Steering Problems of Toyota Prius - part 1

Have multiple warning lamps that light up on and off and the brakes in my car get spongy making the braking unsafe. The lights that turn on are the steering/ traction , brake, and abs light. There are multiple complaints online on youtube from similar issues ongoing and no recall made. My mechanic says it indicates a leak however there is no brake fluid missing and on youtube there’s work arounds because people keep getting the same message, yet no recall has been made. This can affect steering and cause an accident. Please recall soon. Including youtube link so you can see all the comments and issues from thousands that don’t know how to report but view to fix temporarily. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

See all problems of the 2010 Toyota Prius 🔎.

My car suddenly stopped in the middle of the road with message "hybrid system stopped steering power low". Safety concern to this happen on the middle of road during rain or cold.

See all problems of the 2016 Toyota Prius 🔎.

- steering column components are loose. They make the steering unpredictable. The vehicle moves dangerously from side to side when driving over 65 mph. "u-joint" inside the cabin is the component with play. - previous recall "12v537000" could be related. My vehicle was not called during that campaign but meets the characteristics. - no dealer has confirmed. - no insurance has inspected. - no warning lamps on. Problem started appearing 2 years ago. Replaced all the steering components with oem replacements but there is no replacement for steering column components to address the issue on my own.

See all problems of the 2008 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The contact owns a 2014 Toyota Prius c. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds and turning from the left lane, the steering wheel popped out. The vehicle was able to reverse however, tires were pushed inward. The vehicle was pushed out of the roadway. There were no warning lights illuminated. The hazard light was inoperable. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 170,000. The VIN was not available.

See all problems of the 2014 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The contact owns a 2013 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that after several days of torrential rainfall, the contact noticed there was water in the tire and 12-volt battery compartment. After having a routine oil change at an independent mechanic, while the contact was driving, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The power steering warning light illuminated after the failure. The driver was able to restart the vehicle and pull over to the side of the road. The contact called roadside assistance and was informed that there was a code for the hybrid battery system that needed to be checked. The contact noticed that water might have entered through the rear passenger’s side brake light. The contact removed the water with a sump pump. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who was unable to assist. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 119,000.

See all problems of the 2013 Toyota Prius 🔎.

I was driving less than 55mph on freeway on February 5, 2024 when my vehicle went into an out of control spin, brakes did not seem to work and unable to control vehicle until hit center divider on freeway, spun 180 degrees and kept going back with no braking until hit center divider.

See all problems of the 2012 Toyota Prius 🔎.

I was dropping my daughter off at school and the car completely shut down on me and turned off in the middle of an intersection. I have just had brakes and oil changed but ever since I got the car codes keep popping up and when checked it’s all good. Front lights keep glitching and even with new brakes there is still a bad sound. My dash computer thing keeps going in and out. It happens a lot more when it rains and makes a sizzling sound I’m afraid to drive it in the rain. I’m besides myself how the car turned off on me and my child we couldn’t move I could accelerate and we almost got hit then another light came on and I couldn’t even turn my wheel. Very dangerous.

8/2/22 my abs light came on. Took the car to a dealer. They kept it for six weeks and returned it on 10/3/22. No charge and no explanation. 11/7/22 engine light came on. Took in to dealer, they returned it 11/17/22 indicated incorrect air/ fuel mixture. 10/9/23 traveling 47 mph, came around a mountain and encountered stopped cars. Slammed on the brakes, car did not slow down, steering wheel locked to the right, car yawed to the right, and turned over, hit a curb and the car righted itself. 3 occupants, 2 injuries , 1 death. Researching the 2012 Toyota Prius, found many instances of a faulty abs system, mimicking exactly my experience. I was never informed by Toyota or the local Toyota dealer.

I had lost functionality for some buttons on the steering wheel that didn't directly impact safety. On replacing the clockspring mechanism inside the whweel I decided to inspect the old unit. Four of the lines in the flex cable are impacted by corrosion, three have already failed. The fourth line is one of the airbag's electrical lines. I'm filing an issue report because the airbag would be next impacted by this failure and I believe there's a fair chance the corroded line could fail during the vehicle's attempt to fire the airbag on the wheel.

See all problems of the 2005 Toyota Prius 🔎.

I was driving on the 91 freeway west exit ramp to merge into the 57 freeway in orange county CA. When suddenly I lost all power steering on the car . We managed to get out the freeway on the first exit.

See all problems of the 2002 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Driving at highway speed on interstate 30. Warning lights came on the dashboard. The Prius began to stall. Could not steer vehicle to shoulder. Prius came to a stop in the outside lane of travel. Rear-ended by tractor trailer rig. Passenger died. Driver sustained serious injuries. Witnesses called 911 prior to the collision to report that a vehicle had stalled on the interstate with its flashers on.

See all problems of the 2023 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Good evening, I'm writing to request a callback in regards to my 2014 Toyota Prius which is subject to a recall. "the involved vehicles were designed to enter a failsafe driving mode in response to certain hybrid system faults. Toyota has found that in rare situations, the vehicle may not enter a failsafe driving mode as intended. If this occurs, the vehicle could lose power and stall. While power steering and braking would remain operational, a vehicle stall while driving at higher speeds could increase the risk of a crash. " I recently just moved back to south florida, I was living in NJ for a few years and had the inverter malfunction earlier this February, 2023, forcing the car to enter the fail safe mode described giving me the warning to "check hybrid system, stop the vehicle in a safe place". The car was at Toyota universe, little falls, NJ for about 45 days, since this was going to take the complete replacing of the inverter and an update of some sort of software. After receiving the car back around March 17th, I moved back to florida about 2 weeks later. This evening around 5:30 returning from work, the car stalled again while I was driving surrounded by dense traffic, wouldn't accelerate with all lights flashing. Thankfully I was able to pull over slowly into a parking lot after which my steering wheel locked, and my car was no longer able to be put into drive or reverse. Car was only able to shift into neutral and park. This was the most terrifying experience of my life had something worse happen in the middle of traffic. I have dropped off my car to the dealership parking lot and will be checking it in first thing in the morning. I'd like to ascertain what I should expect from Toyota manufacturing should this issue be unfixable? I am more than happy to let them attempt fixing it, but I also need to live a normal life and don't feel the need to be responsible for a manufacturing defect putting my life in jeopardy every time I go drive.

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph the steering wheel erroneously steered to the left and then to the right causing the contact to loose control of the vehicle and crash into a curb. The vehicle then suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and drove across two lanes and into oncoming traffic and collided head on into a van. During the crash the contact sustained multiple fractures of the spine, pelvis and ribs and was transported to the hospital. The vehicle was destroyed and towed away. No police report was available. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the incident. The contact indicated that the vehicle had also experienced a similar failure previously. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 77,000.

See all problems of the 2006 Toyota Prius 🔎.

I was driving the 2009 Prius to my storage unit there was a car that I needed to go around so I sifted into reverse when I noticed a scraping sound as I was backing when I shifted into forward the sound again was there is when I noticed I had no directional control of the vehicle steering wheel would turn but the tires would not respond at all. I called for a tow truck, I called think of a greater safety issue than driving a car with no control over where it goes.

See all problems of the 2009 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at 65 mph, the steering wheel began to vibrate as a problem detected warning message appeared on the instrument panel. As the failure persisted, the warning message disappeared and the contact was able to reach her destination. Upon restart of the vehicle, the contact received a do not drive warning message on the instrument panel as the steering would continued to vibrate. Due to the failure, the contact had the vehicle towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed with a defective steering sensor. Upon investigation, the contact linked her failure to NHTSA campaign number: 11v304000(steering). The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred her to the NHTSA for assistance. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 176,000.

See all problems of the 2003 Toyota Prius 🔎.

I was driving on highway & the vehicle stopped accelerating as I was pressing the gas. I put my hazards on & got to the side of the road. Then the eps light came on & the dash stopped showing the mph. The ac stopped blowing cold air & the windows were working slow. I turned car off then back on a couple of times then more lights came on. No lights were on prior to this & I haven’t had any problems w the vehicle before this. I just got this car & I feel like it has something to do with a recall but no one wants to take responsibility for the issue.

Hello there, my name is lashyrah and I do not know much about cars so most of this is unknown. The person I bought my vehicle from did not give me much information and I was desperate at the time so I bought it. Most of the lights on the dashboard are abs, brake system, engine, tire/safety alert, fuel pump reset warning, and stability control are lights that come and go. I have used the code system to try to reset these things and they go away then pop back up. Sometimes while I am driving, all the dashboard lights disappear and the breaks start getting really touchy and it feels completely different driving until the previous lights all come back on. This has been an issue before and when I last went to Toyota to get my car serviced, I asked them to check the lights and system, and if they could do a multi-point inspection. They wanted me to pay $300 just to find out why the lights keep coming back on. Please help me get this fixed at no cost I am a single mom and college student working part time so I need my car to get around or a free loaner car to get around until this is fixed. I strongly feel these are recalls that did not get taken care of or are not showing up in the recall system. I need assistance as soon as possible and would like to know my options, especially after getting a notice in the mail a few days ago from Toyota about my car possibly being affected. My fuel gauge is also empty at around 3 bars or sometimes 2 bars instead of going all the way down to empty, costing me more money on gas having to fill it up more often. Thank you for your time and help.

Lost steering on car while driving. Shop noted right control arm completely corroded through and broken axle. Entire undercarriage rusted and corroded. Available for inspection. Sudden loss of steering is a risk factor for serious injury or death. Problem has been looked at by two independent service centers who have agreed on problem. Has not been inspected by manufacturer, whom I have contacted over 8 times regarding this issue, or by any other party. There were no warning signs or symptoms prior to failure.

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact had received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 12v537000 (steering) and the vehicle was repaired under recall. The contact stated while driving 35 mph, the steering wheel started to shake with the traction control warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed and the contact was informed that the recall repair had failed. The contact made an appointment with the dealer. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and suggested that the vehicle be diagnosed by an authorized Toyota dealer. The failure mileage was 119,000.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving 51 mph, the vehicle experienced phantom braking and a loss of power steering assist with the engine overheating message displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 154,079.

See all problems of the 2004 Toyota Prius 🔎.

This car has a steering wheel problem.

The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the vehicle lost brakes and power steering functionality. The traction control, abs, and braking system warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer and was diagnosed with brake booster failure. The vehicle remained at the dealer and was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 13v235000 (service brakes). The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

After feeling looseness from the front end all the way up to the steering wheel when going over any bumps I brought the car to the local dealer. After inspection I was told four things that are very disturbing: the steering shaft needs replacement; the cost will be more than $1100; there is no warranty or recall or cost coverage; the car is not reliable and should not be driven any more than essential until fixed (and they don’t know when the parts will be available). Although the car is out of warranty based on age, this car has only 66,525 miles after almost 9 years, and my wife and I have been the only drivers and not on any dirt roads. I have been told by an independent repair shop this is a known problem with Prius and should be a recall item since it is dangerous to keep driving. This is especially troubling since the dealer could not fix it when I was there because they have to order parts and they don't know when the parts will be in.

While driving, I received a warning "hybrid system malfunction". Within seconds, the vehicle powered off and the steering wheel locked. I had no control of the car and came to an abrupt stop in lane 1 of a two lane road. I was fortunate that it was late in the evening with few cars on the road, had I been on the highway during rush hour the outcome, due to loss of power and control (steering), could have been catastrophic and perhaps fatal for me or other commuters. I note that in 2014, Toyota notified NHTSA of a recall to, "rectify software in two of the Prius's electronic control units, one for the motor/generator and the other controlling the hybrid system. " further Toyota said, "in rare circumstances, it could shut down the hybrid system itself, resulting in loss of power and the vehicle coming to a stop". This is exactly what happened to me the other night. Toyota claims, in 2014, that "it has received no reports of accidents or injuries related to the problem. " this seems to be an extraordinarily amount of good luck as I could have been easily rear-ended the other night. Curiously, in this NHTSA data base, another owner reported an incident (11439720) on November 8, 2021, that is similar to the experience I had just days prior. And our vins are eerily close. Coincidence? not likely. Does the 2014 recall apply to my car and if not, why not given I experienced the exact same symptoms?.

I bought my 2016 Prius brand new in November of 2016. Over the past 2 years or so my oem leather like steering wheel wrap started to wrinkle. It is now cracking and starting to peel. It hasn't caused any stealing control issues, it is just ugly an slight distracting on the palm of the hand. I do worry that if might start causing gripping issues on that side of the steering wheel if the wrap becomes loose.

Found car tampered with cut in carpet under driver seat to check battery maintenance per Toyota owner manual where hybrid battery was not receiving charge , was running hot unknown person impersonated me registered my VIN to enroll with Toyota upgraded software app entune version not with purchase is a 2021 software version with parental like controls, I took to Toyota dealerships below for assistance , new battery and hybrid faulting losing charge, car does not provide hybrid fault notice , loses charge , uses little gas , I researched on side of road to rest throttle and work around as I was driving it could have lost all power and stalled per recall notice needed hybrid software update ran dr Prius app and finding recalls serviced at Toyota chambers burg PA are coding j0v issue w/inverter not completed and additional engine & battery codes almost causing my car to not enter fail safe mode hybrid battery almost fully discharged as approaching bay bridge service notes from fitzgerald day there were no issues specific repair request was for diagnostic report of car hybrid battery and sensor check, they claim no issue only repair was replaced fob key although car at location 10 days, missing fuses found upgrade causes car to get 2-4mpg and burn battery hot/discharge without any dash or other warnings from car safety recall notice no. 18v-684 are indicative of car symptoms since incident easton MD Toyota service, arlington va koons, hagerstown MD Toyota and chambers burg refused to provide diagnostics chambers burg held car did not perform service claiming no issues but noted cut carpet under driver seat above hybrid air vent battery cool/ intake problem still an issue no Toyota will run diagnostics -.

Brake light, abs,slip indicator,brake system warnig light system all came on while driving at high velocity [75m/h] in the rain and lost 75% of the braking power plus the car started to slide. Needless to say this was a catastrophic failure of the entire brake system on a car that has a customer support program notification from Toyota[zjb] that was sent to me with a warning of such occurrence. This is down right irresponsible to a major car manufacturer to allow these vehicles on the road without testing the entire system on each of these affected vehicles and with for a catastrophic failure to occur and cause public harm or even death. I had just taken the vehicle for service a few weeks prior where I explained the service advisor of an issue with brake pulsation. However, the entire brake system was not throughly checked and was just told that its the front rotors that are uneven, thank god I did not fully loose control of the vehicle and cause a catastrophic accident as it would have resulted in bodily harm to my family. I expect this federal government agency to use it's authority to prevent such occurrence to the tax paying citizens of this nation.

See all problems of the 2011 Toyota Prius 🔎.

On November 14, 2020, my 2007 Toyota Prius had a loss of steering the steering wheel was no longer connected to the front wheels of the car. Parking on a city street atlantic Toyota did not perform the recall on March 12,2013 for the cot recall this is what caused the loss of steering. The car was repaired at a private garage for the loss of steering and the part that failed was the steering intermediate extension shaft the part that should have been replaced under the cot recall done at atlantic Toyota. (the shaft replacement depends on whether the bolt hole has a �countersink�, according to the technical instructions issued to dealers, t-cp-c0t-a510-d. The shaft that was removed and, in my possession, has a countersink). How could this happen Toyota identified a defective part and issued a recall I brought my car to a Toyota dealership and the work was not done. With the loss of steering there is a concern about safety and confidence in the vehicle, and nothing is more important than that. I am sending this email today because we know that something has gone terribly wrong. The system meant to safeguard against faulty vehicles has failed, and it needs to be fixed.

See all problems of the 2007 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Ireceived the warning that "pre-collision system malfunction" while I was driving on the highway this morning. The warning message asked me to stop the car at a safe place and visit the dealer. As soon as I got off the highway, the car stopped itself, and the steering was locked. The car was completely disabled. After turn off the car completely for a few minutes, I can restart the car with the warning message persists. While I was looking for a safe place to park the car, the car gradually stopped itself again, and the wheel steering locked itself again. The car failure and the fact that the steering wheel got locked itself put me and my passenger at great danger.

See all problems of the 2018 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Driving up and down a slight incline, power steering suddenly goes out. Only happened twice so far but I don't know what would prevent it from happening again. Probably going about 15-20mph uphill and maybe 20-25mph downhill. Happened on a city street.

My Toyota Prius was involved in a hit run accident. Yark collision completed work on vehicle. When picking up car from yark my car would not start spoke with one of the mechanic he said my battery died and I explained to them I had no issues ,prior to bringing my car to yark I had just had diagnostic test done at Toyota. Vehicle sat at my residence over night and vehicle had died again. I contacted yark told them I was bringing battery in for them to charge because I was not sure as to what was going on since we had already replaced battery. Vehicle also had my skid plate in trunk prior to drop off and now I am having electrical issues my horn now does not work and I have children . I did not receive my car until 1 month and half due to insurance not getting back to us . Vehicle has been non drivable since pick up.

We noticed the red triangle light and so we checked the engine oil. The dip stick was dry. I put oil in the engine and the red triangle went away. I kept an eye on the oil level occasionally I needed to put more oil in the engine. 3 months after taking the car for a regular oil change at the Toyota dealer the red triangle came up again and this time I spoke to the dealership about the issue. The response was that it would be expensive to repair the car and the best solution was to buy a new car. I was never told about the 2011 TSB for excess oil consumption that Toyota had issued. Today, July 17th, 2020,I called the dealer to ask about the TSB, and I was told that the TSB has been out for 10 years so I had had until 2017 to qualify. I do not believe I ever received a letter notifying me about the issue. Had I received the notification I would been the first person in line at the dealership. Also, my steering wheel feels like it is loose, if the speed is over 45 mph it feels unsafe, the slippery sensor light comes on when I am turning the wheel slightly on a dry road, and there is an excessive noise inside the car even with the windows closed. This happens during highway driving. I am about to donate the car so that it can be used for parts. I love the car now I know to check with NHTSA when I purchase my next car.

I was driving approx. 15 mph on a street on 5/14/20 and was making a soft turn and heard a 'click' noise. Immediately after my steering wheel began to spin freely while totally disengaged from the front wheels causing total inability to control direction of vehicle travel. This caused a minor collision with rock /debris which caused minor front bumper damage. I then had vehicle towed to nearest mechanic who determined that the main bolt at the intermediate steering shaft and steering rack was disconnected. The mechanic checked the shaft and splines for damage and found none, then proceeded to reattach bolt. I was also informed by this mechanic that Toyota had two related recalls: one for the steering shaft, and one for the intermediate steering shaft extention. Both of these recalls had been addressed and replacement parts installed for my vehicle. There are two related recalls: 06v188000 (steering shaft) and 12v537000 (intermediate steering extention shaft).

The steering wheel make a clunking noise and feel like it'll fall off when driven.

The covering on the steering wheel at the hand locations has excessive wear and the plastic is rough on skin. The manufacture will not warranty the steering wheel cover because of being out of warranty I do not feel that a steering wheel cover should wear off in less than two years regardless of mileage which is currently at 139000 miles.

See all problems of the 2017 Toyota Prius 🔎.