2005 Toyota Prius: wrong fuel gauge reading

Filed Nov 5, 2021 · Electrical · 129,000 miles · FL

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the instrument panel failed to light up or show any electrical functions. The contact restarted the vehicle however, the failure persisted. The contact was concerned with not knowing the speed, mileage, fuel level, or engine performance while driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 129,000.

Filed Aug 7, 2019 · Electrical · 200,000 miles · MI

The instrument panel display stopped working in my 2005 prius. You press the button to start the car and the car starts but nothing displays. You cannot see your fuel gauge, so I ran out of gas and almost was hit by a vehicle while walking down the side of the highway. You cannot see your speedometer so you don't know how fast you are going which makes it impossible to follow speed limits. It is a serious safety issue and toyota knew about the problem and even issued a warranty extension ztv to cover it, but they did not inform me about the extension in 2013/14. Now that extension has expired and they will not repair my car. My technician at automotive perfection diagnosed the problem, but toyota would not accept his diagnosis and spartan toyota charged me $132.45 to make the same diagnosis. They then told me a new meter would cost me $696.06 installed and refused to fix the vehicle even though toyota has known about this problem since at least 2012.

Filed Feb 14, 2019 · Electrical · 117,000 miles · HI

The combination meter which contains the speedometer and gas gauge, among other things, has been going dead frequently (does not light up when the car is started) for the past few years. It used to be 1-2 times a month, but recently it occurs a few times a week. The car drives normally, but it is very dangerous to not know the speed or to know how much gas remains in the tank. Even when the meter starts to work again, the gas reading is not accurate. It is not even possible to tell if the car is running or not, because the screen is black. This is a known problem by toyota but they no longer offer replacement. This is a serious safety concern that the manufacturer should address on all affected vehicles. Even the separate touch screen which contains diagnostics tests for the electrical system is black, so there is no way to correct the issue.

Filed Feb 20, 2017 · Electrical · 200,000 miles · CA

Dashboards lights were off. Could not see speed or gas gauge at night. Vehicle would not turn off.

Filed Jan 13, 2016 · Brakes, Electrical · 211,000 miles · MI

Digital dashboard sometimes is completely blank for extended periods so that I can't see my speed, fuel levels, odometer, and other info. When I start up it happens and continues the whole time I am driving. It is causing other problems related to the hydrolic braking sometimes as well when this happens.

Filed Aug 24, 2015 · Electrical, Transmission · 174,000 miles · CA · 1 injury

The car jumps out of gear, or it won't go into park. But it started to drives away after I got out of the car, or as I was getting out. This happen twice, once at the dealer. The display for transmission position was broken. The same display that shows speed, fuel level and other items was not working. Also, I could not shut off the car or remove the key. The first time it happen was 8/19/2015 at a car wash. The display went dead during the wash. Wile trying to fix the problem, the car drove away in reverse and knocked me over. I had minor injuries. I might have some other problems as a result of that accident. The next day I want to the dealer. Without looking at the car (no computer analysis), the service man told me the display and computer was bad. He said it happens a lot. He also quoted me a price of around $700. I went back to my daughter house to look for another dealer and to research the issue. (I was visiting from ca). At her house, I noticed the car would not shut off and I could not get the key out (the dealer rep told me to put the key in the slot). So I just went back to the dealer to have them fix it and pay the price. (it should be noted that the dealer and its employees never gave me the same information and they wanted me to get so frustrated, that I would leave with the car not repaired. They suggested that I take it somewhere else. At one point, they claimed that I told them I was going to take the car away without the repair. I never said that! They did everything they could to make me mad and so would not fix the car). When I went back to the dealers, the car drive away, again in reverse. I had to hop on one leg to keep up and get back in to stop it. In ether case, I could have been killed. No display, can't shut it off and it jumps into gear!! That is a safety issue! Life and death issue it is!

Filed Mar 13, 2013 · Electrical · 235,000 miles · CA

The multi information display no longer shows the vehicle speed and other specs such as fuel gauge, warning lights, and such. The vehicle sometimes couldn't turn off, and it would require me to press and hold the power button for more than 5 seconds in order to turn off the vehicle. Driving is quite dangerous as I not even sure if the car is even "ready" or not, and what gear (d, n, r) it is in. Toyota is charging me 400 for the repair even though the service bulletin stated that this is cause the manufacturer defect on the circuit board. My sister who owns a 2006 toyota prius (16x,xxx) did receive the notice of recall for the multi information display, but I didn't any notice at all. This repair should be covered by toyota. This is outrageous!

Filed Mar 10, 2013 · Electrical · 65,000 miles · FL

Dashboard information suddenly turns blank -- no fuel level, speed, etc. , but headlights work (although no indicator on instrument panel) as well as turn signals, air-conditioning, and radio. I drove straight to the dealer thinking that it was probably a fuse. The service department reports that although they have rarely seen this, it's a problem with a component behind the power switch. The part is in short supply and may take as long as four weeks to arrive. They said it would be covered under warranty and the dealer will be paying for the cost of a rental car in the interim. The service from the dealer is superior and...I love my prius..

Filed Dec 4, 2011 · Electrical, Engine · 100,500 miles · CA

We were driving on the highway at night and suddenly, without warning, the engine stalled completely, the car died, and all of the warning lights came on, including a red triangle, check engine, brake, and some others. The prius lost power and I had to turn on the hazard lights and coast to the shoulder. We called the aaa towing service and 911 (as the shoulder was very narrow and we could not get out of the car). The officer and the tow truck driver checked for all possible driver errors, including gas, but did not find anything out of the ordinary (the gas gauge showed 5/8 full). The car was towed to the toyota dealership in sunnyvale who are working to determine the cause. This was a very dangerous situation as we were driving on a highway, with a child in the car, at highway speeds at night and the car suddenly died. It has left us shaken and we will be contacting toyota to see if they have a fix for this.

Filed Jun 30, 2011 · Electrical, Fuel system · 111,860 miles · GA

Driving north on i75 at approximately 65 MPH. The gas gauge had 3 bars illuminated. The vsc warning light and the red triangle with the exclamation point came on. I lost the ability to accelerate and the car suddenly went dead. Luckily I was able to make to relative safety on the side to interstate. The car was towed to a dealer who said the car ran out gas! They also said that the "fuel register unit was operating as designed." how was that possible? The charge? Over $1200! According to toyota corporate and the dealership, repeated unsuccessful attempts to start the car will, by design, cause irreparable damage to the ecu code id box which can cost $1200 - $1800 to replace. This "design" is apparently in the name of anti-theft protection. (why not just immobilize the car instead of partial self-destruction?) even given the high extent and documented history of gas gauge display malfunctions and many other related electrical problems, toyota corporate would offer no financial assistance, no reimbursement of any portion of the repair. This is the second time the car has lost all power in the middle of heavy traffic. That time, 08/09/10, the water pump failed. Subsequent to that, I received a recall notice to replace the water pump.

Filed Feb 17, 2010 · Electrical · 33,000 miles · CA

In march of '09 I drove my car to a local shopping center. When I returned to my car 10 minutes or so later, I tried to start the engine by pushing on the start button. The entire dashboard display lighted up, including all of the warning lights, but the car wouldn't start and I wasn't able to turn to turn off. I am not sure if the engine actually came on. I also wasn't able to put the car in gear.. At some point, all the display lights, including the gear shift box, started flashing.. After trying for about 5 minutes, I called my toyota i10 dealer in indio, ca who said he had never heard of this happening. While talking to him I kept pushing buttons and finally, I was able to turn the car off and then back on and everything worked from that point on. I was not told by the toyota technician to bring the car in and I didn't. The second time it happened on 4/3/09 the same problem happened again. The car was parked in my garage and when I went to start the car, all of the above happened again, but I believe I was able to turn off the ignition. I called aaa, they jumped my 12v battery , and I immediately drove the car to my toyota dealer. They recharged the battery and said that the battery tested high after the recharging. That battery did not have to replaced until 10/22/09. I have another complaint which may or my not be connected to this complaint,. On approximately 1/6/10 while driving my car the lights displaying my speed and fuel gauge went out. I thought it might be a blown fuse so had that checked. The fuse had not been blown. I continued to drive the car for about another week or so before calling to make an appointment with my toyota dealer for the next day. On that day, 1/20/10 I called I drive my car to do several errands, one of which was quite near the area when I first had the trouble with the car starting. In this case, as I was leaving the area, my display lights came on and I have not had any trouble with them since.

Filed Feb 17, 2010 · Fuel system · 56,313 miles · CA

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. The contact was driving approximately 65 to 70 MPH on normal road conditions when suddenly, there was a loss of engine power. The driver was able to coast the vehicle to the side of the road with caution. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer for inspection. The technician stated that the fuel tank contained no fuel. The fuel gauge and indication sensors were reset. There was also a recommendation to to fill car with gas the gauge displayed three bars. One month later, the fuel gauge reading was inaccurate. The fuel level displayed three bars level and abruptly the gauge displayed "full". The vehicle has not been repaired for the malfunction at this time. The failure mileage was 56,313. Updated 3/30/2010 updated 06/04/10.