Problems with 2005 Toyota Prius AIR BAGS

Takara recall - currently have an airbag light onon my instrument cluster. brake actuator recall - the 'brake' light, vsc, abs, and brake symbol lights are all on indicating an issue with the brake actuator. i did receive a recall notice about this issue in the past, but the recall said if i wasn't experiencing any issues to ignore the recall. that recall expired on december 31, 2017. as this affects the safe operation of the car, i feel this should be addressed by toyota as well as the air bag issue.

The airbag wiring harness located under the seat failed. this was a costly repair and a potentially dangerous situation while driving the car without functioning airbags.

Air bag light started staying on though intermittent. noticed it went away if steering wheel was turned. i just had the dealership confirm it is the clockspring.

Clock cable failed.. caused the airbag, horn and cruise control to not work..

I'm concerned because my vehicle's airbags did not deploy during a crash wherein i collided with a car turning left in front of me at approximately 35-40 mph. the front end crumpled and my driver and passenger doors do not fully open due to the damage to the frame of the car. the car is currently being inspected with regard to determination of a likely total loss. while i understand airbags don't always deploy, i felt that this might be a case where they should have deployed.

Tl* the contact owned a 2005 toyota prius. after the vehicle was parked and turned off, it suddenly accelerated to 65 mph without warning and crashed into a retention wall. the front air bags did not deploy. no injuries were reported and a police report was not filed. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the vehicle was destroyed and towed to the contact's residence. the approximate failure mileage was 280,000.

The airbag indicator light on the dashboard of my prius came on and would not go off. on 3/14/2015, i took the prius to a dealership for a diagnostic check. i was told by the technician that both the drivers and passenger side squib airbag harness would need replacement at a cost of $4,373.07. there was no accident or any outside force to cause the problem. it appeared out of the blue when i started the car on the morning of 3/11/2015. the car is otherwise in near perfect condition. *tr

Stopped at a stop sign. pulled into intersection of arterial. didn't see crossing traffic. collided with crossing vehicle. entire front end of prius hit rear quarter panel of pickup truck. the front end of the prius was completely destroyed. any and all airbags failed to deploy in prius.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. while driving at approximately 25 mph, the air bag warning light illuminated on and off. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. the technician diagnosed that the main wiring harness needed to be replaced and not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 65,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. the contact stated that the brakes were depressed and failed to respond. the contact crashed into the rear end of another vehicle and the air bags failed to deploy. the contact sustained injuries to the chest, a leg gash and a pulled muscle in the back. the front passenger sustained whiplash. both the contact and the front passenger required medical attention. a police report was filed. additionally, the contact stated that the flat surface warning indicator illuminated intermittently as a result the contact had to restart the vehicle on multiple occasions. the key failed to exit the ignition switch on multiple occasions. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 65,000.

On 2/27/14 the srs indicator light in our vehicle lit up causing us to review the owner's manual, which recommended immediate service. per technical service bulletin t-sb-0042-11, this issue was caused by failure of the wiring harness, which was diagnosed with scanner code b1826. according to the tsb, the design/material fault can occur in 2004-2009 priuses. the fault, according to a toyota service advisor, results in a failure of the air bag system. to address the condition, "an updated wire harness must be installed." the cost to repair this design fault is $2,500. and up depending on if one or both sides of the wiring harness has to be replaced. because this safety related defect needed to be addressed at once we paid to have the vehicle repaired but expressed our view to the toyota personnel that the defect should have been covered by toyota. we feel that this defect should have been the subject of a recall. calls to the gm of the dealership have not been returned. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. the contact stated that another vehicle crashed head-on into his vehicle and the air bags failed to deploy. a police report was filed. the contact stated that he sustained a laceration to the forehead and the passenger sustained severed chest bruising. the vehicle was destroyed. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure and current mileage was 126,000.

The air bag warning light came on while driving. we took the car in to check for the cause and they told us the wiring harness was bad and it would have to be replaced and that the air bags would not work because of a problem (of which they were already aware) with the wiring harness. a defect in the wiring harness - their words- would cost about $2000.00 to replace. they are aware that this has been occurring in these vehicles, but as of yet there has been no recall or offer to correct the problem. if this isn't a safety issue, i don't know what would be. please address this issue. *tr

This vehicle was flipped end over end twice and slide on its right side but landed upright on all four tires. the air bags didn't deploy and the right corner in the front took a blunt force while flipping. this could have easily resulted in a death due to lack of deployment. the car was a total loss. this warrants compensation for malfunctioning air bags. the driver received minor bruising and soreness but no major problems arose from this incident. it is my concern for other opportunities of a fatality due to the lack of functioning air bags. i feel i should be compensated because the driver could have so easily died that night. thank you in advance for your time and consideration with this matter. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. the contact stated that at engine startup, the srs warning light illuminated. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was advised that the steering wheel needed a replacement spiral cable. the manufacturer was contacted. the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was 109,000 and the current mileage was 109,500. updated 03/06/12 *bf

1) sudden unexpected acceleration 2) steering shaft severed 3) drivers side air bag inoperative along with all steering wheel mounted controls

Daughter and son-in-law were driving my 2005 toyota prius. a jeep grand cherokee hit them head on going 32-35 mph. my s-n-l was driving slowing down to a stop sign and saw the jeep coming at them on their side of the road so he was braking hoping the jeep would either stop or swerve around them. the driver of the jeep didn't even brake. hit them head on more on the passenger side pushing them back about 10-15 ft. the jeeps airbags deployed. the airbags on my prius didn't. the damage to the jeep was a screwed up bumper and a bent license plate. the damage to my toyota prius was totaled. engine flattened and pushed in over a foot almost under the dashboard of car. passenger door couldn't open until firefighters pried it open. called toyota, filed a claim on defective airbag. my response was they weren't going fast enough(only over 30 mph) for the airbags to deploy, they weren't hit hard enough and the dashboard must not have loosened from the car or else airbags would have deployed. my daughter took the blunt of it. body flew forward (she had a seatbelt on) hand hit dashboard, knees hit glove compartment so hard that it popped open. how bad does an accident have to be for airbags to go off. we pay for safety. the driver that caused this was drunk, wife drunk and they had a 3 yr old in the car at 10:45 in the morning. they had no injuries, their air bags deployed. forgot to mention daughters sister-in-law in seat behind her, whiplash, bruises on legs and back is tweaked, but they weren't hit hard enough. toyota use to be great on safety and now they are really bad and won't fess up to errors. search toyota airbag defects and see all the others that have had problems. someone will have to die probably hundreds before something is done. *tr

Thursday, march 10, 2011 morning between 5:40 ' 5:45 a.m. est at work driving through parking lot towards parking garage, due to bad weather road lines were not visible and my car end up into a concrete block. i was in shock for a while, front bumper, radiator, both front lights, windshield and all fluid holding broke and engine caved in. i have neck soft tissue injurious in my neck. pain lower neck and upper neck where scalp and neck meet. my 2005 prius had driver and passenger side air bags and front side and rear side curtain airbags on side, but none of them deployed, but my car got total. i bought brand new fully loaded prius, and i was thinking my car is very safe. definitely if i was driving on the highway where speed limit is 55, i am sure i was dead in this car. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. a vehicle traveling approximately 35 mph crashed into the contacts vehicle head on. the air bags did not deploy. a police was filed and 2 injuries were reported. the contact and a passenger were transported via ambulance to the emergency room. the vehicle was destroyed and towed to an insurance company lot. the vehicle was not examined for the cause of failure. the failure and current mileages were 105,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. the contact was driving 25 mph when she crashed into another vehicle. the vehicle crashed from the front end and the air bags did not deploy. the contact sustained injuries to her neck, head and shoulders. she was transported to the hospital via ambulance. a police report was available. the vehicle was towed to a body repair facility where the mechanic advised that the vehicle was destroyed. the dealer was not contacted. the failure and the current mileage was 48,000.

The airbag warning light came on and would not go off about 3 or 4 years ago, so i took it to the toyota dealer who did something and reset it. it stayed off for about a year or so then came back on. i took it back to the dealer again who said the diagnostic said it was malfunctioning and that i needed to bring it back to replace some expensive part. i was on the way back to the dealer, when the light went out. the tech did the diagnostic again and said there was nothing wrong with it. the light stayed out for about another year or so and came on again a couple of weeks ago and won't go out . this time however, i have also noticed that the top of the dash on the passenger side has been pushed upward under the "srs air bag" phrase. this is concerning since the same thing has happened in the exact same place on the other 2005 prius that i own . i contacted toyota corporate who responded that there are no recalls on my cars and that for the most part, my cars were out of warranty. the rep said that she would document my report and that i should take them back to the dealer for inspection. this is the same dealer that has not been able to figure out what is wrong with this car the first two times. meanwhile, i am driving around in a car that may or may not have working airbags because i need to get to work. *tr

My daughter was driving our 2005 prius at about 30 miles an hour at approximately 3pm when she saw a truck stop approximately 300 feet ahead of her. she applied the brakes but the prius did not stop and collided with the truck causing a total loss of the prius. the road surface was wet from snow and the temperature was approximately 34 degrees. although the car was heavily damaged the air bags did not deploy. this crash could have resulted from a brake problem or unintended acceleration. *tr

I would like to file an official report of my accident that involved my 2005 toyota prius on january 13 of this year. it was in the morning after i had dropped off my children to their school. i was driving down the hill and driving the normal 25- 30mph down the hill to go home. upon coming to the stoplight, i noticed the cars in front of me stopped at the stoplight so i went to hit my brakes and did not feel any power from my brakes so i quickly stood on my brakes with both feet and realized i had absolutely no brake power. i subsequently crashed quite hard into the car in front of me and experienced severe pain to the right side of my neck. after initial shock, i was able to maneuver my car out of traffic to a parking lot and noticed it funny that my brakes were working at that point. after exchanging information with the man that i hit, my car was towed to an autobody shop. after going to kaiser to look into my injury (which was whiplash) i was told at the autobody shop that my car was totaled and could not be fixed. he also told me that my airbag did not deploy because i had hit a larger american car which was higher than my bumper. it never hit the airbag sensor on my car that was lower than the impact point. after the accident, i asked my insurance company, the interinsurance exchange of the automobile , to please look into the brake situation and they stated that they did not find anything wrong. i am not satisfied with this answer because i have read that the toyota problems are not easy to diagnose. i have been driving for 27 years and have never been in an auto crash that was my fault. i also have never experienced such a scary feeling as having absolutely no control over my car. *tr

Driver's airbag did not deploy in 2005 prius that rear ended an suv at approximately 35 mph. *tr

[xxx] , a resident of wantagh, ny, was driving on the wantagh state parkway when she was hit from behind and then experienced the sudden, unintended acceleration of her 2005 toyota prius. the acceleration continued after she pressed on the brake pedal. as a result, [xxx] struck another vehicle on the road and was involved in a serious accident. moreover, the seatbelt in the vehicle was defective in that it became unfastened and the airbags did not deploy. the vehicle has a vin# [xxx] and was purchased at atlantic toyota in long island. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota pruis. the contact stated that there was a recurring failure with the air bag warning light illuminating. the vehicle was taken to the dealer several times for the failure where the front passenger seat was replaced twice but to no avail. the dealer then cleared the error codes but that also did not correct the failure. next, the wiring harness and main computer were replaced yet the failure persisted. the contact believed the failure to be a manufacturing defect. the failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 107,000.

My 2005 prius skidded off the road during a snow storm. i was not traveling at an excessive rate of speed. my car hit 2 trees head on and was totaled. none of my airbags deployed. i informed my insurance company and toyota (sent them pictures) and neither seemed to feel it was a safety issue. since i was not satisfied with toyota's response, and since i would never buy a small car unless i had absolute faith in its airbag system's ability to protect me in the event of a crash, i chose not to buy another toyota vehicle. the prius was my third toyota, and i had been very loyal to the brand for years due to their record of quality, reliability and safety. i still have pictures of my wrecked car. please contact me, if anyone would be interested in reviewing them. i did not file a report at the time of the accident, but in retrospect think that i should have. i am only writing now to alert your agency that there may also be an airbag deployment problem with earlier prius models. *tr

I was in the passenger seat of my car, my friend was driving. it was a 4 lane street with a turning lane in the center. i think we were going between 35 and 40 mph when we hit (police report estimated 45 mph) a f250 diesel supercharge turned infront of us without warning. we t-boned it, impact was on the front right tire of his truck, ours was head on. my prius's bumper was pushed back to the engine and the engine was pushed back so much that it pushed back the dash inside the car. i couldn't get my door open. we had seatbelts on, but no airbags went off. on site emergency crews said they should've gone off. i've seen 2 doctors since, both side my whiplash and neck pain would have been less severe if an airbag was deployed. my car is totaled. *tr

Involved in an accident, hit broadsided on driver's side and rammed into guard rail on front of vehicle, the front windshield was broken and part of the door had to be removed to get me out.. the car was a 2005 prius with side, curtain, and front airbags, none of which deployed. the car was totaled. i suffered neck, back and shoulder trama and have not be able to work for a month and half. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. while driving approximately 45 mph, the front passenger side of the contact's vehicle crashed with another vehicle. the impact caused the vehicle to turn over onto the driver's side and skid across the shoulder into the grass. the vehicle went airborne down an embankment and continued to roll. the velocity was decreased by a barb wire fence catching onto the tire of the vehicle, which caused the vehicle to land on its tires. the passenger side b-beam was severely damaged. none of the eight air bags deployed. the vehicle was completely destroyed and a police report was filed. the driver sustained minor injuries. the manufacturer has not inspected the vehicle. the failure and current mileages were 55,000.

I was involved in a off-set frontal collision in a 2005 toyota prius equipped with dual front air bags and side curtain air bags on july 1, 2008. none of the four air bag systems in this vehicle deployed upon impact. i was traveling approximately 35 mph and the other vehicle was going ~ 30-35 mph. the other driver involved was not injured, but i was taken by ambulance to the local er trauma center where i underwent over 11 hours in a neck collar and numerous ct scans, mris and several x-rays. thankfully i was not seriously injured but still have neck, back, and abdominal pain from the crash. prior to this accident, i had surgery on june 24, 2008 and was still recovering from the surgery. the auto accident has significantly affected the speed of my recovery. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. the contact stated while his daughter was driving 45-55 mph, she swerved across the road then crashed into a tree. as a result, the vehicle flipped and landed on the passenger side. in addition, she crashed into two other trees. the airbags did not deploy. the crash destroyed the vehicle. the driver was taken to the hospital and suffered numerous injuries. the current and failure mileages were 56,000. updated 04/21/08 *bf

On 3/1/08 i was involved in an auto accident whereby i broadsided a public bus at an approximate angle of 45 degrees. the whole front of the car from the center to the driver's side was completely smashed and neither the driver's side airbag or passenger's side air bag deployed. as a result i, the driver, incurred whip lash injuries and the front passenger hit the front windshield and cracked it as the seatbelt on that side did not work either. toyota was contacted and their claim is that the front seat belt functioned properly but they could not explain how the front passenger was not restrained from hitting the front windshield. as to the airbags, they claim that, despite knowing the car was doing between 40-45 mph upon impact, that due to the angle of the collision the airbags would not deploy. could you please tell me if this is true. does the law allow for restraint systems not to deploy in such accidents or are they just stone walling us? any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated. thank you. john e. reardon *tr

I was headed south on 22nd street crossing 7th avenue south intersection. woman ran a redlight. i struck her car. i have a 2005 prius. the front end went down as it was design, but the airbags did not deploy. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. the air bag warning light illuminated intermittently. the dealer made four attempts to diagnose the failure. the air bag under the passenger seat was disconnected; however, the warning light continued to illuminate. the vehicle is being repaired by an authorized dealer. the vin was not available. the failure mileage was 12,000.

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 20 mph in the rain with leaves on the road, the vehicle slid off the road and impacted a 20 inch tree, on the front right side. the headlight and bumper, toward the center of the front end, sustained the impact. as the contact was not wearing a seatbelt, and the frontal airbags failed to deploy, the 38 year old driver received a small laceration to the top of the head, where impact was made with the windshield and a small cut to the right cheek. the vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop. the service dealer and manufacturer were contacted and informed the contact to get an estimate, and then call back. the manufacturer informed the contact that because the insurer removed the bumper, a technician would no longer be sent to investigate.

Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle was t-boned by another vehicle while driving 30 mph on a dry highway, and the side air bag did not deploy. most of damage was in the middle of the vehicle. the manufacturer sent a specialist to inspect the vehicle and determined the vehicle had the same error as indicated in recall # 06v096000, regarding the air bags. the vehicle was not included in the recall due to the vin. seat belts were in use at them time and operated correctly. injuries were sustained and a police report was taken.

Another driver failed to yield to me at an intersection. i struck the other car and the air bags did not go off nor did the seat belts lock into place to hold the passengers in a restrained position. *tr

I was a passenger in the front seat of a toyota prius that was headed east bound into an intersection in joliet illinois when another vehicle made a left turn in front of the car that i was in. the resulting front end collision failed to trigger the air bags and the seat belts did not hold me in place. as a result i have a permanent injury to my right shoulder that leaves me with limited mobility in my right arm. two other people were also injured in the resulting crash. *tr

I was involved in a low-speed accident in which the brakes in my car (2005 toyota prius) did not slow or stop the car and caused me to run into the back of another vehicle. no one was injured, the airbags did not deploy and there was no damage to the vehicle my car collided with. the exterior damage to my car was estimated approximately $6700. soon after, i was notified by the insurance company that my car was totaled due to damage sustained to the hybrid system. i requested that the event data recorder be downloaded to determine if there had been a failure in the brake system. my insurance company refused and toyota appears to have ignored my request. i also find it disturbing and curious that the front end and hence the hybrid system was destroyed beyond repair in an accident so minor that the police would not even give it a report number. *jb