NHTSA Complaint #10036657 — 2001 TOYOTA PRIUS

TWICE NOW I HAVE HAD WARNING LIGHTS APPEAR ON MY 2001 TOYOTA PRIUS SCREEN. THE FIRST TIME WAS THREE WEEKS AGO WHILE I WAS DRIVING ON A FREEWAY IN HOT WEATHER. I PULLED OVER AS I WAS LOSING POWER. THE GAS ENGINE WOULD NOT TURN ON. I WAS ON BATTERY POWER ONLY. I LIMPED TO AN EXIT AND PARKED THE CAR. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THE NEAREST TOYOTA DEALER. HE FIXED A STEERING RECALL PART AND THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE THE PROBLEM. HE COULD FIND NO ERROR CODES. I DROVE OFF. YESTERDAY IT HAPPENED AGAIN UNDER THE SAME CONDITIONS. I PULLED OVER, WAITED TWENTY MINUTES AND STARTED THE CAR AGAIN. THE WARNING LIGHTS WERE THEN OFF AND THE POWER WAS NOW NORMAL. I IMMEDIATELY TOOK IT TO MY HOME DEALER. HE TESTED IT AND TODAY TOLD ME THAT HE COULD FIND NOTHING. HE SAID THAT IF HE COULD NOT RECREATE THE PROBLEM IN THE SHOP, THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULD DO. THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY HAZARD AS THE LOSS OF POWER PARTICULARLY DURING AN ACCELERATION ONTO A FREEWAY COULD CAUSE A MAJOR ACCIDENT. MY FAMILY WILL NOW NOT DRIVE THE CAR ON A FREEWAY.*AK