2007 Toyota Prius: sudden loss of power

Filed Jan 17, 2024 · Engine, Transmission · HI

I keep replacing P1116 and it keeps coming back also I was driving up a hill when I lost power and the car wouldn't accelerate. It would turn on and go into gear but not go anywhere. I know it says my vin doesn't have recalls but why am I experiencing them

Filed Nov 3, 2022 · Acceleration, Electrical · CA

Instrument panel cluster failure. Panel goes black while driving and lose power. Vehicle won’t start or shut off. My vehicle was getting serviced at the dealership and they couldn’t start the vehicle. I was told the instrument panel cluster was the problem. I contacted Toyota Customer Service, and was told they were aware of the issue. They had issued an extended warranty and sent out a letter to all owners this warranty has expired in 2016. If you purchased your vehicle after 2016 you would not have received any notice regarding this. While driving you can’t see you speed, your gear selection, fuel level, lights and no warning lights. The warning is that your vehicle won’t start or shut off.

Filed Feb 4, 2019 · Brakes · 130,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. While driving various speeds, the instrument panel indicators illuminated, including the ABS indicator. In addition, the brakes lost power and did not stop the vehicle. The contact slammed on the emergency brake to stop the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to clearwater toyota (800‑667‑9051, located at 21799 us hwy 19 n, clearwater, fl 33765) to be diagnosed, but the failure could not be duplicated. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer, stating that the warranty expired. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.

Filed Jul 14, 2015 · Acceleration, Engine · 125,149 miles · CA

On may 16, 2015, while driving my second-generation 2007 toyota prius on the freeway, I experienced a sudden loss of power, along with the illumination on the instrument panel of the malfunction indicator light, master warning light and hybrid warning light. I was able to maneuver the car to the side of the road and summon emergency help. A nearby toyota dealership replaced the hybrid inverter water pump, which fixed the problem. However, the dealership did not advise me of a safety recall. Toyota customer experience center today stated that the original hybrid inverter water pump was replaced on april 7, 2011, under toyota limited service notice a0n; hence, toyota refused my phone request for reimbursement of my may, 2015, repair expense. The 2011 "a0n" replacement pump appears to have failed by the same failure mechanism leading to recall campaign "c0u", which is different from the a0n failure mechanism.

Filed Jun 1, 2015 · Acceleration, Steering · 159 miles · CA

While driving uphill on a curved, shoulder-less road, my car spontaneously shifted into neutral, causing it to lose all power as well as power brake. I attempted to physically hold the gear shift in "drive", but this did not bring power back, nor did it change the light on the dash from "neutral". At first the car would shift into reverse, and I was able to back into a wider part of the road. It then stopped shifting into any gear. I ended up having the car towed home in neutral, with poor (non-power) braking. I've since done a google search and see that this is a recurrent problem with 200-something priuses, based on consumer affairs, toyota nation, prius online, and car problem zoo.

Filed Dec 23, 2014 · Transmission · 57,970 miles · CA

On sunday morning, dec. 21st, I left the house around 7am with dog in back seat to drive to a hiking trail. Everything was normal as I drove south on oregon expressway. After driving about 0.5 mi and descending the underpass at alma st., at around 35 MPH, without warning the red triangle light illuminated on with beep and indicators: brake, ABS, airbag on and check engine. I also noticed the words "transmission failure "on the main display. While driving up the other side of the underpass I realized the car was losing power. I decided to take the next turn-off at ash st. By now the car had slowed to 20-25 MPH by the time I approached ash st. As I initiated the turn I realized that I no longer had power steering so I touched the brakes and discovered that I also didn't have power brakes. I pushed hard on the brakes and momentarily locked up the wheels. By now the car had slowed enough that I was able to crank the steering wheel hard to complete the turn. Fortunately there were no other cars on ash st. Since I ended up making a rather wide turn; the car fortunately remained on the pavement. The car coasted to a stop at ash and sheridan and I was left stuck in the intersection with no power. I pushed the car to a parking spot. If I recall the main display had gone completely dark by this time; it may have gone dark around the time I initiated the turn onto ash - I can't remember exactly. While considering my options, I eventually powered the car off and powered back on (start button). At this point no indicators were on and everything appeared normal. I took the car home and resolved to bring it for service first thing monday. Fortunately driving to the dealer doesn't require driving on a highway or expressway. I've driven this car since 2007 and never had a similar issue. Losing all power on the expressway was very disconcerting.

Filed Oct 16, 2014 · Transmission · 86,642 miles · CA

This is the resolution to an earlier complaint I filed. My the federal safety agency complaint confirmation number (odi number) is: 10644563. There didn't appear to be a way to amend that filing. To recap. All the emergency lights came on and my prius lost all power while I was driving. It came to a halt. It would not restart. My passengers eventually exited the car and I remained in the car with the flashers and depressed the brakes to further alert oncoming drivers. I was towed home and the next day to a dealer. They performed a warranty service for the sensor crank (code poa90) which was the subject of a july 18th 2006 "special service campaign with the federal safety agency" (read: a voluntary recall) of the crankshaft position sensor on some 2001-2002 toyota echo and prius models. In the notice to its dealers [xxx] , vice president, product quality and service, warned that this "could cause a crash." the code # that was on my job ticket didn't match that given to this recall -- p0340 - camshaft position sensor 'a' circuit malfunction. I don't know what accounts for that discrepancy. It was called "an important safety recall." researching this issue online I've discovered that I am not the only prius owner to experience this potentially life threatening problem since that initial recall. I was lucky enough that no one was harmed and that the repair was covered under warranty. Others have had to pay hundreds of dollars to fix this problem and it's taken some numerous trips to the dealership. I would suggest that the federal safety agency explore whether another recall is warranted that would include later models and those outside the current toyota warranty coverage. Those owners who have paid for their repairs should be notified and reimbursed.

Filed Oct 14, 2014 · Electrical, Fuel system · 86,642 miles · CA

I was driving home last night and various warning lights came on. Within a short time the vehicle lost all power (entered a failsafe mode) and the hybrid system shut down while I was driving. The result was a complete loss of power and the vehicle came to a stop in traffic. I was close to the curb and turned on my emergency flashers. Called a tow truck and will take this to the dealer. I called toyota customer service to see if others had experienced anything similar and they had no access to any information about other customer's experiences. They did say that there are no active recalls for this make and model year. A recall for the 2010 - 2014 toyota prius was issued in february 2014 for what sounds like a similar problem. While this wasn't a life threatening issue for me last night, in a press release drivers who've experienced similar issues were warned to get out of their vehicles because they could be in danger from being rear ended.

Filed May 2, 2014 · Acceleration, Brakes · 110,000 miles · OH

I had my car in for 110,000 mile service on april 25. They changed the oil, rotated the tires, installed a new air filter and said that I needed new front brakes and they cleaned and adjusted the back brakes. Yesterday after backing out of the garage the brake light warning light along with the ABS and vsc light came on briefly. On interstate 90 nearing downtown cleveland all of these lights came on again along with a noise. I called the toyota dealer and talked to the service advisor and asked if it was safe to go to cleveland and back and he said if the brakes work, it probably just a switch and it would be ok to bring it in tomorrow. While I still had him on the phone, we lost all power to the vehicle and it decelerated down to 30 before we were able to reach an exit ramp and stop the car in the grass. I was informed today that the problem is a low volt battery that needs to be replaced for $299. At no time did a low battery light come on and I have not had trouble starting the car nor do I have dim lights. We were fortunate that we were not killed on interstate 90 without power, steering or brakes. I think this is definitely a safety issue that needs to be addressed.

Filed May 1, 2014 · Transmission · 127,800 miles · GA

Last week my wife was driving when our car lost power, began making unusual noises, and multiple warning lights became illuminated on the dash. She stopped the car, turned off the power, and restarted the engine; again the warning lights remained lit. We immediately took the car to our local dealer and left it overnight. The next day they informed me the transmission had failed and charged me $5400 to repair it. The day following the repair the "check engine" warning light came on again while driving and remained lit. We immediately returned to the dealer. After examining the vehicle the dealer told us that the water reservoir float had become stuck. He also stated that this was a common problem for hybrids which have undergone major engine repair. Today they further advised that we continue to drive the vehicle without further repairs.

Filed Oct 22, 2013 · Electrical, Steering · 147,000 miles · TX

After the car has been parked for awhile, the dashboard was completely black. The car powered on, but there was no speedometer, no fuel display, and no odometer. The car will drive and gas engine and hybrid system works as usual, but there are no power steering, the turn signals do not work, and the wiper does not work. After driving for 5 to 15 minutes, the dash would light up and car drives like normal again and the problems mentioned go away. Based on internet research, this seems to a common problem. There are almost identical complaints on this site including the federal safety agency id number 10544698. Significant safety concerns exist due to the temporary lost of power steering, no turn signals, and no wiper during a rain.

Filed Jun 5, 2013 · Steering · 32,000 miles · FL

Loss of power steering assist that caused the vehicle to become difficult to keep in the proper lane of traffic. The power steering assist loss remained at all speeds including standing still at a traffic light. The toyota dealer checked the steering and "reset" the steering computer and torque sensor which returned the steering to normal. Several weeks later while driving on the interstate the loss of power assist returned. The car was brought back to the toyota dealer and the same procedure of "resetting" the steering computer was performed. The vehicle's steering went back to normal again ! The dealer stated "no" fault codes were ever present, and toyota denied having an issue with the 2007 steering system. I believe the steering computer does not properly store the torque sensor zero point, thus should be replaced. The toyota dealer disagreed and told me not to worry about it because the vehicle's steering was in perfect operating condition. My concern is the steering will lock up or do something terrible and cause a serious accident !