NHTSA Complaint #10312934 — 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS

I BOUGHT A NEW PRIUS 2007 IN DECEMBER 2006 FROM LIBERTY TOYOTA IN NEW JERSEY. THE CAR IS GARAGED, SERVICED REGULARLY, AND HAS NEVER BEEN IN AN ACCIDENT. THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKS UP SOMETIMES. WE COMPLAINED ABOUT IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AT EVERY SERVICE, AND WE WERE TOLD THAT THEY WERE UNABLE TO GET AN ERROR CODE, AND HENCE COULD NOT FIND THE PROBLEM AND CORRECT IT. UNLESS TOYOTA ACKNOWLEDGES THE PROBLEM, AND CODES THE SYSTEM FOR SUCH ERRORS, OF COURSE THE DEALERSHIP WILL NOT GET A CODE. I ALSO POINTED OUT TO THE DEALERSHIP THAT WE KNEW SOMEONE WHO HAD AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE HER STEERING IN HER PRIUS 2006 LOCKED-UP AND THAT THE 2006 PRIUS HAD BEEN RECALLED FOR FAULTY AIR BAGS (RECALL ID FROM NHTSA: 06V096000) AND ELECTRIC STEERING POWER ASSIST SYSTEM (RECALL ID FROM NHTSA: 06V188000). WE WERE THEN TOLD THAT THE 2007 MODEL COULD NOT HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM AS THE 2006 MODEL BECAUSE TOYOTA WOULD HAVE FIXED IT. THE RECALL ON 2006 MODEL STEERING WAS MADE ON MAY 31, 2006. IT WAS MUCH TOO LATE FOR THE 2007 MODELS. THEY WERE ALREADY SHIPPED OUT OF JAPAN. FRUSTRATED BY THE UNRESPONSIVENESS OF THE DEALERSHIP, I CALLED TOYOTA'S CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE NUMBER AND I WAS TOLD BY AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE THAT I SHOULD CALL THE DEALERSHIP. IF I WANTED TO CALL THE DEALERSHIP, I WOULD NOT BE CALLING TOYOTA. I THEN SENT AN EMAIL COMPLAINING, NOW OVER A YEAR AGO, THROUGH THEIR WEBSITE, BUT NEVER HEARD FROM TOYOTA. . EVER SINCE THE STEERING PROBLEMS SURFACED, WE HAVE STOPPED USING THE CAR EXCEPT FOR VERY SHORT RUNS SO THAT THE BATTERY GETS RECHARGED. NOW THAT TOYOTAS FLAGSHIP MODEL, THE COROLLA, HAS STEERING PROBLEMS, I AM TRULY WORRIED. TOYOTA HAS BEEN DISMISSIVE AND NON RESPONSIVE SO FAR. THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED BEFORE ANY MORE LIVES ARE LOST. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP. *TR