NHTSA Complaint #10121966 — 2005 TOYOTA PRIUS

I HAD BEEN DRIVING MY 2005 TOYOTA PRIUS AT 40MPH WHEN I ACCELERATED TO PASS A CAR AND THEN HAD TO STOP BRIEFLY AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT. WHEN I PULLED AWAY FROM THE LIGHT I NOTICED THAT THE CAR FELT VERY SLUGGISH AND WOULDN'T ACCELERATE OVER 40 MPH. I THEN REALIZED THAT I WAS DRIVING ON THE HYBRID SYSTEM ONLY AND THAT THE ENGINE HAD STALLED. A BIG RED EXCLAMATION POINT LIT UP ON THE DASH AND I WAS ABLE TO COAST INTO A PARKING PLACE OFF THE HIGHWAY. WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO RESTART THE CAR IT DID NOTHING. I CALLED TOYOTA SERVICE AND EXPLAINED MY PROBLEM AND HE ARRANGED A TOW TRUCK PICK UP MY CAR BUT TOLD ME THAT SINCE IT WAS 5PM THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO LOOK AT IT UNTIL THE MORNING. THE NEXT MORNING THEY TOLD ME THAT THE CAR STARTED WITHOUT INCIDENT AND ALTHOUGH THEY RAN EXTENSIVE TESTING THEY COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG. THEY WANTED ME TO COME AND PICK IT UP BUT I REFUSED STATING THAT THERE DEFINETLY WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS CAR AND THAT I WAS JUST GLAD THAT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN EARLIER IN THE DAY WHEN I WAS ON I-95 GOING 80 MPH WITH A SEMI IN BACK OF ME. I ALSO TOLD THEM THAT I HAD DONE SOME RESEARCH ON MY OWN AT PRIUSONLINE AND YAHOO PRIUS FORUM AND FOUND THAT THERE WERE MORE PEOPLE WHO HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND IN MOST CASES IT WAS FOUND TO BE DUE TO A FEW CODES THAT NEEDED TO BE UPDATED IN THE CARS COMPUTER. I THEN ASKED THEM TO CHECK THESE SPECIFIC CODES. WHEN I CALLED BACK THE NEXT DAY THEY SAID THAT THEY RAN THE CODES AND FOUND NOTHING AND HAD TAKEN THE CAR FOR A LONG DRIVE BUT HAD NO PROBLEMS. THEY RELEASED IT TO ME AND IT HAS DRIVEN JUST AS PERFECTLY FOR ME AS IT DID UP UNTIL THE 1 SECOND BEFORE IT'S ENGINE QUIT WITHOUT WARNING. I KNOW THAT SOMETHING POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS HAPPENED TO MY CAR THAT DAY AND THAT THERE IS JUST AS MUCH CHANCE THAT IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN SINCE NOTHING WAS FIXED. I HOPE THAT YOU CAN HELP TO AVOID SOMETHING POTENTIALY TRAGIC HAPPENING TO ME OR SOMEONE ELSE.