2009 TOYOTA PRIUS Complaints

2009 TOYOTA PRIUS: WHEN DRIVING OVER POT-HOLES, BUMPS, OR UNEVEN PATCHES OF ROAD AT ALL DIFFERENT SPEEDS, THE CAR'S "TRACTION LIGHT" WILL FLASH AND THE CAR WILL MOMENTARILY SURGE FORWARD. IT SEEMS AT THIS TIME THAT THE BRAKES ALSO TEMPORARILY LOSE POWER. THIS HAPPENS SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK. THIS WORRIES ME AS I FEEL THIS COULD LEAD TO CAR ACCIDENTS OR PUT PEDESTRIANS IN DANGER. SPOKE WITH MANY OTHER PRIUS OWNERS AND THEY REPORT THE SAME PROBLEM. CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I BOUGHT THE CAR AND THE SERVICE MANAGER TOLD ME THIS WAS A "NORMAL FUNCTION" OF THE ABS. I STILL FEEL THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT IS NOT BEING PROPERLY ADDRESSED. I'VE DRIVEN MANY OTHER CARS WITH ABS AND NONE OF THEM BEHAVED THIS ERRATICALLY. *TR

1. AFTER TURNING OFF CRUISE CONTROL, VEHICLE ACCELERATED ON ITS OWN UP TO 95M.P.H. UNTIL I WAS FINALLY ABLE TO GET IT STOPPED BY PRESSING THE BRAKES TO THE FLOOR. AFTER GETTING THE VEHICLE PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE INTERSTATE, THERE WAS A LOT OF SMOKE COMING FROM THE FRONT BRAKE PADS. I RESTARTED THE VEHICLE IN AN ATTEMPT TO GET IT OFF THE INTERSTATE FOR FURTHER INSPECTION. AS I EXITED THE HIGHWAY, I TURNED THE VEHICLE ONTO THE OFF RAMP BUT THE VEHICLE DID NOT TURN AND DROVE US DIRECTLY INTO THE GUARD RAIL. I CONTACTED TOYOTA AND THEY HAVE DENIED THERE WAS ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE AND DISMISSED MY COMPLAINT. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS. WHILE DRIVING 25 MPH IN THE RAIN OR TURNING A CORNER THE TIRE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND THE BRAKES WOULD NOT ENGAGE. SHE WILL TAKE THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 250. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 900.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 TOYOTA PRIUS. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH ON A COLD DAY, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED UP TO 108 MPH. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS STUCK. THE VEHICLE WAS PLACED IN NEUTRAL GEAR IN ORDER TO STOP IT FROM ACCELERATING. THE VEHICLE DID NOT CRASH AND THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 10,000 MILES AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 11,000. UPDATED 03/24/10 *BF UPATED 07/07/10.*JB

I KEEP HEARING ABOUT PRIUS BRAKE PROBLEMS ON 2010 MODELS BUT MY 2009 HAS THE SAME PROBLEM. I READ THIS IN AN ARTICLE ONLINE AND REALIZED THAT MY 2009 MODEL HAS THE BRAKING PROBLEM AS THE 2010 MODEL. ARTICLE: "GOING DOWNHILL AND APPROACHING A STOP SIGN. MY FOOT IS STEADY ON THE BRAKE AND I AM GRADUALLY COMING TO A STOP. THEN, I INADVERTENTLY GO OVER A BUMP IN THE ROAD AND THE PRIUS LUNGES FORWARD. I HAD TO IMMEDIATELY SLAM HARD ON THE BRAKES IN ORDER TO KEEP THE CAR FROM GOING INTO THE INTERSECTION. FORTUNATELY, THERE WAS NO CAR OR PERSON IN FRONT OF ME AS I WAS STOPPING." *TR

MULTIPLE ISSUES WITH 2009 PRIUS. FIRST: LOSS OF AIR PRESSURE IN FRONT LEFT TIRE FROM TIME I PICKED UP THE VEHICLE TO PRESENT. I CONTINUALLY NEED TO PUT AIR IN THE TIRE, USUALLY ON A WEEKLY/BI-WEEKLY BASIS. THE OTHER TIRES ARE FINE. SECOND: FOR THE SAME TIRE, THE TIRE PRESSURE LIGHT WOULD NOT BE TRIGGERED UNTIL ~23 POUNDS, SHOULD HAVE BEEN TRIGGERED IN SAME TIRE AT 33 LBS. THIRD: VEHICLE WOULD NOT STOP WHEN APPLYING PRESSURE ON BRAKES AT SLOW SPEED. THIS HAS OCCURRED ABOUT 6 TIMES IN A 6 MONTH PERIOD. SIMULTANEOUSLY, THE VSC LIGHT WENT ON AND THE SLID INDICATOR WENT ON. THE TERRAIN WAS ON EITHER ASPHALT OR CONCRETE ROADS, SLIGHTLY DOWNHILL (CONCRETE) AND ONE STREET IS A BIT ROUGH (FILLED IN POT HOLES). ALSO, BOTH AREAS ARE WITHIN A QUARTER MILE OF EACH OTHER AND NEAR THE OCEAN. WITH EACH OCCURRENCE THE VSC WENT INTO EFFECT. ON 11/21/09 IT JOLTED HARD MUCH MORE THAN THE OTHER OCCASIONS; THIS DATE WAS THE INCIDENT ON THE BRIDGE WHEN THE CAR WAS GOING IN A SLIGHT DOWNWARD DIRECTION. I LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE FOR SEVERAL SECONDS AND WAS AFRAID THAT I WOULD HIT THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME; I BEEPED MY HORN TO WARN THE DRIVER IN FRONT OF ME. MY VEHICLE DID STOP IN TIME BUT IT TOOK ALOT LONGER THAN IT SHOULD HAVE TAKEN. ON A LATER OCCASION, I WAS GOING ABOUT 5-10 MPH FASTER ON A NEARBY STREET AND ATTEMPTED TO STOP FOR A STOP SIGN AND IT DID THE SAME THING, HOWEVER THE VSC DID NOT JOLT BACK AS HARD. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT ANGLED DOWN AS MUCH AS THE 11/21/09 INCIDENT. ON 11/21/09 I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO CABE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP AND THEY LOOKED AT THE CAR BUT FOUND NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. I ALSO HAD THE CAR LOOKED AT BY TOYOTA CORP TODAY AND WAS TOLD THAT THE DRIVER FEELS THAT I FELT THE ABS BRAKES ONLY. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. WHEN I STEPPED ON THE BRAKES EACH OCCASION IT WAS AS THOUGH THERE WAS NOTHING THERE AND I HAD NO CONTROL IN STOPPING IT. THIS WAS ESPECIALLY TRUE WHEN THE VSC KICKED IN (THE JERKING). EACH TIME IT LASTED MANY, SEVERAL OR MORE SECONDS. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 TOYOTA PRIUS. WHILE DRIVING 5 MPH TOWARD A STOP SIGN AND APPLYING THE BRAKES, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO STOP. THE TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT ILLUMINATED AS SOON AS SHE REMOVED HER FOOT FROM THE BRAKE PEDAL. WHEN THE LIGHT WAS NOT ILLUMINATED, THE BRAKES FUNCTIONED NORMALLY. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 50. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 33,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 TOYOTA PRIUS. HE STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT LOW SPEEDS LESS THEN 5 MPH WHEN BRAKING AND GOING OVER A SLIGHT BUMP ON THE ROAD THE BRAKES DISENGAGED MOMENTARILY. THE FAILURE OCCURRED FREQUENTLY AND CONTINUED TO DO SO WHENEVER HE DROVE ON AN UNEVEN ROAD. THE DEALER HAS NOT BEEN NOTIFIED. NO REPAIRS WERE MADE TO THE VEHICLE. HE ALSO STATED THAT HE DOES OWN ANOTHER VEHICLE EXPERIENCING THE SAME BRAKE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 2 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 27000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 TOYOTA PRIUS. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 25 MPH ON AN UNEVEN ROAD. SUDDENLY, WHEN PRESSURE WAS APPLIED TO THE BRAKE PEDAL THERE WAS A TEMPORARY DELAY OF BRAKING POWER. THE VEHICLE WAS ABLE TO CONTINUE IN NORMAL OPERATION. THE FAILURE OCCURRED WHENEVER ENCOUNTERING AN UNEVEN ROAD SURFACE. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN INSPECTED FOR THE MALFUNCTION. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 28,000.

BRAKING ISSUES WITH A 2009 TOYOTA PRIUS MODEL. UNDER ROUGH ROAD CONDITION THE BRAKE SYSTEM DOES NOT SEEM TO ENGAGE IMMEDIATELY CAUSING A OVERRUN OF THE DISTANCE NEEDED FOR THE VEHICLE TO STOP. *TR