Toyota Prius won't shift problems

Filed Mar 1, 2026 · Acceleration · OH

The way the accelerator pedal sensor is positioned allows for water infiltration from wet carpet / tracked in snow and water. The component is available for inspection upon request. Once sufficiently saturated the sensor fails, and ceases function DURING VEHICLE MOVEMENT. The problem is reproducible but has not been confirmed as a pattern of failure by the dealership. As far as my recollection, the manufacturer hasn’t inspected the part. P2138 is the associated check engine code and the vehicle enters limp mode DURING TRAVEL. The check engine light (and subsequent problems) first appeared while in traffic on 2/10/2026.

Filed Jun 16, 2025 · Electrical · IL

Around 14 months ago (march 2024) I purcheded a replacment battery pack for our 2011 Toyota Prius form NexPower Energy (also going by, project lithium, sodiumhybrid) based out of CA. The battery pack is a lithum pack that replaces the orginal nickel metal hydride pack. In the beginning of June 2025, the car through an battery error and went into limp mode wile my wife was driving, when i go home and plugged in my scanner to check the battery out i noticed that the cells were out of balance and some were becoming very over charged. My fear is that if the cells were continued to be overcharged an thermal runaway event might occure due to BMS not being included with the overall pack.

Filed Jul 9, 2024 · Transmission · WA

In temperatures above 95 degrees the vehicle shifts into neutral while driving, and you need to physically hold the shift lever in Drive or Reverse to keep it out of neutral. It won't go into park at all unless you restart. This could cause a fatal accident while driving, particularly on the freeway. It has not yet been confirmed since it only happens at very high temperatures, which is rare where I live (Seattle). There has been quite a lot of discussion on Reddit and other internet sites about this problem with Priuses, particularly the 2008 model. I have an appointment with my mechanic to replace the shift lever assembly, which appears to be the most commonly referenced fix. There are no warning lights, other messages, or symptoms before or while this is happening. The problem resolves when the air temperature goes back down.

Filed Feb 21, 2024 · Engine, Fuel system · 148,469 miles · NY

The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving 60-65 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and went into LIMP Mode. The coolant temperature and several unknown warning lights were illuminated, and the message "Check Hybrid System" was displayed. The contact pulled to the side of the road, where he disconnected and reconnected the battery to reset the Hybrid system. The contact was able to drive to the residence; however, the failure recurred. The contact used an OBD reader to retrieve diagnostic test code: P261B. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 18V684000 (Hybrid Propulsion System) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 148,469.

Filed Mar 3, 2023 · Electrical, Engine · AR

If I make a longer trip more than 10 to 15 miles the car does fine if I drive it 2 miles down the road or across the street to a different store the car tells me to check hybrid system. I had it check and code c1391 came up and that was repaired. Once repaired picked up from shop drove across the street to gas station and it told me to check hybrid system again and went into limp mode. Once I do a reset the car will start back up and drive fine as long as it's a long trip if I go on another short trip it will do it again.

Filed Mar 23, 2022 · Engine, Fuel system · CA

Traveling at freeway speed just after midnight, the "check engine" light came on. Less than one minute later, the "check hybrid system" alert came on, with an exclamation mark inside of a yellow triangle symbol displayed. The vehicle instantly had no power when the accelerator was depressed. The vehicle coasted to a stop and would not shift into drive. The vehicle was towed to our home. Upon delivering the vehicle to our home, the tow driver used an emergency battery jump start device and the vehicle was able to shift into drive and be driven into the garage. The 12 volt battery was replaced the next day and the vehicle no longer exhibited any disfunction. This was an unexpected event with no warning that the 12 volt battery was in need of replacement. It could have resulted in a serious collision, if the freeway had been more congested, as the vehicle had been immediately driven 2 lanes over to the nearest exit, and came to a stop just after exiting, safely at the side of the road. This is a very dangerous safety condition that should have had some type of alert that the simple 12 volt battery system was in danger of failing, causing a catastrophic failure of the engine and power train. Or, the car should simply not be able to drive, if the 12 volt battery is that low, to ensure passenger and community safety. Prime example: Toyota Prius has a warning alert that the key fob battery is low. The warning gives you a couple of weeks to replace the battery, and repeatedly displays the warning whenever you power up the vehicle.

Filed May 3, 2021 · Lights · 125,000 miles · AZ · crash · 1 injury

In december of 2018, I pulled my car up to a redbox station to return a movie. I pushed the park button on my 2009 toyota prius and got out of my car to put the movie into the slot. The car apparently was not in park and continued to move forward (I tried to catch it, but was unsuccessful, and hurt myself in doing so) until it slammed into a parked car in the same parking lot. My insurance listed it as an at-fault accident and fixed my car and the one that my vehicle had hit. (I told the adjuster I knew that I had put the car in park) I also had a 700.00 deductible to pay for fixing my damaged car. As time went by, this started happening more and more frequently. I would push the button for my car to go into park mode and it would not go into park. I would have to put the car into another gear and then it would go into park. Other weird things with the car were happening as well. Sometimes the car would not turn off and more and more when I would start the car, the dashboard would be completely black. I mentioned to my mechanic that this was happening, however, I could not make it happen whenever I took it to him. I did manage to get it on video though that it was happening. I just recently learned from my mechanic that this has been a safety issue with this car and that it's a bad combination meter. He also informed me that toyota only allowed for 9 years from the date the car was manufactured for this problem to be fixed. How come I did not receive any notification that this could happen and how do you put a time limit on a safety issue such as this one. My car did not go into park mode and ended up slamming into another vehicle. I could have easily fallen under the wheels of the vehicle as it kept on moving or it could have easily hit another person. I am hoping someone can investigate this for me and get back to me with information on how I can get this fixed.

Filed Jan 12, 2020 · 1 miles · CA

I was driving my prius 2013 model in a parking lot on 12/24/2019 when itabruptly (without prior warning messages) shut down with this message: "check hybrid system stop the vehicle in a safe place." my car would not move an inch, didn't go into limp mode and didn't go into neutral either.my prius had a 2nd recall software update in 2019 and itwas suppose to prevent my car from shutting downcompletelyand should have gone into fail-safe driving mode but that did not happen and the software update seems to be just a bandaid. It was towed to a dealership who didn't look at it for 2 days due to the holidays and the bad inverter drained the normal battery and the hybrid warning code with it. The dealership did not replace the inverter as they said they couldn't recreate the dtc code which I believe doesn't qualify for not wanting to ensure safety after I had 3 witnesses including myself,seeing the hybrid system inverter failure as well. Where is the original dtc code? It should not evaporate after a bad inverter drains the battery and I have the hybrid warning message on video but was told by the dealership andmanufacturer that it's not sufficient.and they did not offer to check theinverter orthe igbt to ensure itssafeness. Instead, I was asked to pick up my car after they fixed a 'battery cell' issue that was never the problem until it was at the dealership. I picked up my car today still with a bad inverter,an accident waiting to happen and I hope it won't be on a freeway.*dt

Filed Jan 10, 2020 · Electrical · 110,000 miles · AZ

I was driving my car as normal on a city street and the speedometer and warning lights (except for the check engine light) all turned off. We pulled over but the car would not go into park or turn off. We had no choice but to continue driving, not knowing our speed or any warning lights that could prevent serious injury (including knowing the level of the gas). Once we got home it took about 10 minutes to get the car into park and off, but pressing the park and power buttons in random orders. I have no idea what ultimately allowed the car to turn off. It has happened twice now and it's scary not knowing the speed all the sudden in the middle of driving. Also, having been in such a habit of clicking the park button and being safely in park, we almost crashed into our house after being in the driveway the second time, not realizing the display had just gone out again for a second time upon arriving home. The car continued rolling forward of course until the brakes were slammed. I understand there was an extended warranty for my year prius (2008), but has since ended. This is a safety issue and I have no idea why this wasn't a recall. Toyota needs to continue to honor the repair of vehicles that are affected. Just recently, it was released that toyota is recalling the 2019 models for this same issue (speedometer going out) and they are referring to it as a safety issue. This should be done for any model affected and should not have an end date.

Filed Apr 15, 2019 · 173,000 miles · OK

Just had recall work completed including software update. Car now exhibits new limp mode behavior with low fuel. This never happened before the software update. Trip meter indicated more than 50 miles remained with current fuel supply. Fuel level was as two bars and low fuel light had not yet come on. Limp mode occurred at speed on 4 lane freeway. Vehicle would not restart and dash messaging indicated hybrid system failure. Had vehicle towed only to realize it was all happening due to a low fuel level. I believe the safety recall software update has introduced agreater risk to my roadside safety and has made the vehicle less trustworthy and has reduced value.