Software problems of the 2004 Toyota Prius

2004 Toyota Prius. Consumer states unintended acceleration the consumer stated the sudden acceleration happened three times, over a six year span. He managed to put the vehicle in neutral, coast to the side of the road, and turned the vehicle off. Once the vehicle was restarted, all worked fine. The consumer stated a few weeks ago his vehicle was about to reach 300,000 miles, as he reached for his camera, he realized the odometer never went past 299,999 miles. However, within five miles, the vehicle suddenly lost power brakes, the air condition stopped working, the hybrid drive shut off and the fan for the hybrid battery came on, as well as yellow and red lights appeared on the dash. Also, two warning graphics appeared on the navigation screen, one indicating trouble. The consumer pulled over, and shut the engine off. He then restarted the vehicle and everything went back to normal. It appeared that by shutting off the engine and restarting it, caused the main computer reboot. The consumer stated it continued several more times, until he arrived home. The dealer informed the consumer the vehicle was a large computer, and when one component stops working, such as the odometer, other components cease too. The dealer explained an odometer limit was placed on the vehicle by the factory.

2004 Prius, 84,00 miles. Intermittent headlight failure, both right and left. Headlight(s) would go out while driving at night. Dealer said it was hid computer and the repair bill is $1140!!!! researching on internet reveals this is a common problem. It is definitely safety relayed and I feel Toyota should make the repair at no charge. I'm not excited about replacing the computer not only because of the cost, but can I expect the problem to repeat in a few years?.

While driving Prius on major highway in dfw metroplex during evening rush hour the warning light came on, then a couple seconds later, entire dash board information screen and all warning lights flashed. Car engine continued to run, and would not turn off, but no power was available to steering or brakes. This problem occurred at the apex of a bridge. However, was able to coast the car into the median between the merge ramp of the major highway and the interstate. Very dangerous situation if it had occurred before apex of the bridge. )called the dealership, who in turn, called a tow truck. Had to basically play with power button, brake, and gear shift to get it into neutral so the car could be loaded onto the tow truck. Took dealer three days to diagnose the problem. It was blamed on a short in auxiliary battery. However, it seemed to be working okay. This was the third time occurrence such as this happened to this car, as well as a non-functioning driver information screen, that if the car was hot inside then information screen worked, if no, then the screen stated no connection to air conditioning , which occurred since first time the shut down happened. Thought this problem was supposed to be fixed with the software upgrade that they installed after the last occurrence. It appeared that this defect happened every 18,000 miles . Now there is 79,000 miles on the car.

2004 Toyota Prius: display screen has stopped working. No screen capability or accessory buttons operate. Dealer has ordered a 'crossover' unit, but it has not arrived to date (almost three weeks). New unit costs over $2000. Vehicle was not involved in any incident. Dealer believes it is a software problem.

I was driving my 2004 Toyota Prius approximately 35-40 miles per hour on a local street when the "check engine" light and the safety triangle light both illuminated. I noticed that the gas engine stopped running at the time of the failure although the electric motor got me to the dealership where the car is serviced. The delership called me in a couple of hours to tell me that the car is ready. I was told that they just had to reset the computer software to fix the car. I know that you are researching this problem and wanted to make you aware of my sitiuation. Thank you.

My 2004 Prius "died" with little warning while I was driving about 40 mph on a busy street. I coasted to a stop with cars flying by me. Very dangerous. Car was towed to the dealer, who explained there was a software problem and they reprogrammed the car's computer. This is an extremely dangerous problem! I'm afraid to drive this car.

A. How long and at what speed was the consumer driving before the vehicle lost power? 4 minutes, 50 mph. B. Has the consumer accelerated, decelerated or drove at a steady pace when the vehicle lost power? steady pace. C. After the vehicle lost power was the driver able to continue driving the vehicle? if so, how long and at what speed. It stalled out. D. Did any warning lights appear before and/or after the incident occurred? if so, describe the lights that were lit. As it happened a hazard icon and an engine check light came on. E. Did the vehicle eventually stall and come to a stop? how long did this occur after the warning lights were lit? yes, 30 seconds. F. Was the driver able to restart the vehicle right after it stalled? if so, how long did it took, 3-4 times or 2-3 minutes)? took a couple of times, but it started within a minutes. G. Was driver able to restart the vehicle after letting it sit awhile? yes. H. Was the vehicle towed? no. I. What was wrong with the vehicle? it required an update of a computer program. J did the dealer reprogram the electronic control unit (ecu) or any software? yes. K. Vehicle had special service campaigns 40a or 40d performed prior to the incident? when consumer called Toyota she was told vehicle was up to date on all services . L. Had vehicle any problems since the repair? no. Consumer had a problem six months ago where it stalled. .

2004 Prius had warning lights come on and stalled in April 2005. Software upgrade was performed by dealer. Warning lights have come on again yesterday, June 12.

2004 Prius slowed, then stopped on a highway due to a software problem. Towed to dealer. Dealer corrected the next day.

2004 Toyota Prius died at 65 mph on I-395 carpool lanes. Multiple warning lights flashed on. Was able to coast it over and restart for a mile or two when it completely died again. Was towed to springfield va Toyota dealership were it was serviced. Error codes c2318 (low voltage error - power supply malfunction), battery code 8442 were reported. Also, check engine light on, found code p3791/engine won't start. Reprogrammed ecu dp0199. Cars shutting down in high speed traffic is a crash waiting to happen. We're not convinced that re-setting the engine code is enough to fix the problem. Has the original software problem been located and fixed? dealership couldn't give us that answer.

Dt:. How long and at what speed was the consumer driving before the vehicle lost power? had driven about 10 minutes on commuting home was driving at least 50-60 mph. B. Was the consumer accelerating, decelerating, or driving at a steady- state when the vehicle lost power?driving at a steady state. C. Vehicle lost power, was the driver able to continue driving the vehicle? if so, how long and at what speed?not able to continue driving, could not restart vehicle. Did any warning lights appear before and/or after the incident occurred? an odd beep and then some symbols illuminated on control panel but can't remember what symbol, thinks it make have been a car with an x through it. Referred to owners manual. Called for help. . Came to a complete stop just seconds after the beep and warning lights. F was unable to restart vehicle. G. No restart whatsoever. H. Was the vehicle towed? yes to a dealer. I. What did the dealer say was wrong with the vehicle? diagnosis code did not have available, but was aware of service bulletin pertaining to this issue. Questioned why there had not been a recall. J. Did the dealer reprogram the ecu (electronic control unit) or any software? yes-the ecu. K. Did have recall on navigation software update prior to this episode. L. Has the vehicle had any problems since the repair? no but fearful it may happen again.

I own a 2004 Prius. While driving approx. 60 mph on hwy 110 in los angeles, the warning light came on. Less than 5 seconds later, the car lost all power. It even ceased to coast despite the fact that I was on a significant down hill grade. In an attempt to exit the freeway, I navigated the vehicle to the right, where it stalled completely in the right lane, blocking moving traffic. The California highway patrol (chp) quickly came (they were in the area and arrived without being called) and pushed the vehicle off the freeway. After waiting about 20 minutes, the car restarted and I drove for about 10 miles on surface streets. The next morning, I was able to drive one mile to the dealer. The service department of Toyota of hollywood, where I purchased the vehicle, said it was due to a "software glitch" and that it needed to be "reprogrammed. " they completed this work in less than 24 hours. They also replaced the bumper which had been damaged by chp in the process of pushing the vehicle off the freeway. Their service was excellent and I have not had subsequent failures. Nevertheless, it was a serious malfunction and should be thoroughly investigated.

While driving vehicle will just stop. Consumer states there is a software problem with engine being faulty from the computer. Consumer receives a dozen warning lights. Vehicle was towed to a dealership so that the vehicle could be diagnosed. Consumer is aware of other similar complaints.

A. How long and at what speed was the consumer driving before the vehicle lost power? had been driving for about 15 minutes going about 65 mph. B. Was the consumer accelerating, decelerating, or driving at a steady- state when the vehicle lost power? owner believes she was slowing down at the time of stall. C. After the vehicle lost power, was the driver able to continue driving the vehicle? if so, how long and at what speed? owner was afraid to drive it, and called dealership and had it towed. D. Did any warning lights appear before and/or after the incident occurred. If so, describe the lights that were lit. All warning lights were on as it stalled. E. Did the vehicle eventually stall and come to a stop? how long did this occur after the warning lights were lit? the vehicle did stall and come to a stop. Vehicle stalled, then lit up seconds after stalling. Yes. F. Was the driver able to restart the vehicle right after it stalled? g. Wass the driver able to restart the vehicle after letting it sit awhile? if so, how long was this after the vehicle stalled? no no attempt was made to restart because it was towed. H. Was the vehicle towed? yes. I. What did the dealer say was wrong with the vehicle? dealer said there was a software glitch. Dealer reprogrammed the ecu (electronic control unit) or any software? yes.