2004 TOYOTA PRIUS Complaints

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE HAS NO TRACTION WHILE DRIVING UPHILL AT ANY SPEED. THE VEHICLE WILL NOT MOVE OR GO FORWARD. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN INSPECTED. THE CURRENT MILEAGE IS 65,300 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 30,000. UPDATED 04/16/08. *LJ THE CONSUMER STATED WHEN THE TRACTION CONTROL DETECTS NO TRACTION ON ANY DRIVE WHEEL, THE VEHICLE REFUSES TO GIVE POWER TO THE WHEELS. THE VEHICLE FREEZES.

TOYOTA 2004 PRIUS - PASSENGER-SIDE HID HEADLIGHT WENT OUT. DEALERS WANT ABOUT $650 TO FIX!!! (INCLUDES HAVING TO TAKE THE BUMPER OFF.) THE COST IS AN OUTRAGE. I CAN'T AFFORD IT. THESE BULBS HAVE APPARENTLY FAILED ON MANY PRIUSES, SO DEALERS ARE CASHING IN. *TR

CONTROL SCREEN STARTED TO WORK ON AND OFF. DRIVER COULD DRIVE TO 5 MINUTES AND THE SCREEN WOULD BEGIN TO WORK. AFTER SEVERAL DAYS OF THIS, THE SCREEN STOPPED WORKING ALTOGETHER. WE CAN THEREFORE NO LONGER USE OUR HEATING COOLING CONTROLS, OR OUR NAVIGATION SYSTEM. WE HAVE NOT REPAIRED THIS DEFECT YET. *TR

WHILE DRIVING (OR SITTING IDLING) ONE (OR BOTH) OF THE HEADLIGHTS WILL GO OUT. I HAVE VERIFIED THAT THE LIGHT GOES OUT COMPLETELY AND DOES NOT JUST DIM. WHEN ONLY ONE HEADLIGHT GOES OUT, TURNING THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH OFF THEN BACK ON WILL RE-IGNITE THE HEADLIGHT. WHEN BOTH HEADLIGHTS GO OUT, THEY WILL NOT COME BACK ON BY TURNING THE SWITCH OFF AND ON. IT TAKES 4 OR 5 ATTEMPTS AT SWITCHING OFF/ON BEFORE THEY COME BACK ON. I MUST DRIVE AT NIGHT TIME, AND THIS PROBLEM CAUSES ME TO BE PLUNGED INTO DARKNESS SUDDENLY WHILE DRIVING (A VERY DANGEROUS AND FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCE). THE DEALER DID NOT KNOW THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM, BUT WAS VERY WILLING TO SELL ME 2 HEADLIGHT BULBS FOR $790.00 AND IF THAT DID NOT FIX THE PROBLEM, COME BACK AND BUY 2 CONTROL UNITS FOR $950.00. *TR

2004 TOYOTA PRIUS STALLING. AFTER SPEAKING W/ THE TOYOTA CONSUMER HELPLINE, I'VE LEARNED THAT THE COULD PUT A PROGRAM IN THE COMPUTER THAT GIVES YOU ENOUGH TIME TO PULL TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD BEFORE YOU STALL. I RESPONDED THAT THERE ISN'T ALWAYS A SHOULDER TO PULLOVER TO. I STARTED GETTING WARNING LIGHTS AT 6,500 MI. I NOW HAVE 36,880 MI. IN THE BEGINNING, THE LIGHTS WERE JUST A JOKE OR A NUISANCE WHEN I HAD TO BRING IT IN TO THE DEALER. ON NOV 11, I STALLED ALONG W/ WARNING LIGHTS. YOU CAN PULL OVER AND SHUT IT OFF,WAIT A MINUTE, RESTART AND DRIVE HOME WITH WARNING LIGHTS, BUT THEY GO OUT WHEN YOU START UP TO GO TO DEALER. I BROUGHT IT TO THEM ANYWAY, BUT AFTER THEY LOOKED AT THE CODES I WAS TOLD IT WAS SOFT CODES AND THAT THERE WAS NOTHING THAT THEY COULD DO FURTHER. IN DEC, I GOT THE WARNING LIGHTS, BUT NO STALL. I DROVE TO WORK AND BACK AND THE LIGHTS WENT OUT WHEN I STARTED UP TO GO TO DEALER . FEB 25 6:30 PM IN THE MERGE LANE OF THE I-10,WHERE THERE ISN'T A SHOULDER AND CARS ARE COMING 40 TO 50 MPH INTO THE LANE TO EXIT. HOW I DIDN'T GET REAR-ENDED, I CAN'T EXPLAIN. TURNED KEY OFF, RESTARTED AND DROVE HOME. LIGHTS WENT OUT WHEN IT CAME TIME TO DRIVE TO DEALER SUNDAY NIGHT FOR THEM TO CHECK OUT MON AM. I'M TRYING A NEW DEALER THURSDAY AND I HAVE CONTACTED TOYOTA CONSUMER LINE FOR ASSISTANCE. I NOT SURE HOW FAR ANYONE CAN FIX THIS ISSUE. THE SERVICE DEPT HAS UPDATED THE COMPUTER AND HAS GIVEN ME A NEW COMPUTER, BUT THEY DON'T HAVE AN ANSWER WHEN I INFORM THEM THAT THIS IS GETTING DANGEROUS, NOW. *TR

ON DECEMBER 25, 2007 WHEN I STARTED MY CAR IT LOCKED UP WITH A CHRISTMAS TREE LIKE EFFECT ALL OF THE LIGHTS CAME ON AND I COULD NOT SHUT THE CAR OFF. ALL OF THE GEARS WERE ENGAGED ACCORDING TO THE DISPLAY AND THE CAR WAS IN SLOOOOOW MOTION FORWARDS. NOT EVEN A CRAWLING SPEED. IMPERCEPTIBLY SLOW FORWARDS. IT WOULD NOT SHUT OFF NOR WOULD IT DO ANYTHING THAT WOULD ALLOW ME TO CONTROL THE MOTION OF THE CAR EXCEPT USE THE BRAKE TO HOLD IT IN PLACE. I HAD A SCAN GAUGE CONNECTED TO THE OBD PORT AND WAS ABLE TO PULL THE FOLLOWING CODES FROM IT: U0293 AND P0A1D. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THE FIRST CODE MEANS LOST COMMUNICATION WITH HV ECU AND THE SECOND CODE MEANS HV ECU MALFUNCTION. THE OUTDOOR AIR TEMPERATURE WAS ABOUT 20 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. ONLY THE USE OF THE SCAN TOOL CODE RESET ALLOWED ME TO POWER THE VEHICLE OFF. OTHERWISE I WOULD HAVE HAD TO PLACE THE VEHICLE UP AGAINST AN IMMOVABLE OBJECT TO KEEP IT UNDER CONTROL. *TR

THE MULTI-FUNCTION DISPLAY (MFD) FAILED. (CROSS REFERENCE NHSTA 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

HID HEADLAMPS CUT OUT WHILE DRIVING, CAUSING A POTENTIALLY SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. *TR

DRIVER SIDE HID HEADLIGHT GOES OUT, BUT REIGNITES (MOST OF THE TIME) AFTER HEADLIGHT SWITCH IS TURNED OFF AND THEN BACK ON. RECENTLY, THE DRIVERS SIDE LIGHT WAS OUT (AND WOULD NOT REIGNITES), AND THE PASSENGER SIDE LIGHT WENT OUT AS WELL, LEAVING ME WITHOUT HEADLIGHTS. THE PASSENGER SIDE LIGHT DID REIGNITES AFTER TURNING THE SWITCH OFF AND BACK ON. *TR

PASSENGER HEADLIGHT ON 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS GOES OUT INTERMITTENTLY. I HAVE NOTICED THIS ABOUT 8 TIMES. ON ONE OCCASION I WAS IN A VEHICLE IN FRONT OF THE PRIUS AND THE HEADLIGHT WENT OFF AFTER 15 MINUTES OF OPERATION. IT CAME BACK ON AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS TURNED OFF AND RESTARTED. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER TODAY, EXPECTING A DIAGNOSIS AND THEY PUT IN A NEW HID BULB ($324.00). I HAD THEM SAVE THE OLD BULB BECAUSE I AM DOUBTFUL A NEW BULB WILL SOLVE WHAT APPEARS TO BE AN ELECTRICAL SHORT CIRCUIT PROBLEM. NOT HAVING BOTH HEADLIGHTS OPERATIONAL IS A SAFETY PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED WITH THE ROOT CAUSE ASCERTAINED AND REPAIRED BY THE MANUFACTURER. *TR