NHTSA Complaint #10468235 — 2006 TOYOTA PRIUS

I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF A 2006 TOYOTA PRIUS. LAST WEEK, AT 86,000 MILES, WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY IN TRAFFIC, A LARGE RED TRIANGLE WARNING LIGHT SHOWED UP ON MY DASH WITH THE LOW TIRE PRESSURE LIGHT. I PULLED OFF THE ROAD TO CHECK THE MANUAL AND TURNED THE CAR OFF. WHEN I TURNED IT BACK ON MANY WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON AND I WAS UNABLE TO GET THE CAR OUT OF PARK. CALLED THE DEALER. THEY TOLD ME TO GET TOWED TO THE DEALER, WHICH I DID. AFTER 2 DAYS THEY DETERMINED THAT IT NEEDED A NEW HYBRID TRANSAXLE FOR $5,000+ PLUS MISCELLANEOUS OTHER REPAIRS TOTALING $7,723. TOYOTA SAYS THE TRANSAXLE IS COVERED UNDER THE POWERTRAIN WARRANTY (60,000 MILES) NOT THE HYBRID WARRANTY (100,000 MILES). THERE IS A TSB FOR THIS REPAIR, T-SB-0306-08 THAT STATES THAT IT IS COVERED UNDER THE CALIFORNIA EMISSION WARRANTY IN CERTAIN STATES, DEPENDING ON MODEL YEAR, UP TO 150,000 MILES. THERE SEEMS TO BE NEW INFORMATION THAT TRANSMISSION FLUID SHOULD BE FLUSHED AT 30,000 MILES. MY DEALER HAD ONLY SUGGESTED THIS 2 WEEKS PRIOR TO THE PROBLEM, WHEN I WAS IN FOR AN OIL CHANGE BEFORE A TRIP. I PLANNED ON DOING IT AT MY NEXT SERVICE. I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS? IS THIS A COMMON ENOUGH PROBLEM THAT IT COULD BE A ?DEFECT?? I READ SOMEWHERE THAT IF 4% OF CARS HAVE THE PROBLEM THEN IT IS A DEFECT. IS THAT RIGHT? OVER WHAT TIME PERIOD IF SO? IF NOT, HOW DOES THAT GET DETERMINED? HOW CAN I FIND OUT HOW MANY TRANSAXLES HAVE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED BEFORE 100,000 MILES ON 2004-2008 MODEL PRIUS?S? IS THIS REPAIR COVERED IN CARB STATES OR NOT? I BELIEVE THAT MARYLAND IS A CARB STATE NOW. WOULD THIS WARRANTY BE RETROACTIVE TO MY CAR? IS TOYOTA RESPONSIBLE FOR NOT SUGGESTING I GET THE TRANSMISSION FLUID FLUSHED PRIOR TO THIS? *TR