High intensity discharge headlights intermittently going out. No rhyme or reason as to when the outage occurs but turning the circuit off and back on again will re-illuminate the hid headlight...but for how long??
2004 Toyota Prius electrical complaints
Page 4 of 7: complaints 71 to 100 of 177, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The multi-function display (mfd) failed. (cross reference the federal safety agency 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.
I was quoted $466 just for the price of my bulb for the headlight of my toyota prius. For a non luxury car it so expensive that a lot of people will choose to make due with their flickering one. It is outrageous that toyota did not give a more affordable choice. It is going to be more dangerous out there.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota prius. On approximately 10 to 12 occasions, the vehicle would drive roughly and the instrument panel lights would illuminate while driving at various speeds. The vehicle had to be pulled over to the side of the road and turned off. After approximately five minutes, the contact would restart the vehicle, but the instrument panel lights would still be illuminated. The vehicle has been taken to two toyota dealers and the location where the vehicle was purchased, but no one could determine the cause of the failures. The current mileage was 40,000 and failure mileage was 25,000.
Erratic loss of pc use, touch screen, audio deactivated, no picture at all dealer wants $980 to replace with refurbished and $4000 for new. Worried about all the other dot troubled listings of total electrical power loss.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
2004 toyota prius: display screen has stopped working. No screen capability or accessory buttons operate. Dealer has ordered a 'crossover' unit, but it has not arrived to date (almost three weeks). New unit costs over $2000. Vehicle was not involved in any incident. Dealer believes it is a software problem.
2004 toyota prius having problems starting.**cc the consumer stated after several tries, the vehicle started, however when he shifted into the drive, the engine raced and the vehicle lurched forward rapidly, even though the accelerator had not been applied. The consumer was unable to stop the vehicle by using the brakes. The vehicle continued forward about 25 feet and crashed into a garage. The consumer received minor scratches to his knee. The consumer also noted that the air bags did not deploy.
Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle did not start after being parked overnight. There was no response from either the engine or electrical system. The vehicle was jump-started and taken to a service dealer, where the vehicle failed again. The dealer was unable to determine the problem. The manufacturer was notified, who stated that the failure was due to driver error.
Touch screen on 2004 toyota prius is defective and fails to work which leaves me with no heat at times and inability to see if my battery is operating properly, this is an ongoing toyota problem with complaints all over the web by prius owners.
My 2004 toyota prius electrical display (touch screen) has 'shorted out' with a loud ticking noise through the speakers. It has been in the springfield, va toyota shop twice, and it is continuing to happen. The screen goes dark, and then there is no access to the defroster, GPS, etc. They all become non-functional.
2004 toyota prius electrical problems. I have been experiencing severe electrical problems with my 2004 toyota prius and they have gotten more severe after the toyota dealer uploaded new code that was supposed to fix a recall. Problems include loss of display, loss of control of climate system, radio turns itself off, and occasionally there is loss of power at low speeds which is sometimes fixed by a reboot of the car. After the last loss of power, the car then responded by the gas engine revving very high and not responding to the gas pedal - yet the car was not traveling any faster.
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
I have a 2004 toyota prius I purchased used last feb (06). Starting the car does not immediately bring up the dash display. It remains blank, however I can shift into gear. The power steering is off as well. I restart and restart and eventually the dash will pop on. The car is drivable but all the warning lights are not. Not at once though. The red triangle with the ! In between is always present but sometimes it is joined by the check engine light or the ABS failure light. The toyota dealership is still trying to figure out what's going on.
2004 toyota prius hesitates when trying to accelerate. Instrumental panel light and slip indicator came on, then vehicle resumes full power. *kb ***nar***
Dt*: the contact stated while driving 35mph, the master warning and check engine light illuminated followed by the vehicle operating at a reduced speed. The vehicle continued operation for about a mile before eventually stalling. The vehicle would not restart, but remained in electric mode. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it is currently awaiting inspection. *ak contact requested to delete the complaint from the system because it was a mistake.
Dt*: the contact stated on december 6 2005, a recall remedy was performed for the engine. In january, all the warning lights in the vehicle illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a service dealer and the problem with the warning lights was fixed. However, the warning lights defect recurred in both february and march. The dealer was consulted after the second recurrence and was unable to determine the cause of the problem. Updated 3/29/2006 - the ABS light illuminated in the vehicle . The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times for them to fix the problem. Each time the vehicle was returned to the consumer the problem recurred.
Dt*: the contact stated when the weather is 10 degrees and below, the instrument panel did not illuminate or provide readings. This is especially difficult in driving conditions because the speed of the vehicle can not be read. The vehicle displayed the same problem several months ago, again in frigid weather of 10 and below. The dealer was notified and replaced the navigation system. After repairs were made, the weather was warmer and the contact was not able to confirm that the problem still existed. The manufacturer was contacted and replied this was a normal characteristic of the vehicle.
On three occasions my 2004 prius has started without pushing the "start" button. On 11/19/05 two people had gotten into the back seat and closed the doors. I was standing behind the car. It was at night. As I slammed the hatch back door shut I could see the display panel light up in the dark and hear the car start. When I got in the car I only had to put the car in reverse to pull out. The dealer said this wasn't possible.
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.
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
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.
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.
Toyota prius owned by our agency has had the engine stall problem 3 separate times.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2004 Toyota Prius?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history