Battery problems of the 2005 Toyota Prius

My Prius dash keeps going black, the car won't shut off . Also had it in park engine revved and started to drive away. I jumped in and it wouldn't shut off I had to rip the key out. The rear taillights go out all the time. The doors and hatch locks won't unlock half the time. I had a new battery put in but it still happens.

When starting the vehicle up, no speedohmeter display is illuminated. The display for the vehicle enviromental controls (miles per gallon/energy use) still works. Along with the speedohmeter display, the rear hatchback door does not work. I tried to adjust the inside light display to see if the light level was turned off. This was not problem. I turned the light adjustment knob in both directions, and still no speedohmeter display. Upon trying to turn off the engine, it will not turn off. I was able to shut the vehicle off by disconnecting the car battery in the passenger side rear hatch back area. Note that because the rear hatch back door does not work, all the vehicle parts which leads to the rear battery has to be taken out from the rear seat of the vehicle. One particular time I disconnected the car battery on the black portion of the battery,and the vehicle did not shut off. I brought the vehicle to the Toyota dealership several times, and because this problem happens intermittently. Toyota was unable to duplicate it. However, one day when it was not working, I brought it in to them. They later claimed that it was a "cold start" problem to the computer that is responsible for the speedohmeter display (besides other things, rear hatch back door, cruise control, etc. ). Toyota claimed they found the problem on the internet, and it was not a recalled part. This particular part (computer) normally happens only in the states that are very cold.

Note: the date above does not reflect first date of occurance. This is the event date that led to Toyota admitting something is wrong with the car. Please read narrative: on three occasions the car has died while being parked at work and at home. On one occasion the car died in my garage. After the vehicle was jumped it seemed fine. No lights were left on nor were any electrical devices plugged into the accessories. When it started up the car stated that the parking brake was not properly engaged and the vehicle needed to be moved to a level surface. It was in my driveway. Another time the car did the same thing, dying at work in the airport employee parking lot. The car required being jump started and again it gave the same message. A CO-worker stated that they had heard the car alarm go off at one point about an hour prior to shift change. Both times the vehicle was checked and the report was “nothing was wrong with the car. €� most recently on 3/27/2011 the same thing occurred. This time when jump starting the battery the car’s engine started and the car lunged forward at me with lights and alarm sounding. I was unable to shut down the alarm and went into the car and pressed the power button to shut the engine down. When I powered the engine back up the car alarm was again sounding and all the lights on the dash were illuminated. Powered it down and up again and this time no audible alarm but the exclamation mark in the triangle was illuminated as well as the message about the parking brake. I powered it down and up one last time and, with the message still illuminated, drove off. The message shut down when I got to the security gate. Toyota tested the vehicle on 4/1/2011 and reported that c1300 and c2300 faults were found (ecu and abs actuator). As the car is out of warranty, cost will be about $3,000. 00. (more info exists but no room here).

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius hybrid. While parked in the garage, the vehicle exploded and burned. The battery could be the possible cause of the explosion. The fire burned the garage and another vehicle that was parked in the garage. Both a fire and a police report were filed. Report number 0907135396 was filed with the manufacturer and they stated that they would call the contact back. The current and failure mileages were 90,000.

On 2/27/09, my 2005 Toyota Prius' brakes completely failed. I was going downhill in an highly transited urban road (rte 123 in va, close to tysons corner). Thankfully I was only going about 40mph when the light changed to red. The 2 vehicles in front of me stopped. I pressed the brake pedal and my car accelerated initially, and then nothing. Brakes are meant to work. Always. I kept pumping the pedal hoping to engage the breaks, but they did not engage. What stopped me was the rear of a BMW x5. Thankfully I was the only injured party, and my injuries are mostly muscular. I could have died or I could have killed someone. In January, I had taking my car to the dealer because all the alert lights on the dash would sporadically go off. They kept the car for a week and claimed that the secondary battery needed to be replaced. I got my vehicle back and on 2/23/09 the issue restarted. I was due to take my car back to the dealer the day of the accident. I called a lawyer to see if I had a case, and was told no. I am still researching the issue because someone should be held accountable and future tragedies should be avoided. If anyone has started a class action suit, please do let me know as I would like to join you.

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. For the past two years, the vehicle has emitted an odor inside the passenger compartment, which sticks to the contact's clothing and hair. The odor has been recognized by Toyota as an odor that originates from the rear battery which is found under the back seat. The odor is triggered by extreme heat and while pulling heavy loads. The contact lives in arizona so the vehicle is subjected to extreme heat. Toyota stated that the odor was non-toxic and that there was no current remedy for the defect. The contact believes that the chemical may be toxic and feels uncomfortable driving the vehicle. The failure mileage was 13,000 and current mileage was 45,000.

The Prius shut down, stopped using gasoline power, while I was in the passing lane and traveling 70 miles per hour in moderate traffic on interstate 40 in nashville, TN. The red triangle, check engine, vsc and a few other warning signals illuminated. I managed to avoid being rear-ended , pulled to the side of the road using battery power, shut the battery power off, and consulted the owner's manual. Approximately 10-15 minutes prior, the add fuel light illuminated and the fuel indicator displayed a single bar. Having driven the vehicle for the past 8300 miles, my wife informed me that we had about 2 gallons of gas, and could easily travel another fifty miles. The temperature was near 90 degrees. I started the vehicle and chose to drive it off the interstate. We traveled 2. 5 miles and coasted to the side of the road as the battery depleted. I managed to slowly drive the vehicle to a gas station and refueled. The fuel tank could only accommodate 8. 1 gallons of fuel; it holds 11. 7. Once refueled, the warning signals disappeared after 30 seconds, and we drove home. My wife took the car to the dealer, joe heitz Toyota in clarksville, TN, the next day for an evaluation. The mechanic said that the computer indicated that the vehicle ran out of fuel. Since there obviously was fuel in the tank, I pressed the service manager for answers. By the end of the day and after consulting with Prius technical folks in California, the service manager said that the fuel bladder may have collapsed over the sending module thereby signaling the car's computer that it was out of gas, which caused it to shut down. He said Toyota is looking into the problem and provided a lame solution; refuel the vehicle before it gets too low. This is an unacceptable answer and I implore the NHTSA to investigate this potentially deadly anomaly. It is only a matter of time before someone is in a fatal accident because the vehicle shuts down while traveling at interstate speeds.

Was driving home (approx 35 mph) when master warning light and vehicle stability control system warning light came on. Vehicle would not run on gasoline power and battery quicky ran down so car was not driveable. Vehicle had to be towed to dealership. Dealership advised it was a "computer problem".