2006 TOYOTA PRIUS Complaints

MY 4 YEAR OLD TOYOTA PRIUS LOST ENGINE POWER ON THE FREEWAY ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS. DRIVING IN STOP AND GO TRAFFIC ON FREEWAY I HEARD ONE BEEP AS THE CAR LOST ENGINE POWER SLOWED DOWN AND WENT TO BATTERY. A LONG ROW OF WARNING SYMBOLS, STARTING WITH THE TRIANGLE, LIT UP. I SLOWLY EXITED FREEWAY ON BATTERY POWER THEN TURNED CAR OFF. I RESTARTED CAR ABOUT 15 MIN. LATER AND ENGINE STARTED, ONLY WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED WERE RED TRIANGLE AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. DEALER REPLACED INVERTER PUMP ASSEMBLY AND FLUSHED THE INVERTER SYSTEM. 5 DAYS AFTER REPAIR, WHILE EXITING FREEWAY DURING NORMAL TRAFFIC, BEEP SOUNDED AND ENGINE SHUT OFF AND THE ABOVE ORDER OF EVENTS HAPPENED AGAIN. THIS TIME DEALER REPLACED INVERTER ASSY (ASSEMBLY?). *TR

I HAVE A HEADLIGHT THAT GOES ON AND OFF INTERMITTENTLY ON A 2006 PRIUS. IT COST ME $273.13 TO FIX AT THE DEALER. $273.13 FOR A LIGHT BULB!!!!!! *TR

VEHICLE: 2006 TOYOTA PRIUS HID HEADLIGHTS (USUALLY PASSENGER SIDE) INTERMITTENT. *TR

AS A FOLLOW UP TO ODI 10354506 - TOYOTA PULLED THE INFORMATION OFF THE EVENT DATA RECORDER AND IT INDICATED THAT THE THROTTLE AND THE BRAKE WERE BOTH ENGAGED AT THE SAME TIME. THAT IS TRUE, BUT MY FOOT WAS ONLY ON THE BRAKE. I ONLY USE MY RIGHT FOOT TO ACCELERATE AND TO BRAKE. AS SOON AS THE CAR STARTED ACCELERATING, I MOVED MY FOOT OVER TO SLAM ON THE BRAKES. IT MAKES SENSE THAT THE EVENT DATA RECORDER WOULD SHOW THE THROTTLE AND BRAKE ENGAGED AT THE SAME TIME, BUT MY FOOT WAS ONLY ON THE BRAKE. SOMETHING ELSE WAS ENGAGING THE THROTTLE, AND APPARENTLY TOYOTA HAS NO WAY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT COULD BE. THE DEALER, WHILE SYMPATHETIC, HAD NO FIX THAT HE COULD APPLY. *TR

I WAS PULLING INTO A PARKING SPACE AT A VERY LOW RATE OF SPEED (LESS THAN 5 MPH) AND THE CAR SUDDENLY SHOT FORWARD. I STOOD ON THE BRAKES AND THE CAR RESPONDED AS EXPECTED - IT STOPPED. I TURNED OFF THE POWER. ABOUT 10 MINUTES LATER, I TURNED THE CAR ON AND IT DROVE NORMALLY. THERE WAS NO FLOOR MAT - I HAD REMOVED IT MONTHS AGO. MY FOOT WAS ON THE ACCELERATOR, EASING INTO THE PARKING SPACE AND I DIDN'T FEEL THE ACCELERATOR MOVE AT ALL. IT WAS LIKE THE CAR ACCELERATED WITHOUT ANY INPUT FROM THE ACCELERATOR AT ALL. I'VE TAKEN THE CAR TO THE DEALER, BUT I'M AFRAID TO DRIVE IT NOW, AND I'M AFRAID TO TAKE MY CHILDREN ANYWHERE IN IT. *TR

AFTER EXITING AN INTERSTATE, I WAS STOPPED AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT. I ACCELERATED WHEN THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN, TO APPROXIMATELY 40 MPH. AFTER ABOUT 200 FEET, AS I APPROACHED A MERGE POINT, I TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE GAS, BUT THE CAR KEPT ACCELERATING. I IMMEDIATELY STEPPED ON THE BRAKE, AND THE CAR SLOWED. I REMOVED MY FOOT FROM THE BRAKE, AND FELT THE CAR CONTINUE TO ACCELERATE ON ITS OWN. I DIDN'T HAVE ANOTHER CAR IN FRONT OF ME, SO I STEPPED ON THE GAS PEDAL BRIEFLY, AND THEN ON THE BRAKE AGAIN, AND THEN IT SEEMED TO OPERATE NORMALLY AGAIN. REMEMBERING ABOUT THE FLOOR MAT RECALL, I IMMEDIATELY LOOKED DOWN TO CHECK TO SEE IF THE GAS PEDAL WAS CLEAR OF THE MAT. IT WAS. AFTER I HAD PARKED THE CAR, I NOTICED THAT THE MAT WAS STILL SECURED IN ITS PROPER PLACE. THERE WASN'T ANYTHING ELSE THAT COULD HAVE INTERFERED WITH THE PEDAL. LATER THAT SAME DAY, I WAS DRIVING MY 13YR OLD DAUGHTER HOME FROM SCHOOL. I WAS STOPPED AT A STOP SIGN. I MADE A LEFT TURN ONTO A BUSY STREET DURING RUSH HOUR. AFTER ACCELERATING THROUGH THE TURN, I TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE GAS BECAUSE THERE WERE CARS AHEAD OF ME STOPPED FOR ANOTHER LIGHT. THE CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE. I STEPPED ON THE BRAKE, WHICH WAS STIFFER THAN USUAL, AND I COULD HEAR THE ENGINE CONTINUING TO REV IN THE BACKGROUND. THE CAR SLOWED. I HAD A LITTLE SPACE IN FRONT OF ME, SO I EASED UP OFF THE BRAKE, BUT THE CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE ON ITS OWN. I PRESSED DOWN ON THE BRAKE AGAIN, ALL THE WHILE FEELING THE CONTINUED ACCELERATION, AND MOVED OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, WHERE I BRAKED UNTIL I CAME TO A STOP. THIS WAS A TWO LANE ROAD WITH NO SHOULDER, SO I JUST MOVED OVER AS FAR AS I COULD AND PUT MY HAZARDS ON. I WAS STILL PART WAY ON THE ROAD. I PUT THE CAR IN PARK, PUSHED THE ON/OFF IGNITION SWITCH, AND SHUT DOWN THE CAR. I SAT THERE FOR A FEW MINUTES, RE-STARTED THE CAR AND DROVE HOME WITHOUT FURTHER EVENT. *TR

VEHICLE: 2006 TOYOTA PRIUS HEADLIGHTS (PASSENGER) INTERMITTENT OR SOMETIMES COMPLETELY OUT FOR OVER AN HOUR. *TR

2006 TOYOTA PRIUS. PASSENGER SIDE HID HEADLIGHT EXTINGUISHES INTERMITTENTLY SINCE ABOUT 40K MILES. DEALERS WANT UPWARD OF $700 TO REPLACE ONE LIGHT. AT PURCHASE THE HEADLIGHT WAS REPRESENTED TO LAST TWICE AS LONG AS STANDARD HEADLIGHTS. TOYOTA ENGINEERING MADE IT VERY DIFFICULT FOR A LAYMAN TO REPLACE THE BULB. IF/WHEN THE OTHER HEADLIGHT DIES AT NIGHT IT COULD BE TRAGIC. *TR

2006 TOYOTA PRIUS WITH HID HEADLIGHTS. AFTER 4 YEARS OF OWNERSHIP BOTH HID LAMPS HAVE FAILED AT 72,000 MILES. THE LIGHTS WERE WORKING WHEN I LEAVE THE GARAGE HOWEVER WHEN I RETURNED HOME THEY WERE DARK. TURNING THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH OFF AND BACK ON SEEMED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. I DO NOT KNOW HOW LONG THEY WERE OFF OR HOW OFTEN THIS HAS HAPPENED BUT IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO HAVE BOTH HID LAMPS TO HAIL INTERMITTENTLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY AFTER ONLY 4 YEARS. THIS STYLE LAMP SHOULD LAST YEARS AND YEARS. COST TO REPLACE LAMPS AT DEALER OVER $1,000. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 TOYOTA PRIUS. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH WHEN THE DRIVER SIDE HEADLAMP WOULD NO LONGER ILLUMINATE. AFTER APPROXIMATELY TWENTY MINUTES, THE HEADLAMP RESUMED NORMAL OPERATION BEFORE REPEATING THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE OCCURRED INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR INSPECTION WHERE THE TECHNICIAN INFORMED THAT THE FAILURE WAS CAUSED BY THE HEADLAMP WIRING OVERHEATING AND BLOWING OUT THE BULB. THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE BULB WAS REPLACED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 137,000. UPDATED 12/01/10. *LJ UPDATED 12/09/10*JB