2005 Toyota Prius: transmission slipping

Filed Nov 11, 2015 · Electrical · MA

The car kept slipping into neutral when wanting to drive. Parking button didn't work.the vehicle was parked and I was trying to drive it.

Filed Aug 23, 2015 · 35,000 miles · CA · crash

1. Summer, 2011, @ 35,000 mi car was parked @ bottom of my steep driveway, a few feet back from a rr tie pinned to ground by 3 rebar in front of car to block wheels. I intended to back up driveway, with gear in reverse, but when I released brake, car catapulted forward with such force that it bent rebar @ right angles, lifted rr tie up in the air & over on one edge, & the car jumped up on top of it, where it stuck. I saw that the gear shift had slipped out of (reverse) gear into neutral. Called aaa road service to lift car off. No other damage. 2. May 21, 2015, @ 50,000 mi. Backing up my 82' long steep driveway, I was too close to tree on right 3/4 of the way up, so I turned the wheels slightly left to back arc away from it, but still too close. I intended to return to bottom of driveway to start over & adjust angle of car as done 100s of times. With brake still depressed, I shifted gear from reverse to drive. As I lifted brake, before my foot could move towards the accelerator, suddenly car shot off like a rocket down steep slope to left, through 2 wood fences, over driveway next door, into swimming pool full of water - which slowed car to a stop & sank with me in it. Gear shift had slipped out of (drive) gear into neutral. Called 911. Car totalled. Miraculously no other damage to anyone aside from my traumatic experience. Note: gear shift was the tiny knob on dashboard type, to move with finger tips in very small radius. I never had the problem on that steep drive w any other cars. I can refer you to photo of car in swimming pool in local news paper; it identifies address so not included here. I see in research online that other owners from at least 2004 to 2008 complained to you about this same gear slippage into neutral problem. Why weren't we warned? ( I was obliged to give today's date as the date of incidence by the site).

Filed Feb 25, 2011 · Transmission · 64,000 miles · NY

We own two 2005 toyota pruis. We bought the first at sunrise toyota and six months later we bought the second at a toyota dealership in virginia. The former pruis (car #1) had 96,000 miles on it when the lever to change the gears began to slip from the drive or reverse mode into neutral repeatedly. Fortunately we were stopped with the engine running when this first occurred. On the latter prius (car # 2), with 64,000 miles, we had not used the car for a few days, went into the car started the engine allowing it to run for few minutes as it was cold outside and attempted to shift. Like the former prius (car #1) the lever kept moving from the drive or reverse position to the neutral position consistently. I went to sunrise toyota with car #1. They repaired it without charge as I had extended warranty insurance on that car. When I spoke with them about car # 2) they said they would need to do a diagnostic before the repair, repair it and then charge me. I returned home to call toyota corporation saying that I bought two prius' months apart but the same year car, from two different dealerships and am experiencing the same problem with both cars just a few weeks apart. I mentioned my concern that the car might shift into neutral while driven on the highway causing a dangerous situation. I asked if other drivers have reported similar problems and what if any assistance they could give. They stated that they do not have a record of this problem and will not be recalling the cars at this time. I again stressed my safety concerns. They again stated they do not have any immediate plans for recall for this issue. The cost of the repair is close to one thousand dollars. My safety concerns remain as far as driving this car for myself and other drivers who own a prius. I was told by the company and dealership that my problem is specific but I do not understand how you can buy 2 cars , same make and year at different dealership and have the same issue.

Filed Mar 16, 2010 · Acceleration, Brakes · 3,370 miles · CA

I have reviewed my service records and it is quite clear that I have had problems with the "electrical" system in my car since april 2006 @ 3,370 miles. This was also the same time it began to accelerate from a stopped position for the first time, when I noticed that the braking system began to "feel" different, when the car began "slipping" on perfectly dry roads, and when my steering wheel would lock up. I find it difficult to believe that the failure of my brakes and my intermittent acceleration issues are not somehow related to the cars "computer" system and not mechanical issues. I have filed complaints with toyota for these issues (cases # 200807100210, 200811030088). I experienced my first braking issue on 27-jun-2008 (25,133 miles). While I was able to bring the car to a stop eventually, the slowing of my car was a very gradual process requiring heavy pressure on the brake with minimal braking response. I went to the toyota dealership. The dtc code at the time was c1247 with "code 179" stored, there was "no brake assist." the dealership reset the memory and reinitialized the linear solenoid valve and calibration. The brakes were reported to have returned to "normal." on 09-jul-2008 (25,551 miles), I returned to the dealership because my brakes failed again. This time my brake failure resulted in a car accident (the person I hit stated at the time of the accident he had whiplash but he never contacted me afterwards). Toyota replaced the skid control ecu and rechecked operation reassuring me once again that the brakes had returned to "normal." on 03-nov-2008 (29,575 miles) as I was driving over 65 on a major highway my brakes again failed (dtc c1247, code 179). Toyota case #08300402. At this point the repair shop replaced the brake stroke sensor. I am concerned because my car had an acceleration issue on 13-feb-2010 and I find it to be "slipping" again on dry roads. Similar problems to those I had before my brakes failed. Please help. Updated ivoq 04/02/10 updated 04/08/10.

Filed Feb 23, 2010 · Brakes · 73,200 miles · CA

2005 toyota prius - slipping brakes - multiple occurrences over the years, one today while approaching a traffic light. As car slowed, brakes slipped during transition from regenerative to mechanical. Car's nose passed about 1 foot beyond white line demarcating intersection. No crash or damage to vehicle or occupants - this time. Why is toyota prius brake recall limited to 2010 year model when these events are occurring in earlier year models? I have submitted two requests to toyota customer service to understand the problem in the last two weeks with no response.

Filed Feb 9, 2010 · Brakes · NY

The brakes "slip" when driving over a bump or pothole in the road. This experience is similar to what has been described in the 2010 prius model recall. I am driving a 2005 prius hybrid and have experienced similar slips since I purchased the vehicle in october of 2005. To date the slipping has not resulted in a crash, injury or failure however I have had some close calls.

Filed Feb 4, 2010 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 1,000 miles · FL

I read lots of news reports yesterday that the 2010 prius has a braking issue when run over speed bumps. My 2005 prius has a similar behavior which semi-known cause which might explain this, while being slightly dangerous in another way. When one drives a 2005 prius too fast over a speed bump, or through another situation which causes the car to think one of its wheels is slipping or spinning at a different rate than the others, the car temporarily (as I believe is in the instruction manual) flashes a briefly appearing indicator light on the front panel indicating it is slipping, and temporarily cuts back on engine power. Avoiding this requires knowing the driving behavior of the prius, and I wonder if this is the behavior certain 2010 prius owners may be noting. {if one is looking at the road and scared by the sudden drop in engine power, one may never look down at the dash to see the indicator flash for 1-2 seconds either.} normally this is might seem like reasonable, but this becomes potentially extremely hazardous should one try to make a sharp right turn onto a higher-speed main road (40 MPH+) from a dead stop on a side road with a high rate of acceleration to attempt merge into high-volume, fast-moving traffic. In such cases (especially if water is present, but even if the road is dry), I have had the anti-skid feature kick in and cut back on engine power for a half-second or so, which risks stalling the car temporarily in front of an oncoming vehicle. As a result, I try not to do any maneuvers like this, even though other cars often can "burn rubber" a bit and do this. Nothing has been done to attempt to correct the issue, as it is presumed to be normal behavior for the car, and I never had a car with anti-skid abilities before. Seeing this was common for me at first, but is now somewhat rare (less than once/month) due to changing my driving habits. (my2005 prius lacks vehicle stability control; but has the standard anti-skid safety feature.)

Filed Mar 4, 2006 · Engine, Transmission · 2,200 miles · CT

2005 toyota prius: in slippery conditions, when a front wheel slips, both wheels stop rotating and then the wheel that did not slip is given power. This takes about 1 second. During that time the motor has shut down, losing substantial forward momentum. If the second wheel slips,the process is repeated giving the original wheel power. The 1 second time interval occurs again and more forward momentum is lost. On a slippery hill, this basically stops the forward motion of the auto very quickly. If both wheels continue to slip,the auto just sits there , with the electric motor starting and stopping as the power is switched between front wheels. If there are cars behind yours, then backing up is impossible. If the wife and kids are in a bad neighbor hood and this happens,that could mean real trouble. The condition is totally unacceptable. All the prius' should be recalled and the traction control reprogrammed to allow reduced power to the slipping wheel, not zero power. This will tend to maintain forward momentum and keep the motor from shutting down. I spoke to the original dealer and they claimed no knowledge of the design flaw.