NHTSA Complaint #10244328 — 2006 TOYOTA PRIUS

I HAVE A 2006 TOYOTA PRIUS THAT KEEPS GOING DEAD. IT FIRST HAPPENED IN OCTOBER 2006 WHEN I DROVE TO WORK OUT AT CURVES. AFTER BEING IN THE BUILDING FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES I CAME OUT AND THE CAR WOULD NOT START. CALLED DEALER. DEALER SAID THAT THE PRIUS WAS A COMPLICATED CAR AND I PROBABLY WAS CONFUSING THE COMPUTER BY THE WAY I WAS SEQUENCING THE START OF THE ENGINE. IN ANY CASE I LET THE CAR SIT FOR A HALF HOUR AND TRIED AGAIN AND IT STARTED UP. SINCE THEN THE PRIUS HAS GONE DEAD AT LEAST A DOZEN TIMES. SOMETIMES I COULD WAIT AND IT WOULD START UP. OTHER TIMES I WOULD HAVE TO HAVE IT JUMPED. I HAVE HAD IT TOWED TO JACK TAYLOR TOYOTA THREE TIMES. EACH TIME THEY INSISTED THAT NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH THE CAR (ALTHOUGH THEY DID REPLACE THE AUX BATTERY). THEY INSISTED THAT IT HAS TO BE SOMETHING IN THE WAY I DRIVE THE CAR AND SUGGESTED OVER AND OVER THAT I DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR ENOUGH MILES. HOWEVER, I DRIVE THE PRIUS, WHEN IT IS NOT DEAD, 250 TO 300 MILES A WEEK AND IT TYPICALLY GOES DEAD AFTER I HAVE DRIVEN IT SOMEWHERE. THE LAST TIME I TOOK THE PRIUS TO THE DEALER WAS SPRING OF 2008, THEY AGAIN INSISTED NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH THE CAR. I REFUSED TO TAKE IT BACK. WE FILED A COMPLAINT WITH TOYOTA NORTH AMERICA. THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE REP TALKED TO THE HEAD MECHANIC AT JACK TAYLOR AND CLOSED THE CASE SAYING IT WAS MY FAULT THAT HE CAR WAS GOING DEAD. SHE THEN THREATENED ME BY SAYING THAT I WOULD BE CHARGED FOR THE LOANER UNLESS I PICKED UP THE PRIUS. THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REP AT JACK TAYLOR ARRANGED FOR US TO USE ONE OF THE DEALER CARS AND SAID HE WOULD TRY TO WORK THINGS OUT. ON SEPT 30 WE HAD TO RETURN THE LOANER AND PICK UP THE PRIUS. THE PRIUS WENT DEAD AGAIN ON OCTOBER 3RD AT 2:00 PM. I KNOW THAT THERE WAS A PRIUS RECALL FOR 2004 AND 2005 MODELS FOR A SIMILAR PROBLEM. THE MECHANIC INSISTS THAT SOFTWARE PROBLEM WAS FIXED AND IT IS "IMPOSSIBLE" THAT THE 2006 COULD HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. I WOULD LIKE SOME FEED BACK FROM NHTSA. *TR