NHTSA Complaint #10460859 — 2008 TOYOTA PRIUS

AFTER 10 MINUTES OF CITY STREET DRIVING, THE CAR WAS IDLING IN PARK FOR 2 MINUTES. THE CAR WAS THEN PUT INTO DRIVE AND THE BRAKE SLOWLY RELEASED. AS SOON AS THE ENGINE TURNED OVER TO ASSIST THE BATTERY DRIVE, THE SHIFT KNOB BOUNCED INTO NEUTRAL AND THE DASH INDICATED NEUTRAL AS WELL. WITH THE BRAKE ON, THE SHIFT KNOB COULD BE PLACED BACK INTO DRIVE AND THE DASH INDICATED DRIVE. THE CAR STAYED IN DRIVE FOR THE FIRST SECOND BEFORE THE ENGINE TURNED OVER THEN SLIPPED BACK INTO NEUTRAL. THIS REPEATED 4 MORE TIMES. PLACING THE CAR IN PARK, TURNING OFF THE AIR CONDITIONING, AND POWERING DOWN THE CAR DID NOT PREVENT THE CAR FROM SLIPPING INTO NEUTRAL. THE CAR STAYED IN DRIVE ONLY BY HOLDING THE SHIFT KNOB IN THE DRIVE POSITION. AFTER THE 3 MINUTE DRIVE HOME HOLDING THE SHIFT KNOB IN DRIVE, THE PROBLEM DID NOT REPEAT. LATER THAT EVENING AND THE NEXT DAY THE PROBLEM DID NOT REPEAT. IT WAS APPROXIMATELY 80 DEGREES F ON THE AFTERNOON OF THE OCCURRENCE AND THE CAR HAD BEEN PARKED IN THE SUN FOR 7 HOURS, THE AIR CONDITIONING WAS RUNNING AT THE TIME OF THE OCCURRENCE. *TR