Automatic Transmission Problems of Toyota Prius - part 2

My 2008 Prius has a transmission-related problem recently, and I believe it may be connected to the sudden accelerator issues. The transmission stopped operating properly about three months ago, and the Toyota dealership checked it and could find no problem. However, my gas mileage has dropped about ten mpg, and the transmissions vacillates between being sluggish (barley going up normal hills, ) or the engine sometimes racing. I wonder if the car is safe, and if the computer running the transmission is the problem on other vehicles, the ones whose "accelerators stick" maybe it this the electronic program on the transmission, not the accelerator. I am afraid to drive mine now - am using my ten year old farm truck instead on many occasions.

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I have a 2010 Toyota Prius, v model, delivered in October 2009. The incident is after parking the car for about 10 minutes, then restarting, and putting the car in reverse. . . Upon backing out the car will surge and I have to press the brake hard to stop the car, at which time the car attempts to speed up and I have to maintain hard pressure on the brake to stop the car. This has happened to the car about 4 times starting in November 2009.

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My 2010 Toyota Prius seems to have brief periods of acceleration when I take my foot off the accelerator and am just putting it on the brake. I have to brake hard to keep it from lurching forward.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Prius. While driving 2 mph in reverse, the contact shifted the vehicle into drive and noticed that the vehicle was still reversing. The vehicle was then shifted back into reverse and then back into drive before the vehicle would drive forward. The failure has occurred on three different occasions the vehicle had not been diagnosed by the dealer. He contact also stated that when pressing the start button the vehicle would not start. The brake light also illuminates on the instrument panel even though the brakes are not engaged. The failure mileage was 5000 and the current mileage was 10000.

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Seems to not always "catch" when I put it in "park. " had one incident in which car rolled as I got out of it and I believe I did indeed push the "park" button. Have had several other incidents in which I know I pushed the "park" button and the car began to roll until I pushed the button again.

While crossing a small bridge over an expressway, applying brakes at the point of bumpy transition caused the vehicle to lurch forward for approximately one second. This caused a sudden panic, but no other effects. This is the second occurrence at the exact same bridge transition and bump over the course of 8 months. There are no recognizable side effects. This has not been reported to the dealer, nor to the company.

This was a first time occurrence for my 2007 Prius. I was stopped midway on my mountain, long & steep, dirt driveway trying to park along the rock side. It was too tight to park so decided to continue down to the bottom. I was in reverse and shifted, with my foot on the brake, into drive. The car suddenly bolted forward propelling me through the fence and down a steep embankment to our deck where 12 people were having a dinner meeting. My brakes didn't work, nor did the steering. The bolting force was heard by all on the deck. There is no way I would have pressed the gas by mistake for two reasons: your foot must be on the brake to shift; and as is typical on our steep gravel roads, one never presses the gas pedal while proceeding down. The car propelled 10 or 12 feet forward crossing the drive at a diagonal, crashed through the fence boarding the drop off, and proceeded down the embankment stopping only when it hit the big tree by our deck. To my right were all the guests and my husband, just feet away from the oncoming, out of control car. Had I missed that particular tree, I would have rolled down an even steeper ravine because of rocks to bounce off and very sharp drop off.

I own a 2008 Toyota Prius. Several months ago I started to experience a problem with the vehicle. When I travel in reverse and then stop to go forward, the vehicle doesn't move when I shift it to forward. When stopped, I have returned the shifter to reverse and it doesn't move. If I turn off the car and place it in drive, it moves. I believe it's a electrical problem because the shifter doesn't have linkage and its electric. It doesn't happen all the time and has occurred on four different occasions. When I brought the car to the dealer for service, nothing was found because it wasn't occurring at the time.

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Twice my Toyota Prius has "surged" unexpectedly. I was coasting into a parking space both times, so was able to stomp on the brake and stop the car. When the first recall was issued I knew it wasn't the floor mat. Mine was the original one and was firmly attached. It did not move and "entrap" the pedal and I did not have my foot on the gas when the surges happened. I did not bother to report it at the time, as I am an older female and have been treated like an idiot at the dealership when I spoke with the service people. The car has been fine in every other way. I believe this is a throttle or computer/electronic problem and I believe that they know it.

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2008 Toyota Prius loses all power when traction control engages.

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. After parking the vehicle, it rolled down-hill. She attempted to re-enter the vehicle to stop it, but was unsuccessful. Consequently, the vehicle crashed into a pole. She went to the hospital for knee injuries and lacerations. The manufacturer was notified, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 55,810. Updated 1/5/10 updated 01/06/jb.

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May 22, 2008 Toyota motor sales, u. S. A. , inc. 19001 south western Ave. Dept. Wc11 torrance, CA 90501 dear sirs: I have been a long-time Toyota customer and last year purchased a 2007 Prius. I am also a subscriber to consumer reports magazine. Although I am delighted with the comfort, headroom, gas mileage, convenience, quiet and appearance of the car, there is a real safety issue. When I was initially researching a new automobile, I dismissed some peoples reports of sudden acceleration as being inaccurate. However, it is real, and I have figured out under what specific circumstances it occurs. At the end of deceleration for a stop light, stop sign, or just before a turn, when the car is traveling 5-10 mph, more commonly on a downhill incline, and most importantly, when the pavement is irregular or bumpy, my Prius will transition from electric to gasoline power and make a sudden forward lunge forward lasting 1-2 seconds. On most occasions, the lunge is mild, require a little extra brake pressure. But some times, the lunge is more severe, requiring firm brake pressure to avoid striking the automobile in front of me. I reported this to my local dealer, huntington Toyota, in huntington, new york, at my last maintenance visit. The technician wrote that the car was operating normally, although I imagine it is difficult to test these exact circumstances. I would appreciate your reply and investigation into this safety issue. Sincerely, paul l. Krawitz national highway traffic safety administration consumers union.

I have a 2004 Prius. The shift lever began to stick in the select gear position instead of going back to the neutral position. When this happened, the park button would not work, causing the car to move forward if the brake was released. I called Toyota and complained twice. The gear select lever needs to be modified so it doesn't stick and the software changed to allow the park function to work when the car is stopped regardless of the position of the gear select lever.

2nd occurrence of Toyota Prius acceleration. While wife leaving daughters school, car accelerated (pedal off the accelerator!), she jammed on brakes, but was close in provoking an accident on main street. This is the second occurrence. First time, she hit a taxi while stopped in a red light. Accident was reported by police (no injuries). First time took car into the dealer (no apparent problems). Planning on taking car again to dealer tomorrow. !.

When shifting from park to drive, car sometimes goes into reverse instead. Dealer confirmed problem and offered to replace shifting mechanism for $50 deductible on extended warranty. Will try to obtain old part.

3 months ago, all of the check engine lights in my Toyota Prius 04 came on. I brought it straight to the dealer. They took it for a test drive, but the lights had gone off and they refused to check it, saying it was okay. Then, yesterday, all of the lights came on again. I was on the san francisco bay bridge and could not pull over anywhere. Then, the accelerator stopped working and the car rolled to a stop. I called 911 and tried to turn off the car. The car would not turn off. The accelerator still wouldn't work and I was stuck in the middle of heavy traffic on the bridge. Finally, caltrans used a tow truck to push me off of the bridge. I was then towed to the Toyota dealer. The Toyota dealer checked the car and discovered that I had a bug in the software control unit. He updated the software and, supposedly, it now works. I asked him if it was the same issue that was reported in the news as a potential recall and he said yes.

The consumer had the vehicle for 2 weeks and had an episode where the engine stalled on the highway. The consumer believed it may have been caused by a momentary event to shift it incorrectly from the braking mode. When the consumer first attempted to put it in reverse, it wouldn't take then, and it would not take into the proper drive mode either. The engine had stalled, and would not go into drive. The consumer stopped the vehicle, and was able to restart it. The consumer had not experienced problems since then. The consumer called and reported the problem to Toyota. Gasoline engine on hybrid vehicle failed to kick in or stalled.

I have an early 2005 Prius which has "stalled" I. E. Lost al engine power on two occasions. I believe the "stalling" is intentionally designed into the software to protect the transmission. I think a design decision intended to protect the car is putting my life at risk. My early 2005 Prius has "stalled" twice: once on the freeway at 80 mph when I had to jam on the brakes (someone cut me off) and again on surface streets at 30 mph when I floored it to accelerate suddenly. In each case the transmission's internal components would be under tremendous strain unless it disengaged. In each case all lights, headlights, indicators stayed on, the "check engine" light came on, the car continued coasting (as if put in neutral), and the car was unresponsive to the throttle and the gear shift. (in neither case did I hit the gear shift nor power button before the "stall"). In both cases I coasted to a safe spot (try crossing five lanes of 70+ mph freeway traffic at night while coasting). Only after parking, turning off power, and restarting power would the car operate. . . At which point it operated fine. Dealer couldn't find anything wrong. . . In fact the second incident was two days after my 30,000 mile service! they apparently took no action regarding the concern I expressed to the service rep with respect to stalling. . . He assured me they would check for all available software updates, but corporate told me today there is at least one update (relating to the navigation system) which was not downloaded, so apparently the dealer is not responding to this life-threatening concern. I called corporate today to start a "case" and was told they are unaware that this is a recurrent issue. This despite discussions in the press and on hybridcars. Com. I am contacting you in case I am killed or injured before Toyota figures out that this is a serious and recurrent issue. The first incident was around January or February 2005, and the most recent was Monday sept 19 2005.

The consumer owns a 2004 Toyota Prius. He says that he is having problems with the vehicle because it will shut off while in traffic. Also the park mechanism will disengaged and the lock button does not unlock the doors as specified in the owners manual. Also the start button does not consistently start the vehicle properly. The vehicle experienced: inoperative brake light, the fuel door spring was replaced, dome light remained on, engine would disengage, lights would remain lit after the vehicle was started, vehicle would not move until the vehicle was shut off and restarted to get the brake light to go out, rattling as if it were going to stall, the alarm sounded on one occasion when the door was opened, fuel door spring malfunctioned and fuel door would not open. The technicians were unable to verify the door lock malfunction. The consumer would like the vehicle replaced with a 2005 model equipped as detailed on the original invoice including aftermarket items paid for.

I have an unresolved safety issue with my 2005 Toyota Prius. This happened to me on the first day that I drove my then-brand new car. I still remember this dangerous event very clearly. I can easily replicate the problem for you. I was about to back my Prius out of its diagonal parking space on a busy main street in downtown el cajon, CA. It was daytime. Vehicles were parked on either side of me, which prevented me from seeing whether or not there was traffic approaching. I carefully backed out of the parking space until I could see whether or not there was traffic approaching. I saw that there was and it was approaching quickly, so with the intention of stopping my cars backwards movement and, instead, going forward into my parking space, I hit the brakes and quickly moved the gearshift lever over to the left and fully down into the drive gate to the stop position, before I released the spring-loaded shift lever (which sends it back to its 'home' position). I then quickly pressed the gas pedal, intending for the car to move forward so that I could drive back into my parking space. To my shock, my car jumped further backwards into the traffic lane, instead of forwards into my parking space. Having good reflexes, and in somewhat of a panic now, I once again shoved the gearshift lever fully into the drive gate and fully down until it contacted the stop, before letting go of it. Once again I punched the accelerator pedal and once again the car jumped -- backwards! I fully applied the brakes and hoped that the oncoming vehicles would not hit me. Fortunately, they did not. The problem is that if the gearshift lever on the 2005 Prius is moved too quickly, there will be no gear change. This could be corrected if the gear selector remained in the appropriate gear's gate, giving the electronics time to make the shift. This flaw could cause accidents and be falsely attributed to driver error. In the interests of safety, it should be fixed.

2004 Toyota Prius internal combustion engine failed to start but vehicle operated in electric mode. When battery failed, the vehicle shutdown in park so we were unable to push the vehicle out of the street. Failure of a component should not make it impossible to move the vehicle. Vehicle should not fail in park.

The vehicle failed to accelerate. The consumer stated the vehicle stalled and various lights illuminated, the vehicle was towed to the dealer, the computer showed multiple codes, however they were unable to find anything wrong with the vehicle.

See all problems of the 2002 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Dt: the contact owns a 2004 Toyota Prius. The car goes into a mode where it will not let the consumer shift into gear and because it is electric shift, the consumer does not know that he was unable to shift into gear. If he is on a hill this condition would make the vehicle coast down hill. When the consumer gets into the car, presses the brake and presses the power button the car goes into the ignition on mode instead of the ready mode. If he is looking at the dash he can tell this has happened but if he does not look at the dash he would not know that he was unable to shift the car into gear. If the car is on a slope it will go down the slope as soon as he lets off the brake and stepping on the gas does not make a difference. Obviously if there is anything in front or behind the car and there was something in the cars path down the hill he would run into it. Also, two visits to the dealer unable to duplicate or fix the problem because it is intermittent.

While driving, the consumer noticed a noise was coming from the front end. The first failure of the front tires was July 2,2003 at 20624 miles. New replacement tires were put on the rear. The old tires were moved to the front. The front tires failed Sep 27 2003. Took vehicle to dealership and the consumer was informed by the mechanic that the tires wore out badly on the inside and would need to be replaced. Tire size p175/65r14xl. The vehicle jerked when started. No problem found.

Dealership ordered new power train, which took more than a month to arrive (2/25/02).

My wife's 2001 Toyota Prius with 108k miles stopped being able to be driven when she was driving it home. It stopped on a major highway and more warning lights than I'd ever seen came on. It would not drive more than a few mph and would shake and run roughly. It had to be towed approx 81 miles to a Toyota dealer near our home. They told us the transmission needs to be replaced for about $7000 including labor. After doing some research online, I found that this is a somewhat common problem with other owners (priuschat. Com). Also, that there were several references to Toyota covering part or most of the bill, even on vehicles not under warranty. If that's not admitting a defect, I don't know what is.

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