NHTSA Complaint #10425792 — 2008 TOYOTA PRIUS

CAR WILL NOT STAY IN DRIVE AFTER IT HAS BEEN IDLING, IN PARK, ON A HOT DAY. WHEN GETTING BACK IN CAR AND PUTTING THE CAR IN DRIVE, IT SLIPS BACK TO NEUTRAL AFTER ACCELERATOR PEDAL IS PRESSED. CAR GOES A FEW FEET THEN SLIPS BACK TO NEUTRAL. AFTER PUTTING IT BACK INTO DRIVE AND PRESSING THE PEDAL AGAIN, IT SLIPS BACK TO NEUTRAL. THE ONLY SOLUTION IS TO SHUT THE CAR OFF COMPLETELY AND RESTART AFTER 15-20 MINUTES. THIS HAS TWICE LEFT ME NOSED OUT INTO A BUSY STREET. I FIRST TRIED TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE WITH MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP, TOYOTA, ON 9/17/10 . THEY CLAIMED THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM AND SAID THEY HAD NEVER HEARD OF IT EVEN THOUGH I BROUGHT THEM SEVERAL INTERNET ACCOUNTS OF OTHERS WHO REPORTED THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM. THIS YEAR, WHEN THE PROBLEM STARTED AGAIN WITH THE HOT WEATHER, I REPORTED IT TO TOYOTA USA (CASE # ). THEY ALSO SAID THEY'VE NEVER HEARD OF THE PROBLEM BEFORE AND INSISTED THAT I MUST HAVE THE PROBLEM DUPLICATED AT THE DEALERSHIP. SO, I RETURNED TO MY DEALERSHIP BUT THIS TIME WITH A DVD COPY OF THE PROBLEM THAT I HAD TAKEN WITH MY MOVIE CAMERA. THIS DVD SHOWS THE ISSUE PERFECTLY. THEY RESPONDED THAT A TOYOTA TECH HAS FOUND AN "UPGRADE" THAT THEY CAN PROVIDE ME FOR $240 LABOR. THEY COMMENTED THAT MY CAR HAD 52,000 MILES ON IT WHEN THE PROBLEM FIRST STARTED SO THEY'RE BEING REALLY NICE IN PROVIDING THE PART "UPGRADE". IT'S ALMOST AS IF THEY'RE SAYING THAT AT 52,000 MILES I SHOULDN'T EXPECT THE TRANSMISSION TO STAY IN GEAR!?!? I TOLD THEM THAT THE POWER-TRAIN IS WARRENTED FOR 100,000 MILES AND IF THIS ISN'T A POWER-TRAIN ISSUE I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS. FUTHERMORE, THEY MAY REGARD IT AS AN "UPGRADE" BUT I REGARD IT AS A SAFETY DEFECT THAT SHOULD BE REPLACED BY TOYOTA AT NO CHARGE. I HAVE A COPY OF THE DVD, CLEARLY SHOWING THE ISSUE, THAT I WOULD BE HAPPY TO PROVIDE TO YOU. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) *TT