I turned left into driveway of a home- driveway has an incline. I turned off power and two children exited car. One passenger returned within five min and sat in front. I placed foot on brake. Brake felt "locked" with no give. I pressed power button with foot on brake, and placed gear in reverse. I let foot off brake to roll slowly out of driveway. When I attempted to brake to slow exit, my foot went all the way to floor--no power. I notice gear was neutral. Power would not turn off. Car was rolling closer toward a busy four lane street. I noticed the power button light color was red, and the following yellow warning indicators were lit: brake system warning light, malfunction indicator lamp, anti-lock brake system warning light, slip indicator light. I depressed the emergency brake to stop. I told my 14 y/o passenger to exit the car and when she did the master warning light came on while the above lights remained lit. The brake continued to depress to the floor. I again attempted to turn off the power without success. I exited the vehicle with my smart entry key in hand and as expected loud buzzing noise came on. I then contacted toyota roadside assistance. The reference number is 269‑568‑6678. I called back later to change the reference number to 269‑492‑2066. I had asked for police assistance for traffic control, but the police did not show. On 9/6 a.m., jim at metro toyota service, kalamazoo, mi called & I described the above to him. At 1530 on 9/6/06, I described my experience to marvin at toyota customer relation. The case number he provided was 200609051137. This is the second like incident with this vehicle. I did not report the first incident to the federal safety agency which occurred a few months after I took possession of the then new 2004 toyota prius. No reason was found for the first incident, by the same dealership service. *nm the consumer stated the vehicle accelerated on its own. Also, when the consumer applied the brakes, the pedal became soft and went down to the floor. Updated
2004 Toyota Prius acceleration complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 52 of 52, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Dt*: the contact stated upon entering a highway at 60 MPH, the vehicle accelerated rapidly. Brake pressure was applied, but the vehicle did not stop accelerating. Each time brake pressure was applied; there was a loud grinding noise. Although the cruise control was not engaged, the cruise control was manually activated in an attempt to stop the acceleration. With brake pressure applied, the contact managed to exit the freeway using the exit ramp. When the vehicle slowed, the park button option was pressed and the vehicle stopped. There was no further acceleration or grinding noise. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and is awaiting inspection of the problem. The consumer also stated, when she applied the brakes, the pedal became soft and went to the floor. Updated
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
My wife was coasting into a parking space with her foot on the brake. The engine apparently experienced a power surge causing the car to shoot forward violently going through a fence and over a two foot retaining wall, across a driveway and crashing into another car. Whether it was the gas engine or electric drive is not clear. Our daughter who was in the front passenger seat observed that my wife's foot was on the brake the whole time. Both my wife and daughter received neck injuries requiring treatment.
Dt: vehicle stalled /died. And lost power due to throttle failure.
Dt: total breakdown of wife's 2004 prius on september 2 in fine weather one in san jose. The vehicle displayed sudden and significant loss of power while merging into the interstate. Loss of gas/engine power with failure of the internal combustion with 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 miles. Multiple mil lamps lit up and stayed on. Began to merge onto the highway from a stop speed of 30 or 40 MPH and slowly accelerated into heavy traffic. She had to pull off to the (ugh) breakdown lane of the highway with all of its debris, etc. The dealer completed the repair, san jose invoice number tocs190787 dtd 9/2/05 applied eg047-04 on car. The dealer repairs seemed to have fixed the car. Contacted a toyota prius advisor with three concerns: if there was a service bulletin for this characteristic that would prevent the roadway failure then why was it not executed during prior services 3-9-05, 5-26-05 & 6-09-05 at this same dealer. What LED one to believe that the car was not reliable after this repair. The consumer, an accomplished engineer, a knew about software bugs. A software bug did not impair operation until the right combination of environmental factors was reached. The consumer assumed that all prius had this potential bug that contaminated the electronic control unit (ecu). Ecu.
Dt: while driving 50 MPH vehicle lost power/died. Consumer took vehicle to dealer who replaced the electronic throttle body.
Dt: contact stated the engine stalled/lost power on two different occasions.
Dt: a. How long and at what speed was the consumer driving before the vehicle lost power? 4 minutes, 50 MPH. B. Has the consumer accelerated, decelerated or drove at a steady pace when the vehicle lost power? Steady pace. C. After the vehicle lost power was the driver able to continue driving the vehicle? If so, how long and at what speed. It stalled out. D. Did any warning lights appear before and/or after the incident occurred? If so, describe the lights that were lit. As it happened a hazard icon and an engine check light came on. E. Did the vehicle eventually stall and come to a stop? How long did this occur after the warning lights were lit? Yes, 30 seconds. F. Was the driver able to restart the vehicle right after it stalled? If so, how long did it took, 3-4 times or 2-3 minutes)? Took a couple of times, but it started within a minutes. G. Was driver able to restart the vehicle after letting it sit awhile? Yes. H. Was the vehicle towed? No. I. What was wrong with the vehicle? It required an update of a computer program. J did the dealer reprogram the electronic control unit (ecu) or any software? Yes. K. Vehicle had special service campaigns 40a or 40d performed prior to the incident? When consumer called toyota she was told vehicle was up to date on all services . L. Had vehicle any problems since the repair? No. Consumer had a problem six months ago where it stalled. .
Dt:.how long and at what speed was the consumer driving before the vehicle lost power? Had driven about 10 minutes on commuting home was driving at least 50-60 MPH. B.was the consumer accelerating, decelerating, or driving at a steady- state when the vehicle lost power?driving at a steady state. C. Vehicle lost power, was the driver able to continue driving the vehicle? If so, how long and at what speed?not able to continue driving, could not restart vehicle. Did any warning lights appear before and/or after the incident occurred? An odd beep and then some symbols illuminated on control panel but can't remember what symbol, thinks it make have been a car with an x through it. Referred to owners manual. Called for help. . Came to a complete stop just seconds after the beep and warning lights. F was unable to restart vehicle. G. No restart whatsoever. H. Was the vehicle towed? Yes to a dealer. I.what did the dealer say was wrong with the vehicle? Diagnosis code did not have available, but was aware of service bulletin pertaining to this issue. Questioned why there had not been a recall. J. Did the dealer reprogram the ecu (electronic control unit) or any software? Yes-the ecu. K.did have recall on navigation software update prior to this episode. L. Has the vehicle had any problems since the repair? No but fearful it may happen again.
Dt: contact has a 2004 toyota prius, and while driving the vehicle it has failed on two separate occasions. A. How long and at what speed was the consumer driving before the vehicle lost power? Approximately 15 -20 minutes, going about 45 MPH. B. Was the consumer accelerating, decelerating, or driving at a steady- state when the vehicle lost power? Driving at a steady rate. C. After the vehicle lost power, was the driver able to continue driving the vehicle? If so, how long and at what speed? The vehicle was stopped and pulled off the road. D. Did any warning lights appear before and/or after the incident occurred? Yes , if so, describe the lights that were lit. Check engine light. E. Did the vehicle eventually stall and come to a stop? How long did this occur after the warning lights were lit? One part of the vehicle was operating but the driver could not accelerate. F. Was the driver able to restart the vehicle right after it stalled? If so, how long did it take (# of attempts and/ or time ? Ex: 3-4 times or 2-3 minutes)? Yes, the engine light kept coming back on. 1 time, right after the vehicle stalled.
The acclerator stuck continuously, causing the vehicle to stall and shutdown. Dealer has been unable to duplicate the problem ,and the manufacturer offered no solution.
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