Problems with 2004 Toyota Prius ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Dt: own 2004 toyota prius and on 6 different occasions while driving in the city, the engine has stalled out. the consumer had to stop and wait about 10 minutes and restart the engine and everything would be fine. took to dealer and they could not diagnose this unless they encountered this as it happened. this is the only problem with the vehicle. *tt *sc *jb

Dt: consumer states: when the vehicle was under 3000 miles all the warning lights came on, and while driving down the road the vehicle slowly lost power and was going about 25 mph. after about 20 min vehicle started back, the dealer did diagnostic and reset the system. *ak

While driving vehicle will just stop. consumer states there is a software problem with engine being faulty from the computer. consumer receives a dozen warning lights. vehicle was towed to a dealership so that the vehicle could be diagnosed. consumer is aware of other similar complaints. *ak *nm

While driving the vehicle at 60 mph. the vehicle completely shut down. the consumer pressed on the accelerator pedal for speed, however the vehicle continued to lose power. the consumer had the vehicle towed. the vehicle is still at the dealership. *jb the problem was due to a computer glitch per tsb. the battery had gone dead. *sc

2004 toyota prius cut off while consumer was driving at highway speeds.*mr when the consumers vehicle stalled on the highway, another motorist rear ended the consumers vehicle. *jb

Dt: 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. *jb 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. *sc

Was driving my 3 month old '04 prius on a 2 lane hwy, late night, 50mph. prius engines suddenly stopped and many warning lights came on. i pulled over, though there was no safe place to do so, set my flashers and began calling for help. spent the next hour calling police and tow trucks, too busy in a dangerous place to troubleshoot. did not feel safe in the car due to high speed traffic. finally towed to dealership and car was admitted in the morning. dealer kept for 5 days, asking me to take it home, nothing wrong. i insisted that i was not comfortable taking the car home until something was done to fix it. called toyota usa hq and reported the problem. they worked with the dealer and eventually got my car back. 1 week later, same thing happened, daytime, with my family aboard. this time, was able to restart and drive to dealership. reported incident to toyota usa hq. while car was in shop, toyota sent me a letter offering to buy the car back from me, due to my lack of confidence in the car. i regretfully accepted. i am very much enthsed by the prius potential, but these glitches are scary. toyota buying the car back from me almost felt like a coverup attempt.

Dt: a. how long and at what speed was the consumer driving before the vehicle lost power? had been driving for about 15 minutes going about 65 mph. b. was the consumer accelerating, decelerating, or driving at a steady- state when the vehicle lost power? owner believes she was slowing down at the time of stall. c. after the vehicle lost power, was the driver able to continue driving the vehicle? if so, how long and at what speed? owner was afraid to drive it, and called dealership and had it towed. d. did any warning lights appear before and/or after the incident occurred. if so, describe the lights that were lit. all warning lights were on as it stalled. e.did the vehicle eventually stall and come to a stop? how long did this occur after the warning lights were lit? the vehicle did stall and come to a stop. vehicle stalled, then lit up seconds after stalling. yes. f.was the driver able to restart the vehicle right after it stalled? g. wass the driver able to restart the vehicle after letting it sit awhile? if so, how long was this after the vehicle stalled? no no attempt was made to restart because it was towed. h.was the vehicle towed? yes. i.what did the dealer say was wrong with the vehicle? dealer said there was a software glitch. dealer reprogrammed the ecu (electronic control unit) or any software? yes. *ak *tt *nm

Dt: while driving about 55-60 mph the car stalled and came to a complete stop. it was towed into a dealership, they looked at the computer and corrected the problem. the vehicle has not stalled since.*ak *nm

Dt; last summer was driving down highway at about 45-50 mph and one of the engines went out, and the car decelerated and finally stalled out. parked by roadside ,and had to be towed to dealership. serviceman did a computer correction, but did not record this because it happened at night. again about 2 months ago the engine went out, car slowed, and would not restart. had to be towed to dealership. the car was returned without explanation. afraid this may happen again. *ak *sb

Vehicle stalled twice without warning. had to be towed to dealer.

2004 prius- warning lights--including master warning-- appeared on dash and computer. vehicle lost power and could not be shut down or restarted. towed to dealership which informed me that no fault could be found and car appeared to be operating normally. car now runs normally except for "ready" light that appears on dash. *jb

Since purchasing a 2004 prius in feb. 2004, it has stalled five times. four were within a two week period in june 2004 and were related to a loose wire to the battery. one was in june 2005.

Dt: while driving at a steady pace, the vehicle stalled. *ak *jb

Dt: consumer had 2 episodes of engine stalling. the 1st time consumer's vehicle was passing another vehicle when another vehicle appeared in the lane and consumer accelerated quickly and changed lane. the warning light came on along with a beeping noise, and suddenly lost power. was running only on electric power until was able to make it to the side of the road. the engine did not restart until turned off the whole system and then it restarted it. continued to have warning lights for several hours. called toyota hot line, and was informed it was safe to drive. the following monday took vehicle to dealer, who placed it on a computer and noted it was normal. they thought it might have been the vehicle stability control because that light was illuminated, and earlier when that happened driver swerved into a lane. the 2nd episode occurred as accelerating to get on a freeway ramp and had slowed to enter traffic, another driver allowed consumer's vehicle to enter and driver accelerated gain and the engine cut off. was able to drive on battery power about a mile going 40 mph to the next exit. pulled off, and again turned system off, and again the engine restarted. this time the vehicle,s stability light did not illuminate. the display screen had a bar that said, problem. when car was taken to dealer no lights illuminated. *ak

Purchased a 2004 toyota prius on march 2, 2004. on may 24, 2004 the car stopped while i was driving it. i could not restart it for approximately 15 minutes. i sat in the middle of the street during that time. the dealer said they had never heard of this happening. om june 16, 2004 the car stopped running while i was at an intersection. i had to wait approximately 15 minutes before it would start. the dealer said they didn't know anything about this. on june 21, 2004 the car computers were tested on a recall and found to be out of sync. they were adjusted and i was told that would take care of my problem. in continued to have problems with the car not starting. on oct. 6, 2004 i was given a new car remote control to fix the problem. i continued to have problems. on december 6, 2004 the car completely failed. i was unable to start or turn off the car. after 20 minutes it started and i was able to leave it with the dealer. the multi display unit was replaced. the car continued to stop intermittently;. on january 19, 2005 the car failed to start. a new small battery was installed. on march 29, 2005 the brakes locked up. the abs actuator was replaced. on may 21, 2005 the car failed to start. it is presently at the dealer.

Sudden shutdown of 2004 prius. i was crusing at about 40 mph when the engine unexpectedly shut down and all dashboard warning lights became illuminated. i was able to safely pull to the side of the road. after cycling power button, car started again, but "check engine" light was illuminated. dealership found code p3191 in diagnostic system, but could not come up with an explanation. i am reporting this now because of recent publicity regarding similar prius incidents.

While driving at approximately 35 mph the vehicle completely shut down. the vehicle was hybrid. the owner had the vehicle towed to the dealer, and was informed that the battery was charged, and there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. *ak there were a series of these events. the vehicle also stalled while in motion. the consumer was informed that the charging system was tested and nothing was wrong with the vehicle. *sc *jb

I drove my toyota prius from florida to colorado. after about 2100 miles the car stalled. i was stuck on the highway for about 2 hours at a temperature of 15 degrees until i got towed to a toyota dealer. the dealer recharged the battery, which completely discharged while i sat in the stalled car with the heater on, and the problem was gone.

Dt: consumer states while going southbound, he accidentally bump the vehicle out of gear from drive to neutral at about 70 mph. afterwards consumer put vehicle back in drive. it seemed as though vehicle was dead. consumer had to stop the vehicle then put back in drive and then merge back onto the highway. *tt