Problems with 2008 Toyota Prius ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

After driving for about 500 miles the car was parked in the garage for two days. when i tried to start the car the 12v battery was dead. i used 3 different batteries to try to start the car. the lights came on on the dash but there was a warning message that there was a problem with the transmission and needed to put the car on a level surface which it already was, and the transmission would not come out of park and the motor would not start. the car could not be moved. when a new battery was installed the car resumed working fine. if the dead battery had happened when we were stopped on i81 because of construction, we would have been stuck in the fast lane with no way to move the car out of the travel lane until a tow truck arrived.

I was driving my 2008 prius on highway and warning light came on. in 2 minutes all power gone and i have had to towed to the dealer. they said, water pump failed and because of that hybrid inverter fried. car was out of guaranty and there was no recall about water pump. i paid nearly $5.000.00 for water pump and hybrid invertor. i have seen there is a recall about water pump now. is there any way i can get my money back? *tr

Problems started in 2010 driver head light would go off, replaced the relay with no effect, just lived with it would turn the lights off and back on and would then work. now at 72,500 miles both head lights and all running lights go out while driving! you can't see anything and other drivers can't see you! very dangerous! water pump went out should have been covered with a recall a year later but toyota would not reimburse the part.

Tl - the contact owns 2008 toyota prius. the contact stated that while trying to turn off the vehicle it would not shut off. the contact mentioned that the failure had occurred several times before, he was not able to turn off the vehicle until it was warm. the vehicle was taken into the dealership and they were not able to duplicate the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified. the failure and current mileage was 61,000. pm

Headlight goes on, then goes off. won't stay on. i was informed the other one could go out at any time, so i should replace both, at great expense. i was told by toyota that the hid headlights were covered under the regular warranty, but not the extended warranty. bulbs (especailly those costing $300) should not burn out or randomly flicker on a two year old vehicle. to prevent future/additional problems, i had to replace both headlights, including the one that was working. this is a definitlely safety issue...i check bulbs regularly, and all are working when i turn the car on. obviously, i can't check while i'm in motion - which is when they flash off - and was fortunate that both bulbs didn't burn out at the same time, which could have resulted in a crash, injury or accident (or worse) that i would have been liable for.

The instrument panel on a 2008 prius decides not work at varied times. it is a sporadic problem which occurs then goes away. you could be driving down the highway at night then you see that you have no display telling you: 1) how fast you are going, 2) how much gas do you have, or 3) distance traveled. it's too difficult to troubleshoot because the problem would goes away. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 toyota prius. the contact stated that while driving approximately 65 mph on the freeway the hybrid warning light illuminated on the instrumental panel and the vehicle suddenly stalled. he was able to drift the vehicle onto the side of the road. the vehicle was towed to a dealer. the diagnosis determined that the air flow sensor failed. the vin was not available. the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was 56,000.

High density headlight on passenger side burned out quickly, after only 2+ years of driving. dealer garage replaced at no cost - since it was still under the full extended warranty. high density headlight on driver side went out while driving. it went back on later that day, and has been intermittent since, but mostly not working. just started researching replacement bulb prices when i found out how many people have been having this same issue. passenger side tail light went out. wiggling the bulb, socket and wiring got the light working again. *tr

Prius starts when the power button is pushed. there is no dashboard lights and since the dash board is digital there is no way to tell what gear the car is in or what speed you are traveling. car drives without an operational dashboard which the dealer does not recommend. car is under 2000 mile warranty. dealer unwilling to repair combination meter which is the cause of the problem because they could not replicate the problem while at the dealership. problem is well documented on prius chat. cost $1600. *tr

Hid headlights unexpectedly shut off while driving. when i turn them off, then back on, they work perfectly fine, but i don't know when they'll go out again. this is clearly a safety issue. it does appear that the hid headlight equipped prius has some electrical or design defect. *tr

Hid headlights unexpectedly shut off while driving. this is clearly a safety issue and appears to be a defect with the electrical system or design of the lighting components other than the bulbs because if i turn them off they come back on fine every time like there's nothing wrong with them. *tr

Hid headlights that unexpectedly shut off while driving, but come back on when manually turned off, then on. appears to be problem with the electrical system, not the lights, or a design defect. *tr

Our prius headlights go out intermittently. usually one at a time, but several times they have both gone out at the same time almost causing a crash. i took it to the toyota dealer it was purchased from while still under warranty, they claimed it was a light bulb "going" out, that was 3 years ago and the bulb still isn't out. *tr

On 20 may 2010 at 11,966 miles every brake/stability warning light came on (including the warning for the parking/emergency brake which was not engaged), regenerative braking appeared to have failed, and hydraulic/friction brakes behaved as if abs was acting at a very slow pulse rate, approximately a 5-second cycle. for about 2 seconds during the "off" portion of this cycle the brakes were effectively inoperative, with the parking/emergency brake the only source of braking. this behavior persisted after shutting down and restarting the car. the dealer's service department reported that three errors had been logged: c1247 - stroke sensor c1300 - abs ecu malfunction c2318 - low voltage error resetting the computers cleared the warning indications and restored normal brake system behavior. at my behest, the dealer worked with toyota engineering to identify why a low voltage would cause a computer failure which could cause substantial loss of braking ability. they kept the car for 8 days but did not appear to complete any sort of root cause analysis of the failure. on 17 december 2012 at 27,324 miles the brakes again failed with the same set of warning lights illuminated. this time, abs does not appear to be active at all. for the first 2-5 cm of brake pedal travel, in the regime where regenerative braking would be active, no braking is evident. as the pedal is further depressed, the hydraulic/friction brakes abruptly engage. pressing harder does result in increased braking though braking is rough. no pulsation as might be expected from abs was noticed. no attempt was made to brake hard enough to lock up the brakes. the vehicle is currently at the dealer. *tr

multiple occurrences over the past 3 years of headlights (one or at times both) going out unexpectedly without warning. you go into partial lighting or total darkness. after a few minutes you can turn the headlights back on and they may stay lit for few minutes or several hours. i have had dealerships look at the car and say that it is just the bulbs failing (bulbs that are suppose to last 10 times longer than conventional bulbs). the car is now 4 years old and i have had to replace the bulbs yearly. dealership costs that was originally $350 plus installation per bulb. toyota has now dropped their price to $150 per bulb. aftermarket bulbs now available but you still only get a life of 7 months to a year per bulb lots of talk from dealers but no solution. i went to after market bulbs thinking that the problem was toyota bulbs. the same problem occurs. the problem is not the bulbs, the problem is in the vehicle wiring. this is a severe problem that must be looked into in that it putting a lot of prius owners along with others on the highway at risk. *tr

Severe safety concerns with a 2008 prius are the following: the answers and solutions to the following are necessary before anyone could be considered safe driving this 2008 prius: 1.why did our prius have a power failure on april 13th while driving at 60 mph on a flat stretch of hwy 101 going north at the blithedale exit in mill valley, ca? 2.why while driving up divisidero around 11:30 or 12 noon on april 25, 2010 did the car begin beeping loudly when going up the hill in pacific heights? 3. why did it then start making two different beeping sounds? we then pulled over and found that the transmission indicated that it had jumped into reverse even though the car was still going forward. we had not touched the shift lever, both hands were on the wheel. it jumped into reverse by itself. 4.why , after we then returned the shift to drive, were we able to go further up the hill and the loud beeping started again while the transmission was still in drive? we stopped the car and kept a foot on the brake pedal until help arrived. aaa came. aaa drove the car without beeping to a more level part of the street to load it upon a truck and carried the car to the san francisco geary toyota service center. they have yet [5.20.10] to accurately diagnose and correct these problems so it is safe to drive. *tr

2008 toyota prius. consumer states fault in vehicle *tgw the consumer stated he backed out of a parking space, shifted into drive and the vehicle refused to respond to drive as he pressed the accelerator. it seemed the brake was on. a master fault appeared on the screen. it said batteries will not charge if let in the neutral position. after several tries, it finally responded. *jb

The 2008 toyota prius has a strong smell that resembles a electrical burning smell it makes your eyes water and your cloths smell like it long after you have left the vehicle. the dealer is not sure where it is coming from. there are other reported claims of the same smell on the internet. *tr

I left my 2008 toyota prius running and had to run back into a home where i'd just left a sales appointment. eventhough i had the key fob in my pocket, i noticed out of the corner of my eye as i was crossing the street back towards the house that my car was careening into the buick parked across the street. i ran and jumped in and steered it away from t-boning the parked buick, but could not keep it the driver's side of the prius from scraping along the driver's side corner of the buick's rear bumper. *tr

2008 prius regularly thrusts forward after about 30 seconds from starting the car. then, car looms back into position. it has always scared me and makes me insecure to drive the car. this has been going on since i bought the car in december 2007, so the date of the incident below is inaccurate. i felt i should report this in light of the recent reports of defects, etc. thank you. *tr

I purchased a 2008 prius with hid bulbs and they both started going out a couple weeks after owning it while i was driving home at night. in just a matter of minutes, i had no lights at all! i was in a urban area, so the street lights were there so that i could see. but if i were in the country, as i usually am about once a week, i would have been in big trouble. *tr

In early 2010 (estimate), the rear driver side door lock of our 2008 toyota prius would not unlock with key faub or driver side door lock/unlock button. i took vehicle into poway toyota (poway, ca) and they stated door lock actuator failed, which they replaced at my cost. by the summer of 2010 (estimate), the other three door locks have failed. i must use the key to open the front driver's door and reach over to open the passenger side doors while passengers wait outside the vehicle. it is not safe for passengers to wait to enter vehicle. to have all four door locks fail within three years of the car construction, indicates to me there could be a defect with this part of the toyota prius. i request you investigate this matter. *tr

I have a 08 prius. several days ago someone told me that one day-time running light was out. two nights ago i checked and both lights were working so i thought i was ok. last night after driving about an hour, both head lights went out. i turned the switch off and on again and the lights came back on. about a minute later the right light went off. after another hour of driving the left light went out and i repeated the turn on cycle and it stayed another coupler hours. (i drove home with the flasher as this would have enabled me to see the road a little is case the light went out again., ) i made it home ok and am contacting my dealer today. *tr

Hello....i just received a notice from toyota entitled customer support program..(no mention of recall). in it, they say that there is a problem with headlights going out...and while they've been charging for them at 300 dollars each, they now realize that it's some kind of electrical issue....that causes the lights to fail...now, in light of everything else, it seems that this is a potentially serious problem and should be a recall...not a "hide the problem" kind of customer support letter......someone should be monitoring this one too....if toyota can hide something that is a recall-warranted problem, what next..? it worries me.... *tr

I have a 2008 toyota prius. every now and again for no apparent reason the digital dashboard (led) will not come on upon engine startup or it goes off while driving. the car runs it just the dashboard is blank. the most recent incident was this past friday. the dealer, arlington toyota, in arlington heights, il has not been able to find the cause of the problem.

I was driving my 2008 prius about 20 to 30 mph down a straight road, a slight descending grade and coasting, when it accelerated with my foot off the accelerator pedal. this happened for about 4-5 seconds and a speed gain of approximately 5-10 mph. it startled me, if a car had been in front of me, there would have been a serious problem. a light flashed on the dash but it happened so fast that i could not tell which light. i called toyota of longview and was told if it was not acting up they could not do anything about it. we had bad weather so i parked the car until we could carry it in. feb 9th, 2011, we had the dealer check it and they found nothing wrong. i would sell it but it what if someone else got in an accident? something needs to be done. *tr

I own at 2008 toyota prius. recently, i was driving at night on a dark stretch of rt. 15 in pa and my headlight turned off. i thought i must have somehow hit something to cause it to turn of, i quickly turned the knob and it went on again. it has since happened a few times and may in fact have happened more frequently but i only notice it if i'm on a unlite or not well traveled road. i see from prius owners' message boards that it is an ongoing problem that toyota is well aware of. i see from a nyt article that it has been reported to your agency but you haven't taken action. i believe you should, because losing a headlight is a danger to the driver and to oncoming traffic. it seems doubly unfair that a driver can be cited for a violation that is beyond his/her control. i contacted the dealer who said it would be $385 to replace the light bulb have not gone in for the repair, it's expensive and from what i've read, the problem may be electrical rather than a burned out bulb. *tw these high-intensity discharge (hid) headlights are not an option on the car, it's the only bulb that fits the prius, but if the problem is electrical then changing the bulb for $385 will not stop the headlight unit from shutting off again without warning, sometimes in dangerous situations. please take toyota to task for this, they know the problem exists but they are passing the buck to the owners without guaranteeing that the problem will be solved and we'll be safe driving at night. toyota has known about the faulty brakes, the sticking gas pedal and headlights suddenly turn off , what else are they hiding from consumers? it's time for nhtsa to step and force toyota to fix our headlights before tragic accidents happen.

Our office owns a toyota prius that i drive occasional to work assignments. i took the car on a trip to see a work project but stopped to pick up another employee before heading to the site. when i pulled up to pick up the employee the prius's entire dashboard display went blank. i pulled the car into a parking space and tried to turn it off. the "key" would not come out of the receiver. i realized the car was still running so i tried repeatedly to turn it off by pressing on the power button. the other employee showed up so we drove the car back to my office (2 blocks) got another vehicle and i drove the prius to the office service garage. the garage staff couldn't turn off the car either. so i left it there. later the garage called to say the car was ready. i asked them what was wrong with the car. they say it just had to be re-booted by holding down the power button for 10 seconds. after hearing about people getting killed driving toyota products and toyota saying there is nothing wrong with the vehicle computer i thought i should write and tell you it is the computer! if you are interested in hearing more details or picking up the vehicle for inspection you can e-mail me . i can fill in a lot of details when i get back to the office. i used 1/12/2010 to get through this form but i can check the date when i get into the office. *tr

I n a 2008 prius, three incidents turning right and left while on an incline. two times in the last 3 weeks, loosing power with brake/wheels lights on when slowing to turn left on pine street at taylor...another time, also in san francisco slowing going uphill at post and leavenworth(no turn) but hill and slowing and loosing power. in carmel, about one month ago, turning downhill to the right, from highway #1 to carpenter street(again, brake lights/wheels)loss of power. told tech's when serviced...told it was normal! *tr

While driving, the driver's side headlight will fail (turn off) for no apparent reason. turning the headlight switch off then on will restore the headlights functioning. i have been stopped by the police once for this, and have noticed it now on my own many times since; almost every time i drive. *tr

2008 pruis- twice in cold weather the computer dashboard indicators wouldnt show any info including speed of car and the car would not turn off. i called the dealership and they said they had never heard of this before. after about 30 minutes of driving around the dashboard came on and i was able to turn the car off. i looked this up online and others have had this problem in cold weather with the pruis. *tr

Toyota prius hid headlight - my prius headlight went out while driving down a highway. since then the low and high beams go on and off randomly. i took it to the dealer and they told me the bulb was fine and it was a short in the electircal that they could not find. they suggested that i just drive with it and keep trying to shake the wires and determine where the problem was. now (a month latter) i get a letter from toyota telling me it is a known problem with the bulb all along. the solution is to avoid using my headlights (that was the suggestion in the letter, only use them when required by law) and if i have to use them allow them to cool before i turn them on again! what a bunch of idiots for suggesting not using your headlights! i'm still under warrenty, but will now have to pay ~$200 each time this problem bulb burns out - unless i follow toyota's advice and skip using them at all :). *tr

Toyota prius 2008, driver's side hid headlight went out at 29k miles <2 years of use, different dealerships tell different stories on whether it's a warranty repair; bulb pricing ranges from $30 to $350; sandy springs toyota sold us the wrong part; owner's manual gives wrong instructions: the light bulb casing looks nothing like the diagram; some online sources cite a total cost + labor $1700; some don't recommend downgrading to a non-hid bulb; some say that the voltage is very high and poses risk of electrocution when replacing at home; *tr

2008 toyota prius owned two of same year and model. both cars had headlight defects after 30,000 miles. safety issue and dealer states the lights are known to go out. i have never had a car head lights fail before 200,000 miles. i would like this problem investigated because of the safety issue and many other prius owners are also having the same problem as per on line research. *tr

2008 toyota prius (touring model) -- driver side hid headlight began to fail in sept 2009. became more frequent as time elapsed (would occur 3+ times during 30 minute trip). turning lights off and back on temporarily resolved issue, but driver bulb would eventually fail again. resulted in reduced visibility and potential blind spot for driver in front of vehicle. researched online - suspected ecu. contacted toyota corporate around december 2009. was advised that ecu was not the problem - bulb repair suggested. dealer diagnostic suggested. did not go to deal to spend $100 to tell me a light bulb should be replaced. received notice jan 2010 that symptoms matching mine was due to headlight reaching end of life. ordered and attempted to replace bulbs in jan 2010. did not bring to toyota as cost to replace bulbs was at least 6x more that "do it yourself". attempt to replace bulbs resulted in mixed success. was able to get both hid headlights replaced and functioning (after passenger side or driver side would not remain on consistently). tested high beams - after high beams were disengaged both headlights went out, but headlight switch remained engaged. disconnected and reconnected wiring. only passenger side bulb functioned. afraid to use high beams and no faith in headlights. reluctant to spend hundreds of dollars to have dealer change bulbs, same problem occur, and spend hundreds or 1,000+ dollars. original bulbs retained and i will be putting them back in once weather is warmer. strong belief that bulbs are not to blame and ecu or other electrical component is at fault. dozens of similar issues reported online. *tr

While driving my 2008 prius randomly stalls. this has happened more than 6 times in the last 30 days. the dashboard lights all go on and a constant tone is emitted. at that point i have greatly reduced ability to operate the vehicle (apparently on electric power but very slow). since this occurs while driving there is a serious possibility of accident as there is very limited control. to reset the problem you must pull over and put the car in park and shut it off. turning it back on corrects the issue. took it to a dealer. they had it for a 8 days and claimed: 1. the on board computer did not record anything unusual 2. they could not repro this during their test drives 3. they returned the car back to me - 20 minutes later on my way home the car stalled again. 4. at this time they have no fix for this problem. *tr

I have a 2008 toyota prius (bought new) & have had several problems with the electrical system. the biggest problem happened when my husband was driving on the highway. suddenly the radio went off & all lights on the dash went off. he pulled over, turned off the motor & then turned it on again. it was then ok. another problem has occurred 3 times. the car won't start & i have to keep trying. after a few attempts it does start. i had not reported these problems, & would not have except for the problems that toyotas are now having. i think that maybe many people are experiencing this problem. and although my car should have been in the floormat recall, i have never had any letter or calls from my dealer. *tr

On 3 separate days, 2 during the summer of 2009 and 1 during the summer of 2010, our prius transmission has automatically and repeatedly shifted from d (drive) to n (neutral) without warning while the car was moving. all incidents happened on extremely hot days (temperatures near 100) in the afternoon after the car had been parked out in the sun and without us having made any accidental contact with the shifter / drive selector while driving. this created dangerous situations several times as the car erratically slowed as we entered intersections or pulled out onto busy streets. our initial response was to depress the accelerator, but when this had no effect, we discovered the transmission light had moved from d to n. it was especially dangerous when making left hand turns on busy streets with oncoming traffic. we discovered that we could keep the car moving by constantly holding the shifter / drive selector lever in the d position. turning off the air conditioner did not help the problem. after the first time this happened, we took the car to the dealership to investigate the problem, but the service technicians there were unable to reproduce it. this glitch remains a concern to us because the loss of power and acceleration is unpredictable and therefore dangerous, but at least we know we can keep the car moving by holding the shifter in the d position. because the car is so computerized, i suspect an electronic component of the drive system may malfunction at high temperatures. the mileage number i gave is an approximation since i didn't record the actual mileage when this first happened, but the dealer who serviced the car shortly thereafter should have that information.

S10 appropriate handling - letter to the secretary from mrs. judy haley gizmo disputing claim by toyota that unintended acceleration of toyota vehicles due to faulty floor mats. *nj the consumer disputed toyota's claim that the many cases of unintended acceleration were due to faulty floor mats. the consumer stated the crash she had was not due to faulty floor mat's which were latched down, but was due to acceleration/brake problems in the computer and electrical systems of the vehicle. the consumer stated she backed the vehicle out of the driveway, she exited the garage and pressed the button to close the garage door. after closing the garage door, she sated she wasn't sure if she placed the gear in drive or neutral, but suddenly the vehicle lunged forward going up to 15-20 mph. within 5 seconds the consumer crashed into the garage door, rammed into the inside kitchen wall causing extensive damage. the air bags didn't deploy. the consumer suffered injuries.

2008 toyota prius headlamp keeps going out. replaced both hid headlamps as toyota corporate told me to do and problem consists. safety hazard while driving at night with children in car and busy pedestrians on dark roads with strollers and babies not counting deer or other animals. toyota has refused to recall issue. im tired! *tr

2008 toyota prius pkg 6...lost power at 65mph...engine shut down and i lost control of car...pulled over...lights said there was no fuel but i had refueled earlier that morning. took to dealer...could not find a problem. also, hid headlights intermittently don't work...very unsafe...has caused trouble with police...i am beyond irritated with toyota. *tr

A. dash lights would just disappear (no display for speed or gear) b. key "bob" wouldn't release and car wouldn't turn off. - twice c. car would "rev-up" when engine cool while in gear applying brakes 1. took to dealer to resolve - couldn't recreate the problems and was told to keep the key in my pocket. 2. second time was able to take to the dealer while the problem was happening. after 30 minutes came back with the solution of not to insert key bob. the lights and the "key bob" problem happen twice. the engine "rev-up" happen when the car was cold and i would need to make sure to firmly apply the brakes. the last time it happened i wasn't so lucky - going at a speed of 40 i started a turn to go under the freeway when the engine "rev-up" and forced me into a concrete wall... totaling the car. *tr

Interior instrument failure. temperature app. 23 deg. f. car started normally mfd came up fine. main dash instruments failed to come on. no speedometer, gearshift indicator, fuel gauge, or odometer. all exterior lighting worked fine. vehicle shifted into reverse and drove normally for about 15-20 min. when i parked and tried to turn off the car by pressing the power button the vehicle failed to shut down. contacted toyota usa and was informed that they rely on their dealerships for tech support. went through manual drivetrain shutdown by pressing and holding the power button. shutting down all accessories to limit accessory battery. could not lock vehicle. approximately 30 minutes later went out to the car and vehicle powered up as though nothing had happened. i believe that the temperature was the issue and there is some software issue that is not in the owners manual. anytime you cannot turn off a vehicle there is a risk for an accident and or injury from an unoccupied vehicle. the dealership service dept. theorized that the accessory battery may be low. but this would result in the car not bringing the main battery online. toyota should address this issue . *tr

Today, i went to work driving my prius (2008 with 11000 miles) without any dash board lights. the dashboard under the windshield is a reflective type with a whole array of operating indicating lights across to the passengers side. only the airbag indicator light worked for the passenger side. the cruise control did not work. i tried various power on/off brake on/off combinations to get the dashboard lights working. i pressed the power button with or without the brakes engaged during startup. the engine still ran and the headlights, turn indicators, brake lights, radio and fuel consumption gauge worked. i had no idea of my driving speed other than what other car speed around me were doing. i had to drive under the risk of braking the law as well as the distracting no lighting. then a worse problem developed. i could not turn the shut car off and i could not lock it after i got out. it gave me the usual beep that it was still running. i tried pressing the power button numerous times. i tried locking the car with the mechanical key and it electronically kept opening. i tried various combinations of braking while sitting, walking a greater distance from the car, using the emergency brake and slamming on the dashboard hoping it was a loose wire. nothing worked. the car is sitting in the parking lot right now still running without a key. i could not lock it. as i walked away, i pressed the electronic key numerous times. the little red light indicated it was working. what else can i do. l was late for work and i start at 6 am. the dealer, (toyota heartland of bremerton), doesn't open until 7:00 am and its 6:25 am. i manually turned off the display and radio so the minimum amount of lighting was showing. as far as i know, the car is still in the parking lot running and easy to steal. the engine would not power down nor would the car lock. the dashboard (below the windshield) not lighting was same problem i had a couple of months ago. *tr

I have 2008 prius toyota that 3 times in 2 years i have not been able to turn the car off and the dashboard is not lit up. after 20 minutes the car lights up again and i can turn the car off. fearful that i cannot turn car off ever, then what? i have called toyota customer service and they deny hearing about this before but prius chat forum has several people that have the same problem. seems cold weather related and for some the "combination meter" was the problem. it costs $800 to replace. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 toyota prius. while driving 10 mph, the front driver's side tire went flat. the contact replaced the tire with a spare. the vehicle then began experiencing numerous failures. the instrument panel gauges illuminated and the odometer began to fail. the dealer stated that it would take a few days to diagnose the cause of the failure. days later, the mechanic explained that there was an issue with the computer system not recognizing the oversized tires. the mechanic placed the regular size tire back on the vehicle, which corrected the issue. the contact is concerned that the spare tire could cause dangerous driving conditions if it ever needed to be used again. the current and failure mileages were 14,500. updated 11/14/08. *lj updated 11/18/08.*jb

Summary: prius low fuel warning light/buzzer came on, and only 5 miles later car ran out of gas, in a bad place at night on highway. the manual states that when low light comes on you have three gallons or less. with the prius, even treating this conservatively as only 1 1/2 gallons, that should still be over 60 miles. i had driven the vehicle between 30 and 50 miles with low light on multiple times previously. this usually works occasionally fails fuel warning is clearly dangerous. and from internet researching, it is clearly a widespread problem, and toyota not only is completely ignoring it, they denied to me having received any complaints on this (there are previous complaints on this even right on this nhtsa website). driving from colorado to kansas city on i-70, a little after passing the sign that said "topeka 27 miles", just after 10 at night, the low fuel light illuminated and warning sounded. we planned to stop at the next fuel stop, which we expected to be within 20 miles at the most. about 5 miles after the light illuminated, the car suddenly lost power, the gas engine clearly had quit, the red triangle warning illuminated, along with another warning. after the initial scare, i pulled the vehicle over, slowly, under battery power, not knowing what had happened. in the manual we found that the second warning indicated "hybrid system malfunction", and not to attempt to drive the vehicle. some 10-15 minutes later, as we were trying to get emergency help, that warning disappeared, and a new message came up, "add fuel". eventually we borrowed gas from a family that stopped to help us in this rural area, and got help from a highway patrolman. toyota checked vehicle, denies problems, denies receiving complaints, refuses to send warnings to prius owners. nhtsa, this is a safety issue, like your recall 00v384. *tr 6/19/08 add **cw the consumer believed that the low fuel warning light was defective.

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 toyota prius. while placing fuel in the vehicle, it will not fill to its full capacity. this is a continuous failure that occurs in all weather conditions and temperatures. there is a malfunction with the fuel gauge device. the inaccurate readings of the fuel gauge causes discomfort when driving. the toyota manufacturer stated that the vehicle would only consume 6-7 gallons of gasoline, even though the fuel tank capacity was 11.9 gallons. the manufacturer is aware of the failure, but the fuel tank cannot be replaced in these vehicles. the tank would need to be redesigned. the contact recently took the vehicle to an authorized dealer and the mechanic stated that the fuel tank failure was related to the bladder system. the vehicle is currently being repaired for the failures. the failure mileage was 5,000 and current mileage was 9,000. updated 07/07/08. *lj updated *jb

I purchased my prius new. i have had a chronic & constant issue with my head lights & tail lights not working properly. i have had this issue checked by mechanics and have been told this is a "toyota electrical issue". there is no problem with the bulbs or components that can be found by mechanics. this is a dangerous problem, and occurs randomly without notice. my head lights or tail lights just "go out"...any time, anywhere! i have spoken with other toyota prius owners (other years too), and they have the same problems. *tr

Shortly after i purchased the car new, the audio display unit (touch screen,) which also controls air conditioning failed and was replaced under warranty on january 5, 2008. the same unit failed again on october 30, 2011 . the touch screen is unresponsive, which makes it impossible to use it to control air conditioning, audio and other information functions. the toyota dealer from whom i purchased the car examined the part, confirmed that it is defective and informed me that a replacement will cost over $7,000 (seven thousand) which is about half of the current blue book value of the car. it is therefore not economical to repair it. i was also informed that while the car has a 3 years/30000 warranty, the defective part in question has only one year warranty. this seems deceptive, because according to toyota's tsb el002-05, this is a known problem. *kb