NHTSA Complaint #10350863 — 2005 TOYOTA PRIUS

I'M WRITING ABOUT AN DEFECTIVE INVERTER COOLING PUMP IN MY 2005 TOYOTA PRIUS. I WAS DRIVING WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN MY CAR LOSES THE ABILITY TO ACCELERATE. NUMEROUS WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON AS I COASTED TO A STOP IN A NEARBY NEIGHBORHOOD. THE CAR WOULD NOT SHUT OFF AT FIRST. AFTER I FINALLY GOT THE CAR TO TURN OFF, IT WOULD NOT TURN ON AGAIN. THE DISPLAY IN THE CENTER OF THE DASHBOARD WOULD COME ON FINE, BUT WHEN IT CAME TIME FOR THE MAIN ENGINE TO TURN ON (WHEN PUSHING THE START BUTTON), IT WOULD BLINK AND SHUT OFF IMMEDIATELY. WHEN I TOOK A LOOK UNDER THE HOOD, I COULD SMELL SOMETHING ELECTRICAL BURNING. I FINALLY GOT THE CAR TOWED TO A LOCAL SHOP THAT WAS TOYOTA/LEXUS CERTIFIED. THEY FIGURED OUT THAT THE INVERTER COOLING PUMP WAS DEFECTIVE AND IT WAS BLOWING FUSES (HENCE THE SMELL OF SOMETHING ELECTRICAL BURNING). TOTAL COST WAS ALMOST $500 FOR THE REPAIR: PARTS AND LABOR. I TRIED CALLING TOYOTA TO SEE IF I COULD GET ANY TYPE OF REIMBURSEMENT, BUT I GOT MANY REASONS WHY I SHOULD NOT GET ONE: - THE WARRANTY WAS FOR 60,000 OR 8 YEARS. I WAS IN THE 8 YEARS, THE MILEAGE WAS 62,000. (I GUESS CUSTOMER SERVICE DOES NOT MEAN MUCH - PREVIOUSLY I OWN A 94 TOYOTA COROLLA - 16 YEARS WITH A TOYOTA CAR) - I DID NOT GET IT REPAIRED AT A TOYOTA "DEALERSHIP" (EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE "TOYOTA" CERTIFIED) - I DID NOT BUY THE CAR NEW. (SO IF YOU BUY A USED TOYOTA, APPARENTLY THAT DOES NOT MAKE THE CAR A TOYOTA ANYMORE.) BOTTOM LINE, AFTER BEING FIXED THE CAR RUNS EVEN BETTER THEN BEFORE THE INVERTER COOLING PUMP FAILURE: BETTER GAS MILEAGE AND NO MORE PHANTOM STEERING WHEEL MOVEMENTS WHEN DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY (HAPPENED WHEN THE ENGINE WOULD SWITCH OVER TO BATTERY AND VICE VERSA). *TR