NHTSA Complaint #10082996 — 2002 TOYOTA PRIUS

JUST WANTED TO ALERT YOU THAT THERE MAY BE A POTENTIAL DEFECT WITH THE TORQUE SENSOR, WHICH AFFECTS THE POWER STEERING. I RECENTLY ENCOUNTERED THIS IN MY 2002 TOYOTA PRIUS WITH 43,000+ MILES ON THE VEHICLE.*AK \ BASICALLY, THERE ARE NO PRECEDING SYMPTOMS BEFORE THE POWER STEERING FAILS. UPON FAILURE, THE PRIUS CENTRAL COLOR TOUCHSCREEN LCD DISPLAY SHOWS THREE ICONS, WITH THE "PS" ICON IN RED. YOU WILL ALSO SEE AN EXCLAMATION POINT ICON LIT ON THE GREEN LCD DISPLAY NEXT TO THE SPEEDOMETER. AT WHICH POINT, YOU HAVE NO POWER STEERING AND THE CAR WILL BE HARD TO STEER. \ WHEN THIS OCCURS, THERE MAY BE A TEMPORARY FIX, WHICH WORKED FOR ME. PULL OVER TO A SAFE AREA AND TURN OFF THE CAR. WAIT 30 SECONDS, AND THEN TURN ON THE CAR. YOU HAVE EFFECTIVELY REBOOTED THE PRIUS COMPUTER SYSTEM WITH THE TORQUE SENSOR, AND THE POWER STEERING SHOULD RETURN FOR THE TIME BEING. \ THE VEHICLE SHOULD BE TAKEN TO THE NEAREST OFFICIAL TOYOTA SERVICE SHOP (AKA DEALERSHIP) AND HAVE THEM RUN A DIAGNOSTIC CHECK. THEY SHOULD SEE CODE "C1513 TORQUE SENSOR ABNORMAL" IN THE PRIUS' MEMORY BANKS. THEN SIT DOWN FOR THE PRICE TAG: $3159 - $4,160 TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE POWER STEERING RACK, SINCE THE SENSOR IS INTEGRATED IN THE RACK ITSELF. THIS INCLUDES THE LABOR OF ABOUT $261. \ IT IS RECOMMENDED NOT TO ACCEPT ANY "COST COVERAGE OFFER" FROM THE SERVICE SHOP UNTIL YOU CALL THE TOYOTA CONSUMER SUPPORT LINE AT 1-800-331-4331. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A SERVICE QUOTE FROM THE SHOP, THEN CALL THE SUPPORT LINE AND COMPLAIN. THE SUPPORT LINE WILL ASSIGN YOU A CASE WORKER AND PROVIDE A CASE NUMBER. THEY WILL CONTACT THE SHOP AND MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE. TOYOTA COVERED THE COST OF THE PART 100% FOR ME, AND ALL I HAD TO DO WAS PAY FOR THE LABOR SINCE MY CAR WAS OUT OF WARRANTY PER THE 36,000 BUMPER-TO-BUMPER COVERAGE. \ IN CONCLUSION, I AM VERY HAPPY ON HOW TOYOTA HANDLED THE POWER STEERING ISSUE. THIS IS TO INFORM OTHER 2000-2003 PRIUS OWNERS IF THEY ENCOUNTER A SIMILAR PROBLEM.