Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota prius. The contact stated that while driving at 35 MPH, there was an abnormal noise coming from the front passengers side. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the engine mount became loose and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 115,000.
2008 Toyota Prius engine complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 65 of 65, newest first, as owners wrote them.
On this date while driving on the interstate 5 near los angeles my prius made a loud noise and started shutting down as I was driving on the far left lane. The car immediately slowed down and the vsc icon as well as the check engine light icon became visible, however the odometer was blank and I could not tell what speed I was traveling, the car was coming to a complete stop. Once I managed to get to the far right shoulder the car made a stop. I was almost rear ended by a big rig which had to swerve to the left side in order to avoid hitting my car. It wasn't until then that I noticed the red engine light icon displayed on the control panel not the odometer. I have never seen this warning light but after looking at the owner's manual it clearly stated that once this light appears you need to get the vehicle off the road as soon as possible or it will cause an accident. This was the first time I noticed this sign and it appeared after the fact. The car had no engine oil, which was ridiculous since I had not noticed any leaks and I take my car in every 2 months to the dealer for an oil change. The dealer had no explanation other than it did not have any leaks and they were not able to verify when the red engine oil came on. This happened on 5/30/14, my last visit to the dealer was on 4/12/14 and at the time they did not detect any problems with the oil leaking. This clearly makes no sense and they are refusing to take responsibility. Toyota owners should be very cautious as this should have never happened the sensor should have given me a warning prior to the car shutting down. This could have caused many fatalities being in a heavily populated highway.
Every few weeks (even several times in the same week), the dashboard lights on the car go completely dark, without warning (no, the dimmer switch is not turned to "low" or "off"-- that is the first thing we tried). Simultaneously, or sometimes at different times, the car refuses to turn off, even when the "off" switch is pressed constantly or intermittently, for up to a half-hour. Obviously, it is extremely dangerous to leave a car running, so one cannot leave the car; when driving, the loss of all the dashboard information is terrifying, especially at night when it is so distracting as to be potentially crash-causing. The toyota dealer first claimed it was the 12-volt battery, so we replaced it. This did not fix it. At the dealer's request, we left the car with them for a long weekend, and they claimed that since they weren't able to reenact the situation, they could not help us. After some back-and-forth, they agreed to replace a "combination meter," which toyota had apparently found troublesome enough to offer free "out-of-warranty" repairs of. However, the dealer first said toyota would not pay for it unless the dealer was able to independently verify the trouble, and they were not able to recreate the distressing situation. As if we would lie in order to receive a new combination meter! We just want to car to work and be safe. Now we are waiting five-plus days for the part to come in, and not even sure if it will fix our problem. There's plenty of discussion of this exact same issue all across the internet. Why has the company not figured this out, and trained its mechanics accordingly?
This is in regards to the electrical fuel pump that is already being recalled. I had my vehicle shut off while driving in traffic. I had it towed to the toyota dealership at the time and they replaced the electric water pump, the water pump, and the battery. My invoice came out to $1213. I sent this to toyota for a refund when the recall notice came out. They refunded me a mere $428 (this is for only the electric water pump) claiming that they do not have anything that shows the battery or the other water pump could be effected by the recall condition. It seems strange that I brought my vehicle in when I experienced exactly the same condition described in the recall and ended up needing multiple parts replaced when toyota claims only the electrical water pump may be effected. I had no other issues with my vehicle leading up to this so it seems highly unlikely that the water pump and battery just went bad at the very same moment the electrical water pump stopped.
Was driving to nova scotia 10/18/13. Stopped for coffee after 2 hrs of driving. Car would not restart. Returning to maine10/20/2013 was passing a tractor trailer truck with another trailer truck passing behind me as well. No check engine light had come on at any time during the trip. Suddenly,all the warning lights on the dashboard lit up and the car stopped working while driving at 75 MPH. Tried not to slow too quickly with truck bearing down behind me ,but could not accelerate either. Car had popped into neutral . Got off on left of two lane highway .car was dead. Would not start. Had towed to toyota dealer in amherst. Diagnostics found no cause. Had to drive 4 hours back home next day not knowing if it would happen again. Took car to toyota dealer 45 miles from my home in us. The following week .no cause found. Happened again shortly after on main street, blocking traffic . Towed to local mechanic. Was there one week. Unable to diagnose. Towed 45 miles to toyota again. There another week. I was told it was a problem with fuse box assembly. Shortly after, the master warning light came on, as well as a warning symbol on the touch screen meaning 'malfunction in hybrid system.' towed again to toyota dealer. Front battery replaced. Noted today that prius recall on '09-'14 models for exact same thing that happened to my '08 model. Total cost $600.00 plus $270.00 towing and $120.00 for hotel .
While driving,no more gas power,warning lights on,vsc too.throttle response was not working,turned off the car for few minutes and restarted it,it worked for a short while and did it again... Toyota oakland said I needed to replace the engine throttle body.$1600!!! One month after the warranty wore off.
I rear-ended the car in front of me in a very low speed accident, listed on my ticket as 1+ MPH by the police officer who witnessed my accident while at the scene attending to an already-occurred accident. When I was 2-3 car lengths behind the car in front of me, going approx. 5-10 MPH, I saw their brake lights go on, and I pushed the brake pedal and nothing happened. I pumped the brakes, and nothing happened. When I realized that my car's momentum was not slowing in the slightest, and that I was going to hit the car in front of me, I tried to maneuver into the vacant right lane, but the failure of the car to even slow down made accident avoidance not possible. When I struck the car in front of me, the blow was primarily with the left front corner of my car contacting the center of their bumper. My car was totaled; their car need a new rear bumper but only for cosmetic purposes. I will testify under oath in a court of law that the brakes in my 2008 toyota prius failed, and that is why I had this wreck.
My car had hesitation issues since shortly after I bought it. It would bog down, and almost die in traffic. I would lose speed on the hwy/road & nearly get hit. Previously, the dealer replaced the gas tank because its "bladder" was bad @ 54,057 miles on 08/05/2011. The factory split the cost on this repair (which appears to occur more than they are admitting). The performance improved for a little while, but there has always been funny noises coming from my vehicle and the car would not power on at times. Other times, it would freeze or power off. The maintenance warning lights would come on and then turn off. Infrequently, air would come through the backseat vents like it is supposed to. Frequently, I would smell unusual smells after stopping my car. My car ate up the inside of a new set of tires very quickly despite being properly aligned. The HVAC blower motor was cutting on and off at times and making funny noises. Many times when it would cut off, I could open and slam the hood and the HVAC blower motor would engage, as if there was an electrical short in it. When the HVAC blower motor quit altogether, I took my car to the dealer. The dealer said that the mower had gone out. There was an actual problem with the hv electric water pump as well as a factory recall. Interestingly, the dealer discovered tat the engine motor water pump was also leaking. What a coincidence! Now that all of these components have been replaced, my car appears to work normal again like it has not worked since I first bought the car.
A sudden jerk and a bunch of warnings lights appeared on dashboard. The car made it 20 miles to my home but I was running on a damaged engine. Took it to the dealer the next day, allen toyota of gulfport, ms, and they fixed it saying water pump had to be replaced charging me $295. I have receipt. Dealer told me to apply to this website as I recently received a recall notice from toyota about this part promising they would reimburse if the part had been repaired at my expense before receiving recall letter.
2008 toyota prius. Consumer writes in regards to defective parts replaced in vehicle. *smd the consumer stated the check engine light illuminated. After doing research, it appeared the problem was with the coolant control valve. The vehicle was taken to the dealership, where an inspection revealed the check engine light was due to the premature failure of the coolant control valve.
I had been driving the car for less than 10 minutes when the "red triangle" red problem light came on the screen. I immediately looked for a safe place to pull over when the car made a series of short dinging sounds and the car was automatically put in neutral and the brake engaged--in the middle of a busy intersection! I was forced to flee the vehicle as there were oncoming cars that didn't look like they were going to stop. When the signal changed, I went back to the car and put on the emergency flashers. Then I tried to put the car back in drive and it would not budge from neutral. I then switched the car off and back on and was able to drive it out of the intersection safely. If this had occurred even 5 minutes later, my 9-year-old daughter would have been in the vehicle with me and we would not have been able to react as quickly as I did. The car has been towed to my personal mechanic by aaa for diagnosis, but at this time it does not appear that this was an error, but a design flaw that put my safety in critical danger.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota prius. The contact stated that while driving 15 MPH, he heard a rattling noise coming from the engine. The contact pulled the vehicle into a parking lot and noticed that there was to puddle of oil under the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection where they stated that there was a hole in the engine pan . The manufacturer was notified and stated that they had to review the case with the dealer. The failure mileage was 60,000. Updated 07/26/12
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota prius. The contact stated that smoke emitted from under the hood while driving into a garage at 5 MPH. The contact opened the hood and noticed a flame. The contact then extinguished the flame. The fire department was not notified. The insurance company was notified and stated that they would not repair the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who stated that the failure was due to the wiring harness. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 17,000.
I was driving about 60 MPH on the interstate when the accelerator stopped working. The power slowly drained out of the car and I barely made it off the highway. This has never happened before. The car was towed to a mechanic's shop where after much investigation they found that a leaf had gotten past the air filtration system and was blocking the intake sensor system. When one sensor is blocked the whole car shuts down! This was scary and dangerous. I know it is unlikely to happen again.
Tl - the contact owns 2008 toyota prius. The contact stated that while trying to turn off the vehicle it would not shut off. The contact mentioned that the failure had occurred several times before, he was not able to turn off the vehicle until it was warm. The vehicle was taken into the dealership and they were not able to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure and current mileage was 61,000. Pm
S10 appropriate handling-letter to the secretary from re toyota problems *tgw the consumer stated the brakes made a noise. According to the dealer, there may have been rust on the rotors, due to lack of driving. The vehicle was not getting proper gas mileage and the gas motor made a lot of noise.
I was driving n on broadway and crashed into a power pole several blocks from where I was going. I don't remember the crash or the events leading up to the crash due to a head injury. I was driving a 2008 toyota prius. I hadn't had any problems before the crash. My doctors are performing numerous tests to determine if there are any physical problems with me (so far nothing has shown up in the tests), but no one has considered whether or not there was a defect with the car that may have contributed to the accident.
On 31 december 2009 my 08 prius was slowed down prior to turning into a driveway, when it suddenly accelerated. It went out of control and crashed into trees and a powerpole. The floor mat, that according to toyota is supposed to cause this, was properly attached to the pegs in the floor, and in proper place even after the crash recently, on 6 april, 2010, I again experienced a sudden unexplained acceleration when going about 5/10 miles per hour. It lasted about four seconds and did not result in an accident.
This is a defect that I tried to resolve with the toyota dealership. I had owned a 2004 toyota prius that got 45-50 mpg while driving in town and about 45 highway. I traded this car in for a 2008 toyota prius. In the 2008, I am lucky to get above 35 mpg in town and I get about 45 highway. My mileage on highway is much higher than in town which is not what toyota advertises and I am not driving any differently than I did the 2004 prius. So something wrong with the ECM in the car. When I complained, the dealership took me on a drive with my car where they drove very very slowly downhill and registered 60 mpg and said there was nothing wrong and would not do anything. So I gave it up. Now that I see that quality control of toyota is non-existent, I know the ECM is not acting properly and needs to be fixed.
I drive a 2008 toyota prius and have experienced two recurring problems with the vehicle. First, when I make sharp right turns, the engine cuts out. Second, on uneven roads, the hydroplane feature activates and makes it difficult to steer and the car accelerates suddenly. This has happened on many occasions.
The engine got water in it before I even got the car and it also had two bent piston rods.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 toyota prius. The engine in the vehicle made a noise while driving various speeds. The dealer has diagnosed the failure on two occasions and stated that the coil packs needed to be replaced. Two months after the coil packs were replaced the failure recurred. A representative from the corporate office inspected the vehicle and were unable to diagnose the failure; however, they removed and dismantled the engine and found water in the engine. The mechanics stated that the engine needed to be replaced at the contacts expense. The contact has requested that the engine be replaced at no cost by the manufacturer since it was a new vehicle. The failure mileage was 12,201 and the current mileage was 14,000.
We bought the prius on june 2008 and it has only 4023 miles but in last one month it broke down three times . First time the car stopped on highway a strong beep sound and then check engine light, vehicle stability control light and a big red alert triangle came up the car lost it's power completely and got stalled in the middle of hwy - pretty scary. Then on 6/2/2009 we noticed that we cannot open the hatch back door and the car is completely dead. Both times we towed the car to the dealer and first time they said they did not find any thing wrong and they have reset all the computer, second time they said the battery was drained out without really ny proper reason. Last night we drove the car may be about 15 miles or so and it's the same situation the beep sound and all the hazard lights came on in the middle of the road and the car is dead again and we had to tow to the dealer. Three times in one month and in the middle of the road with a $30,000 dollars car is unacceptable. Some one really can kill us from the back because it is so sudden that no way they could predict that we are going to be stalled within 5 seconds from 65 miles/hour speed. We have a child and she travels on the back seat all the time. What is the solution for it? Toyota needs to take the responsibility. It is a real safety issue for our family.
2009 toyota prius, engine failure while driving 65 MPH on highway., pulled over momentarily and proceeded. First occurrence. Engine stop running on hwy driving at 55 MPH, had to be towed to dealer for repair. Second occurrence.
While my 2004 toyota prius was in the shop for its 30,000 mile maintenance, my mechanic found that the water pump has been leaking coolant (photos available). The car has only 21,600 miles, and its water pump should last at least three times as long. My local berkeley toyota dealer had three '04 prius pumps on hand which is indicative that many prius' are experiencing such a water pump failure. I'm writing to inform you of what appears to be a substandard part on 2004 prius'.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2008 Toyota Prius?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history