NHTSA Complaint #10319080 — 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS

I AM WRITING TO EXPLAIN TWO PROBLEMS I HAVE HAD WITH MY TOYOTA PRIUS. I WANT TO HAVE A DOCUMENTED OF REPORT OF THESE PROBLEMS IN THE EVENT THAT THEY RESULT IN A SERIOUS ACCIDENT, AS I FEAR THEY MIGHT. I HAVE EXPERIENCED THESE PROBLEMS ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS. THE FIRST PROBLEM OCCURS WHENEVER I DRIVE OVER ROUGH OR UNEVEN PAYMENT. WHEN THE TRACTION CONTROL KICKS IN, IT FEELS AS IF THE CAR IS SURGING AND IT IS NECESSARY TO STEP ON THE BRAKE, SOMETIMES WITH BOTH FEET, VERY HARD IN ORDER TO GET THE CAR TO SLOW DOWN OR STOP. I HAVE TAKEN THE CAR IN FOR THIS PROBLEM A COUPLE OF TIMES. I HAVE DRIVEN CARS WITH TRACTION CONTROL IN THE PAST AND NEVER FELT THE SURGING THAT OCCURS WITH THE PRIUS, WHEN DRIVING OTHER CARS USING OTHER TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEMS. THE OTHER ISSUE WITH THE CAR IS THAT OCCASIONALLY, WHEN ACCELERATING, MY NORMALLY SILENT PRIUS MAKES A LOUD REVVING NOISE. WHENEVER I HEAR THIS NOISE, I IMMEDIATELY TAKE MY FOOT OFF THE GAS. THANKFULLY, SO FAR, THE NOISE STOPS AND THE CAR SLOWS DOWN. THE NOISE DOES NOT OCCUR EVERY TIME I ACCELERATE, BUT IT SEEMS TO BE HAPPENING WITH INCREASING FREQUENCY. I AM NOT SURE IF OTHER PRIUS OWNERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS, HAVE REPORTED THIS ISSUE OR NOTICED THE REVVING NOISE PRIOR TO THEIR ACCIDENTS. BUT, I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF THE PUZZLE THAT SHOULD BE REPORTED. I HOPE THIS INFORMATION IS USEFUL. QUITE HONESTLY, I AM A CONCERNED EACH AND EVERY TIME I GET INTO MY CAR. BUT, WITH A YEAR REMAINING ON MY LEASE I HAVE LITTLE CHOICE BUT TO ENGAGE IN WHAT I FEEL IS INCREASINGLY A GAME OF TOYOTA OWNER RUSSIAN ROULETTE TO GET TO SCHOOL AND DO ALL THE THINGS I NEED TO DO. *TR