NHTSA Complaint #10125932 — 2005 TOYOTA PRIUS

I PURCHASED A 2005 PRIUS IN JANUARY 2005. AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT IT HAD ABOUT 8500 MILES ON IT. IT HAD BEEN PERFORMING WELL AND I HAD BEEN GETTING EXCELLENT GAS MILEAGE AND THE INTERNAL MILEAGE INDICATORS HAS PROVEN TO BE VERY ACCURATE. WHILE DRIVING ON SC HIGHWAY 31 AT ABOUT 60-65 MILES PER HOUR THE GASOLINE ENGINE QUIT SLOWING ME TO ABOUT 40 MILES PER HOUR. THE DASHBOARD LIT UP WITH WITH WARNING SIGNALS INCLUDING THE RED TRIANGLE, CHECK ENGINE, VSC, BREAKING SYSTEM AND I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT ELSE. A FEW MILES BEFORE THIS HAPPENED, MY FUEL INDICATOR STARTED TO BLINK, BUT WAS SURE THAT THE PROBLEM COULD NOT BE GAS SINCE I HAVE OFTEN GONE MANY MILES BEFORE FINDING GAS IN SIMILAR SITUATION AND KNEW FROM PAST EXPERIENCE, MY MILEGE,AND FUEL USAGE INDICATOR THAT I HAD ABOUT TWO GALLONS LEFT IN THE VEHICLE. THIS WAS AN UNFAMILIAR ROAD TO ME SO I CONTINUED TO TRAVEL USING THE BATTERY HOPING THAT AN EXIT WOULD APPEAR. THE BATTERY QUICKLY BECAME SO DEPLETED THAT I PULLED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. I TRIED TO TURN THE VEHICLE OFF AND FOUND IT UNRESPONSIVE. AFTER A FEW TRIES IT DID POWER DOWN. I CALLED AAA FOR ASSISTANCE. DURING MY WAIT, I WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE ENGINE, BUT IT AGAIN FAILED WITHIN A COUPLE OF MILES, BUT I WAS ABLE TO REACH AN EXIT AND PULL OFF. AFTER THE SECOND FAILURE, I TRIED TO RESTART AGAIN AND THIS TIME ONLY GOT THE RED TRIANGLE AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. AAA DID ADD GASOLINE TO THE CAR, BUT THE FUEL INDICATOR CONTINUED TO BLINK AND THE BAR NEVER ROSE. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO SPARKS TOYOTA IN MYRTLE BEACH, SC WHO CALLED TO SAY THAT THEY BELIEVE THAT THE PROBLEM IS LOW FUEL. I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT IT THE CASE AS THIS HAD NOT HAPPENED BEFORE WHEN THE LOW FUEL INDICATOR CAME ON.