general problems of the 2011 Toyota Prius

I was driving my car at over 70 mph on a highway, no check engine, no issues, just had oil changed when check hybrid system alert came on with check engine light. I started to change lanes to get to shoulder when my car just died, completely. It died in the middle of the highway merging with another major road, so I was stuck between 2 lanes of 70mph traffic on either side. The time to react to the sudden warning to my car dying was less than 2 minutes. I quickly called 911 to ask for help and was told someone had already reported my breakdown as well because my car had died in a horribly dangerous area. I was very lucky that a state trooper came quickly and blocked off my car until it could be towed for repair. I was told that I need a new hybrid battery. The fact that I had no signs of failure before complete shut down makes for a very dangerous driving situation and makes me second guess ever buying a Prius again.

In 11/2024, I started experiencing intermittent noises coming from the engine compartment of my 2011 Toyota Prius. The initial sound resembled the buzzing noise generated when first starting the vehicle. Then the noise started to persist for extended periods after the vehicle was turned off. It would oscillate between buzzing for approximately 10 seconds & remaining dormant for about 1 minute, repeating this cycle. The duration of these cycles could extend for up to 20 minutes. Concurrently, I experienced several instances where the brake pedal would abruptly become stiff & difficult to press. Notably, no warning lights were illuminated on the dashboard. Recognizing these symptoms as unusual, I conducted online research and discovered that the issue could potentially stem from a malfunction in the “brake booster pump and assembly. ” given the potential for a loss of braking power and the risk of personal/public safety, I scheduled a diagnostic inspection at Toyota of poway, poway, CA, on 12/18/2024. It confirmed the presence of a problem with the brake booster pump and associated components. In light of this diagnosis, I made the decision to refrain from driving the vehicle until the repairs were completed. The repair costs amounted to $3,475. 47. I found I had received a notification from Toyota’s customer support program, designated as “customer support program notification-zjb. ” this notification explicitly acknowledged this defect & provided a repair coverage policy that stipulated a coverage policy of which I’m no longer entitled to. Despite not meeting the eligibility criteria for the repair coverage program, I am deeply troubled by the fact that this recognized defect persists in vehicles currently on the road, such as mine, without any corresponding recall action and subsequent repair costs covered by Toyota. Fortunately, I was spared from any accidents as a direct consequence of this issue. Many similar complaints here support this dangerous issue!.

The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated, the vehicle had unexpectedly shut off. Additionally, the transmission failed to shift into the intended gear. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who replaced the catalytic converter, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer who diagnosed that the inverter was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included in the NHTSA campaign number: 14v053000 (hybrid propulsion system, electrical system). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 117,000.

If I make a longer trip more than 10 to 15 miles the car does fine if I drive it 2 miles down the road or across the street to a different store the car tells me to check hybrid system. I had it check and code c1391 came up and that was repaired. Once repaired picked up from shop drove across the street to gas station and it told me to check hybrid system again and went into limp mode. Once I do a reset the car will start back up and drive fine as long as it's a long trip if I go on another short trip it will do it again.

The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving at 60 mph, the vehicle lost motive power and stopped in the middle of the road. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to an independent mechanic who informed the contact that they could not duplicate the failure. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 190,000.

The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 mph he began to smell a burning odor and then he heard an abnormal sound like an explosion. The contact observed black smoke being emitted from under the hood. The contact pulled off of the road and turned the vehicle off. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contacted lifted the hood and saw that there was a flame coming from under the engine. The contact was able to extinguish the flame with a hand held extinguisher. The contact had the vehicle towed to his residence. The contact called an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The contact stated that when the engine was lifted out of the engine compartment a hole was discovered in the engine block. The vehicle had been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

One year after bought, was losing power, replacing a lot of batteries, headlights and lamps then car would lose power while driving, not start continually everyday for each day after and even started on its own. I took in a lot and they put my VIN to the wrong person. . Someone rainsford so my service recs were not recorded. Said no battery code, didnt check altenator, and even tho serv advisor said the break was squishy to him and he heard the loud buzz noise when pushing, it was not replaced. They tried to blame it on keys being in car which is how it starts and runs! not parked on hill or in bad temps and driven long trips, none of which should be reqired to start a car to get to dying patients on time. We bought charger and use on both Priuses daily. Lost power while driving, got hurt, and josh's pt. Died. Nothing but headache nightmares. Have long written records where submitted all and they just like to deny things or try to find a way to blame on consumer. My only fault was buying an undisclosed deathtrap. They need to refund us both cars and damages and expenses and our time and missed work. The shuttle was a joke. I have my own top notch code reader and it said battery was fine. It was new, yet they wanted to sell me one so they said it coded but refused to show me. They are just trying to make money and really hurting people. Sending my title and all my personal info to a stranger and me catching after 7 years broght on an id theft im still fighting. Very rude front staff and drivers. . Sheldon.

Tl-the contact owns a 2011 Toyota Prius. The contact's niece called in a recall inquiry for the brakes back on 10/28/19. Since that time, the contact stated that he had a crash in 12/2019. The contact was pulling into a parking space and the vehicle suddenly took off and crashed into a post in front of a store. The contact's foot was on the brake at that time. The VIN tool showed no recalls. There were no injuries and no police report filed at that time. The contact called his insurance company and trhey paid the claim for the repairs. The contact did not remember if he called the dealer and manufacturer. Now the vehicle was currently with an independnent mechanic because the brake was again malfunctioning. The failure mileage was 80,000. Tf.

I was making a left turn at a very busy los angeles intersection and during needed acceleration to turn, the Prius lost power for a full second and then power came back slowly and I barely made it through the intersection, a t bone collision was imminent, and I missed getting hit by inches. All the warning lights on the dash illuminated and I was frazzled. The hybrid battery was 2/3 rds full at the time. There have been other instances where the car lost power for brief moments when the hybrid battery was low and didnt think anything of it at the time. The mpg has remained below 40 and after hybrid failure, around 26. Also, I had a gen 2 Prius and the catalytic converter went bad around 150,000. California punishes consumers by not allowing after market cats and forces them to buy oem at an extreme mark up. Without a proper cat, you cant have cal smog approval, no approval, no registration. Total waste of resource when the actual cost of replacement of the cat is around $2k at the dealer. If I lived in az, after market is $475. At that point a car of that age and milage is worth around $2-3k. Battery and cat replacement costs should not eclipse the value of the car. Still doesn't mention the rest of the mechanical and saftey apparatus . If an engine works half time on a hybrid, why does the cat burn out so soooon? the scam is baked into the vehicle and our govt supports it. Fix carb!.

A few months ago I had the required software update to adjust the safety feature in the hybrid system in case of a failure. While driving on a side street on 3/1/19 I pressed the gas after being stopped, the car jerked, and the check hybrid system light came on. This was on railroad tracks but the car did drive on the gas engine a short distance to make it over the railroad tracks. I had the car towed to a Toyota dealer who stated the inverter was bad, but that Toyota would replace it as they extended the warranty. This seems to be an issue that Toyota is ignoring. I also own a 2014 Toyota Prius v which is also prone to this issue. Toyota should address this issue beyond a mere software update.

As I was driving down the freeway my car filled with smoke and I realized my engine had caught fire, I was able to get out, the whole front of my car was engulfed in flames in no time.

Starting from a stop after engine shut-down, the car felt like it was going over rumble strips. This got worse over time until I realized that it was actually an engine mis-fire. The dealer traced the root cause to a leaking cylinder head gasket that is a common failure on high mileage 3rd generation Prius cars. $4,000 repair. First car I've ever owned that cylinder head gaskets are routine maintenance items. Clear design issue. If you keep this car long enough, you will be buying a head gasket repair.

In motion while accelerating past a slower car. Heard and felt a pronounced thump and lost engine power on busy local thoroughfare. Moved to a turn lane and stopped. Multiple dashboard lights and "check hybrid system" on led display. Power off car, and back on twice and got the same error on display. Found that car could move on ev power and I got it into a safer location at an adjacent parking lot. Had vehicle towed to repair facility. As a driver this was disconcerting as I could not clearly determine if the car was at all driveable. If a driver were to stop immediately in the same situation they would be on the roadway. If I had not pressed on the accelerator pedal after powering on the car again I would not have known I could move the car to a safer location. Display should read "hybrid system failure" then "limited ev power available" then "move to safe area if necessary" cause: hybrid inverter failure. Repaired by Toyota under 2014 eoe and new 10/2018 recall j0a.

I was getting on the interstate and all of a sudden I lost power and my dash lite up check hybrid system /abs/ breaks. I can not drive my car because it has no power please help thank you.

The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Prius. On several occasions, the contact had to add four quarts of oil within 10,000 miles of driving. On another occasion, the contact had to add three and a half quarts of oil. The contact stated that the oil pressure indicator failed to operate and warn him that the oil was low. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that they had not received many complaints and that the vehicle was out of warranty. The failure mileage was 98,000.

Burns--does not leak-- 1 qt. Every 1000 mi. 85000mi on car.

Iive had my Prius from 4-14 to the present 2016. I keep having issues with the dealership I take it to for repairs. Bob smith in la crescenta CA. After mentioning and describing issues, the staff there says that unless the dash lights up with a message and gives a code, they cant fix it. So in order for them to look into it any further than me telling them dash light is nec. Ive told them about the ac noise from the first say I took the car in to grt services at 33k. They say they dont hear or see anything. My ac compressor sounds like ita going ro explode when ac is on. Brakes have been extremely diff. To explain because of terminology. They seem to lose their power when being pressed and abs seems to malfuncion?? so they drive it and tell me its nohing I need to worry about and will be fixed when changed. Change brakes and the prob persists. Not only abs but firestone says my hardware has issues as well. I brinf it to the attention of the staff and nothing seems to get donw about it. . . My odo. Speedom is/was off +2 mph. My weather seals have been stripped and ripped off the vehicle which now causes water leaks from every crevise. . And the biggest two of all my complaints are 1- hybrid batt. Fan never worked and I wasnt told. . . Hyb batt has nwvwr worked properly (drains way too fast when stopped at a light or in traff) along with the heat created by the batt and the engine that fill up the cabin and qwill have the temp raised upwards of 90+ on a 75 deg day. 2- the ecu's ipm's (or something like that) has not been calib. Or updated. Even received coverage stickers from toy hedqrts stating full coverage if a. B. C. (listing of problems or malfuncions) I desctibe thw exact same symptoms to them and get the same respons"no code, no fix" help and ps I just checked the VIN onlne 4my veh & it says a diff pakage w/a bunch of extras that I never got upon purchae???_hmmm??.

Hard knocking when turning on engine until I compress and decompress my break. Has happened 3 times, only during the cold months.

Upon start up in the cold the engine shakes violently for 15 seconds.

The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that she noticed a leak coming from inside the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis where the contact was advised that there were spiders in the hvac drainage hose and the spiders had created a nest egg in the hose, which caused the leak. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and they advised her that the failure was not covered under her warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were approximately 20,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Started car after prolonged period of cold soak (parked for one week outside in temperatures around the freezing mark). Engine exhibited a loud knock/rattle and had a delayed throttle response as I was pulling out onto the street. Had to shut engine down (with vehicle located in street, safety concern) to stop loud knock and re-start engine. Rattle/knock had disappeared. Toyota dealership when presented with issue and Toyota issued TSB (t-sb 0012-10) on this very issue declined to perform necessary work since they were not able to "recreate" the issue. I explained that this only happened once and to replicate they would need to park it in the same conditions for a week. I cannot leave my car with them for this long and therefore this is an unreasonable request. Multiple owners have experienced this problem (as a quick search on youtube will confirm) yet Toyota is denying to fix this.

The car suddenly decelerated from 65 miles an hour to about 5 miles per hour while driving on a highway at night with the shoulder blocked due to road construction. This same problem was present in the 2004 Prius and was apparently the subject of NHTSA investigation. There was a recall issued on November 30, 2010 for 650,000 units of the 2010 Prius. Toyota has not been able to determine the cause of this problem in the earlier models and admits it doesn't know the cause of the problem in the 2011 Prius. This defect presents a great danger, especially when driving in heavy traffic at highway speeds.

Tl the contact owns a 2011 Toyota Prius. When the vehicle was placed into reverse (when the electric powered fuel motor had not been running), the brakes began to seize when the brake pedal was depressed. There were no warning indicators illuminated. Also, during cold weather, the engine and entire vehicle shook. The contact called precision Toyota of tucson (700 w wetmore rd, tucson, az 85705, (520) 795-5565) and notified them of the failures. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 15.