2004 TOYOTA PRIUS Complaints

TOYOTA PRIUS TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM-IF YOU ARE GOING UP A HILL AND YOU LOOSE TRACTION DUE TO SNOW AND THE CAR STOPS. YOU CANNOT EVER GO FORWARD,IF THE TIRES ATTEMPT TO SPIN AT ANY LEVEL OG GAS/ELECTRIC THE RPM GOES TO ZERO. THE ONLY WAY TO MOVE THE CAR IS TO BACK DOWN THE HILL. NEED I SAY MORE. THE DEALER AGREES AND STATED TOYOTA NEVER GAVE US A FIX. WE HAVE THIS PROBLEM FOR YEARS. I HAVE TALKED TO OTHER PRIUS OWNERS AND THEY ALL SAY THE SAME ,YOU HAVE TO USE YOUR OTHER CAR. WHICH I DO. HOWEVER MY WIFE USED THE CAR LAST WEEK AND WE HAD SOME MINOR SNOW AND SHE WAS ON A HILL(GOING UP) FOR 2 HRS BEFORE SHE WAS ABLE TO BACK DOWN WHEN MORNING TRAFFIC SUBSIDED. THIS IS A 2004 PRIUS. THIS CAN BE A DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR A PERSON THAT IS UNCOMFORTABLE IN BACKING DOWN A HILL. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS. THE CONTACT'S COMPUTER SYSTEM FAILED AND HE CRASHED INTO A TREE. NONE OF THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. THE VEHICLE WAS DESTROYED. THE CONTACT CUT HIS FOREHEAD AND SUSTAINED NECK AND BACK INJURIES. A POLICE REPORT IS AVAILABLE. THE PURCHASE DATE AND SPEED WERE UNKNOWN. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 62,000.

WITH 34,000 MILES ON MY 2004 PRIUS, THE GLASS HAS DEVELOPED SEVERE PITTING, NOT ONLY ON THE WINDSHIELD, BUT ON THEIR SIDE WINDOWS AS WELL. WHEN THE SUN HITS THE WINDSHIELD VISIBILITY IS GREATLY REDUCED. *TR

2004 PRIUS, 84,00 MILES. INTERMITTENT HEADLIGHT FAILURE, BOTH RIGHT AND LEFT. HEADLIGHT(S) WOULD GO OUT WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT. DEALER SAID IT WAS HID COMPUTER AND THE REPAIR BILL IS $1140!!!! RESEARCHING ON INTERNET REVEALS THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM. IT IS DEFINITELY SAFETY RELAYED AND I FEEL TOYOTA SHOULD MAKE THE REPAIR AT NO CHARGE. I'M NOT EXCITED ABOUT REPLACING THE COMPUTER NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE COST, BUT CAN I EXPECT THE PROBLEM TO REPEAT IN A FEW YEARS? *TR

2ND OCCURRENCE OF TOYOTA PRIUS ACCELERATION. WHILE WIFE LEAVING DAUGHTERS SCHOOL, CAR ACCELERATED (PEDAL OFF THE ACCELERATOR!), SHE JAMMED ON BRAKES, BUT WAS CLOSE IN PROVOKING AN ACCIDENT ON MAIN STREET. THIS IS THE SECOND OCCURRENCE. FIRST TIME, SHE HIT A TAXI WHILE STOPPED IN A RED LIGHT. ACCIDENT WAS REPORTED BY POLICE (NO INJURIES). FIRST TIME TOOK CAR INTO THE DEALER (NO APPARENT PROBLEMS). PLANNING ON TAKING CAR AGAIN TO DEALER TOMORROW.!

2004 TOYOTA PRIUS WITH NAVIGATION SYSTEM PROBLEMS CUSTOMER STATES THAT NOW THE AC AND DEFROSTER DOES NOT WORK AND THE DEALERSHIP FIXED IT THANK YOU TO THE DEALERSHIP NOTE**NAR**CC THE CONSUMER STATED FROM TIME TO TIME THE RADIO WOULD TURN OFF AND IT WOULD HAVE TO BE TURNED BACK ON MANUALLY. THEN THE DISPLAY BEGAN TO ACT ERRATICALLY . THE AUDIO OFF WOULD APPEAR ON THE SCREEN AND THE RADIO WAS STILL PLAYING . THE CLIMATE CONTROL BECAME UNRESPONSIVE AND THE SCREEN DISPLAYED CHECK THE CONNECTION OF THE AIR CONDITION . WHEN THE CONSUMER PRESSED ANY OF THE BUTTONS ON THE DISPLAY, THEY WOULD NOT FUNCTION OR WOULD TAKE SECONDS TO COME UP AND USUALLY ONLY THE PERFORMANCE SCREEN OR THE RADIO SCREEN WOULD SHOW UP. THE PROBLEM WITH THE AIR CONDITION AND DEFROSTER WERE RELATED TO THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM THE CONSUMER DISCOVERED THERE WAS A FAULTY DESIGN WITH THE MODEL YEAR. *JB

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS. WHILE DRIVING IN ANY TYPE OF WEATHER, ONE HEADLIGHT WOULD DIM FOLLOWED BY THE OTHER. HOWEVER, BOTH HEADLIGHTS COULD DIM SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE FAILURE OCCURS INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE'S SPEED WAS NOT A FACTOR. DURING THE FAILURE, ALL OF THE OTHER LIGHTS WERE OPERATIONAL. THE CONTACT HAS HAD THE LIGHTS REPAIRED DUE TO SAFETY CONCERNS. THE CURRENT MILEAGE IS 90,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 70,000.

AUXILIARY BATTERY ON TOYOTA PRIUS 2001 AND TOYOTA PRIUS 2004 FAIL IF THE CAR IS NOT DRIVEN AT LEAST EVERY 7-10 DAYS. THIS PREVENTS THE CAR FROM STARTING. WE PURCHASED A 2001 PRIUS USED IN MARCH 2004, AND A NEW 2004 PRIUS IN JUNE 2004. THE AUXILIARY BATTERY FAILED ON THE 2001 PRIUS TWICE, AND WE REPLACED IT ONCE. RECENTLY THE DEALER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE TOLD ME THE BATTERY HELD A CHARGE UNLESS DRIVEN EVERY 7-10 DAYS, AND SHOULD BE DISCONNECTED"IF PARKED FOR PROLONGED TIME." THIS WAS POTENTIAL SAFETY PROBLEM FOR CAR NOT STARTING, SUCH AS IF RETURNING ON PLANE AFTER 2-3 WEEK VACATION AND NOT BEING ABLE TO START THE CAR, RISK FOR VULNERABILITY AWAITING JUMP START. TOYOTA'S ONLY RESPONSE WAS WELL, IT WAS A HYBRID. THEY CLAIMED THE HUNDREDS OF COMPUTERS IN THE CAR DRAINED THE BATTERY WHEN PARKED. THEY COULD HAVE DESIGNED IN SOME AUTOMATIC OR SIMPLE SWITCH TO ADDRESS THIS. ALSO, THEY COULD NOTIFY THE POTENTIAL CUSTOMER OF THIS DESIGN FLAW. THEY DID NOT INFORM US, OR ANY OF THE OTHER PRIUS OWNERS. WE HAVE RECENTLY DISCUSSED THE ISSUE WITH. THE OWNER'S MANUAL FOR 2001 MODEL MADE NO MENTION OF IT. IN THE 2004 MANUAL THERE WAS A BRIEF MENTION OF NEED TO DISCONNECT THE BATTERY IF PARKED FOR"PROLONGED TIME, BUT DID NOT DEFINE THAT. ALTHOUGH WE HAVE BEEN HAPPY WITH OTHER FEATURES OF THE PRIUS AND OTHER TOYOTAS WE OWNED IN THE PAST WE CONSIDERED THIS TO BE A SERIOUS AND RISKY DESIGN FLAW. FURTHERMORE, WE CONSIDERED TOYOTA'S SALES PEOPLE AND SALES BROCHURES FAILURE TO NOTIFY US OF THIS PROBLEM TO BE A SIGNIFICANT BREACH OF GOODWILL AND RESPECT FOR CUSTOMER SAFETY AND SATISFACTION. *AK

2004 TOYOTA PRIUS - DASHBOARD DESIGN DEFECT. I'VE BEEN TROUBLED BY THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE SPEEDOMETER DISPLAY IN MY 2004 PRIUS DIMS WHEN I USED SUN GLASSES. TODAY I TOOK A MOMENT AND ROTATED THE SUN GLASSES IN FRONT OF THE DISPLAY. MY EXPERIENCE TAUGHT ME THAT THE DISPLAY EMITS LIGHT. POLARIZED LENSES ARE ENGINEERED TO MINIMIZE TRANSMISSION OF THIS LIGHT. TOYOTA SHOULD CEASE USING DISPLAYS WITH THESE MISORIENTED DISPLAY ELEMENTS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I HAVE INFORMED TOYOTA. THEY RESPONDED: YOUR EMAIL HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED AT OUR NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS UNDER FILE #200705150093.*AK THIS SEEMED 'INADEQUATE' SO I'M SUBMITTING THIS TO YOU. IT WOULD BE PRETTY EXPENSIVE TO REPLACE ALL OF THE POORLY DESIGNED ELEMENTS NOW IN SERVICE.

WHILE DRIVING PRIUS ON MAJOR HIGHWAY IN DFW METROPLEX DURING EVENING RUSH HOUR THE WARNING LIGHT CAME ON, THEN A COUPLE SECONDS LATER, ENTIRE DASH BOARD INFORMATION SCREEN AND ALL WARNING LIGHTS FLASHED. CAR ENGINE CONTINUED TO RUN, AND WOULD NOT TURN OFF, BUT NO POWER WAS AVAILABLE TO STEERING OR BRAKES. THIS PROBLEM OCCURRED AT THE APEX OF A BRIDGE. HOWEVER, WAS ABLE TO COAST THE CAR INTO THE MEDIAN BETWEEN THE MERGE RAMP OF THE MAJOR HIGHWAY AND THE INTERSTATE. VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION IF IT HAD OCCURRED BEFORE APEX OF THE BRIDGE. )CALLED THE DEALERSHIP, WHO IN TURN, CALLED A TOW TRUCK. HAD TO BASICALLY PLAY WITH POWER BUTTON, BRAKE, AND GEAR SHIFT TO GET IT INTO NEUTRAL SO THE CAR COULD BE LOADED ONTO THE TOW TRUCK. TOOK DEALER THREE DAYS TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. IT WAS BLAMED ON A SHORT IN AUXILIARY BATTERY. HOWEVER, IT SEEMED TO BE WORKING OKAY. THIS WAS THE THIRD TIME OCCURRENCE SUCH AS THIS HAPPENED TO THIS CAR, AS WELL AS A NON-FUNCTIONING DRIVER INFORMATION SCREEN, THAT IF THE CAR WAS HOT INSIDE THEN INFORMATION SCREEN WORKED, IF NO, THEN THE SCREEN STATED NO CONNECTION TO AIR CONDITIONING , WHICH OCCURRED SINCE FIRST TIME THE SHUT DOWN HAPPENED. THOUGHT THIS PROBLEM WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FIXED WITH THE SOFTWARE UPGRADE THAT THEY INSTALLED AFTER THE LAST OCCURRENCE. IT APPEARED THAT THIS DEFECT HAPPENED EVERY 18,000 MILES . NOW THERE IS 79,000 MILES ON THE CAR.*AK