2006 TOYOTA PRIUS Complaints

MY PRIUS HAS ALWAYS HAD ISSUES WITH THE BRAKES MAKING A CLICKING SOUND WHEN STOPPED AT A LIGHT, ETC. I HAVE COMPLAINED FROM DAY ONE AND ALWAYS BEEN TOLD IT WAS NORMAL. BY 2008 THE BRAKES WERE NOT WORKING WELL AT TIMES AND THE PEDAL WOULD GO ALMOST TO THE FLOOR AT TIMES AND NOT AT OTHERS. THE DEALERSHIP CHECKED THIS AND TOLD ME THERE WERE NO PROBLEMS. IN FEB 2008 THE BRAKES COMPLETELY FAILED WHILE I WAS DRIVING ON A CITY STREET AND THE PEDAL WENT ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR AND I HIT THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. THE DEALERSHIP AGAIN SAID THAT THERE WERE NO PROBLEMS AND THAT THE BRAKES WERE FINE. I HAVE HAD NUMEROUS INCIDENTS SINCE WITH THE PEDAL GOING ALMOST TO THE FLOOR AT TIMES AND NOT AT OTHERS. IF I HIT POTHOLES OR AM ON REALLY ROUGH STREETS THE TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT COMES ON AND I LOSE COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE FOR A FEW SECONDS WITH THE INABILITY TO BRAKE. THE DEALERSHIP HAS REPEATABLE SAID THERE ARE NO ISSUES WHEN THEY CHECK THE CAR. THIS WEEK, ON MONDAY, THE BATTERY DIED AND I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR A REPLACEMENT. AS ALWAYS, I ASKED THEM TO CHECK THE BRAKES AND NOW THEY SAY THERE IS A MAJOR ISSUE WITH THE BRAKE ACTUATOR THAT COULD CAUSE INTERMITTENT LOSS OF BRAKING ABILITY AND THAT THE CAR IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE. SINCE THE CAR ISN'T UNDER WARRANTY NOW (BUT WAS WHEN THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED) THEY DON'T WANT TO PAY FOR THE REPAIR. THEY PUT ME IN A RENTAL CAR FOR THE PAST THREE DAYS SINCE THEY SAID MY CAR WASN'T SAFE TO DRIVE. TODAY THEY DECIDED THEY WEREN'T PAYING FOR THE REPAIR, AFTER TALKING WITH "CORPORATE", AND THAT THE CAR IS SAFE TO DRIVE WITHOUT THE REPAIR! WHEN I CHECK THE NHTSA SITE I SEE LOTS OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE 2006 PRIUS AND AM EVEN MORE CONCERNED THAN EVER. IF YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED A SIMILAR PROBLEM, PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO FILE A COMPLAINT TO FORCE AN INVESTIGATION OF YET A NEW ISSUE WITH TOYOTA AND SAFETY ISSUES! *TR

THE HEADLIGHTS ARE DEFECTIVE. THIS SEEMS TO BE AN ISSUE WITH SECOND GENERATION PRIUS AND THERE IS A LOT OF INTERNET CHATTER FROM AFFECTED INDIVIDUALS. THE HEADLIGHTS ARE SHOWING INTERMITTENT ON/OFF. THE HEADLIGHTS GO OFF AUTOMATICALLY. THEY START WORKING AGAIN AFTER SWITCHING THEM OFF AND THEN BACK ON. HOWEVER, THIS NEEDS TO BE DONE EVERY FEW MINUTES. *TR

AT APPROXIMATELY 40,000 MILES THE PASSENGER SIDE HID HEADLIGHT GOES OUT INTERMITTENTLY & COMES BACK ON AFTER TURNING HEADLIGHTS OFF AND BACK ON. I HAVE BEEN PULLED OVER THREE TIMES & RECEIVED A WARNING TICKET. DEALER SERVICE CONVINCED US THAT IT WAS THE BULB & THAT THE COST OF BULB REPLACEMENT WAS ENTIRELY OURS EVEN THOUGH HEADLIGHTS WERE COVERED TO 100,000 MILES. THIS OF COURSE, DID NOT FIX THE PROBLEM AND IT CONTINUES. THIS CREATES A SAFETY HAZARD ON POORLY LIT ROADS & DURING REDUCED VISIBILITY CONDITIONS. DEALER OFFERS NO ASSISTANCE OR GUIDANCE. *TR

ONE HEADLIGHT GOES OFF AFTER 1-2 MIN OF STAYING ON. SWITCHING IT OFF AND THEN ON BRINGS IT ON. THE CYCLE REPEATS. *TR

"!", ABS, AND VSC LIGHTS COME ON AND BRAKES STOP WORKING - WHILE DRIVING. MUST COAST TO SIDE OF ROAD, TURN OFF VEHICLE, AND RESTART. THEN BRAKES WORK FOR A WHILE UNTIL PROBLEM RECURS. REPLACED BRAKE STROKE SENSOR. FIXED PROBLEM FOR 17 MONTHS - 20,000 MILES. AGAIN, BRAKES FAIL WHILE DRIVING. GETTING CODE DTC 1247 - FAULT IN STROKE SENSOR. TOLD PART IS OUT OF WARRANTY AND MUST BE REPLACED AGAIN. VEHICLE SHOULDN'T HAVE A PART THAT FAILS EVERY 20,000 MILES RESULTING IN COMPLETE LOSS OF BRAKING WHILE DRIVING. *TR

THE HEADLIGHTS WILL TURN OFF AUTOMATICALLY WITHOUT ANY OPERATION. WHEN HEADLIGHTS TURNED OFF AND ON, IT WILL GO BACK WORKING FOR A WHILE BEFORE IT TURNS OFF AGAIN. *TR

BOTH HEADLIGHTS INTERMITTENTLY GO OFF, USUALLY ONE AT A TIME, BUT ONCE, BOTH WENT OFF AT THE SAME TIME AT NIGHT. IF I TURN THEM OFF AND BACK ON, THEY WORK FOR A FEW MINUTES, AND THEN SAME THING HAPPENS. THE DEALER SAYS NOTHING IS WRONG. *TT

HEADLIGHT BULBS INTERMITTENTLY ON AND OFF STARTING AROUND 48,000 MILES AND THEN 52,000 MILES FOR OTHER BULB. I CAN USUALLY GET THE LIGHT TO TURN BACK ON BY TURNING THE HEADLIGHTS FULLY OFF AND THEN ON. DRIVER SIDE BULB DIED FIRST, PASSENGER BULB SHORTLY THEREAFTER. TOYOTA REPLACED THE 1ST BULB UNDER OUR 5 YEAR WARRANTY BUT REFUSED TO REPLACE THE OTHER BULB AT 5 YRS 3 MONTHS & 52K MILES. *TR

DRIVER SIDE AIRBAG DID NOT DEPLOY WITH HEAD ON IMPACT WITH CONCRETE MEDIAN. PRIUS WAS TRAVELING AT 70 MPH AND WAS HIT FROM BEHIND AT HIGH RATE OF SPEED, SENDING IT INTO THREE, 360 DEGREE SPINS ENDING WITH HEAD FIRST IMPACT INTO MEDIAN. NO AIRBAGS DEPLOYED. AIRBAGS CHECKED BY INSURANCE COMPANY INSPECTOR. INSPECTOR SAID THE AIRBAG SENSORS WERE IMPACTED AND SHOULD HAVE DEPLOYED THE AIRBAGS IF THEY WERE WORKING PROPERLY. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 TOYOTA PRIUS. THE CONTACT WAS ATTEMPTING A RIGHT TURN AT 25 MPH WHEN THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKE LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE BRAKE WOULD NOT ENGAGE WHEN APPLIED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER NUMEROUS TIMES FOR THE FAILURE. THE DEALER WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE AND THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 15,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 117,000. ..UPDATED 01/04/12 *BF THE CONSUMER STATED THE FAILURE HAS HAPPENED NUMEROUS TIMES AND THE REPLICATION AT THE DEALERSHIP HAS BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL. ON A RECENT RAINY DAY, THE ABS LIGHT ILLUMINATED AT EACH BRAKE APPLICATION AND THE BRAKES WOULD NOT APPLY FOR 1-2 SECONDS. EFFECTIVELY, LEAVING THE VEHICLE WITH NO BRAKES. THE ABS RELATED BRAKE FAILURE WOULD ALSO OCCUR ON BUMPY ROADS AT LOW SPEEDS WITH DRY PAVEMENT. UPDATED 01/11/12