2004 TOYOTA PRIUS Complaints

WHEN APPLYING BRAKES IN NORMAL CITY STREET TRAFFIC AT APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH, BRAKES PULSED SLOWLY SEVERAL TIMES AND THEN FAILED. BRAKE PEDAL WENT TO FLOOR, CAR CRASHED INTO REAR-END OF CAR AHEAD. *JB

DT: THE CONTACT STATED THE ABS FAILED. THE ABS AND VSC LIGHTS FLICKERED WHILE SLAMMING ON THE BRAKES AND ALL FOUR TIRES LOCKED. THE LIGHTS CAME ON LAST WEEK WHEN THE FUEL WAS LOW IN THE VEHICLE. THE ABS WAS STILL NOT WORKING. HE WAS TAKING THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP TODAY. *AK UPDATED 1/25/2006 - *NM

2004 TOYOTA PRIUS ENGINE STALLED WHILE DRIVING. ***NO ANSWER REQUIRED*** *TS THE CONSUMER REQUESTED REIMBURSEMENT FOR THE TOWING EXPENSE. *SC

THE BLACK PLASTIC MATERIAL INSIDE THE CAR IS GETTING WHITE SPLOTCHES ON IT. IF YOU EVEN PUT YOUR ARM AGAINST IT OR YOUR HAND LITTLE BLOTCHES APPEAR THAT DO NOT COME OFF. THIS IS OCCURRING ON THE DASH AND ON THE SIDES OF THE CAR. *NM

I HAVE A 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AND MY GAS ENGINE SHUTDOWN AND ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASH TURNED ON. I HAD TO HAVE MY CAR TOWED TO THE NEAREST DEALER FOR REPAIR. I HAD ASKED THE MANUFACTURE TO SEE IF MY VEHICLE HAD ANY RECALL OR TSB AND THEY SAID "NO". THEN IF THAT'S THE CASE WHY AM I HAVING THE SAME ISSUE THAT EVERYONE SEEMS TO HAVE WITH THIS CAR? I THINK TOYOTA DOES NOT KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS AND DOES NOT KNOW HOT TO FIX IT. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM LUCKY I WAS ABLE TO GET T THE SHOULD SAFELY.*JB

DT: TOTAL BREAKDOWN OF CONSUMER'S WIFE 2004 PRIUS ON SEPTEMBER 2, 2005 IN SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA. THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY LOST POWER WHILE MERGING INTO THE INTERSTATE. A LOSS OF GAS ENGINE POWER WITH FAILURE OF THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION/ENGINE TO START, RESULTED IN ONLY ELECTRIC MOTOR PROPULSION AND BREAKDOWN ON THE HIGHWAY AS THE BATTERY QUICKLY WENT TO SINGLE PINK BAR LEVEL WITHIN A 1/2 MILE. MULTIPLE MIL LAMPS LIT UP. BEGAN TO MERGE ONTO THE HIGHWAY FROM A STOP SPEED OF 30 OR 40 MPH AND SLOWLY ACCELERATED INTO HEAVY TRAFFIC. HAD TO PULL OFF TO THE BREAKDOWN LANE OF THE HIGHWAY WITH ALL OF ITS DEBRIS , ETC. THE DEALER COMPLETED THE REPAIRS AT SAN JOSE'S CAPITOL TOYOTA ON 9/2/05. THE DEALER FIXED THE CAR. BUT THE CONSUMER CONTACTED A TOYOTA PRIES ADVISOR WHO STATED IF THERE WAS A SERVICE BULLETIN FOR THIS CHARACTERISTIC THAT WOULD PREVENT THE ROADWAY FAILURE THEN WHY WAS IT NOT EXECUTED DURING PRIOR SERVICES ON 3/9/05, 5/26/05 AND 6/09/05. THIS INDICATED THAT THE CAR WAS RELIABLE AFTER THE REPAIRS. THE CONSUMER, AN ACCOMPLISHED ENGINEER, SAID TOYOTA KNEW ABOUT SOFTWARE BUGS. A SOFTWARE BUG DID NOT IMPAIR OPERATION UNTIL THE RIGHT COMBINATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS WAS REACHED. ALL PRIES HAD THIS POTENTIAL BUG THAT CONTAMINATED THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE (ECHO). *AK *JB

CONSUMERS 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS HAD TWO BATTERY FAILURES. *TS THE FIRST BATTERY FAILURE OCCURRED WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS STARTED FOR 5 WEEKS. THE SECOND FAILURE OCCURRED AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS NOT STARTED FOR 14 DAYS. THE DEALER SUGGESTED THAT THE CONSUMER DISCONNECT THE BATTERY IF THE VEHICLE WAS NOT GOING TO BE STARTED FOR 10 DAYS OR MORE. THE CONSUMER STATED A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN HAD BEEN ISSUED, HOWEVER THE INFORMATION WAS NEVER RELAYED TO THE CONSUMER. *JB

2004 TOYOTA PRIUS CUT OFF WHILE CONSUMER WAS DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS.*MR WHEN THE CONSUMERS VEHICLE STALLED ON THE HIGHWAY, ANOTHER MOTORIST REAR ENDED THE CONSUMERS VEHICLE. *JB

MY TOYOTA PRIUS 2004 VIN [XXX] ENGINE SUDDENLY STALLED ON THE FREEWAY. I STILL CAN'T RESTART THE ENGINE. AS OF 10/17/05 DEALER STILL CAN'T FIND THE REASON. *JB UPDATED 07/18/2012 *JS INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I OWN A 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS PURCHASED ON MARCH 2ND 2004. APPROXIMATELY 4 MONTHS AFTER ACQUIRING MY VEHICLE I WAS MERGING ONTO THE INTERSTATE WHEN I EXPERIENCED AND ICE ENGINE FAILURE. ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON AND I WAS ABLE TO PULL TO THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD USING THE ELECTRIC MOTOR. SUBSEQUENTLY I REBOOTED THE CAR AND THE ENGINE TURNED OVER. THE NEXT DAY I TOOK THE PRIUS TO A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. THEY HAD THE CAR FOR SIX DAYS AND APPARENTLY PERFORMED DIAGNOSTICS AND PERFORMED A SOFTWARE FIX. RECENTLY, ON SEPTEMBER 8TH 2005 I EXPERIENCED A 2ND OCCURRENCE OF THE ICE ENGINE SHUTDOWN. THIS SCENARIO OCCURRED WHILE PULLING UP TO A RED LIGHT. AGAIN ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON AND THE ENGINE SHUT DOWN. I REBOOTED THE CAR AND TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR SERVICE. THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP COMPLETED A TSB EG047-04 FOR RECALIBRATING THE ENGINE ECU. NOTE, I DID NOT RECEIVE ANY PRIOR TSB'S FROM TOYOTA REGARDING THE ENGINE PROBLEM. *JB