NHTSA Complaint #10123778 — 2004 SCION XA

MY CAR IS A 2004 PRIUS PURCHASED AUGUST 2004. ON APRIL 18, I HAD BEEN DRIVING FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES, THEN STOPPED AT A STOP SIGN. UPON RESUMING DRIVING, A WARNING LIGHT (TRIANGLE/EXCLAMATION MARK) AND THE HYBRID SYSTEM WARNING LIGHT (EXCLAMATION MARK OVER A CAR) CAME ON. THERE WAS NO WARNING SOUND. INITIALLY, THE CAR STILL RAN, SO I CONTINUED AT LOW SPEED (<30MPH) AND HAD MY PASSENGER LOOK UP WHAT TO DO. AS I CONTINUED, I REALIZED THE POWER WAS LESSENING, SO AFTER ABOUT A MILE, I PULLED OFF THE ROAD AND PARKED. AT THAT POINT, I COULD NOT GET THE CAR TO TURN OFF, OR TO DO MUCH OF ANYTHING. THE MANUAL SAID NOT TO DRIVE THE CAR IF THE HYBRID SYSTEM WARNING LIGHT COMES ON, SO I CALLED FOR A TOW. WHEN THE TOW DRIVER GOT THERE, WE REALIZED WE WOULD HAVE TO TURN OFF THE CAR TO GET IT ONTO THE FLATBED TOW TRUCK, SO THE DRIVER KEPT PUSHING BUTTONS UNTIL THE CAR FINALLY TURNED OFF. THEN, WHEN WE TURNED IT ON AGAIN TO PUT IT IN NEUTRAL, IT SEEMED TO BEHAVE NORMALLY. NONETHELESS, I HAD IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP (WORLD TOYOTA, ATLANTA, GA) WHERE THEY KEPT THE CAR FOR 2 DAYS, BUT COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG, AND DID NO REPAIR. SUBSEQUENTLY, I FOUND A "TOD" SERVICE BULLETIN (HTTP://WWW.ALLDATA.COM/TSB/TOYOTA/1100764800000_1103011200000_EG047R-04/1.HTML ) AND BROUGHT THAT TO THEIR ATTENTION, BUT THEY DID NOT SEEM TO THINK THAT IT FIT MY CIRCUMSTANCE, AND AGAIN DID NO REPAIR.