NHTSA Complaint #10319305 — 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS

PURCHASED 2010 PRIUS ON AUG LL,09. HAVE RETURNED TO DEALER 5 TIMES, BEGINNING ON SEPT.29, 09, TO REPORT SAME PROBLEM...WHICH IS THAT AT RANDOM TIMES WHEN I SHIFT FROM "P" TO EITHER "D" OR "R", THE VEHICLE LUNGES AND WHEN I APPLY THE BRAKE, IT IS LIKE HITTING A BRICK WALL. THIS PROCESS IS REPEATED SEVERAL TIMES IN SEQUENCE...LUNGE, BRAKE, LUNGE, BRAKE..THEN IT CORRECTS ITSELF AND DRIVES NORMALLY. I CANNOT PREDICT WHEN THIS WILL OCCUR, SOMETIMES IT IS WEEKS AND HUNDREDS OF MILES BETWEEN OCCURRENCES; SOMETIMES ONLY A FEW MILES AND HOURS BETWEEN INCIDENTS. THE DEALER ALWAYS SAYS THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM, THEREFORE NO DIAGNOSIS OR REPAIR. I HAVE REPORTED TO TOYOTA CUSTOMER SER. AND WAS ASSIGNED A CASE #. HAVE HAD ONGOING CONVERSATION WITH TCS REP TO REPORT THIS AND SEVERAL OTHER PROBLEMS, I.E. VARIOUS WARNING LIGHTS AT INAPPROPRIATE TIMES..."KEY DETECTED IN VEHICLE" WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD... ETC. AM ALWAYS TOLD "SCAN SHOWS NO PROBLEMS". I THINK THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH ELECTRONICS. UNSAFE, FRIGHTENING. LATEST INCIDENT ON 3/05/10. DEALER INSTALLED SOFTWARE FIX FOR BRAKE RECALL ON 2/10/10. AT TIMES MUST REPEATEDLY MOVE GEAR SHIFT LEVER BEFORE IT RESPONDS. *TR