NHTSA Complaint #10313838 — 2009 TOYOTA PRIUS

MULTIPLE ISSUES WITH 2009 PRIUS. FIRST: LOSS OF AIR PRESSURE IN FRONT LEFT TIRE FROM TIME I PICKED UP THE VEHICLE TO PRESENT. I CONTINUALLY NEED TO PUT AIR IN THE TIRE, USUALLY ON A WEEKLY/BI-WEEKLY BASIS. THE OTHER TIRES ARE FINE. SECOND: FOR THE SAME TIRE, THE TIRE PRESSURE LIGHT WOULD NOT BE TRIGGERED UNTIL ~23 POUNDS, SHOULD HAVE BEEN TRIGGERED IN SAME TIRE AT 33 LBS. THIRD: VEHICLE WOULD NOT STOP WHEN APPLYING PRESSURE ON BRAKES AT SLOW SPEED. THIS HAS OCCURRED ABOUT 6 TIMES IN A 6 MONTH PERIOD. SIMULTANEOUSLY, THE VSC LIGHT WENT ON AND THE SLID INDICATOR WENT ON. THE TERRAIN WAS ON EITHER ASPHALT OR CONCRETE ROADS, SLIGHTLY DOWNHILL (CONCRETE) AND ONE STREET IS A BIT ROUGH (FILLED IN POT HOLES). ALSO, BOTH AREAS ARE WITHIN A QUARTER MILE OF EACH OTHER AND NEAR THE OCEAN. WITH EACH OCCURRENCE THE VSC WENT INTO EFFECT. ON 11/21/09 IT JOLTED HARD MUCH MORE THAN THE OTHER OCCASIONS; THIS DATE WAS THE INCIDENT ON THE BRIDGE WHEN THE CAR WAS GOING IN A SLIGHT DOWNWARD DIRECTION. I LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE FOR SEVERAL SECONDS AND WAS AFRAID THAT I WOULD HIT THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME; I BEEPED MY HORN TO WARN THE DRIVER IN FRONT OF ME. MY VEHICLE DID STOP IN TIME BUT IT TOOK ALOT LONGER THAN IT SHOULD HAVE TAKEN. ON A LATER OCCASION, I WAS GOING ABOUT 5-10 MPH FASTER ON A NEARBY STREET AND ATTEMPTED TO STOP FOR A STOP SIGN AND IT DID THE SAME THING, HOWEVER THE VSC DID NOT JOLT BACK AS HARD. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT ANGLED DOWN AS MUCH AS THE 11/21/09 INCIDENT. ON 11/21/09 I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO CABE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP AND THEY LOOKED AT THE CAR BUT FOUND NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. I ALSO HAD THE CAR LOOKED AT BY TOYOTA CORP TODAY AND WAS TOLD THAT THE DRIVER FEELS THAT I FELT THE ABS BRAKES ONLY. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. WHEN I STEPPED ON THE BRAKES EACH OCCASION IT WAS AS THOUGH THERE WAS NOTHING THERE AND I HAD NO CONTROL IN STOPPING IT. THIS WAS ESPECIALLY TRUE WHEN THE VSC KICKED IN (THE JERKING). EACH TIME IT LASTED MANY, SEVERAL OR MORE SECONDS. *TR