2006 Toyota Prius: sudden unintended acceleration

Filed Oct 7, 2022 · Transmission · 168,000 miles · CA · crash

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while she was sitting in the vehicle that was parked in the garage, the vehicle accelerated on its own and proceeded to move forward while the emergency brake was activated, and no warning light illuminated. The vehicle struck the contacts home going inside the home. The contact stated the vehicle was not on, but the vehicle started on its own once the vehicle was pulled from the inside of the home. The contact legs where stuck in between the front side door of the vehicle but did not seek any medical attention. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. The vehicle was not towed. The dealer or the manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 168,000.

Filed Dec 12, 2015 · Acceleration, Brakes · 128,780 miles · SC · crash

While driving 20 m/h vehicle suddenly eccelerated and I hit the guard rail when experiencing unintended acceleratition

Filed Sep 21, 2015 · Acceleration, Brakes · 103,000 miles · CA · crash · 2 injuries

My wife [xxx] had a serious accident in the parking lot of the victorian on main st in santa monica on wednesday september 2. From standstill, her 2006 prius suddenly accelerated to a very high rate on its own and the car's brakes were completely non-responsive. In this relatively confined parking area, after a frightening period of trying to regain control of the vehicle, she made a split-second decision to crash into a tree at a relatively high speed in order to avoid steering the car onto main st. And causing a much more serious accident that would have impacted many people, automobiles and public and private property and possibly resulted in multiple deaths and multiple serious injuries. She sustained a broken foot. Her passenger sustained bruising. Both were taken by ambulance to st. John's hospital. Both airbags deployed. The 2 occupants were wearing seat belts. As a result, and only because of [xxx] quick thinking and potentially sacrificial action, [xxx], her passenger and many other non-suspecting people are alive today. It is apparently well-established that the prius can accelerate in this manner. In this case, the circumstances would appear to be straight forward: a car parked in a parking lot and started suddenly accelerates on it's own and refuses to allow the driver control. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Mar 5, 2013 · Acceleration, Lights · 10,000 miles · OR

We have had several head lights on our pruis stop working. Usually you have to turn the lights on and off to get them to go back on when they turn off on their own. We have replaced the headlights approx. 4 times over the years and again we are having the same problem. They are extremely expensive headlights. *tr the consumer stated she experienced sudden acceleration on three separate occasions.

Filed Jan 17, 2011 · Transmission · 54,689 miles · NY

My 2006 toyota prius was parked in a driveway. I powered it on then tried to put it in drive. The shift kept bouncing out of drive without my moving it, into n, r and finally back into drive at which point I released the hand brake, then eased my foot off the brake pedal. I did not pushed the accelerator pedal in order to turn onto the road slowly. But the car suddenly accelerated really fast. As it did so the red triangle 'problem - check engine' symbol came up on the dashboard. The car went across the road and into a neighbor's front yard where there was a lot of snow and a snowdrift by the road, and ran straight into the snowdrift which stopped it. I was then able to turn off the power. The foot brake had no effect. The car was heading on a line at right angles to the house and had there not been that snowdrift there, would have hit the house head-on. This was not driver error, but 'uncontrolled acceleration'. There may be a connection to the following battery failure: on 1/11/11 a recently installed start-motor battery (installed 1/3/11) went dead, after 1636 miles, and had itself to be replaced. The car is now being checked by the local toyota service and dealership.

Filed Dec 20, 2010 · Acceleration · 95,000 miles · CA · crash

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 MPH and trying to park her vehicle it suddenly accelerated forward and crashed into steel cables. The vehicle then shifted into reverse and crashed into the steel cables again. The contact was not injured from the crash. The vehicle was towed away from the scene. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 99,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Filed Nov 3, 2010 · Acceleration, Electrical · 182,000 miles · NY

2006 toyota prius. Consumer states unintended acceleration *tgw the consumer stated the vehicle was on cruise control, when the engine suddenly revved. He noticed the speed had increased from 72 MPH to 74 MPH. He released the cruise control and the engine stopped revving. He then set the cruise control again, and it happened again. The consumer also stated he noticed the lcd screen had froze and it was giving false information. The consumer has since sold the vehicle.

Filed Sep 8, 2010 · Acceleration · 45,000 miles · PA

I was pulling into a parking space at a very low rate of speed (less than 5 MPH) and the car suddenly shot forward. I stood on the brakes and the car responded as expected - it stopped. I turned off the power. About 10 minutes later, I turned the car on and it drove normally. There was no floor mat - I had removed it months ago. My foot was on the accelerator, easing into the parking space and I didn't feel the accelerator move at all. It was like the car accelerated without any input from the accelerator at all. I've taken the car to the dealer, but I'm afraid to drive it now, and I'm afraid to take my children anywhere in it.

Filed Mar 12, 2010 · Acceleration · 56,000 miles · NM

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. The contact stated that on three separate occasions, she had experienced instances of unintended acceleration. She was advised to remove the floor mats from the vehicle but the failure persisted. She confirmed when attempting to pass another vehicle, the vehicle would abnormally accelerate without her intent. The approximate failure mileage was 25 MPH. The dealer could not duplicate the failure. The failure mileage was 56,000 and the current was unknown.

Filed Mar 6, 2010 · Acceleration · 6,500 miles · AR

Sudden acceleration while driving around a curve on interstate 40 - stopped driving on interstate to avoid problem.

Filed Feb 22, 2010 · Electrical · 56,776 miles · FL

My toyota prius 2006 accelerated on its own. I called service and was told to drive to nearest dealer. But acceleration was scary out of my control other than by fierce braking. I have no idea how fast I was going, but had to put something in the box so I put 80mph. I stopped as soon as I could safely and where I could get signal to call (being in the country). As soon as I stopped the brake pads burnt up. I had to tick something on the "complaint type" but none of the categories quite fit. I was told that this occurred because of oem battery failure causing this problem.. It was time for service but otherwise had no indication the battery was low. I accepted this and paid the $903.42 bill for new battery, brakes. This probably also included a regular basic service and oil change. Now I wonder if this is a part of a larger picture. And what indication could there be so this doesn't happen again. I was very fortunate that this was all that happened and that I was on an empty country road at the time. Thanks for listening.

Filed Feb 14, 2010 · Brakes · NH

I have a 2006 toyota prius and for years I've had the same problem described in the news. At times when I drive over bumpy terrain, the car will lurch forward with sudden acceleration and the ABS light will come on. I can re-gain control by hitting the brakes hard and/or pumping the brakes depending on the circumstance. This has happened many times since I bought the car new in january 2006. In these circumstances, my foot was off the gas pedal. I'm not sure if the brakes were being applied or not, but if they were, they were applied lightly. This happens regularly.