According to the toyota dealership where I have my car maintained, my 2006 prius is in need of a new motherboard. Apparently there was a recall on this prior to so many miles on the vehicle but I have missed this deadline as my car did not show these symptoms prior to the cutoff.. My prius when turned on does not turn on the dash board features so I have no idea how fast I am driving. Once I reach my destination I am unable to turn my car off. The power button does not respond, usually for several hours. In these cases I usually leave my car on in the parking lot where I am and return over the next several hours to check on it. It tends to turn off after taking the car for a long drive several hours later. This occurs about twice a month now.
2006 Toyota Prius electrical complaints
Page 2 of 6: complaints 11 to 40 of 153, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I was driving on a highway 95 south, almost to delaware, at night in the rain, after 4 hours on the road, everything stopped working. I couldn't accelerate, I had no brakes, and eventually even my lights went out. The entire electrical system was out. I was in heavy traffic, and don't even know how I got off the highway, and to a gas station. The tow truck driver couldn't even jump the battery enough to get the car in neutral, and had a difficult time getting it up on the flatbed to tow it home. I couldn't even lock the doors. I had a new key made at the dealership on 10/17/19 and I was using that key for hours driving to ct and a couple of days later I was half way home when everything in the car stopped working. I was towed to my home in md because I needed to be able to unpack my car and computer before taking it to the dealership. When the second tow came the next day, I handed him the key by the front door, which was my old key, and he was able to get the car in neutral right away, and at the dealership the car worked just fine. The only difference was the new key. The technician found that "the immobilizer ecu has an intermittent open circuit failure, causing the key to be seen as unauthorized and stall the engine." from jim coleman toyota. Apparently there is a part of the computer system that shuts off all systems if it detects an "unauthorized" key--I.e. If it believes the car is being stolen. It seems to me that this is a very dangerous program in this car. I had been using that new key for several days, and had no problem, but for it to decide in the middle of the highway after hours on the road that the key was a fake, I could have been killed or I could have killed someone else. I would much prefer that my car be stollen than that someone might get killed but shutting off everything while it was on the road.
Headlights constantly go out. Research online proves prius vehicles with hid bulb systems have ballast issues causing constant blowing of either bulbs or ballast failure. Not only is safety constantly compromised, but it is illegal when a headlight goes out driving down the road.
The water pump went out causing the hybrid battery to die. Pressing the break is supposed to recharge the battery but the battery is now completely gone
Both of my headlights went out at the same time the other day now the fact that both of them went out at the exact same time already tells me that its not the bulb,ballest or anything other then an electrical issue because everyone is having this problem and they have changed both ballasts and bulbs and the same thing happened over and over again, please make this a recall because it is very unsafe
Known problem with combination meter - found it searching online once I realized this was the problem. I bought my car used and since it is no longer covered by toyota, it didn't come up in search. Having issues with there being no display on the dash and vehicle not shutting off for the entire time I have had the car. It only happens intermittently. This is a safety issue for sure! Can't see speed, gas, gears...anything about car whether car stationary or moving.
Toyota refuses to replace the combination meter in my vehicle although it only has 110k miles on it. They have acknowledged my vehicle was included with the batch of models that have this known issue under 2004-2009 toyota prius combination meter warranty extension ztv, but will not cover. This is not right for a consumer to be on the hook for toyota's quality issue. This is a significant safety issue and should be under a formal recall.
My hv battery has a problem. The red triangle showed when the car millage was only 118000m. I checked with servco and replaced one cell of the hv battery. However, the red triangle showed again, and code reader found another damaged cell. That would be a possibility that the whole hv battery was damaged.
As I was reversing and my foot was on the gas pedal a loud beep came on, all of the dashboard warning lights lit up including the brake light. I checked to see if my parking brake was on and it was not. I put the car on park and turned the car off and on. My car worked I drove a few minutes and as I was approaching the freeway I luckily came to a stop on a red light. Suddenly the same loud beep, warning lights, and break light came on and this time because my foot was on the brake pedal I felt the brake extremely hard/stiff. Because I was at a red light I quickly put my car on park turned the car off and then on again and made a right turn to avoid going on the freeway. I decided to carefully drive to a family member's house close by going no more than 25 MPH with my emergency lights on I did not want to risk my brakes stiffening up and failing but I was in a congested area with no parking. I was fortunate enough not to get on the freeway and I was fortunate enough that this failure happened on occasions where I was either going very slow or already stopped. I don't know what could happen if I had to come to a stop and could not because my brakes were stiff. Toyota will not cover this manufacturers ABS actuator defect that they know about because the deadline was dec. 2017. This is dangerous and can lead to accidents and even death.
I was driving normally and suddenly a continuos beep was there,I tried to stop a no brakes.I was able to steer my car to a safe place.then used a toll service and took it to my toyota dealer.in a short time they told me they told me the computerized brake system was defective and the job will cost me $2250.00 I can not afford. I tolled the car back to my house .later I found that there had been a recall from toyota.I was never notified although I took my car there for regular checkups. Note: my car was in motion and previous to incident I had descended a steep hill. I consider myself lucky on that date,three minutes earlier I would have been in great distress trying to stop my toyota prius.
Sometimes as I drive the vehicle, after a while, either one of the headlights turns off randomly. I don't always notice when it happens, other than when pulling up behind another vehicle at a stop light and notice that there is only 1 headlight reflection coming from my vehicle. They both work normally if I turn them off and on again.
The problem first started in winter of 2016, only when temperatures were below 30 degrees. The trunk hatch release switch would not fully release, causing me to have to work the switch several times and pull up hard on the hatch in order to open it. The problem slowly got worse and weather no longer played a role in affecting it. It stopped working completely and no longer would open the hatch so it needed to be replaced.
Combination meter is going out on the car. This controls the dashboard lights, meaning that I cannot see how fast I am going or if there are any gauges or sensors lit up alerting me to a problem with the vehicle. Toyota had an extended warranty on this but it has now expired and they want $1000 to fix it.
Headlight intermittently shuts off. It will later come back on again. Same with a tail-light. There are lots of complaints about this please come up with a solution. It seems to be an extremely expensive fix at a dealership due to defective parts.
Drivers side headlight intermittent
Combination meter stopped working in cold weather. Know problem for toyota and a very dangerous one. They did one repair and warranty extension but vehicles now hitting higher miliage are having issues and it is documented by toyota in a warranty bullentin no. Pol12-05 from toyota
When vehicle is started no dash lights for fuel gage, speedometer, odometer inoperable due to faulty combination meter. No recall just extended warranty that toyota will not replace.
I believe its a glitch in the car's computer. At unpredictable and intermittent intervals the electronic heads up display does not operate. This leaves me with no speedomoeter, no fuel level indicator, no bright or dim indicator for the headlights, and the cruise control does not work. During the incidents the car also might not respond to the power off button, so it keeps running. This problem might last for a day or two and then it starts to work again.
Afternoon 07/11/17 while driving downhill @ 50 MPH my 2006 toyota prius turned off- no steering, exterior lights, dash/computer lights, radio- except for front interior dome light. No warning lights prior to or after car turned off. I was able to brake (very stiff brakes) & pull over. Replaced 2015 12v battery hoping for quick fix. Car still would not turn on, could not be towed on flat bad for fear of damaging transmission. Car was towed to closest mechanic. On 07/12/17 independent mechanic said both coolant pumps failed and the leaking shorted a fuse and turned off the car. Every time they attempted to replace fuse it would pop fuse again. Mechanic replaced water pump (including coolant/antifreeze) & inverter electric pump (including inverter cooler water) & changed auto transmission fluid & filter ($1,115). Early morning 07/14/17 dash display would not light up when car was turned on- no speedometer, odometer, gas gauge, reverse camera. (happened couple of times in past but could not duplicate for dealer.) while driving to toyota dealer I noticed computer screen stuck @ 48 mpg & 61 miles driven, but never increased miles as I drove 18 miles or updated mpg calculation. Refused to turn off car until someone from toyota dealer looked @ dash to verify condition. Toyota dealer says combo meter (combination meter) failure, which is not recall but "campaign" that expired & repair costs $1,111. Motherboard part can take up to 3 weeks but car cannot be driven while toyota "burns" my computer's information into new computer part. Toyota dealer provided loaner car until repair is completed. On 07/14/17 called toyota & filed complaint about water pump & combo meter. Toyota says hybrid electric water pump campaign did not affect my VIN, which I do not believe. Toyota says combination meter campaign expired for my VIN. Pending call back from toyota at this time.
Purchased 2006 toyota prius used on aug 17, 2013 (61,500 miles). Within a month I was pulled over by police for passenger side headlight out while driving at night, but when headlamps are turned off and on again the headlight came back on, and the police officer thought he was crazy so he just issued a warning. The headlight continued to go out intermittently and I replaced the bulbs myself in november 2013 (philips hid headlight bulbs $95). The headlight still went out intermittently and I finally replaced both headlight assemblies in july 2016 by an independent mechanic (approximately $1000 at 143,000 miles). Passenger side headlight still goes out intermittently. The federal safety agency launched a probe in april 2009, but then dropped the investigation after toyota said it would initiate a "consumer service campaign" to address the issue. Then there was a class action settlement in 2011, all of which the previous car owner missed. Toyota uses "campaigns" to avoid recalls. Toyota's website (https://www.toyota.com/recall) does not list previous "campaigns" related to the VIN so buying the car used I had no way of knowing of previous "campaigns" that still needed to be addressed. Upon purchasing in august 2013 I took the car to a toyota dealership in san marcos, tx for a steering wheel recall but was not alerted to any other recalls or "campaigns" at that time.
The passenger side headlight intermittently turns off and on. The lightbulb is still functional. This will happen wether I'm driving or stationary.
Car was brought to toyota of hollywood, florida for a new battery. When it was returned none of the dashboard was working: no speedometer, no gear shift indicator, no fuel gauge, no engine warning lights, no backup indicator beeper. Additionally it takes many tries over minutes to turn the car off and it locks the rear hatch which cannot be opened with the inside door unlock button. Obviously this is a dangerous and hazardous situation which I expected that the dealer and manufacturer, toyota, would take care of immediately. They claim that the car is out of warranty and won't fix it. It should be part of a vehicle safety recall.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. The contact stated that the instrumen panel failed causing the contact to be able to view the reading levels. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the combo meter failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer advised that the instrument panel warrenty repair had expired and that the repairs would be at the contacts expense. The failure mileage was 150,000.
The headlights flicker and then go out. It is necessary to turn off all lights and then turn them back on. The same thing happens after a short period of time. This happens when the car is moving and I have been pulled over because I was unaware that the lights were out while driving in the city.
2006 prius multifunction display defects, manufactuer wants $8,000.00 to repair. The mfd controls AC distribution. It affects my health. I have a skin condition, that requires cooling of my legs. The air will come on, but only from dash area, there is no other control method, because touch screen does not work. Also window defroster is inopperalble, from screen. There is a defroster button on steering wheel, it works only part of the time. I have had car into dealership 3 seprate times (at 2 different locations) they can not find the problem with steering wheel defrost buttom. I was told, there is no diagnostics for the electrical on this vehicle, the other dealership, just said " the tech found out defroster problem, is somewhere under here" as he reached under the dash area. The touch doesn't work at anytime, parked or going down the road. $8,000.00 dollars for this repair is way out of my reach. From what I understand it is a widespread problem, or a bad design. The defrost comtrol on steering wheel will come on/off when I hit a bump in the road or a rough railroad crossing. Driving without proper defrosting is very dangerous.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. While driving 45 MPH, all the gauges, meters, and lights on the instrument cluster failed to function. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 142,000.
Letter from senator murphy on behalf of constituent regarding his 2006 toyota prius warranty coverage (attn: katie agati). *smd the consumer stated work needs to be performed on the hybrid battery pack. Toyota refused to cover the work under warranty, because the vehicle is out of the country.
Without warning the dashboard stopped working. The car was stopped and power button was pushed at the time when fact occurred in a very isolated place with no cell phone service an little chance of any other car passing by. The car does not display anymore speed, mileage, fuel level and gearbox position, although the car was otherwise driveable. Warning lights are not working anymore also. Backup camera and lights also stopped working. Car also does not turn off most of time (the power button might work at random with some insistence). According to information gathered this could have been caused by a faulty combination meter, which toyota was servicing for free for some time owing to a high failure rate.
Toyota is aware of a widespread issue regarding the electric dashboard going out. They have refused to replace mine due to it being past the "time window". This should be a safety recall. Drivers are unable to determine if there are any warning lights, what the fuel tank reads, mileage, or any other information. This affects more than just the 2006 model, as well.
On very cold mornings the combination meter (speedometer and dash lights) fail to come on. This first began in december 2014 shortly after having the ice replaced at the dealer, but it has been very intermittent. A few tries and the problem usually corrects itself. It is rarely very cold here so getting it to repeat the problem is difficult. Toyota issued an extended warranty on the known defect but it expired 4 months ago and I was never notified of the warranty extension. Toyota is aware that there is a defect. When this happens, the car will drive but there is no speedometer or fuel gauge and the odometer ceases to work. I did not take the car to the dealer last winter because for one thing I couldn't make it repeat the problem and also because I suffered a grand mal seizure and was unable to drive the car for a year. Now I can drive again and everything has been fine until now that it is winter again. Toyota claims they notified me of this warranty extension but I never received a letter from them. I think it is a dangerous and known defect that should be repaired by toyota. I do not like driving without instruments!
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