2004 TOYOTA PRIUS Complaints

THE MULTI-FUNCTION DISPLAY (MFD) FAILED. (CROSS REFERENCE NHTSA COMPLAINT #10173892). THIS IS A KNOWN DESIGN DEFECT (CROSS REFERENCE ANALYSIS ON WEB: HTTP://TECHNO-FANDOM.ORG/~HOBBIT/CARS/MFD/COMPARE.HTML AND HTTP://TECHNO-FANDOM.ORG/~HOBBIT/CARS/MFD/). TOYOTA ISSUED A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN (EITHER EL-002-04 OR EL-002-05 - CONFLICTING INFO ON THIS) ON JAN 10, 2005. WHEN THE MFD FAILS, ONE CANNOT CONTROL THE AMOUNT OF AIRFLOW TO THE WINDSHIELD (DEFROSTER). THIS PRESENTED ME WITH VISIBILITY PROBLEMS DURING THE MORNING COMMUTE. AS SUCH, I CONSIDER IT A SAFETY ISSUE. TOYOTA HAS BEEN AWARE OF THIS FOR 3 YEARS, GIVEN THE DATE OF THEIR TSB. THE ROOT CAUSE APPEARS TO BE AN UNDERSIZED SOLDER PAD ON ONE OF THE ELECTRONIC CARDS OF THE MFD. THIS RESULTS IN A CRACKING OF THE SOLDER JOINT. BECAUSE MY PROBLEM WAS INTERMITTENT, COMING AND GOING ON A FREQUENT BASIS, I PRESUME IT WAS A MICRO CRACK. THIS DOES NOT HELP WHEN THE WINDSHIELD IS FOGGING OVER. ALL OF THE VARIOUS ERROR MESSAGES THAT WERE DISPLAYED ON THE MFD WERE CONSISTENT WITH THE INFORMATION ON THE ABOVE REFERENCED WEB URL'S. THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE RELEASE F OF THE ELECTRONIC CARD ASSEMBLY AND WAS CORRECTED WITH RELEASE G. THERE ARE PICTORIAL COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE TWO RELEASES ON ONE OF THE WEB URL'S. GIVEN THAT THIS HAS AN IMPACT ON VISIBILITY DURING THE WINTER MONTHS, I AM SHOCKED THAT TOYOTA CHOSE TO SIT ON THIS PROBLEM. THE SUPPLIER OF THIS PART TO TOYOTA IS FUJITSU. *TR

I WAS QUOTED $466 JUST FOR THE PRICE OF MY BULB FOR THE HEADLIGHT OF MY TOYOTA PRIUS. FOR A NON LUXURY CAR IT SO EXPENSIVE THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL CHOOSE TO MAKE DUE WITH THEIR FLICKERING ONE. IT IS OUTRAGEOUS THAT TOYOTA DID NOT GIVE A MORE AFFORDABLE CHOICE. IT IS GOING TO BE MORE DANGEROUS OUT THERE. *TR

I HAVE A 2004 PRIUS AND THE FRONT RIGHT HEADLIGHT IS WORKING ONLY INTERMITTENTLY. THIS HAPPENS AT LEAST THREE OR FOUR TIMES A WEEK; I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY PATTERN. I HAD MY DEALER CHECK THE LIGHT AND ITS CONNECTIONS AND I WAS TOLD THAT THE HID LIGHT BULB WAS NOT WORKING AND THAT IT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AND THAT I COULD ONLY REPLACE THEM AS A PAIR. THE REASON BEING THAT THEY ARE SOMEHOW CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER AND THAT ONE FAILING WOULD LEAD TO THE OTHER FAILING AS WELL. THE COST WAS AN OUTRAGEOUS $452 EACH WITH LABOR AND THAT MY EXTENDED WARRANTY DOESN'T COVER IT! *TR

BRAKE FAILURE, THIS HAPPENED TO ME TODAY 8/5/08. I PURCHASED THIS 2004 PRIUS 2 WEEKS AGO(90,000 MILES), AND I'VE ONLY HAD PROBLEMS UP TILL NOW. I WAS DRIVING AT ABOUT 25 MPH, WHEN ALL OF THE SUDDEN THE ABS WARNING LIGHT WENT OFF, AND THE BRAKE LIGHT TURNED ON(AND A BUZZER WAS HEARD). I HAD TO DEPRESS THE BREAK PEDAL HARD IN ORDER TO GET THE CAR TO BREAK. IT FELT JUST LIKE WHEN A CONVENTIONAL CAR LOOSES ITS BREAKS. THANKS GOD I WAS ONLY 1 MILE FROM THE TOYOTA DEALER. I HAD A SCHEDULED EVAPORATOR REPLACEMENT ($450)SCHEDULED FOR TOMORROW SO I DECIDED TO LEAVE THE CAR AT THE DEALER (THIS IS WHAT THE MANUAL SAYS TO DO WHEN BOTH WARNINGS GO OFF). *TR

2004 TOYOTA PRIUS AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION CONTROL PROBLEMS. CONSUMER STATES THAT TRANSMISSION CONTROL LEVER BECAME WORN. SOMETIMES THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO THE ROLL WITH THIS DEFECT. *KB THE CONSUMER STATED THE INTERNAL SPRING THAT MOVES THE TRANSMISSION LEVER BACK TO THE PREVIOUS POSITION BECAME WORN AND NOW IT DOESN'T RETURN TO IT'S NORMAL POSITION WHEN PUTTING IT IN REVERSE OR DRIVE. THE SHIFTER LEVER WAS STICKING IN DRIVE OR REVERSE. *JB

DRIVER'S SIDE HIGH INTENSITY DISCHARGE HEADLAMP BEGAN SWITCHING OFF ABOUT A MONTH AGO. LAST WEEKEND WHILE TRAVELING AT NIGHT, THE HEADLAMP WENT OUT ABOUT 15 TIMES IN 3 HOURS. EACH TIME TURNING THE HEADLAMP SWITCH OFF AND BACK ON TEMPORARILY SOLVED THE PROBLEM. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO THE DEALER AND THEY REPLACED THE HID BULB FOR $355. I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLAMP SIX MONTHS AGO AND REPLACING THE BULB HAS SOLVED THE PROBLEM (TO DATE). THIS IS A DISCONCERTING ISSUE. I HAVE NOT RECEIVED AN EXPLANATION AS TO WHY THIS OCCURS AS OPPOSED TO A NORMAL HEADLAMP JUST BURNING OUT AND THEN BEING ABLE TO REPLACE IT FOR TWENTY BUCKS. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS. ON APPROXIMATELY 10 TO 12 OCCASIONS, THE VEHICLE WOULD DRIVE ROUGHLY AND THE INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTS WOULD ILLUMINATE WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS. THE VEHICLE HAD TO BE PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND TURNED OFF. AFTER APPROXIMATELY FIVE MINUTES, THE CONTACT WOULD RESTART THE VEHICLE, BUT THE INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTS WOULD STILL BE ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN TAKEN TO TWO TOYOTA DEALERS AND THE LOCATION WHERE THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED, BUT NO ONE COULD DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURES. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 40,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 25,000.

ERRATIC LOSS OF PC USE, TOUCH SCREEN, AUDIO DEACTIVATED, NO PICTURE AT ALL DEALER WANTS $980 TO REPLACE WITH REFURBISHED AND $4000 FOR NEW. WORRIED ABOUT ALL THE OTHER DOT TROUBLED LISTINGS OF TOTAL ELECTRICAL POWER LOSS. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS. WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH, ALL OF THE BRAKE WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS DIAGNOSED BY THE DEALER. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 42,980.

I WAS DRIVING ON THE 605 FREEWAY IN THE CARPOOL LANE AT APPROXIMATELY 70 MILES PER HOUR WHEN WITHOUT WARNING, THE CAR SUDDENLY LOST POWER AND THE CHECK ENGINE AND MASTER HYBRID WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON. I HAD TO CROSS FOUR LANES OF RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC TO PULL TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE FREEWAY AS THE CAR LOST POWER. I WAS BARELY ABLE TO DRIVE THE CAR SAFELY TO THE RIGHT SHOULDER OF THE FREEWAY. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER SINCE IT WAS NOT DRIVABLE. THIS WAS A VERY DANGEROUS AND SCARY EXPERIENCE. FORTUNATELY, A SERIOUS ACCIDENT WAS NARROWLY AVOIDED. THE DEALER ATTRIBUTED THE PROBLEM TO A SHORT. THE HYBRID VEHICLE CONTROL COMPUTER WAS REPLACED. THE REPLACEMENT PART NUMBER IS 89981-47270. *TR