Steering Failed Problems of Toyota Prius

Steering column broke. Driving out of a parking lot. Heard and felt a loud clunk. Thumping feeling when turning steering wheel. Was told by dealer that the steering column failed. Only 130,000 miles. Should never happen on any car.

See all problems of the 2012 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The car was involved in a moving collision that totaled the drivers front end and caused the driver to be injured because the air bags failed to deploy. I suspect that the cars steering failed while going around a sharp curve. The car has lost steering one time before and was taken to the dealer who could not duplicate the problem.

See all problems of the 2009 Toyota Prius 🔎.

I was driving, trying to park my car, when the steering (power failed) it took all might strengthen to turn the wheel. The car was serviced by Toyota regularly - there were no previous signs or indicators that any problem existed. Steering system failed; had the car towed to a Toyota dealership. At 50,000 the Toyota dealership said the steering column failed, not getting any electricity to the steering column. Needed a new steering column.

The steering on the car failed completely. There was a popping/snapping sound while turning the car, and afterward I could turn the steering wheel without any resistance (much less than usual) and the wheels did not turn at all. A little earlier in the drive I could feel the steering on the car feel a little off: I had to turn the wheel a little more to get the wheels to turn and something just felt loose. I'm incredibly grateful that the final 'snap' occurred while in the parking lot and not while on the highway/at higher speed. . Read more...

See all problems of the 2007 Toyota Prius 🔎.

I was driving on interstate highway 5 north to los angeles late evening around 9:00pm. The steering column began making a grinding noise and vibrating. Each time I turned the steering wheel either to the left or to the right the car made a vibration and grinding noise and felt stiff. The jarring was felt in the acceleration pad and in the brake pads each time I either accelerated or braked. I took the car to the dealer where I service my car on July 5th 2014. The service department was able to duplicate the exact complaint I had. The service department gave me an invoice informing me that the charges to fix the steering column and the electric motor inside would cost me over $2000. 00. I called Toyota on 14th July to ask if they would take care of this issue. I was informed by Toyota on July 18th, that they would not cover this because it was out of warranty, and the car had 148,000 miles, and the recall work had been done in 2012 on this vehicle. As a peace offering they said they could give me 700$ to fix it or buy a new vehicle. The dealer, where I went to get the problem resolved, said they could not do anything because this was a different issue from the recall???? I now have a vehicle that is not safe to drive which I am being told is not covered by the company. I have never heard of a steering column failing. I was not aware that my vehicle even had a recall. I had no intimation from anyone. And no I did not realize that in late 2012 the dealer had done some work on the recall. What is there to show that the work was done correctly and that this is a common failure problem in all vehicles?? I have had vehicles that I have used for over 200,000 miles with no mishaps including a SAAB and an Acura.

See all problems of the 2006 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Tl-the contact owns a 2013 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the steering wheel pulled to the left and right while driving and had to be pulled with force to stay in lane the doors lock also failed the locks activated on its own and sometimes does not unlock with the electronic control. The dealer attempted to correct the steering wheel failure by performing an alignment however the failure was not corrected. The doors lock failure was not corrected. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure mileage was 50. Li.

See all problems of the 2013 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The steering failed on my Prius about 45 degrees into a right turn on Saturday, 9 Feb 2013. I heard a loud "pop" and my car lost steering completely and immediately. It almost caused an accident with the driver side of a car that was waiting at the stop sign to my right. There was no warning or "feeling" accompanying the steering loss (I. E. It didn't "grab" or "lock"). The steering wheel just suddenly no longer had any effect on the direction of the vehicle. The Toyota dealership who investigated found that the spiral cable sub-assembly needs to be replaced, which they claim is not related to any current recall. This doesn't feel like a "normal wear and tear" issue, because it could have caused a serious accident.

In a model 2002 Toyota Prius with less than 60000 miles, while starting out from park going into reverse the electric power steering violently started shaking and pulled the steering wheel from the drivers hands. This caused a temporary warning/caution light that quickly went out. After the incident the problem became more frequent, happening while driving at any speed and while stopped. Eventually the problem caused the steering assist to fail completely. When Toyota was contacted, they knew about the problem and said they had recalls on other year Prius models for the same issue. They reported the gear rack electronic sensor fails and the rack must be replaced but unfortunately the 2002 wasn't under the recall. When asked why, nobody seemed to know.

See all problems of the 2002 Toyota Prius 🔎.

I was making a turn at low speed and the steering failed. The steering wheel kept turning but the wheels did not. I took the car in for service and found out that the steering intermediate shaft splines were worn. As a secondary issue, the failure of the shaft splines caused unimpeded rotation of the steering wheel which subsequently damaged the steering clock spring. The intermediate shaft replacement was covered in Toyota safety recall ssc-60c and my vehicle had (according to Toyota) the necessary work recall work done in 2006. Apparently the recall work did not fix the problem. Toyota argues that this part is no longer under warranty and therefore, not their responsibility. I argue that (a) it was a recalled part and the recall clearly did not fix the problem and (b) the failure of the steering shaft is a major, and unacceptable failure of the vehicle. I think that is important that (a) the public be notified of the inefficacy of the recall and (b) that Toyota be held responsible for the failure of this part.

See all problems of the 2005 Toyota Prius 🔎.

2007 Prius touring was steering at low speed to park when the steering column shaft connection to the gearbox steering rack failed and the car steering wheel turned freely but no longer controlled the front wheels. Car could not be steered. Electrical warning lights indicating steering slide then vehicle powered down and could not be moved. Had vehicle towed to Toyota dealership. Tech informed me the steering rack was damaged along with the air bag cable coil assembly. Upon dissassembly tech found that the steering shaft connecting the column to the steering rack gear box had stripped and also needed replacement. Total cost of repairs. $2302. 65. Out of warranty. 59,980 miles.

Steering failure on 2005 Toyota Prius 2007 special service campaign 60c performed on this Prius to inspect/replace steering intermediate shaft and components. May 6, 2011 noticed wobble in steering when driving on smooth highway at 70 mph. May 20, 2011 took Prius in to larry h miller boulder Toyota dealer service department for: 1] scheduled maintenance (oil/lube,align front suspension, clean/adjust brakes, etc), 2] snow tire change-out 3] requested investigation of problem with steering wobble. Items 1 and 2 were completed. On item 3, larry h miller boulder Toyota dealer service department reported that they did not find a problem and stated it could be related to snow tires out of balance. May 26, 2011 complete steering failure occurred while turning slightly to the right at about 15 mph on a smooth city street. The steering wheel spun unlimited number of times to left and right with no effect on the wheels. The car was towed to larry h miller boulder Toyota dealer. May 28, 2011 larry h miller boulder Toyota completed repairs. The invoice says they replaced: 1 04005-72147 shaft kit, steering 1 84306-0e010 cable sub-assy spir, and performed align front suspension for a total cost of $798. 22 the service advisor (josh strong) reported the splines at the end of the intermediate shaft were worn and that the technician had only seen this once or twice before. A complaint regarding safety and cost has been filed with "Toyota help" (Toyota USA) 800-331-4331. Toyota stated that they could not supply any information about incidents of this type on other Priuses. Neither the safety nor the cost complaint has been resolved at this time. Reported June 20, 2011.

2002 Toyota Prius steering rack failure. Approximately 2 weeks ago the steering in my Prius became difficult to turn and pulsated when turning. The Toyota dealer, where I had purchased the vehicle, inspected the car and informed me that the steering rack was failing and needed to be replaced at a cost of $3,000. After researching this on the internet I found that this is a problem inherent to these 1st generation Prius models. I contacted Toyota customer service and opened a case to see if Toyota would offer any assistance in the repair of my car. Online at owner forums regarding this problem there were many instances where Toyota would repair the vehicle at no cost to the owner or at least offer some assistance with the cost. I was refused by Toyota with any help of any kind. I believe that since Toyota was aware of this defect during the 2001- 2003 model run and changed the steering rack for the 2004 redesign to eliminate this problem that there should be a recall to address this matter. I base this on the volume of cars experiencing this along with the fact that Toyota had a special service campaign in place at one point that repaired these affected vehicles when customers experienced this problem. Toyota is no longer running this repair campaign.

My 2002 Toyota Prius's electronic motor steering assembly stops working after approximately 1hr of driving at highway speeds. At 75 miles per hour, warning lights turn on and steering assist fails. Steering the car from the road is incredibly difficult. After turning the car off and back on, the steering works once again. The car is not safe to drive as the steering fails unexpectedly at high speeds. The dealer states that the fix will cost $3200, which is over half of the vehicle's kelley blue book trade-in value.

1) steering wheel/shaft appears to be improperly supported; feels loose when turning lock to lock since new. Have brought to the attention of four (4) Toyota dealers when service performed (have taken to Toyota for all service work since new), all have advised that there is "nothing wrong" with the vehicle. It is the only vehicle we have ever owned that has this sense of disconnect and potential for a much more serious issue were there ever a steering failure. 2) over rough roads (when vehicle was driven in seattle and bellevue, wa) when stopping, the abs system seems to activate prematurely and increase stopping distances. We have other vehicles with abs brakes which do not activate so readily and stop so slowly. As it relates to incident date(s): since new, vehicle purchased November 2005.

I had a 2003 Toyota Prius which I was very happy with. Unexpectedly, and without warning, the steering column locked while I was driving the car and I was unable to navigate the car. Fortunately, I was in my neighborhood and was able to stop the car in a neighbor's yard without incident. I had the car towed to my dealer and learned that the steering woud need to be replaced for about $1500 or more. Since the car had almost 120,000 miles on it, I chose not to repair it. My dealer suggested I write to the Toyota corporate headquarters, which I did. After a lot of wrangling, they sent me a check for $1,500 to cover the loss of my trade-in value but only after I agreed to purchase a new Toyota vehicle. At the time, I let it go, but realize now with all the concerns being raised, that perhaps my story is important. The steering failure could have occured while I was driving on the highway at 65 mph or while exiting a high speed ramp. Worse, it could have happened on the chesapeake bay bridge, which I had crossed just 15 minutes earlier.

See all problems of the 2003 Toyota Prius 🔎.

I was driving home from work on a Friday evening, turned right, and the steering wheel locked. I slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting a parked truck, and spent the next several minutes trying to regain steering control. The next day I had the car towed to my local dealership, and was told the electronic steering rack had failed and needed to be replaced, at a cost of approximately $2000 (as the steering system warranty only extends to 3 months or 36,000 miles. ) my car has just over 69,000 miles on it. I have adhered to the maintenance schedule, and always bring it to the dealer. There is nothing I could have done to prevent this failure, and I am shocked that there were no warnings or redundancies in place to detect the failure of such a critical system. I live in los angeles, and if I had been on a freeway or canyon road when the failure occurred, I would likely have been killed. There have been two issues relating to the Prius steering system (recall #18732/NHTSA # 00v285000 and TSB # 0403/NHTSA # 10008428), but I was told that neither of these applied to my vehicle. I picked up my car today and was told the work is covered by a 1 year, unlimited mileage warranty. I find it unacceptable that Toyota provides such a short warranty on such a critical piece of equipment. If this part ever fails again, I am extremely likely to be hurt or killed. I am happy to have my car back, but am pretty terrified to drive it, or any Toyota, again. I understand that cars don?t last forever, and I am generally very happy with how my Prius has held up. However, I also think the manufacturer has a responsibility to do everything it can to ensure the safety of its customers. I want to know what systems are in place to prevent this part from failing again, what Toyota will do if it does fail again, and what Toyota has to say about the failure and incredibly high price tag of a system that has been recalled in other models, and could have cost me my life.