NHTSA Complaint #10230023 — 2008 TOYOTA PRIUS

SUMMARY: PRIUS LOW FUEL WARNING LIGHT/BUZZER CAME ON, AND ONLY 5 MILES LATER CAR RAN OUT OF GAS, IN A BAD PLACE AT NIGHT ON HIGHWAY. THE MANUAL STATES THAT WHEN LOW LIGHT COMES ON YOU HAVE THREE GALLONS OR LESS. WITH THE PRIUS, EVEN TREATING THIS CONSERVATIVELY AS ONLY 1 1/2 GALLONS, THAT SHOULD STILL BE OVER 60 MILES. I HAD DRIVEN THE VEHICLE BETWEEN 30 AND 50 MILES WITH LOW LIGHT ON MULTIPLE TIMES PREVIOUSLY. THIS USUALLY WORKS OCCASIONALLY FAILS FUEL WARNING IS CLEARLY DANGEROUS. AND FROM INTERNET RESEARCHING, IT IS CLEARLY A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM, AND TOYOTA NOT ONLY IS COMPLETELY IGNORING IT, THEY DENIED TO ME HAVING RECEIVED ANY COMPLAINTS ON THIS (THERE ARE PREVIOUS COMPLAINTS ON THIS EVEN RIGHT ON THIS NHTSA WEBSITE). DRIVING FROM COLORADO TO KANSAS CITY ON I-70, A LITTLE AFTER PASSING THE SIGN THAT SAID "TOPEKA 27 MILES", JUST AFTER 10 AT NIGHT, THE LOW FUEL LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND WARNING SOUNDED. WE PLANNED TO STOP AT THE NEXT FUEL STOP, WHICH WE EXPECTED TO BE WITHIN 20 MILES AT THE MOST. ABOUT 5 MILES AFTER THE LIGHT ILLUMINATED, THE CAR SUDDENLY LOST POWER, THE GAS ENGINE CLEARLY HAD QUIT, THE RED TRIANGLE WARNING ILLUMINATED, ALONG WITH ANOTHER WARNING. AFTER THE INITIAL SCARE, I PULLED THE VEHICLE OVER, SLOWLY, UNDER BATTERY POWER, NOT KNOWING WHAT HAD HAPPENED. IN THE MANUAL WE FOUND THAT THE SECOND WARNING INDICATED "HYBRID SYSTEM MALFUNCTION", AND NOT TO ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE. SOME 10-15 MINUTES LATER, AS WE WERE TRYING TO GET EMERGENCY HELP, THAT WARNING DISAPPEARED, AND A NEW MESSAGE CAME UP, "ADD FUEL". EVENTUALLY WE BORROWED GAS FROM A FAMILY THAT STOPPED TO HELP US IN THIS RURAL AREA, AND GOT HELP FROM A HIGHWAY PATROLMAN. TOYOTA CHECKED VEHICLE, DENIES PROBLEMS, DENIES RECEIVING COMPLAINTS, REFUSES TO SEND WARNINGS TO PRIUS OWNERS. NHTSA, THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE, LIKE YOUR RECALL 00V384. *TR 6/19/08 ADD **CW THE CONSUMER BELIEVED THAT THE LOW FUEL WARNING LIGHT WAS DEFECTIVE.