Runaway Prius C !!!!!

Driving at 9:30 pm when the car decides to go into high RPMs and shakes the car. Then my speedometer jumped from 70 to 74 and I tried to slow down. Then the vehicle shut off and the message on dash said problem with Hybrid Sytem pull over immediately. Its dark, 5 passengers including myself, no room on carpool lane shoulder to pull over so I had to coast across the freeway 5 lanes to the other shoulder. With the momentum we had I made it safely weaving and dodging trucks and cars. I tried to restart and after several attempts the engine started, for a second or two, then started knocking loudly and shut off never to turn on again. All of the dash warning lights came on and the fuel gauge read 2 bars, the battery 1 bar. I get about 500 plus miles per tank and the trip meter was in the mid 300's. I only have 4944 miles on the car and owned it 1 month. Toyota care will tow you to a dealer, local to the location of the vehicle, not your home, but they were all closed and could not accomadate me and my passengers including a child and 73 year old disabled grandmother. Triple A to the rescue. Next day Toyota Care said it would be 1.5 hours but did nto show up til after 2 hours with another car on the truck and passengers so I could not catch a ride to the dealer. Dealer picked me up, but no loaner available. I could wait until someone brings one back in the evening but no guarnatee but as it is it took them several calls and hours to get me to the dealer in the first place. I could not wait and I had to go work. So I asked for a ride home then from the shuttle they used to pick me up. The driver tells me I live too far to take me home though they just picked me up. They asked the manager for approval to take me home but the manager said no, I live too far (1.5 miles away from the cut off) even though they never mentioned that when they picked me up that I may be stranded. I left and called a cab and had to pay for my own rental. Customer relations was made aware and I waspromised a call. No call and it took a call to the operations manager, general managaer, district manager to get their attention. Then I also called Toyota direct. So far they said I ran out of gas though they confirmed the run away car, fuel on the fuel gauge and I have all my proof of mileage and fuel. After 4 days at the dealer they said the fuel pump is no good, they do not have it in stock, and they do not know when they will have one. Though the car is obviously unsafe and they do not know how to fix all of the problems I reported, they refuse to have open dialog and told me to go to arbitration or file a lemon lawsuit and would not let me get a word in with out them asking me to decide.

Wow...This is my 3rd toyota, a new one every 2 years so I make sure they are reliable since I drive alot. This is the service and support I get. Nothing like what I would expect from toyota. Today is the 9th of september. I have filed a complaint with NHTSA and DOT. However it did not surprise me that after the complaint was filed I was directed to look at other complaints and the Prius again had multiple complaints on the same car and scenario. Is it going to take another media report to get their attention? Do they not care the vehicle poses a safety threat to its passengers? Imagine getting stranded in the desert or in the snow with kids and elderly in a new car when toyota well knows these problems exist. i thank God the situation did not get worst and that we did not get hit by traffic.

Anyone else experience this?

safecar.gov report numbers 10470699 and10472441 have similar compaints if you would like to verify.

 

Well I'd like to thank all of those who have read my entry and can understand how frustrating my situation has been. I would like to address all those who for some reason think this is a BS post. I reached out to the forum so that others can obviously be made aware of potential problems with the Prius and to see if I could gain support from others whom may have experienced similar problems on how to address this. I hope I have not wasted your time, since mine is also valuable I think it is fair to accept that some people would react this way. I did suggest to look at a link on the NHTSA and DOT websites and gave report numbers for similar incidents, not exact incidents of course since that would be too coincidental and everyone I am sure would understand that. however the message dispaly on those incidents is similar and both claim they had fuel in the car but was written off as running out of fuel.

However, I have received updates from the dealer on my particular situation. The Toyota engineers have gathered enough data to conclude that the sending unit, fuel pump failed. It sent out incorrect fuel readings and therefore I ran out of fuel due to that. Refueling the car did not fix all of the problem codes, the Hybrid System failure, check engine and the brake light indicators. The dealer told me they could not address all of those things until they get the part that is defective. The car is currently disassembled and without the sending unit they can not run tests. I was told that on Monday, today they were expecting the part but that it is backordered until Wednesday. I will have to wait until then. The dealer has made it a point to keep me updated. They gave me a loaner with only 960 miles on it to demonstarte their commitment to treating the situation better than they originally did. That is exactly the type of service i expected and am thankful, jsut wish they did not strand me that day, but I'll live and the dealer is reimbusing me for my out of pocket for that day.

As far as Toyota is concerned my first Toyota was a 2008 Yaris, I loved it and by far was the most economical car I owned and I enjoyed every mile on it and had many upgrades in it. I only got rid of it sooner than I needed because it was an in accident while going 55 into an SUV. Though the car was totalled the driver, my brother in law, got away with a bruise from the belts and the knee on the dash, other than that, took it like a champ at 98,000 miles of use!!

The next car was immediately a 2011 Camry. Also a great car, great ride, and a great price. No problems but the typical brakes and tires and I traded that in at 93,000 miles. 2 of my neighbors and another friend bought one as well around the same time. All of them with extended warranty to 100,000 miles since I drive so much.

The next was the Prius C since it had the best MPG around and the price was great as well as the reviews. I don't see why anyone woudl say I am bad mouthing Toyota or trying to post negative "BS". I sincerely enjoyed my Toyotas, but honestly, if you had the same experience would your opinion change? Would you buy another one? As for the dealership, I have found a replacement for them, much further away on my work route but worth the sacrrifice and still a Toyota dealer. Corporate Toyota is going to have to wait on my decision to pursue further action pending what they conclude was the problem with the car and if they can fix it in a reasonable amount of time. The loaner pulls 26 MPG average and the Prius C was more comfortable and gave me avg. up to 57 MPG on any given day.

I'll check in more often and if I can figure out how to load pics of the Yaris I will.

 

Well thank you by the way for the well thought out evaluation. I slowed the car down by pumping the brakes before the car gave me a beep and shut down. As far as the accelaration it did not happen until the high revolutions first kicked in and the vibration. The runaway part lasted a few seconds until i noticed the speedometer go up and I pumped the brakes. Then after that it was all coasting. I drive anywhere from 3500 to 5000 miles per month depending on my route for work. I service all of the van conversion companies in so cal and all of the limo manufacturers as far as vegas. I will roughly put over 100,000 miles every two years. By the way the battery level for the type of driving I do rarley dips below the halfway since it is motly highway and the traffic I try to beat as much as possible.