general problems of the 2011 Toyota Prius - part 2

Mice invaded my car. Trapped 6. Found nests in engine area, under trunk, inside hood felt in glove compartment in a water bottle. The smell does not leave after having car detailed and steam cleaned. Toyota should take care of this. Not the consumer problem. My car was driven every day and inside a garage.

My wife was driving our 2011 Prius during stop and go traffic. She said the car just took off on her on it's own she tried to brake but it wouldn't stop. It crashed into the motorhome that I was driving. The air bags never deployed. The car was totaled due to the extensive damage.

The honk / spiral cable is defective - only noticed it in 2015 (brought to the dealer) but never used the honk before that - could have been earlier. . . It only works when the steering wheel is completely turned to one side. Since car has never been involved in accident , this is a manufacture defect and not wear and tear - Toyota should cover it - I see they have on other models - I came close to 2 serious accidents when I was unable to warn distracted drivers - the cost is high and this is why I did not not get it fixed in 2015 when I first noticed it (the car was only 4 years old) -.

VIN # [xxx] Toyota Prius 2011, driving on interstate 80 east, at 65 mph, smoke came out of the hood, headlight and wire smelled and burned, car was almost in fire. Shut off car and headlight and smoke stop. Both headlight are damage due to fire. Kept both head light off, got home and did not use the car for a few months. Car is still under warranty but dealer refuse to repair the problem, telling me I have use an aftermarket bulb. The bulb that cause the problem was the bulb that came with the car as new. I tried to tape up the burned wire to get the car safety home. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

As the navigation/gps system was being used on a long trip, the backlight suddenly burned out. Upon touch, the screen was extremely hot. (it did not cool down until appx. 1 hour after the backlight had malfunctioned. With the backlight not working, it renders the entire navigation system, bluetooth, back-up camera, audio system/cd player useless and not useable. (entire screen is black. ) although the vehicle is only 2 1/2 years old, it is no longer covered under the manufacturer's warranty. The part costs between $2400 and $4500 to replace. Numerous complaints have been recorded on various complaint boards about the same issue on 2010 and 2011 Prius cars by consumers.

Wednesday April 30 2014 I went to church, when I came out and got back in my car light was out. They were burning.

I was a front passenger in a 2011 Toyota Prius. We just got in the car. My friend turned it on. I lowered my window and placed my arm in an upright position just over the windows lower molding. My friend went to raise my window because he wanted the a/c on. He used his auto up feature from the drivers side. Before I could remove my arm, the window was already moving up. It started to squeeze my arm in the vertical position. I had my thumb inside the vehicle and my four fingers out side the window from the top. I could not release my hand from either direction. Meanwhile there was a tremendous amount of pressure from the bottom. So bad, I started to yell at my friend to lower the window. He said it wouldn't go down. I started to panic because the pain was very bad. I was about to punch the window but quickly reached across my body using my left hand. I used my passenger side window control and was able to lower the window. This so-called auto-down pinch protection does not activate right away. I firmly believe it activates only past a certain point. According to Toyota's website, this feature should apply to all positions but in fact does not. The back of my arm was sore for days and did bruise. We tested my friends car again another day and discovered the exact same thing had happened again. This time we only used our hands to apply pressure at the very bottom instead of only at the top or in the middle. This is a huge concern. Toyota was emailed but I haven't heard back from a representative. In my opinion, I should have received an email back or a phone call at the least. It saddens me because I too am the owner of two Toyotas. Where is the priority now?.

Vehicle loses braking function while traveling over potholes, recessed manhole covers, and all other types of rough road surfaces. Braking function is delayed and does not return to previous power/braking strength after traversing the obstacle; this results in the need to depress the brake pedal further to re-engage enough braking function to stop the vehicle safely. Serious concern is that if the vehicle is under hard braking at the time of the event will there be enough travel left in the brake pedal to reengage the brakes enough to stop. I have experienced this regularly, one or more times per month, since I purchased the car. Up until now most occurrences have been just a minor annoyance. I researched the phenomenon on the web and many just write it off as a nuisance / minor quirk of the vehicle so I accepted that opinion and continued on enjoying the car. That is until may 21, 2013 when under hard braking (30-35mph driving speed then heavy braking to 0mph) the vehicle traveled over a recessed manhole cover and it felt like it fully lost all of its braking power and nearly sent me into the back of the vehicle stopping hard ahead of me. I had to floor the brakes before I felt any braking power return after the bump. This issue will lead to an accident if it has not already. Please keep an eye on it.