general problems of the 2005 Toyota Prius

I had lost functionality for some buttons on the steering wheel that didn't directly impact safety. On replacing the clockspring mechanism inside the whweel I decided to inspect the old unit. Four of the lines in the flex cable are impacted by corrosion, three have already failed. The fourth line is one of the airbag's electrical lines. I'm filing an issue report because the airbag would be next impacted by this failure and I believe there's a fair chance the corroded line could fail during the vehicle's attempt to fire the airbag on the wheel.

The steering on my 2005 Prius with roughly 119,000 miles failed. Fortunately it was at a low speed and on a side street but without any ability to steer the car, it could have been really bad if on a main road or at a higher speed! the car is currently with a Toyota dealer and the cause is yet to be determined. Toyota stated there is no recall outstanding on the car and it would be out of pocket. There was, however, a prior recall for steering issues. When it failed, I was able to move it back and forth but the wheels would not turn at all.

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. While driving at any speed, the steering wheel felt loose and the vehicle was unstable. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed that the failure was not a recall issue. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and restated that there was no recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 193,000.

This is an ongoing problem with their intermediate shaft. They have never completely resolved the recall issue, as it continues to this day.

I was pulling out of a parking spot and my steering completely gave out. I could turn my steering wheel to the left and to the right, but my wheels were not responding to the movement. There was a rough noise as I tried to correct the steering but there was no forewarning of this (I had been driving around town earlier that day just fine - on busy roads with higher speed limits). It was very scary and thankfully, I was only going 5mph so I just stopped the vehicle and placed it in park. My car is currently at an independent repair shop in austin, TX and they said the splines broke which disabled the steering (and that I need to replace the steering rack and yolk). I'm getting a second opinion at a Toyota dealership to see what they say, but this major failure was extremely alarming. My Prius has approx 92,000 miles on it, and I take very good care of it from a maintenance standpoint. I've never heard of a problem like this before. I have plenty of friends with older cars with more mileage and none of them have experienced a complete failure of steering while the car is in motion. Additionally, my father spoke to a friend who owns a Toyota dealership at home and has sold many Prius vehicles - he said this was very serious and uncommon. Please let me know what other information you need to adequately look into this.

The automatic braking system (abs), vehicle stability control (vsc), brake light, and brake system warning lights (4) on the Prius all came on and vehicle became very unstable while out of town. The owner's manual indicated that the dealership should be contacted and car should be taken in immediately for service. Since no dealership was available at the immediate location, the car was driven home (60 miles) in very unstable conditions. Upon bringing it to the dealership I was told it was a miracle nothing bad had happened because the "computer skid assembly" needed to be replaced at a cost of $1570. 97 for just the part!!! I found it very interesting that the part was readily available as if I were replacing an oil or air filter. After confirming the cost with other dealerships, I consented to the work to be performed. Is this just another "built in obsolescence" feature? there appears to be nothing I could have done to properly maintain this new piece of technology and the sudden failure of the part posses a significant safety concern to consumers. In addition, how can any reasonable consumer be certain that this part failure was not input by the manufacturer into the car's control system. Makes me long for the days of manual vehicles and shade tree mechanics.

Brake, abs and (o) with exclamation mark inside have been on , the seller was not honest with me about why the lights were on, I went to the Toyota dealer and they said it is not safe to drive the vehicle, repairs would cost $7000. 00.

Cpcs:i1410421a. 2005 Toyota Prius. Consumer stated the car was taken in for a wheel alignment. Apparently, Toyota has not allowed any way to adjust the rear toe or camber on the Prius, which can result in steering issues and problems associated with excessive or uneven tire wear.

I pulled into a gas station to fuel up and when I left the gas station I suddenly lost steering in my car. I could only move forward and backward. Updated 06/13/lj updated 06/17/2013.

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while turning right at 35mph the steering became hard to control which caused the vehicle swerved to the left. As a result, the contact lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree. The contact suffered bruises and broke the right thumb. The passenger in the front seat suffered bruises. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure and current mileage was 82,500. . . Updated 12/05/12 updated12/07/2012.

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that at engine startup, the srs warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was advised that the steering wheel needed a replacement spiral cable. The manufacturer was contacted. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 109,000 and the current mileage was 109,500. Updated 03/06/12.

1) sudden unexpected acceleration 2) steering shaft severed 3) drivers side air bag inoperative along with all steering wheel mounted controls.

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 mph with the cruise control activated, he applied the brake pedal in an attempt to deactivate the cruise control. The cruise control would not deactivate and the contact had to manually deactivate the cruise control system. The contact also stated that he heard a snapping sound coming from the steering wheel while attempting to park at 5 mph. This failure occurred the day after the cruise control failure. The steering wheel then became loose and the contact had difficulty steering the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for a diagnostic test. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 24,000. The VIN was not available. Updated 12/12/11.

We own 2 Toyota Priuses. One is a 2003 (the older style) and a 2005. In 2004, I was driving the 2003 on the freeway. A panel truck was to my right. It started to come into my lane so I swerved to avoid getting hit. The car started to skid and slide. The car first fishtailed, then went to the hard right (I think) , the left and then I lost total control of the car. The car did a 180 in the middle of the freeway. When it came to a stop, I was able to turn the car around and continue down the freeway. Luckily the engine did not shut off so I was able to get out of this precarious position. I also lucked out b/c the freeway was not busy and the other cars were able to avoid me. Yesterday, our entire family was in the 2005 Prius. We were on two lane highway in northern California. We were in the fast lane. A police car came up behind us with lights flashing. By the time my husband saw him fast approaching, there was no where to go. There was a car to our right. My husband tried to go onto the shoulder (probably hit some gravel) and the car went out of control. It was very similar to my experience. The car started shaking and fishtailing , then I think we went to the right, then left and then slammed into the guardrail. Both airbags deployed and injuries were extremely minor (bumps and bruises). I am concerned b/c both cars quickly went out of control when sudden moves were executed. I have never had a car do this before. I hope it is just a coincidence because we love these cars.

Total failure of steering. Steering wheel just spun freely like a toy car. Fortunately, the failure occurred during parallel parking, so the speed at the time was slow and no injuries or damage resulted. The consequences of this failure could have easily been death had the timing of the failure been different. Steering components were replaced under existing recall approximately 2 weeks ago. I haven't had Toyota look at the problem yet, hoping that a 3rd party investigation would be more beneficial in saving lives.

I own a 2005 Toyota Prius. I received a notice of a possible steering intermediate shaft defect last spring, about the time I broke my right foot. I was unable to drive for 8 weeks. When I then called my dealer to have the repair done, I was told that the necessary parts were back-ordered. I kept checking. The parts were not available until January 2007, much longer than is acceptable for a safety-related defect.

: the contact stated the vehicle was taken into the dealer for a recall and the recall part was unavailable. Therefore, an appointment was scheduled for June 29, 2006 for the remedy repair. On that date, the vehicle was dropped at the dealer (about 65 miles away). When the contact returned to pick up the vehicle, the recall remedy repair had not be made because the part was still unavailalbe and would need to be ordered. The contact has been informed by dealer that the part is available however the service dept will follow up to reschedule an appointment later that day. The contact waited 6 hours and still had not received a call back from the dealer's service dept to reschedule the appointment. The shaft that was supposed to be replaced according to the recall is now broken. The vehicle will now have to be driven with a broken shaft.

(1) driving at speeds between 60-75mph on smooth flat roads (2) vehicle sways or "floats" side to side, especially during crosswind conditions (3) report to dealer, no repair was done by dealer as they think it was caused by grooves in the road.