2008 Toyota Prius: transmission slipping

Filed Aug 27, 2020 · Transmission · 190,000 miles · NY

Automatic transmission slips into neutral unexpectedly, and when it does, often you can't get it out of neutral without turning car off. This has an electronic shift selector. This appears to be a rampant problem with this car. Do an internet search on 2008 prius slips into neutral and you will see many people are having this issue. Very dangerous when this happens on the highway.

Filed Aug 4, 2020 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 212,888 miles · CA

My 2008 toyota prius brake system is very dangarous ,on the hi way speed of 55 I push the brake softly ,out of sadden car started acting like a wild horse slipping to the left and right and I am an experienced driver on ice,I lived in m ichigan for a long time ,so I survived , and all drivers around me stopped and there was no accident, I am afraid driving that car,I have called toyota dealer, seems like use to be a recall but they have some hesitions to accept the faulty,dangarous brake system,I am going to complain to the ceo of the company.god help me,I was lucky my family and I survived ,my message to the toyota prius owners is please double check your VIN number and recalls,and insist to fix this common defect on toyota prius ,by the dealer with no charges.very very unsfe brake system. And my instrument lights are on and off I can not see the speed and the odometer and the gas indicator,I heard it was a recall but the dealership did not accept it. If I want to fix these faulty defective parts would cost me over 4000 dollars,toyota is responsible,I beleive should and must fix it for free valuntarly ,

Filed Jun 6, 2012 · Transmission · 41,876 miles · MN

After 10 minutes of city street driving, the car was idling in park for 2 minutes. The car was then put into drive and the brake slowly released. As soon as the engine turned over to assist the battery drive, the shift knob bounced into neutral and the dash indicated neutral as well. With the brake on, the shift knob could be placed back into drive and the dash indicated drive. The car stayed in drive for the first second before the engine turned over then slipped back into neutral. This repeated 4 more times. Placing the car in park, turning off the air conditioning, and powering down the car did not prevent the car from slipping into neutral. The car stayed in drive only by holding the shift knob in the drive position. After the 3 minute drive home holding the shift knob in drive, the problem did not repeat. Later that evening and the next day the problem did not repeat. It was approximately 80 degrees f on the afternoon of the occurrence and the car had been parked in the sun for 7 hours, the air conditioning was running at the time of the occurrence.

Filed May 4, 2012 · Transmission · TX

I stopped at my mailbox yesterday and put the car in park. When I got back in the car and attempted to drive away the car slipped into neutral all by itself. I put it back in drive and again it slipped into neutral. It did this 5 times before I finally held the knob down into drive so I could get the car home into my driveway. When I started the car this morning it seemed to work fine, but I am finding tons of reports on the internet of people experiencing the exact same problem and even a you tube video of a lady who documented when it happened to her.

Filed Jun 17, 2010 · Transmission · 85,800 miles · MN

I am having a recurring transmission problem on a 2008 prius that seems to be a very similar problem to one described by other prius owners. When the car is warm (warm day, drive for longer than 15 minutes) the transmission can slip out of drive (or reverse) into neutral. It will do this repeatedly and not allow to proceed in gear until you turn off the ignition for some minutes. The car will operate if you manually push the gear shift lever into driver and hold it there continuously until you reach your destination. I will take it into toyota for service but I do think it may be an engineering or design flaw with the transmission. The experience of other drivers (including a video link for the same exact problem) can be found online here: http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3233114#post3233114

Filed Mar 9, 2010 · Brakes · 1,000 miles · FL

I own a 2008 toyota prius and I have problems with my brakes after going over bumpy roads or potholes. I notice this when I am applying constant brake pressure through bumpy road conditions as my brakes will simply let go. I personally believe that there is a software problem regarding the ABS system and the system believing there is wheel lock up when there is none. This would cause the ABS system to engage. It should not be so sensitive that is goes off when no wheels are slipping. I have experienced this in many instances and it has almost lead to me crashing into a toll booth arm/pole. Or once driving too far into an intersection at a red light. Toyota says the braking problem only affects the 2010 prius model but this is simply not true. I have been experiencing this since I first took possession of my model 2008 prius in early 2008.

Filed Feb 23, 2010 · Driver assistance · 1 miles · CA

We have a 2008 prius which has a couple of dangerous things about it which the dealer says is 'the way it's designed to work'. 1.I believe they are recalling the 2010 prius for this problem, but the 2008 has it also. The cars braking system completely releases all the brakes, so far I've just noticed it in the rear wheels, when going around a curve and the wheel hits a bump and looses traction. The traction control light goes on and all the brakes are gone for a short period of time. It feels as if the car is also accelerating during this period of time, but that could just be a result of loosing the braking system. 2.the engine 'completely shuts off' when the front wheels spin. In snow on a grade which can easily be driven on with a vehicles slipping from time to time, the prius motor shuts down when a driving wheel spins and all forward momentum is lost ' ie after spin, no engine, power, spin, no engine several times the car comes to a stop in the road. I also can't get up my neighbors driveway if it rains because of this. If crossing a lane of oncoming traffic from a stop sign and the wheel spins we are in 'mortal danger' of being hit.

Filed Feb 8, 2010 · Driver assistance · 500 miles · IL

2008 toyota prius touring version. Since buying the car is 12/07, I have noticed several problems. When slowing, if gas engine kicks off it is harder to brake (minor). When going over bumps (I.e, railroad tracks, rutted roads), brakes don't seem to work even when pressed hard (moderate problem). I make sure guy in front is far away from tracks before proceding. In snow (>4") car will stall - cannot spin tires (medium) so can't get the car to move without having to dig it out. Website (priuschat.com) says this is overly aggressive traction control which protects hybrid components. Doesn't help when in traffic and stall out. Major problem - if quickly accelerating, engine will lose power with fast plummet in MPH. Feels like the engine has died. Eventually with catch after it feels like it has stalled and will jerk and then slowly accelerate again. If acceleterating to avoid being hit this makes the situation much worse. I believe that the root of all of these problems is either traction control of vsc. Yellow icon flashes on dashboard when brake power lost on bumpy roads. Slipping of tires during fast acceleration or in snow causes car to stall. All events happened multiple times (multiple times from 500 to 36000 miles). Search dustyhuskie on priuschat for details. Figured that I would have to live with the problem and get used to it.

Filed Feb 5, 2010 · Brakes · 30,000 miles · CA

Toyota prius 2008 seems like it releases brake or the brake doesn't work when driving over a bump, pothole, or wet roads., although brake is applied. Feels like car jumps or slips. A light indicator comes on when this occurs. It is a orange light indicating car is slipping it has occurred several times over the year. Took it to the toyota dealer and explained what happened, but was told it was my driving and could not identify problem unless it happened to them and it never did. Sometimes it continues to occur.

Filed Feb 4, 2010 · Brakes · 1,000 miles · CA

When my 2008 prius goes over anything slick, wet, and sometimes loose gravel, particularly on a down-hill surface, the car slips when the brake is engaged. If applied while on the slick surface, it is as if the brake does not respond immediately; if applied previous to the surface, the brake stops responding when it hits the slick surface. It happens very frequently, at least every 50 miles or so. The variable stability control engages at the same time the slipping occurs. The only correction is to continue to hold the brake, wait for it to engage, and leave extra time/distance to brake. This problem repeatedly happens at specific points of frequently driven routes (ie. Manhole cover on my street at bottom of hill). I have not have this problem in any other car.