2004 TOYOTA PRIUS Complaints

WE OWN A 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS AND HAVE BEEN VERY PLEASED WITH IT UNTIL IT RECENTLY EXPERIENCED A SUDDEN BRAKE FAILURE. AFTER STOPPING AT A REST STOP AND PREPARING TO RETURN TO THE INTERSTATE, MY WIFE EXPERIENCED A COMPLETE BRAKE FAILURE AS SHE DROVE THE VEHICLE IN REVERSE FROM THE PARKING AREA. SHE THEN DROVE THE VEHICLE FORWARD TO GET IT OUT OF THE TRAFFIC LANE AND CONTINUED TO NOT HAVE BRAKES. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AMARILLO, TX WHERE THE TOYOTA DEALER REPAIRED THE VEHICLE BY REPLACING THE STROKE SENSOR (SCANNED SYSTEM CODE C1247). *TR

INTERMITTENT HEADLIGHT FAILURE ON MY 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS. IT FIRST HAPPENED AROUND 67,000 MILES WHEN BOTH HEADLIGHTS WENT OUT AT ONCE (AT NIGHT!). FLICKING THE SWITCH DID MAKE THEM COME BACK ON. AFTER THAT, THE FAILURE HAS BEEN INCREASING, MAINLY WITH THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT. TURNING THE SWITCH NO LONGER ALWAYS WORKS TO TURN THE LIGHT BACK ON. I CAN;T ALWAYS TELL THAT IT IS OFF IF THEY ARE ON FOR ME TO ME SEEN (SUCH AS IN RAIN) RATHER THAN TO ALLOW ME TO SEE. THIS IS INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS. I CAN;T DRIVE THE CAR AT NIGHT RELIABLY NOW AND WHAT ABOUT IN RAIN (WHICH IS NOT AS EASILY PREDICTABLE AS "DAY/NIGHT")? THIS IS CLEARLY NOT A RARE OCCURRENCE. TOYOTA NEEDS TO STEP UP HERE. BY THE WAY, I'VE ALREADY HAD TO SPEND $800 TO FIX MY MULTIFUNCTION DISPLAY WHICH FAILURE IS ALSO WELL DOCUMENTED. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO STOP THE VEHICLE, THE BRAKES WOULD NOT ENGAGE AND THE CONTACT CRASHED INTO A VEHICLE AHEAD OF HER. THE VEHICLE SUSTAINED EXTENSIVE FRONT END DAMAGE BUT SHE WAS ABLE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE TO HER RESIDENCE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED AND SHE HAD NOT CONTACTED THE DEALER OR MANUFACTURER FOR REPAIRS. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 32,000.

THE HEADLIGHTS ON OUR 2004 PRIUS (80,000 MILES) HAVE GONE ON AND OFF INTERMITTENTLY OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS. HOWEVER, IT WAS NOT UNTIL SATURDAY NIGHT WHILE WE WERE ON THE FREEWAY WHEN BOTH LIGHTS WENT OUT SIMULTANEOUSLY. WE WERE TOLD BY THE DEALER THAT THIS HAPPENS QUITE OFTEN AND THE A NEW BULB WOULD FIX THE PROBLEM. AT $800.00 TO REPLACE A DEFECTIVE PART, I THINK THIS IS EXCESSIVE AND UNNECESSARY. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS. WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH, THE FLOOR MAT BECAME STUCK INSIDE THE ACCELERATOR PAD. THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED AND THE CONTACT PRESSED A BUTTON TO TURN OFF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALERSHIP BUT THE DEALER COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE OCCURRED TWO TIMES AFTER RECALL REPAIR WAS PERFORMED FOR RECALL 09V388000 (VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: ACCELERATOR PEDAL). THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 56,767. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 71,734.

MY 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS HAS LEFT ME STRANDED FOR 15 MINUTE PERIODS OF TIME WHILE PARKED ON MY STREET. ALL THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS COME ON AS WELL AS THE FOLLOWING RED WARNING "CAUTION - TRANSMISSION "P" LOCK MECHANISM IS ABNORMAL. PARK IN A FLAT PLACE AND APPLY BRAKE." I WAS PARKED ON A MILD INCLINE AND I ALWAYS USE MY PARKING BRAKE. THIS HOWEVER MAKES ME SUSPICIOUS OF WHETHER THE PARKING BRAKE IS HARDY ENOUGH TO WORK WHEN PARKED ON THE CROWN OF A STREET PARKING SPACE. I APPLIED AND RE-APPLIED MY PARKING BRAKE WITHOUT SUCCESS. I OPEN AND CLOSED THE HOOD WITHOUT SUCCESS. I OPEN AND CLOSED MY DOOR WITHOUT SUCCESS. I PLACED ALL MY PASSENGER SEAT ITEMS ON THE FLOOR WITHOUT SUCCESS. I HELD THE IGNITION BUTTON WITHOUT SUCCESS. I PLACED MY KEY FOB INTO THE IGNITION WITHOUT SUCCESS. AND WHEN TRYING TO REMOVE MY KEY FOB SO I COULD GO CALL A TOW TRUCK, THE ENTIRE DASHBOARD HOUSING FOR THE IGNITION KEY CAME LOOSE AND DIS-ARTICULATED IN MY HAND. I JUST CAREFULLY PUSHED THE PLASTIC HOUSING BACK INTO THE DASHBOARD.... HOWEVER, THAT WAS DEPRESSING TO SEE. FINALLY, AFTER ALL THE TINKERING FOR 15 MINUTES, MY CAR FINALLY TURNED OFF. I WAS THEN ABLE TO TURN IT BACK ON AND DRIVE AWAY WITHOUT A PROBLEM. IN RETROSPECT, THIS HAS HAPPENED ON AT LEAST 4 OCCASIONS SINCE DECEMBER 24, 2009 AND I JUST ASSUMED THAT DURING THE BOUT WITH MY INJURED LEG THAT I WAS NOT ADEQUATELY PLACING ENOUGH FORCE ON THE PARKING BRAKE..... BUT SHOULD THIS HAPPEN SO EASILY?? I HAVE SEEN MANY OTHER SIMILAR COMPLAINTS ONLINE. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THIS IS PART OF THE WHOLE SAFETY ISSUES WITH CARS NOT BEING ABLE TO STOP WHILE RUNNING. THANKS. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS. WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 55 MPH THE CONTACT DEPRESSED THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL AND THE VEHICLE SURGED FORWARD. THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT STOP UNTIL REPEATED PRESSURE WAS APPLIED TO THE BRAKES. THE CONTACT CALLED THE MANUFACTURER WHO STATED THAT THE ISSUE WAS NOT A BIG DEAL. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 102,595.

DRIVING HOME AT NIGHT ON THE 405 FREEWAY AT APPROX. 65MPH, SUDDENLY ALL THE DASH WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED, INCLUDING THE MIL SYMBOL, ALONG WITH A WARNING SYMBOL ON THE NAVIGATION SCREEN. I PULLED OFF THE FREEWAY AND PARKED AT THE CURB. AFTER CHECKING THE OWNERS MANUAL, I SLOWLY DROVE THE REST OF THE WAY HOME ON SURFACE STREETS. THE NEXT MORNING (MONDAY) I DROVE MY CAR TO MILLER TOYOTA IN CULVER CITY. THE PRIMARY DIAGNOSIS WAS FAILURE OF THE INVERTER COOLANT PUMP, WHICH WAS REPLACED UNDER THE TERMS OF MY TOYOTA PLATINUM EXTENDED WARRANTY. HOWEVER, UPON FURTHER RESEARCH, I DISCOVERED THAT TOYOTA HAD ISSUED A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN (TSB) COVERING THIS VERY PART, ON JANUARY 26, 2007, INDICATING THAT THEY WERE AWARE OF THIS FAILURE-PRONE PART, AND THAT AN "IMPROVED" REPLACEMENT ASSEMBLY WAS NOW AVAILABLE TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE. IN ADDITION, REPLACEMENT WOULD BE COVERED UNDER THEIR 5-YEAR/60,000 MILE TOYOTA POWERTRAIN WARRANTY. APPROXIMATELY ONE MONTH LATER, ON MAY 15, 2010, WHILE DRIVING MY FATHER'S 2004 PRIUS TO HAVE NEW TIRES INSTALLED, THE SAME SEQUENCE OF EVENTS OCCURRED. I IMMEDIATELY DROVE THE VEHICLE TO THE NEAREST DEALER, SANTA MONICA TOYOTA, WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH THE SAME FAILURE CODE, P0A93 (INVERTER COOLING SYSTEM PERFORMANCE). ALTHOUGH THE VEHICLE HAD ONLY 34,242 MILES ON IT, IT WAS NOT COVERED UNDER THE POWERTRAIN WARRANTY, AS THE TIME LIMIT OF 60 MONTHS HAD EXPIRED. NO AMOUNT OF DISCUSSION WITH THE DEALER OR TOYOTA'S CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE CENTER COULD CONVINCE THEM THAT THIS PART SHOULD BE CONSIDERED PART OF THE HYBRID SYSTEM, AND AS SUCH BE COVERED UNDER THEIR 7-YEAR/100,000 HYBRID WARRANTY (DESPITE IT BEING NAMED THE HYBRID INVERTER COOLANT PUMP). ON-LINE PRIUS-RELATED CHAT ROOMS ARE FULL OF IDENTICAL SITUATIONS INVOLVING THIS PART. CLEARLY, TOYOTA KNOWS THIS PART IS PRONE TO PREMATURE FAILURE, BUT CONTINUES TO TREAT IT AS A "SECRET WARRANTY" ITEM IN ORDER TO AVOID HAVING TO ISSUE A FORMAL RECALL. *TR

WHILE DRIVING ON CITY STREETS (LOW SPEED, UNDER 30 MPH), I ATTEMPTED TO BRAKE. AT FIRST THERE WAS NO RESPONSE FROM MY BRAKES, THEN THE ABS KICKED IN AND STOPPED MY VEHICLE. ROAD CONDITIONS WERE DRY AND THERE WAS NO APPARENT REASON THAT THE ABS SYSTEM SHOULD'VE KICKED IN. AT THAT TIME BOTH THE ABS WARNING LIGHT AND THE BRAKE LIGHT CAME ON AND REMAINED ON. WHILE SITTING AT THE STOP LIGHT I ATTEMPTED TO SHUT OFF MY VEHICLE AND RESTART IT. AFTER DOING THIS BOTH WARNING LIGHTS WERE STILL ON. I DROVE VERY SLOWLY TO A SAFE PLACE TO PULL MY CAR OFF THE ROAD. EACH TIME I ATTEMPTED TO BRAKE THE ABS SYSTEM ENGAGED RESULTING IN A JERKING BRAKING MOTION. AT THAT POINT I LOOKED AT MY CAR'S MANUAL AND FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS TO HAVE MY CAR TOWED TO THE NEAREST DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIP HOOKED MY CAR UP TO THE DIAGNOSIS MACHINE WHICH REBOOTED MY CAR'S COMPUTER. ONCE OFF THE DIAGNOSIS MACHINE, THEY WERE UNABLE TO RECREATE THE ERROR AND SENT ME HOME IN MY CAR. NO FURTHER SERVICE WAS DONE AND I WAS INSTRUCTED TO BRING IT BACK TO THE DEALER IF THE BRAKES FAILED AGAIN. *TR

I HAVE A 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS. I HAVE NOTICED THAT WHEN GOING OVER A BUMPY PATCH OF ROAD, IF I BRAKE, SOMETIMES THE BRAKE APPEARS TO NOT CATCH FOR A BRIEF TIME (1 SECOND OR SO). AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS MY IMAGINATION, BUT OVER THE YEARS IT HAS HAPPENED OFTEN ENOUGH THAT I AM CONVINCED THE SENSATION IS REAL. I HAVE RECENTLY READ ABOUT OTHERS DESCRIBING THE SAME EXPERIENCE. I CANNOT GIVE AN APPROXIMATE DATE OR MILEAGE; THIS HAS HAPPENED REPEATEDLY OVER THE 6 YEARS I'VE OWNED THE CAR. CONSEQUENTLY, THE DATE AND MILEAGE I AM ENTERING IS THE MOST RECENT TIME WHEN I NOTICED IT. *TR