Prius taxi -- no power steering

There have been reports of this happening from time to time. From memory, the most frequent cause has been failure of the power steering ECU. It is easy to replace once the dash pieces have been removed. It is a simple plug in replacement, which can more cheaply be a used component. But it is necessary to get the DTC read first to know for sure.

 

If it is the power steering ECU that is at fault, it is required that when the ECU is replaced "either new or used" a zero point calibration is carried out to program the steering settings in the ECU.
It is also a possibility that the power steering motor has failed. This failure could be as little as worn out brushes or as much the motor burnt out. Unplugging the steering motor and supplying it with 12 volts should spin the steering reversing the supply should spin the steering in the opposite direction. If this happens it is the ECU that is at fault.

John (Britprius)

 

that's some serious km's, congrats!

 

My power steering failed at 30k mile intervals (under warranty). I have my fingers crossed it'll be OK at 90k miles as this next time I have to pay for it.

The more I see about US (and Canadian) cars running to super high mileages and European cars failing under 100k miles, indicates that there must be a difference in specifications and parts. Me and the Greek taxi driver have had many issues under 100,000 miles whereas taxi drivers the other side of the Atlantic are fine.

 

While I am not going to dispute thoughts on reliability with the problems you have encountered.
I do believe the gen2 is more reliable than the gen3, but even this is perhaps to early to tell. I ave a 2008 getting close to 100,000 miles. Total sum of parts replaced "other than recalls and ware items such as tyres" comes to one rear shock leaking in first 5000 miles "both replaced under guarantee". I have never had a car that came anywhere near that for repairs.
I believe much of the reliability issues comes down to the actual use of the vehicle on town roads on which they are driven. In the UK/EU these tend to be narrow twisting streets with sharp turns, lots of braking accelerating and tight turning. Compared with the American and Canadian towns with wide straight roads and grid systems.
It does not make economical sense for Toyota to have identical parts made to different specifications "this of course does not include parts that are different such as fuel tanks" keeping them separate on production lines for US and EU vehicles.

John (Britprius)