Car Accelerates On Its Own problems of the 2009 Toyota Prius

2009 Toyota Prius. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle acceleration issues. The consumer stated the vehicle was inspected on may 10, 2010. On February 11, 2010, the consumers wife was approaching a small business in a parking lot. She was almost at a dead stop, when the vehicle suddenly went a rapid acceleration mode, jumped a curbed and sidewalk, and hit a brick wall of a business building. There was severe damage to the vehicle as well as to the brick wall of the building. The air bag did not deploy.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that when the vehicle stopped it suddenly accelerated. The contact attempted to apply the brakes but the vehicle would not slow down causing the vehicle to crash into a wall. The crash the air bags did not deploy and the contact suffered injuries to the neck, knee, and chest. The contact called the manufacturer regarding the crash and the manufacturer stated that they wanted to inspect the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle was unsafe and does not want it repaired. The failure mileage was 9,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the vehicle was at a complete stop when it suddenly accelerated. The vehicle crashed into the brick wall although the driver was attempting to apply the brakes. The driver experienced severe whiplash, swelling in her chest, bruising on her ribs and shoulder. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. There was no mention of the vehicle being destroyed. A few months prior to the failure the dealer performed an complete vehicle inspection and dealer stated that there was nothing wrong it. The manufacturer was not notified. The current and failure mileages were approximately 8,000.

I was involved in 2 identical accidents over the past 6 months with the same car, a 2009 Toyota Prius. In December '09 I was making a right turn to pull into a parking spot. I was completely in the spot and went to come to a full stop when my 2009 Toyota Prius suddenly accelerated and crashed into a car. Then again on June 21, 2010, I was making a right turn into a parking spot and the same car suddenly accelerated as I went to come to a full stop in the parking spot. This time the car jumped the curb and went through a chain link fence. Both times I was making a right turn into the spot, both times I was braking and both times the car accelerated as I went to come to a full stop. The Dec '09 accident was reported to the police, the June'10 accident was not.

The contact owned a 2009 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while attempting to park, the vehicle abnormally accelerated at a rapid rate of speed. The contact was unable to stop the vehicle and crashed into a brick wall. The contact was uninjured. A police report was available. The vehicle was repaired by the dealer however, the contact did not feel safe driving the vehicle and traded the vehicle for another. She stated she had experienced numerous unintended acceleration incidents prior to the crash. The contact called the manufacturer who inspected the vehicle but offered no further assistance. The failure mileage was 20,001 and the current mileage was approximately 20,045.

2009 Toyota Prius - unintended acceleration. On this vehicle, uncontrolled acceleration can be reproduced at will. I called Toyota and they are treating it as yet another crank call, service manager advised to remove floor mat and bring in later in week. I would hate to see it swept under the carpet like other recent complaints.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the vehicle suddenly accelerated to 60 mph after he applied pressure to the accelerator pedal at a traffic light. The driver was able to stop the vehicle and drive onto the emergency lane where the vehicle was left overnight. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer but no repairs were made when the complaint was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 18,000. The current mileage was 18,224.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Prius. While the contact was driving 75 mph the vehicle suddenly accelerated. In order to stop the acceleration the contact had to apply the brakes and shift the vehicle into neutral gear. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was informed that the cause of the failure could not be determined. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 15000 and the current mileage was 18000.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Prius. The contact stated as she was driving there was unintended acceleration which happen twice. To stop the vehicle she had to pull to the side of the road or run the vehicle into the curb. The dealer was called and stated she can bring the vehicle in for them to take a look but there is no fix for the failure. The Toyota manufacturer was called and they stated there is no fix and gave her a claim number. The failure mileage was 25,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Prius. The contact was driving the vehicle at approx 10 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated as the driver's foot was on the brake trying to slow down. The vehicle in front was rear ended but the vehicle still did not stop accelerating so the driver swerved and hit a sign. There were no injuries reported at the scene, but after 3 people in the other vehicle reported injuries. A police report was taken at the scene. The contact took the vehicle to the dealership after the body repairs were done and the dealer inspected the vehicle. He was informed that they could find nothing wrong with the vehicle. He called the manufacturer and reported the problem. He was still awaiting a response at the time of the complaint. The current mileage was approximately 14,000. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000. Updated 03/12/10. Updated 09/30/10.

We purchased a 2009 Prius, 11/08. In 3/16/09 it accelerated unexpectedly on the NJ turnpike near newark airport, a speed judged at 85 miles/hour. I was the driver, there were 4 passengers. Clearly unattended acceleration not caused by a floor mat. Scenario: traveling in right lane, came up behind cement mixer traveling at 45-50 mi/hour; accelerated quickly to get into middle lane; middle lane traffic constant, traveling min. 70 mi/hour; once in middle lane, DE-accelerated; instead of DE-accelerating, the car engine roared, taking off at an unbelievable speed; turned on flashers, put foot on brake; able to control speed of car, breaking all the time, engine roaring. No place to pull over. Only thought: get to toll booth, hope I could stop it completely with brake; suddenly, after about 5 min. , there was a sound in the engine (?) like a thud; car resumed normal operations. Follow-up: went into nyc, drove car home that evening, 3 hour drive; husband took car to vineland Toyota dealer where bought; they said black box showed that, in addition to most recent acceleration, there were prior accelerations; we never noticed them; they could find nothing wrong with it; said mat had been the problem; husband, former ceo/amer. Lung assoc. , contacted Toyota regional, saying that he was not satisfied with diagnosis of problem - we were afraid to drive the car. Knew management because of Toyota's support of ala. In fact, after his retirement, endorsed '02 Prius in Toyota brochure, and was featured in 2 Toyota videos; management sent techs from reg. Office; reps concurred with dealer: problem was floor mat. Outcome: no work we know of was done to rectify acceleration; mat removed, but couldn't see how it interfered with pedal. Couldn't replicate the event by moving mat around. No explanation for thud; little likelihood that the mat could slip back in place. Don't trust car! please advise us of your intent on this matter. Thank you.