general problems of the 2002 Toyota Prius

I was driving on the 91 freeway west exit ramp to merge into the 57 freeway in orange county CA. When suddenly I lost all power steering on the car . We managed to get out the freeway on the first exit.

Driving up and down a slight incline, power steering suddenly goes out. Only happened twice so far but I don't know what would prevent it from happening again. Probably going about 15-20mph uphill and maybe 20-25mph downhill. Happened on a city street.

While driving on the freeway in stop and go traffic the steering wheel started to oscillate back and forth it subsided however a few min later as freeway speeds were approached the wheel tried turning hard left then vibrated center to left. If I had been unaware this would have resulted in hitting the center divider at freeway speeds. A brief research online shows this is not the first known issue. . Read more...

When making a turn at slow speeds there is violent back and forth uncontrollable movement in the steering wheel. You have to bring the vehicle to a stop. The problem is your in the middle of a turn or intersection. Very dangerous,there are no warnings when this occurs.

While driving lost of steering momentarily for several months but thought it was belt slippage. Today (9/28/ 2018) total lost of steering. Was able to get vehicle to side of road and shutoff ignition switch. Started vehicle again and had normal steering control again. After reviewing recalls noticed that Toyota had two voluntary recalls on same problem but have now removed them. What can be done for this problem. (xxxx) parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

I have Toyota Prius 2002 I was driving yesterday the steering had been making like a rubber-squeak noise when turned to the right at low speeds. I was driving, and the wheel started to sort of pulse in my hands like it was gaining/losing power assist. About 10 minutes later, failed. Big ps button on display, with the red triangle by the odometer. This morning I was driving the car when almost hate someone because a lost the control of the car and the steering was shaking.

Tl- the contact owns a 2002 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that when making turns or reversing at a slow speed the steering wheel shook violently. The failure was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where no diagnostic was done. No repairs were made to the vehicle. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 147,000. Sr.

I was driving onto the freeway, turning right onto the ramp that circled into the southbound interstate when the a red hazard triangle popped up and the screen on my car stated ps error. The steering wheel locked for a bit but fortunately I was still able to steer. I got off on the next exit and was barely able to turn. I turned off the car and looked up the error code to find out it was power steering, I checked the fluids and everything was ok. Turned on the car and the ps error had disappeared, it drove normally the rest of the way home.

When in cold temperature the steering wheel will violently shake when making a turn at slow speeds.

Made a left turn out of my driveway after starting vehicle. Steering began to violently shudder and shake, causing temporary loss of control (my grip was lost on the wheel). I was able to grab the wheel more forcefully and regain control and and complete the turn. Had this happened on an interstate ramp, I may not be here to file this complaint. According to the Toyota national service registry, my vehicle has already received the service covered under NHTSA campaign 11v304000 which makes me very, very very nervous. Please contact me for further details.

Turned on car in cold weather (under 10degf). Started up and tried to turn right. Steering wheel shook very hard, fast, and loudly. Turned off car and restarted, did ok for one shallower turn. 50 feet later again tried to turn right and same thing happened. Let it shake for a few seconds then turned off car and restarted. Less than a minute after restart it happened again. After that left car off for a few hours. Restarted. Let car warm up for 2-3 minutes before moving. Drove straight out of driveway. Right turn 100ft later was ok. Problem did not recur on 30min drive. This is the second day I've had this problem. The first was a few weeks ago, also in very cold weather and also on a right turn when car was first started. So far I haven't had it happen on a left turn, but maybe that's just because I don't do one of those immediately on startup. I've never seen the problem if temps are above about 10 degrees f.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that without warning, the steering shook violently when making a turn. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the steering rack and the nuts in the steering linkage needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the vehicle was previously serviced under NHTSA campaign number 11v304000 (steering). The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 109,000.

Violent shaking in steering wheel upon ignition; sporadic jerky steering; repeated loss of power steering at various speeds including highway speeds. This seems to the same phenomenon that was the subject of a safety recall of 2001 Priuses. The recall should be broadened.

I was exiting off (turning) the highway in exit 10 . 270 MD, when the steering wheel became really hard and a warning ps signal appeared, I had to pull over and after switching off and back on the engine. I could continued.

The vehicle vibrate the steering wheel at low speed.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the steering shake violently while turning, reversing, or in drive. The steering had to be held with both hands to be able to keep the vehicle in lane. The steering would stop shaking whenever the accelerator pedal was released. The manufacturer advised that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign id number: 12v537000 (steering). The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 37,000.

Day leading up to incident, steering wheel would pull to right very easily or while rolling, but could be pulled back to center without issue. On day of incident, backed car out of parking space and a clunking sound was made under car. Steering wheel would then only turn about a quarter turn and would not turn the wheels at all. We had the car towed to the dealer who determined that the steering rack was bad and the spiral cable which provided power to the airbag was bad as well. This was a very disturbing finding for us as we couldve been driving the car on the interstate at interstate speeds when the steering broke. Additionally, the airbag would not have gone off if we had gotten into a crash. Dealership and Toyota were contacted regarding warranty replacement of both items. Dealership and Toyota refused to provide any warranty or discount to correct the issues. Had the car towed home. Ordered used steering rack and spiral cable and installed them myself. Car is functioning now, but I have concern that the same thing will happen again. I still have the bad steering rack and bad spiral cable.

I have a 2002 Toyota Prius with 140k miles on it. The steering wheel started to shake violently last fall when I put the car in reverse. It now does this at low speeds, particularly around corners and is becoming an increasing problem at higher speeds. The power steering cut out on the freeway at 70 miles per hour last week. That convinced me I need to get a new car. I tried to trade it in at a local Toyota dealer last summer and couldn't understand why they wouldn't give me more than $2. 5k for it as I had paid $15k for it 2. 5 years earlier. Admittedly, I had been t-boned and a lot of work had been done on the car, but my dealer had it fixed it to where you wouldn't know it was in an accident unless it was pointed out. I researched the problems online and found this is a well -known design problem with the cars steering rack. I can't sell it to anyone as is. I'm stuck with having to do a $3k repair to a car that's worth less than that to its dealership. It scares me to drive it. They only made 26k of these cars. Does every one have this problem? I spoke with Toyota and they said they did offer an extended warranty repair on this, but since my car had >100k, the burden would be mine. They should be willing to resolve this design flaw. What is my recourse? again, I am afraid to drive it as I don’t know what will happen.

I was turning left into a parking spot when the steering sounded and acted odd. The ps light came on. I brought it to a Toyota dealer and had to replace the power steering gear mechanism at a cost of over $2600. 00. I was told the recall on this was v. I. N. Specific and did not apply to mine. My concern is if this is the same issue that is addressed in the recall, and my car had the issue, why is it not taken care of by the company/.

Steering wheel, uncontrollable shudder, will literally rip itself out of your hand or grip. Usually happens during the first of the day when it's relatively cold. While slowly moving the vehicle, the steering wheel will start to vibrate violently, in an un controllable manner. Sometimes the power steering will just error out while driving down the street during the day, loosing all power steering as well.

Repeated problems with steering, including uncontrollable vibration of steering wheel and loss of power steering. Car has 39k miles. Problem has recently grown worse, with complete loss of power steering and appearance of ps warning on computer screen during highway driving. Problem is especially prevalent in cold weather. Very dangerous.

1. Recently, the steering started shaking violently periodically upon turning 2. The steering periodically shakes violently and it becomes difficult or impossible to steer the car 3. I contacted the dealer and the Toyota executive offices and they "declined participation" updated ivoq 11/02/10.

Violent shaking of the steering wheel while stopped or at slow speeds. Particularly in the winter time, first thing in the morning. Stopping the vehicle and sometimes shutting off and back on will address the issue.

Electronically-assisted power steering rack assembly defective on 2002 Toyota Prius, particularly vehicle id number [xxx]. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Prius. While driving less than 65 mph, the emergency and power steering indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. The power steering would lock and the contact was able to maneuver the vehicle off the highway. Once the vehicle was shut off and restarted, the warning indicators would no longer illuminate; however, there was a lot of play in the steering. The manufacturer stated that the VIN was not included in any recalls; therefore, they would not assist with the liability of the repairs. The failure and current mileages were less than 96,000. Updated 3/16/09 the consumer stated there was an occassional shimmy in the steering wheel. Updated 03/19/09.

Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6). To whom it may concern, I was attempting to make a left turn in my 2002 Toyota Prius traveling approximately 30mph when the steering wheel suddenly locked. I did manage to slow the car down and forced the wheel into completing the turn after hearing a cracking sound. I was told that the vehicle had a faulty sensor and the entire steering rack had to be replaced. I had just exited the highway and was lucky there were no other vehicles or pedestrians around. This situation occurred 08/15/08. This is after I had brought in both my 2002 Prius and my 2002 Toyota highlander in for numerous sensor defects that were either fixed or replaced. I continued to have problems with my Toyota highlander as well. The last issue with this vehicle was oil the constant loss of engine oil. To be more detailed, I lost 8 quarts of oil in approximately 2000 miles. There was no explanation given considering there were no visible signs of leak or burning. This was the reason I no longer own this vehicle but unfortunately still own the Prius. [xxx].

2002 Toyota Prius, this car suffers from an intermittent steering shake. What happens: often at parking lot speeds and some times at highway speeds, the steering pulses violently and steering control is temporarily lost.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the vehicle would shake abnormally when first started. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and serviced under NHTSA campaign number 11v304000 (steering), however the failure was not corrected. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 100,000 and the current mileage was 170,000.

On cold days, when driving for the first time, the steering wheel will start shuddering back and forth violently and rapidly if I try to turn the vehicle. This occurs regardless of the road condition at speeds of less than 10 mph. The shuddering stops only when I straighten out the wheel.

I have a 2002 Toyota Prius that I've had for some 7 years. The steering is very sensitive making it necessary to always attend to accuracy in steering. I thought that this was a chacteristic of the design, but now I wonder if this is actually a manufacturing defect because of reports I see on other models" ""if you take your eyes off the road for a second, the car will drift into another lane," said one driver an oct. 18 complaint. Another describes it as the most terrifying thing that ever happened to them. " this describes my experience.