down. the car propelled 10 or 12 feet forward crossing the drive at a diagonal, crashed through the fence boarding the drop off, and proceeded down the embankment stopping only when it hit the big tree by our deck. to my right were all the guests and my husband, just feet away from the oncoming, out of control car. had i missed that particular tree, i would have rolled down an even steeper ravine because of rocks to bounce off and very sharp drop off.*tr | |||
| 05/22/2008 | 11000 | 1 | |
| May 22, 2008 toyota motor sales, u.s.a., inc. 19001 south western ave. dept. wc11 torrance, ca 90501 dear sirs: i have been a long-time toyota customer and last year purchased a 2007 prius. i am also a subscriber to consumer reports magazine. although i am delighted with the comfort, headroom, gas mileage, convenience, quiet and appearance of the car, there is a real safety issue. when i was initially researching a new automobile, i dismissed some peoples | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - CONTROL MODULE (TCM, PCM) | |||
| 03/18/2007 | 8983 | 3 | 11/04/2006 |
| Cause: flat tire in the front left or front right of the vehicle. the front left demonstrating the most severe hazard failure: the traction control system engages regularly due to a discrepancy between the spare and normal tire size. traction control cuts power to the drive wheels and cannot be overridden, causing vehicle to lose speed in non-deterministic manner. vehicle is not responsive. condition is worst during the first 40 miles driven on the spare tire but consequently improves due to learning inside the car computer. unfortunately, vehicle is most dangerous when the driver has the least control over the situation. correction: none, the manufacturer claims the vehicle is operating as designed. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - LEVER AND LINKAGE - FLOOR SHIFT | |||
| 02/02/2008 | |||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. while driving 10 mph the electronic gear shift automatically shifts into neutral gear and then into reverse and he had shift into drive. he stated that occasionally he did not notice that the gear shifted into reverse until he was backing into another vehicle. the dealer made two attempts to duplicate the failure; however, the failure could not be duplicated since the failure occurred intermittently. the failure mileage was not available. the current mileage was 12,000. the vin was not available. | |||
| POWER TRAIN - DRIVELINE | |||
| 12/27/2010 | |||
| While parked with the car turned on, the engine engages to run the a/c or heater and the car lurches forward. the display screen will sometimes display a warning that there is a problem with the park mechanism and that the car should be shut off and parked on a level surface with the parking brake engaged. my research has led to the park lock mechanism. toyota says that the lurch is normal and due to wear on the park lock. the fix is to use the parking brake. what if you forget or aren't aware of this? what if the park lock fails and the brake isn't on? none of these is unreasonable to expect. the potential is for the car to move on its own, even with no one present in the car or in the driver's seat. this is an inherently unsafe design and should be pulled from the road. | |||
| 12/24/2009 | 20000 | 1 | |
| Several near miss incidents due to no acceleration on slippery surfaces - wheels do not even spin to no traction is even possible. this is especially so when pulling into traffic on snowy days. simply unable to get out of the way of oncoming traffic. toyota dealer tells me this is normal. i am 63 and of all the vehicles i have owned, this prius is the only one with this problem. i could be dead, or someone else could be dead. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - DRIVELINE - DIFFERENTIAL UNIT | |||
| 01/19/2008 | 1 | ||
| I have a toyota prius 2007. i have 2 safety issues that i have complained to the dealer about but they are unable to fix so they ignored my concerns after realizing they could not fix the problem. first problem is the head lights. when driving at night the high beams do not shine on the road but shine into the trees. they say there is no adjustments for it. also people think i am shining my high beams at them when i am not. they are just too high....also the headlights do no illuminate the sides of the car and road so when making turns at night you cannot see where you are turning. i have to approach turns very very slowly because i cannot see the roads when turning. everyone that drives my car complains about this noticeable problem however toyota wont address it because they say there is no adjustment. 2nd problem their slip differential. whether there is snow on the ground or not when the tires start to slip they loose all power to the wheels. i have been in intersections when this has occurred and was almost hit. even when trying to drive over the stop in the car wash...sometimes i am unable to power over the bump. i get stuck often. again toyota says this is a normal function of the car. not something i would expect from a $24,000 car. our values have plummeted and there is no recourse for it. *tr | |||