general problems of the 2008 Toyota Prius

In temperatures above 95 degrees the vehicle shifts into neutral while driving, and you need to physically hold the shift lever in drive or reverse to keep it out of neutral. It won't go into park at all unless you restart. This could cause a fatal accident while driving, particularly on the freeway. It has not yet been confirmed since it only happens at very high temperatures, which is rare where I live (seattle). There has been quite a lot of discussion on reddit and other internet sites about this problem with Priuses, particularly the 2008 model. I have an appointment with my mechanic to replace the shift lever assembly, which appears to be the most commonly referenced fix. There are no warning lights, other messages, or symptoms before or while this is happening. The problem resolves when the air temperature goes back down.

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 mph she heard a beeping sound then instrument cluster flashed the "parking bake" and a triangle symbol with an exclamation point was illuminated. The contact stated that the "problem with your transmission pull over and put into park (p) had also appeared on the dash board. The contact stated that the shift indicator on the instrument cluster showed that the vehicle had shifted into park (p). The contact stated that the vehicle made an abnormal grinding noise and had begun to lose forward momentum. The contact stated that the engine was still running however the vehicle had also lost power steering and brakes. The contact stated that when she depressed the accelerator the vehicle did not gain forward speed. The contact pulled off the roadway and turned the vehicle off and on. When the contact turned the vehicle on she had regained functionality, there were no warning lights illuminated, however about 10 miles down the road the failure reoccurred. The contact drove the vehicle back to her residence and had to repeat the same actions several more times. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle had not been diagnosed and had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.

On the morning of 11/14/18, vehicle (w. 112,000 miles on it) failed to start or move in our driveway. 12/5/18 advised by caseys, thetoyota dealership in . Williamsbsurg va. , that the cvt had failed and would need to be replaced at a cost of $6500 - happens occasionally!. Subsequently sold vehicle to dealer employee for scrap. I note the NHTSA is considering a recall on the cvt's installed in the Toyota corollas. Seems overdue. Glad for my family this did not happen when the vehicle was in motion.

Car shift lever pops out of drive position and reverse position intermittently on startup. Seems to happen when interior of car is hot after sitting in sun for a long period.

Car stalled completely under high speed acceleration about 70-75mph mph on freeway. Lost all power .

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. While driving various speeds, the vehicle inadvertently shifted into neutral and stopped. The vehicle made a chiming sound and unknown warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.

Inverter water pump replaced at 75000 miles under recall and failure. Same pump failed again at 146600 miles. Replacement pump lasted less miles than original. Pump design or manufacture is not adequate for service. Diagnosis was pump seized during expressway driving (65 mph). Did not cause an immediate stoppage but vsc warning caused reduced controllability.

What's wrong with Toyota and NHTSA? today in hot weather with the air conditioner on my 2008 Prius once again suddenly dropped itself out of drive into neutral without warning and in the middle of the highway. One has to hold the shifter in drive to get out ofeveryone's way. If this isn't a life-threatening safety hazard then I don't know what is. Unless you want a few folks to die before anything gets done about this. The internet and Prius forums document this is not an isolated defect. The dealer throws up its hands¿ not our problem!!.

I have had my 2008 Prius since it was new and I have taken meticulous care of the vehicle with documentation to prove it. The vehicle is burning oil to the extent that I have to put a quart of oil in every 700 miles. My local dealership confirmed it is an issue with the vehicle but Toyota USA said they won't do anything about it because there "has not been enough complaints". However, the Toyota Prius chat website has numerous complaints about oil consumption. Toyota did an extended warranty for the corolla and camry but refuses to do anything for the Prius. Numerous attempts have been made with Toyota USA to correct this issue but they refuse to do so. They did say they corrected the issue in the newer models . . . But yet don't want to acknowledge that is it an issue! so, they corrected an issue that they currently don't acknowledge is an issue!! second to this issue is that the back window can only be closed by the driver's window button and will not close for the person sitting at that window in the back.

On a warm/hot day the vehicle drops suddenly itself out of drive or reverse. This can happen from being parked or crucially while one is driving. Usually the air conditioner is on. You can be driving down a city street or highway when the car drops itself out of gear,¿ very dangerous and scary. One has to hold the shift mechanism in drive continuously to avoid an accident. The internet documents this exact defect in other 2008 Prius'. Visits to the dealer are met with shrugged shoulders.

Gear shifted into neutral without use of gear shift control. Happened several times and wasn't able to shift into reverse or drive. Kept going back to neutral. Park also wasn't working. Powered car off which did put in park. Restarted and drove home without issue. Tried to recreate at home and same problem occurred. Was able to manually hold gear shift in drive or reverse to move car into driveway. Have left car at Toyota service center today for inspection. Did not occur when tech tried it day after incident at 7am. Initial incident occurred on hot afternoon at 5pm with 100 degree temperatures. Have read online of similar problems related to hot temp. Have had car for 5 years with no problems like this. Just crossed 50000 miles and am covered under warranty until oct. I hope it can be repaired. And hope it does not happen while I am driving at faster speeds. So far only happens when parked and recently started. Starter battery was replaced around 2 years ago.

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving various speeds, the vehicle would independently shift from drive into neutral. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the failure was unable to be replicated. The technician informed the contact that replacing the shifter may rectify the failure but was unable to guarantee it would be a permanent fix. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 112,000. The VIN was not available. Remailed 08/20/lj.

When I tried to shift my car into gear, it automatically went to neutral . This has happened several times in warm weather. I have had to drive holding the lever in the appropriate position. This is both cumbersome as well as extremely dangerous. I did call my local Toyota dealer to report the problem, but was never called back. Since this occurs sporadically , I just let it go. It happened again yesterday, may 6, 2015, when I tried to put it in reverse. It jumped to neutral & got close to rolling off a drop off in a parking lot. I held the lever in reverse, & luckily prevented my car from going off a cliff. Frightening!.

Tl- the contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the power train moved into neutral independently. The contact moved the gear shifter back into drive. One week later while the contact was driving 60 mph, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis and the contact was informed that the gear shift mechanism would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The failure and current mileages were 57,000. Kmj.

When I put the car in drive, it slips back into neutral. In order to drive the car, I must hold the lever in the drive position. The dealer is charging me $500 to fix but I believe this is a defect and a safety problem and should be addressed by the manufacturer. I have read many examples of this problem on Toyotanation. Com under "2008 Prius won't stay in gear".

Tl- the contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving the gear would shift into neutral on its own. The contact shifted back into drive gear but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for inspection and they stated that the lever assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 71,000. The VIN was unavailable. Rvk.

After 10 minutes of city street driving, the car was idling in park for 2 minutes. The car was then put into drive and the brake slowly released. As soon as the engine turned over to assist the battery drive, the shift knob bounced into neutral and the dash indicated neutral as well. With the brake on, the shift knob could be placed back into drive and the dash indicated drive. The car stayed in drive for the first second before the engine turned over then slipped back into neutral. This repeated 4 more times. Placing the car in park, turning off the air conditioning, and powering down the car did not prevent the car from slipping into neutral. The car stayed in drive only by holding the shift knob in the drive position. After the 3 minute drive home holding the shift knob in drive, the problem did not repeat. Later that evening and the next day the problem did not repeat. It was approximately 80 degrees f on the afternoon of the occurrence and the car had been parked in the sun for 7 hours, the air conditioning was running at the time of the occurrence.

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the vehicle could only be shifted into neutral. The contact also stated that the vehicle shifted into neutral independently and would not shift into drive, reverse or park. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer but they were unable to replicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was then taken to another dealer where the shift lever assembly was replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 52,000.

The car shifts from both r (reverse) and d (drive) to n (neutral) for no apparent reason. This usually happens after first getting into the car. I'll shift into r, and it will drop to n. Same for d. This can happen a few times each time. Usually, when I hold it in place long enough to start moving over 3 mph, it seems fine and I do not need to continue holding the shift lever. However, lots of reports online, and I am a bit concerned that this will happen more often. This has not happened while actively driving (always in parking lots so far). It may be related to heat, as most occurrences have been on hot days, but not exclusively. This seems to be a defect in the 2008 Prius.

I stopped at my mailbox yesterday and put the car in park. When I got back in the car and attempted to drive away the car slipped into neutral all by itself. I put it back in drive and again it slipped into neutral. It did this 5 times before I finally held the knob down into drive so I could get the car home into my driveway. When I started the car this morning it seemed to work fine, but I am finding tons of reports on the internet of people experiencing the exact same problem and even a you tube video of a lady who documented when it happened to her.

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the vehicle was stopped and shut off when it began to drive forward. The vehicle continued to drive forward and drove behind a building before crashing into bushes. The contact also stated that she left the keys in the ignition when she shut the vehicle off, but the vehicle was shut off while shifted in the park position. Upon locating the crashed vehicle, the contact stated that the keys were in the ignition and the vehicle was still shifted in park. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 36,000.

My 2008 Toyota Prius pops out of drive into neutral sporadically. I have to hold the gear selector in the drive position with my right hand while I drive one handed with my left.

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact was driving approximately 10 mph when the vehicle suddenly shifted into neutral and the contact was unable to shift into any other gear. The vehicle was then inspected by the dealer and they advised the contact that the shifter needed to replaced due to an electrical failure. The vehicle was not inspected. The manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. The failure and current mileages were approximately 109,000.

Car will not stay in drive after it has been idling, in park, on a hot day. When getting back in car and putting the car in drive, it slips back to neutral after accelerator pedal is pressed. Car goes a few feet then slips back to neutral. After putting it back into drive and pressing the pedal again, it slips back to neutral. The only solution is to shut the car off completely and restart after 15-20 minutes. This has twice left me nosed out into a busy street. I first tried to resolve this issue with my local dealership, Toyota, on 9/17/10 . They claimed they could not duplicate the problem and said they had never heard of it even though I brought them several internet accounts of others who reported the exact same problem. This year, when the problem started again with the hot weather, I reported it to Toyota USA (case # ). They also said they've never heard of the problem before and insisted that I must have the problem duplicated at the dealership. So, I returned to my dealership but this time with a dvd copy of the problem that I had taken with my movie camera. This dvd shows the issue perfectly. They responded that a Toyota tech has found an "upgrade" that they can provide me for $240 labor. They commented that my car had 52,000 miles on it when the problem first started so they're being really nice in providing the part "upgrade". It's almost as if they're saying that at 52,000 miles I shouldn't expect the transmission to stay in gear!?!? I told them that the power-train is warrented for 100,000 miles and if this isn't a power-train issue I don't know what is. Futhermore, they may regard it as an "upgrade" but I regard it as a safety defect that should be replaced by Toyota at no charge. I have a copy of the dvd, clearly showing the issue, that I would be happy to provide to you. Thank you for your time. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

When I put my 2008 Prius into the park mode along with the brake but still having the car running, I will open the driver's side door to get my mail. When I then close the door and try and put the car into drive, it will automatically shift into neutral. Numerous tries to get the car into the drive mode will fail. I then coast my car down the hill into my driveway. I have tried shutting off the car and starting from scratch but it will shift into neutral. This has happened intermittently over the last month. I took it to my local dealer and they could find nothing wrong. It occurred after they said there was nothing wrong so I will be taking it back in. The consequences are that I am on a road and can't get my car to drive. One other issue that occurred during this time is that I was driving at approximately 50mph and all of a sudden my car shifted into the b mode. I was able to shift out of it but my concern is that there is something wrong.

Last night about 6:00pm cst. My gas pedal stuck on my 2008 Toyota. I was at a used car dealership looking at trucks. I got out of the Prius to look at a truck. I got back into the car put it in drive and when I took off the pedal stuck to the floor. I put the shifter into neutral stopped the car, put it back into drive and the pedal was still stuck. Once again I put the shifter into neutral, stopped the car and put the shifter into park, adjusted the floor mat (I don't know if the mat was the problem or not) then put the shifter into drive and it was fine. I sure it is not related but I had just had the car in the shop (Smart motors) the previous week to adjust the tire pressure light.

2008 Toyota Prius. Consumer states fault in vehicle the consumer stated he backed out of a parking space, shifted into drive and the vehicle refused to respond to drive as he pressed the accelerator. It seemed the brake was on. A master fault appeared on the screen. It said batteries will not charge if let in the neutral position. After several tries, it finally responded.

I left my 2008 Toyota Prius running and had to run back into a home where I'd just left a sales appointment. Eventhough I had the key fob in my pocket, I noticed out of the corner of my eye as I was crossing the street back towards the house that my car was careening into the Buick parked across the street. I ran and jumped in and steered it away from t-boning the parked Buick, but could not keep it the driver's side of the Prius from scraping along the driver's side corner of the Buick's rear bumper.

I own a 2008 Toyota Prius which surges ahead when I am braking under certain conditions: wet, uneven surfaces, and bumpy roads. It is scary because I nearly hit someone at a stop sign and I feel out of control when it does this. On average, happens 1-2x week. It happens when my foot is off the gas pedal and I am under 20 mph. It seems like a computer error and not accelerator related.

On 3 separate days, 2 during the summer of 2009 and 1 during the summer of 2010, our Prius transmission has automatically and repeatedly shifted from d (drive) to n (neutral) without warning while the car was moving. All incidents happened on extremely hot days (temperatures near 100) in the afternoon after the car had been parked out in the sun and without us having made any accidental contact with the shifter / drive selector while driving. This created dangerous situations several times as the car erratically slowed as we entered intersections or pulled out onto busy streets. Our initial response was to depress the accelerator, but when this had no effect, we discovered the transmission light had moved from d to n. It was especially dangerous when making left hand turns on busy streets with oncoming traffic. We discovered that we could keep the car moving by constantly holding the shifter / drive selector lever in the d position. Turning off the air conditioner did not help the problem. After the first time this happened, we took the car to the dealership to investigate the problem, but the service technicians there were unable to reproduce it. This glitch remains a concern to us because the loss of power and acceleration is unpredictable and therefore dangerous, but at least we know we can keep the car moving by holding the shifter in the d position. Because the car is so computerized, I suspect an electronic component of the drive system may malfunction at high temperatures. The mileage number I gave is an approximation since I didn't record the actual mileage when this first happened, but the dealer who serviced the car shortly thereafter should have that information.

The car from a stop, if you step on the gas while making a right turn the car hesitates really bad and could cause an accident. I've taken it in when the car had less than 10k miles. They could not remake the problem. The car hesitates still and has not changed, it currently has 117k miles. I believe there is a software problem.