general problems of the 2007 Toyota Prius - part 2

I have a 2007 Toyota Prius. When braking, the brakes feel "tacky" and/or there is a judder feeling, which makes the car stop suddenly or abruptly. This occurs when only applying a very light touch to the brake. Secondly, when applying brakes over icy patch or bump, car will continue to roll for a split second. There is an electronic sound at the same time the brake and roll occurs.

When I apply brake on a pothole or a small patch car does not stop and didn't immediately respond to the brake pedal, and it is always scary for me, in los angles you don't have good roads in many places.

I have a 2007 Toyota Prius and I have experienced poor braking and slippage when traveling over bumpy and/or wet surfaces, the most noticeable of which is the non-asphalt surfacing around and between railroad tracks. I understand you're aware of this on the 2010 models, but it happens on the earlier models too, and these should be made part of the recall. This has happened to me on multiple dates, the latest is below. Luckily, I leave more room between me and the car in front than the average person.

When driving over pot holes, my 2007 Toyota Prius tends to "slip" I. E. Goes out of control momentarily until all 4 wheels return to a smooth surface. One of the annunciator panel lights (anti-skid?) also lights up when this happens. I thought this was a peculiarity of the car but now I see many others have experiencing it as well.

I am a 2007 Prius driver and I want to report that I too have encountered the brake problem described in the news. I never attributed the problem to the car until I read the article. The problem always happens on ice for me and has always occurred at slow speeds. I press the brake and nothing happens, my stability control doesn't kick in, and my abs doesn't engage and my speed didn't change. At the time I attributed the problem to ice. I had to tap my brakes several times before the system reengaged and the car slowed down. I've read that some car owners experience a feeling like the car isn't slowing down because of a switch from hydraulic to electrical braking but my braking distance was greatly increased and I ended up past my intersection. Luckily no one was around me at the time and I've been very cautious about brake distances on ice. I live in minnesota and we've had a very icy winter. The first time this happened was just a few days before christmas and it happened twice since, always on ice. I've had the car for three years and this year is the first time I noticed it but this is also the first very icy winter we've had since I purchased the car.

I was pulling into a parking spot at the local federal express hub and the vehicle would not stop. It jumped the curb and went into the trees then stopped. I was braking the whole time. Damage to the car was minor cosmetic scratches.

We own a 2007 Prius. I was pulling into a parking space doing maybe 5 mph, and my car suddenly lurched forward and ran into a cement planter approx 2 ft tall. My front bumper ended up top of the planter. I know I did not have my foot on the gas pedal. We had already removed the floor mats. This resulted in over $6k in damages to my car, that my insurers paid for; except my deductible. We also had the problem with the intermittent loss of our headlights; and replaced both of them. We just received a notice from Toyota telling us we will be receiving a 'credit' for the either part or all of the cost of the headlights; which was substantial. We did take pictures of the damages from the accident.

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. While traveling at speeds of 10 mph attempting to park in her garage, the vehicle failed to stop when the brakes were applied. The vehicle continued to abnormally accelerate. The brake pedal fell onto the floor board and would not engage. The vehicle proceeded to crash into the garage door. The dealer advised stated that there were no unusual failures in the vehicle. The manufacturer confirmed that the vehicle was under recall for defective floor mats but not for her accelerator pedal. No repairs were made to the vehicle. The approximate failure mileage was 26,000 and the current mileage was 27,000.

I have owed both a 2005 and 2007 Prius and have experienced two problems with both vehicles that are a safety concern, although no accident has resulted from these problems. 1) in snowy conditions, when traveling up an incline, the traction control system can turn off power to both drive wheels with the result that the car can not make it up the hill. Granted this can happen even to a more conventional car, but the Prius does this under circumstances when other cars have no problem negotiating the hill. The owners manual claims that this is to protect the electric engine, however, it seems that there should be an override of some sort that allows the internal combustion motor to turn the wheels when traction is poor. This system has also led to circumstances in parking lots during snow, where it becomes impossible to move the car even though other conventional cars are able to negotiate the snow without a problem. 2) in circumstances where the Prius must merge quickly into traffic for instance when turning into busy traffic at an intersection, if you floor the gas pedal the car initial accelerates, but then the acceleration fades dramatically, before it resurges. This can be circumvented by not pressing the gas pedal so hard, however, the instinct is to step on the gas as hard as possible. This is not only hair-raising when it happens, but also could lead on an accident.

Our leased 2007toyota Prius sometimes "jumps" forward unexpectedly when going over a stone or bump on a dirt road or other street, briefly increasing acceleration. This has happened when traveling a straight road and also when taking a corner onto a dirt road. Braking doesn't slow down the acceleration, increasing the chances of a collision with a vehicle or other obstruction that may be in front of our car.

We own a Toyota Prius. When we turn on the heater and turn it to the feet, warm air starts blowing from the vent on the driver side to the face. We took it to the dealer "capitol Toyota", capital auto mall, san jose, CA. The dealer said that they would charge big time to fix it since we were just over 36,000 miles in 30 months. We didn't get it fixed. We believe that this issue is somehow related to its electrical/electronic systems issue. We also noticed about 2 weeks ago when we were parked in the line for gas, that the engine suddenly was roaring as if we were revving it to very high speeds without even the heater or a/c being on. We also think it has related front defrosting issues.

On October 19, 2009 I was driving south bound on the I-5 when the gas pedal on my 2007 Toyota Prius got stuck and it wasn't the floor mat. I know this because I didn't have a floor mat in the first place. The major problem is on the Prius the push start button failed so you couldn't turn of the vehicle and when you tried to put it in neutral it would fail (not sure why), I am assuming do the speed you are going the computer does not allow you to put it neutral or turn it off.

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. The contact stated as he was driving his vehicle surged and accelerated forward. The contact stated when he hits the brake sometimes the vehicle will stop and sometimes it does not stop. An independent mechanic test drove the vehicle and stated it does surge and it should be service at the dealer. This happens a couple times a month while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated there is nothing wrong with the vehicle. A claim was file with the Toyota manufacturer. The failure mileage was 37,000. Updated 05/11/10.

I suspect the current Toyota recall is more than a floor mat malfunction. I own an '07 Prius. Ninety percent of the time the car shuts down immediately upon "firmly & briefly" depressing the power button, precisely as described in the owner's manual. However, about 10% of the time it does not shut down on the first push, and will move forward when I take my foot off the brake. I have to push the power button a second time to stop the engine. The dealer actually told me I should push the "park" button before pushing the power button to turn the car off. It says nothing about doing that in the manual. Now they're saying you should hold the power button 3 seconds to turn off the car? the manual says (p. 141 and elsewhere) "the hybrid system will start and stop by firmly pressing the "power" switch briefly with the brake pedal depressed. " three seconds is certainly more than "briefly," and more than it takes to turn off the engine 90% of the time. Fortunately, I haven't hit anyone or anything, I've gotten used to it, and I'm careful to be sure the engine has actually stopped before I take my foot off the brake. Once in a while, I have to push the power button a second time, an inconvenience hardly worth mentioning. However, I'm now concerned that the minor problem I'm experiencing could progress into something much more dangerous. Look at the mat: someone would have to deliberately install it so it was over (rather than under) the accelerator pedal to cause a problem. I don't think it's the mat. I think there's a problem with the computer.

Accelerating from a stop light, at about 30 mph the Prius engine felt and sounded like it began to accelerate at maximum rate. Braking had no effect on slowing the vehicle resulting in running through a major intersection at a red light. The car was stopped by shifting into neutral, coasting to a stop, and pushing the power button. After waiting 2 minutes, the car was restarted and ran with a problem. This occurred once in September 2009. Toyota's remedy is to replace the floor mats, however, the floor mat was secured to the carpet and was verified at the time of the incident that it was far from interfering with the gas pedal.

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. He stated that when he approached a stop light and engaged the brake pedal, the vehicle accelerated without warning. The contact lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree. The air bags deployed; however, the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer to be repaired. The dealer confirmed that the failure could have been due to the floor mats. The vehicle is being repaired and the insurance company will be responsible for the repair cost. The contact is very concerned of the safety risk and the possibility that the failure could reoccur. There were no injuries. The failure and current mileages were 15000.

I was "t-boned" on my drivers' side on July 3, 2009 in my 2007 Prius. The car had extensive damage and the electric motor was dismantled and replaced (same one) as part of the repair. At the time of the accident it was fine and I averaged about 48-52 mpg. It was in the Toyota repair shop from July 7th through late August and wasn't returned until mid-September. I have not been driving it since I last picked it up because I did not feel safe it . The problem was never found and I was told ". . . If we can't find the problem, we can't fix it. . . If it happens again, bring it back, it's under warranty. " yesterday (November 4, 2009) I had to drive it to work (downtown) because my husband had our van and I found that it is still accelerating in odd ways like it did when we got it back in September. While in stop and go traffic at a low speed when I went to accelerate to a higher speed (appx. 50 mph) it wasn't accelerating properly, then suddenly "kicked into" acceleration then I had to slow it down with the brakes. The Toyota hybrid engine dismantling manual (I found online when I was told Toyota could not find the problem) on page 1 #1-5 shows how the vehicle should be operating. As I've described since August, the day I first picked it up, this is not how it's functioning. In light of the news yesterday, the national highway traffic safety administration found no defect exists in vehicles with properly installed floor mats. And in fact, the NHTSA said, Toyota vehicles have a very serious defect. I would like to know what Toyota can do now to get my Prius working properly (or consider it totaled) before I (or my family) are in a horrible accident like the 16 people who have already died or the 200+ who have had serious accidents as a result of this issue! by the way, there are no car mats in it, but there were before the accident and this issue never occurred before Toyota's "repairs" to it! updated 11/13/09.

My Toyota Prius accelerated at extremely high speed as I pulled into my driveway. I crashed through the garage door into the boxes and furniture stored in the garage. I had my foot pressed all the way down on the brake but could not slow down or stop but accelerated to a very high speed. There was significant property damage and car damage. It was reported to allstate. No other vehicle was involved. The airbag did not activate! I do not know the exact speed other than to say it was extremely fast and very, very terrifying!.

I own a 2007 Toyota Prius. About a year ago, my accelerator malfunctioned while I was driving. My car suddenly wanted to dramatically increase speed and I had no control over it. I almost got into a really bad car accident. Now I'm hearing that this exact thing is happening to other people with the same car as me. I have tried calling my local Toyota dealership, and they just tell me that there is nothing they can do about it until I get a recall in the mail. I have tried calling customer service, and no one ever picks up the phone. I have emailed Toyota expressing my very strong feelings about this, and I have yet to received an email back. I am very upset about this. I am very scared to drive my own car, and I do a lot of driving. I can't pay to get my car fixed because I am a student. I feel like Toyota is just telling people that they are doing everything they can to help their customers, but I feel that they have treated me with the exact opposite attitude. I also feel like they aren't going to take this problem seriously until there is a tragedy from this malfunction. I really need my car fixed before I get into a bad car accident, but Toyota doesn't seem to care.

Vehicle was sb in lane 2 of 2 when it is reported that the driver lost control struck a guard rail on the right then traveled across two lanes crossing onto a shoulder where it eventually struck a tree. Eye witnesses saw no brake lights at any point. Autopsy concluded that the driver died from trauma caused by impact with the tree. The vehicle was a 07 Prius.

I was driving home from work on the morning of August 16th, 2008 when my 2007 Prius began to hydroplane. I struck the left guardrail , spun right and then the car catapulted across the interstate. I hit a concrete barrier and the car then rolled onto its left driver side and skidded maybe 100'. I chalked it up to the roads being wet but the odd thing was that the car accelerated once I hit the left guard rail and started to cross over the interstate. At this point, the brakes and steering would not work. I crashed head on into the concrete barrier on the right side of the interstate. My story sounds very much like some of the posts I have read. It is frightening that so many people have experienced the same ordeal and that Toyota continues to deny it and blame it on the floor mats!.

Just completed a left turn behind another vehicle. The other vehicle then slowed to make an immediate left turn into a gas station across the road. I was gently applying the brakes to keep my following distance (10ft, traveling about 8mph). The other car suddenly applied the brakes harder to turn, when I pressed harder there was no reaction until I hit the other car, at which point the brakes engaged and I stopped.

I have a 2007 Prius, and every time I go over a bump in the road, my car accelerates,and I get a run away feeling that lasts about 30-45 seconds. In addition, when I am at rest, and the motor is on and my foot in on the brake, the car makes a noise as if the horn is lowly honking. I have described both of these things to my dealership, and they told me that they never heard of this problem before. They said that they checked it out. It still remains.

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. While approaching a red light at 2-3 mph, the vehicle automatically accelerated. The contact broadsided the front passenger side of another vehicle. Her vehicle was destroyed. A police report was filed. The current and failure mileages were 4,500. Updated 4/8/08 state of California traffic report. Updated 04/08/08.

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. While driving 20 mph, the vehicle surged forward and increased in speed. The brakes did not hold. The contact crashed into a tree and the vehicle was destroyed. Her right knee was crushed and the left knee was fractured. She received lacerations from the seat belt on her neck and her ribs were bruised. The passenger sustained broken ribs, a punctured lung, internal bleeding, optical nerve damage, a tracheotomy, and spinal injury. The dealer was notified. A police report was filed and pictures are available. The VIN was unknown. The current and failure mileages were almost 10,000.

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. The contact's spouse was backing down a 20 degree slope with her foot on the brake pedal. The vehicle accelerated backwards downhill at approximately 5 mph, but then accelerated to 35 mph. The contact continued to depress the brake pedal. The vehicle struck a tree and the contact's head struck the head rest. He sustained a head injury and can provide a police report. The dealer was notified and the vehicle was repaired. The current mileage was 12,700 and failure mileage was 10,600.

My near death experience drive my 2007 Toyota Prius on August 30, 2007** **while driving my 2007 Prius behind a 16-wheeler and at an average speed of 60mph, suddenly my Prius' engine & motors roared and the speed surged so strongly that if I didn't ride the brakes, I saw myself ramming into the back of the 16-wheeler in front of me. Also at this time, a Cadillac SUV was following me to close on this georgia secondary-highway#121 whereby I visualize a tragic accident about to occur. After about a half-mile riding the brakes and feeling the pulling torque of those powerful electric motors on the front wheels, I saw my chance to exit ahead where two trash dumpsters appeared. As I stopped the Prius, I notice smoke coming over the hood. So I jump out of the Prius. I saw flames round the front wheel well that soon flamed out. I contacted aaa auto club south and had the Prius towed 45 miles back to the ann taylor Toyota dealership/service center where I originally purchased the 2007 Prius. Five days later, I was notified by the service center that a piece of flexible "carpet mat" suddenly "rigged" enough in order to become wedged onto the accelerator and no additional services required. (invoice#tocs368561 dated 09/05/07) now in disbelief and scared, I had my 2007 Prius re-inspected at precision tune auto care (invoice#165110 dated 09/06/07). This inspected yielded evidence of a previous fire and burned rotors! I contacted by phone Toyota corp customer service and usaa auto insurance. I contacted a legal attorney that advised me that my circumstances required hiring a mechanical engineer to disprove Toyota's assertion or drive the vehicle until the run-a-way acceleration occurs again. As of this date, having been "stonewalled" the past two years, I want to verify that your department has a record of my incident.

I have owned my 2007 Prius since July, 2007. On an erratic basis, as I am braking (often as I am going over a bumpy road), the car seems to surge forward. It is as if the engine starts running harder. The light that indicates poor traction also comes on - it is as if I am not making good contact with the road. I have had no accidents but it is terrifying for me and I am fearful when someone/family member drives my car who is not aware of or has not become comfortable with dealing with this problem. Fyi: even before Prius said we should use different floor mats, I had made the change. I am not one to make a complaint but think that this is the time to make my concerns heard.

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. During brake application at 25 mph, the vehicle continued to accelerate. After she was able to decelerate, the vehicle would no longer accelerate to the intended speed. The vehicle has not been taken to the dealer for inspection. The failure mileage was 500. The current mileage was 18,000.

Cause: flat tire in the front left or front right of the vehicle. The front left demonstrating the most severe hazard failure: the traction control system engages regularly due to a discrepancy between the spare and normal tire size. Traction control cuts power to the drive wheels and cannot be overridden, causing vehicle to lose speed in non-deterministic manner. Vehicle is not responsive. Condition is worst during the first 40 miles driven on the spare tire but consequently improves due to learning inside the car computer. Unfortunately, vehicle is most dangerous when the driver has the least control over the situation. Correction: none, the manufacturer claims the vehicle is operating as designed.

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. Whenever the contact placed the vehicle in park or neutral the vehicle suddenly surged forward without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where the contact was informed that the failure could not be reproduced. There were no prior warnings. The current and failure mileages were 54,000.

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 to 15 mph she applied the brakes and the vehicle continued to surge forward causing her to crash into a gate. The contact was not injured. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a dealer who advised her that they could not diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle continued to have the same failures for two years on an intermittent basis. Each time the vehicle was taken to the dealer they constantly informed her that they could not diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was contacted by mail and replied by saying they have inspected the vehicle and found no known failures. The failure mileage was approximately 9,000. Updated 3/11/11.

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. While driving approximately 25 mph the vehicle will lunged forward and accelerated. The dealer stated that the vehicle was responding normally for an electrical engine. The failure continues to occur on a more frequent basis. The failure mileage was 26,000.

2007 Toyota Prius. Consumer states accelerator and brake problems the consumer stated while driving the vehicle, at times it would feel like either the brakes momentarily disengaged and/or the vehicle would suddenly surged slightly for a second.