2006 Toyota Prius problems

What is wrong

Toyota is recalling certain model year 2004-2009 Prius vehicles manufactured August 6, 2003, through March 30, 2009 and FCHV-adv vehicles manufactured December 12, 2008, through September 13, 2011. During manufacturing, a scratch may have occurred inside of the electrically driven water pump at the coil wire. The coil wire may corrode at the scratched portion.

Risk

The corroded coil wire may break and the water pump could stop. The corroded coil wire could cause a short circuit between coil wires and a possible open fuse, creating a stall-like condition of the hybrid system while the vehicle is being driven. This may increase the risk of a vehicle crash.

Remedy

Toyota will notify its owners, and dealers will replace the electric water pump, free of charge. The recall began on January 17, 2013. Owners may contact their Toyota dealer or the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1‑800‑331‑4331.

Recall number 12V536000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Toyota is recalling certain model year 2004-2009 Prius vehicles manufactured August 5, 2003, through March 30, 2009. The affected vehicles have a steering intermediate extension shaft assembly built with metal splines that complete the connection from the steering wheel to the steering gear. These splines may have been manufactured with an insufficient hardness.

Risk

Over time, the splines may wear and eventually fail resulting in a loss of steering ability, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.

Remedy

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the extension shaft and replace it if it is one with insufficient hardness, free of charge. The recall began during December 2012. Owners may contact their Toyota dealer or the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1‑800‑331‑4331.

Recall number 12V537000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Southeast toyota is recalling certain model year 2005-2011 passenger vehicles for failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 110, "tire selection and rims." these vehicles were sold without the requisite load carrying capacity modification labels.

Risk

A driver may overload a vehicle which may increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Dealers will mail to consumers the corrected label or the customer will have the option for dealers to install the label free of charge. The safety recall began on may 27, 2010. Owners may contact southeast toyota at 1‑800‑301‑6859.

Recall number 10V036000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Toyota is recalling certain model year 2004-2010 passenger vehicles. The accelerator pedal can get stuck in the wide open position due to its being trapped by an unsecured or incompatible driver's floor mat.

Risk

A stuck open accelerator pedal may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop the vehicle, which could cause a crash, serious injury or death.

Remedy

Toyota filed an amended defect report on november 25, 2009, stating that dealers will modify the accelerator pedal and, on certain vehicles, alter the shape of the floor surface under the pedal. These changes address the risk of pedal entrapment due to interference with the floor mat. Redesigned accelerator pedals will become available beginning in april 2010 and dealers will replace any modified pedal with the new pedal if desired. Also, dealers will replace any genuine toyota or lexus all-weather floor mats with redesigned all-weather mats, or repurchase the previous mats from owners who do not want the new ones. Additionally, software modifications will be installed on camry, avalon and lexus es 350, is 350 and is 250 models that will ensure that the brake overrides the accelerator in the event both brake and accelerator pedals are applied. Toyota will begin mailing letters to owners on december 31, 2009. Owners may contact toyota at 1‑800‑331‑4331, lexus at 1‑800‑255‑3987.

Recall number 09V388000 · Recall details

What is wrong

The intermediate shaft and sliding yoke in the electric power steering system can crack when large forces are applied and the connection may separate or the sleeve may fracture.

Risk

This could result in a loss of steering control of the vehicle.

Remedy

Toyota will replace the steering intermediate shaft and inspect the sliding yoke and replace it if necessary. The recall began on june 9, 2006. Owners may contact toyota at 1‑800‑331‑4331.

Recall number 06V188000 · Recall details

What is wrong

On certain vehicles, due to improper assembly of the air bag inflator, which is used in the side air bag, the curtain shield air bag, and the knee air bag assembly, some inflators were produced with an insufficient amount of the heating agents necessary for proper air bag deployment. In this condition, the expansion force of the gas may be insufficient to properly inflate the air bag when the SRS system is activated during a crash.

Risk

This may increase the risk of injury to the occupant in the involved seating position in the event of a crash.

Remedy

Dealers will replace the specific SRS air bag. The recall began on april 6, 2006. Owners may contact toyota at 1‑888‑270‑9371, scion at 1‑866‑548‑1851, or lexus at 1‑800‑255‑3987.

Recall number 06V096000 · Recall details

the federal safety agency received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, the federal safety agency opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified the federal safety agency he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by the federal safety agency regarding the subject matter of the petition.

DP22005

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) received a January 2013 defect petition requesting that it open an investigation on Model Year (MY) 2004-2009 Toyota Prius vehicles to address a possible manufacturing safety defect related to the steering column intermediate shaft.During the defect petition evaluation, ODI: 1.Reviewed the petition and its enclosures; 2.Reviewed the subject steering system layout; 3.Examined the Petition Vehicle?s history, including its repair history; 4.Reviewed and followed-up potentially related consumer complaints; 5.Assessed Safety Recalls 06V‑188 and 12V‑537; and, 6.Requested and examined complaint, claim, field report, service history, and warranty information from Toyota.ODI's review revealed that the petition vehicle had been recalled (Recall 06V188) to remedy a defect in the system identified in the petition with the remedy taking place prior to the failure that prompted the petition. Circumstances point to incorrect reassembly of the petitioner's vehicle by those who performed the recall remedy.ODI examined the issues raised by this petition to identify any related safety defect trend in the general subject vehicle population.That review identified a low rate of related consumer complaints (twenty-five over a eight year period from a population of over 600,000 vehicles) and no pattern that would identify either a safety defect not already covered by the two existing steering safety recalls by Toyota or a systematic problem with either recall remedy.Based on this evaluation, ODI does not believe that additional investigation will lead to a finding that a defect related to motor vehicle safety exists in the subject vehicles. Therefore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize the federal safety agency?s limited resources to best accomplish the agency's safety mission, the petition is denied. The denial of this petition does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist. The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.For more information, see the Federal Register notice in the public file for this action select the federal safety agency ID, enter: DP13001)The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed on-line under the following the federal safety agency ID numbers:10407520, 10418710, 10429551, 10473654, 10478195, 10478053, 10437229, 10489425, 10510722, 10639984, 10648277, 10499778, 10712626, 10723196, 10787530, 10808124, 10838803, 11071646, 11098144, 11099507, 11102659, 11160767, 11192607, 11287550, 11287606

DP13001

Odi opened this investigation after receiving reports that both headlights would go out, or extinguish while driving.the subject vehicles are equipped with high intensity discharge (hid) headlamps that operate on independent lamps and ecu's (electronic control units) for each headlight, meaning that each headlight runs independently of the other, and a failure in one lamp or ecu does not necessarily result in a failure of the other.during the investigation, a random sample of forty consumers was contacted by odi in a telephone survey to verify their experiences.the consumers stated in complaints to toyota that both headlights failed at the same time.odi discovered through talking with these complainants that in fact one headlight would begin to flicker and then cut off.the other headlight would still be operational.in a few cases where no action was taken, some complainants stated that after a few months both headlamps would begin to fail resulting in no headlights; however none reported that both lamps failed simultaneously.complainants also stated that they could toggle the headlamp switch on and off to temporarily restore lighting when this condition occurred, even in cases were both headlamps were extinguished.the results of this survey are largely consistent with odi's assessment of the reports and warranty data.toyota submitted in response to odi's information request letter that, generally speaking, only one lamp failed at a time, and that toggling the switch restored the lamp.toyota requested a meeting with odi and on august 6, 2009, presented their assessment of headlamp failure.toyota confirmed that a headlamp could extinguish while driving due to a bulb failure, and that it could be temporarily restored by turning the headlight switch on and off, and that simultaneous failure of both headlamps was rare and unlikely.toyota also briefly discussed their intention to conduct a customer service campaign to address consumer dissatisfaction with hid bulb failures.since there is still one headlight operating when the other one cuts off, there is still lighting available to get the vehicle to a repair facility.thus, a safety defect trend has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.accordingly this investigation is closed.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist.the agency will take further action if warranted by the circumstances.

PE09019