Tire Pressure Monitoring System Problems of Toyota Prius

I own a 2010 Toyota Prius. When I went check tire pressure the left front cover on the valve stem broke off in the threads of the valve stem just at the bottom of the cap. The tire still held pressure but the inner valve was exposed down to the point where the seal was. When I brought the car to tires plus the mechanic said this was common. He showed me a trophy jar with three other tire pressure monitoring valve stems identical to mine. I brought the car to Toyota and they replaced the tpm module in the tire. I work in aviation and have a background in maintenance and inspection. The four tire pressure monitor units I examined we cracked in the exact same place, right at the base of the dust cover. I suspect corrosion stress cracking. My car has 37,000 miles on it, no physical damage to the car or the valve stem was apparent.

See all problems of the 2010 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The Prius headlights turn off randomly while driving. Sometimes one, sometimes both. There is no pattern and they go back on when the on/off switch is activated. This has been going on since about 40,000 miles. The bulbs were removed and reset and the right side was fixed, the left side fails less frequently. This is a potentially dangerous situation since the dealer does not seem to be sure of the cause of this problem. The cost to replace the bulbs is over $400. There is no guarantee that this will fix the problem. The tires wear out very quickly; replaced original tires at 22,209 miles and now at 50,287 miles the second set has to be replaced. The tire pressure light goes on continuously, regardless of pressure.

See all problems of the 2007 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Multiple issues with 2009 Prius. First: loss of air pressure in front left tire from time I picked up the vehicle to present. I continually need to put air in the tire, usually on a weekly/bi-weekly basis. The other tires are fine. Second: for the same tire, the tire pressure light would not be triggered until ~23 pounds, should have been triggered in same tire at 33 lbs. Third: vehicle would not stop when applying pressure on brakes at slow speed. This has occurred about 6 times in a 6 month period. Simultaneously, the vsc light went on and the slid indicator went on. The terrain was on either asphalt or concrete roads, slightly downhill (concrete) and one street is a bit rough (filled in pot holes). Also, both areas are within a quarter mile of each other and near the ocean. With each occurrence the vsc went into effect. On 11/21/09 it jolted hard much more than the other occasions; this date was the incident on the bridge when the car was going in a slight downward direction. I lost control of the vehicle for several seconds and was afraid that I would hit the car in front of me; I beeped my horn to warn the driver in front of me. My vehicle did stop in time but it took alot longer than it should have taken. On a later occasion, I was going about 5-10 mph faster on a nearby street and attempted to stop for a stop sign and it did the same thing, however the vsc did not jolt back as hard. The vehicle was not angled down as much as the 11/21/09 incident. On 11/21/09 I took the vehicle to cabe Toyota dealership and they looked at the car but found nothing wrong with it. I also had the car looked at by Toyota corp today and was told that the driver feels that I felt the abs brakes only. This is not the case. When I stepped on the brakes each occasion it was as though there was nothing there and I had no control in stopping it. This was especially true when the vsc kicked in (the jerking). Each time it lasted many, several or more seconds.

See all problems of the 2009 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Low tire pressure sensor goes off every change of the season in the fall when humidity is high and temperature is low. Toyota knows about this as it is one of default selections in the on-line request for service.

See all problems of the 2006 Toyota Prius 🔎.

In November of 2003 I had a tire blowout while on the freeway. The car handled well and I was able to get off the freeway and put on the spare. When replacing the tire I found that I had to purchase a "super heavy duty" tire because of the weight of my car. The tire was inflated to the specifications in my owner's manual (35lbs). In April I had a second blow-out and replaced the tire at my Toyota dealership. At that time I was informed that Toyota found that inflating the tires to 45lbs seemed to be working better. I have now replaced all four tires and inflated them to the recommended 45lbs. If Toyota had notified me as an owner that the manual was not correct and that the tires should have been inflated to 45lbs I would have gotten twice as much usage out of my tires and I would not have experienced two blowouts and a whell realignment cost. There should be a recall, notice to owners and a rplacement of tires at Toyota's cost.

See all problems of the 2002 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Driving home on July 22, 2003 at about 4:30pm, traveling north on the 57 freeway traveling at approximately 68 mph had blow out on right rear tire. Tire had complete blow out if side wall, vehicle had only approximately 10,700 miles. I had checked tire pressure the prior day and had 33 psi in front and 36 psi in rear as the specifications are written in the owners handbook.

See all problems of the 2003 Toyota Prius 🔎.