NHTSA Complaint #10503944 — 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS

I HAVE BEEN HAVING PROBLEMS FOR ABOUT A YEAR NOW WITH MY PRIUS 2007 WHEN I APPLY THE BRAKES. THE CAR STUTTERS WHEN IT CHANGES FROM HYBRID TO GAS. SERVICED ONLY BY TOYOTA. WHEN I BROUGHT THE CAR IN FOR A RECALL I ASKED THEM TO FIX THE PROBLEM . THEY COULD NOT IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM AND CALLED IN A SPECIALIST AND SUBSEQUENTLY WAS TOLD THAT THIS IS TYPICAL WEAR ON A CAR THIS OLD (5 YEARS, 59,000 MILES). THIS WAS FROM A REPAIR SPECIALIST SENT FROM TOYOTA WHEN THE REGULAR SERVICE DEPARTMENT COULD NOT IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM. I DRIVE ON HIGHWAY S EVERYDAY TO WORK AND HOME AND I AM A NERVOUS WRECK, WORRYING THAT THE CAR WILL JUST COME TO A STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC. OVER THE PAST 2 YEARS WHEN I GO THRU A CAR WASH THE FRONT DRIVER SIDE HEADLIGHT GETS MOISTURE INSIDE. WHEN I BROUGHT THIS TO THE ATTENTION OF THE SERVICE DEPT AT TOYOTA I WAS TOLD IT WOULD COST APPROXIMATELY $600 TO REPLACE THE HEADLIGHT. THIS WAS WAY BEFORE IT HAD FALLEN OUT OF WARRANTY (36,000) BUT OF COURSE THEY DID NOT TELL ME THAT IT WAS COVERED, IN FACT THEY TOLD ME WHAT IT WOULD COST TO REPLACE! NOW THE BULB IS ALSO FLICKERING ON AND OFF IN THIS SAME HEADLIGHT. DEFINITELY A SAFETY ISSUE. TOYOTA QUOTED ME $270.00 TO CHANGE THE LIGHT BULB. THE REASON I WAS GIVEN WAS THAT THEY HAVE TO TAKE OFF THE ENTIRE FRONT BUMPER TO CHANGE AN $11.00 BULB AT AUTOZONE. WE WERE TOLD THAT IF MY HAND WAS SMALL ENOUGH I COULD TRY TO DO IT MYSELF. I CALLED TOYOTA CORPORATE, AND WAS TOLD THAT TOYOTA WAS DISCOUNTING THE BULB, IT NORMALLY SHOULD COST $420.00. THEY WERE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND EXTENDED THE WARRANTY TO 50,000 MILES BUT DID NOT ISSUE A RECALL FOR THIS ISSUE EITHER. I ONLY FOUND OUT BECAUSE THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT WAS DRAGGING ITS FEET IN DIAGNOSING THE PROBLEM WITH THE BRAKING SYSTEM SO I CALLED CORPORATE AND MENTIONED THE MOISTURE PROBLEM AND THAT WAS HOW I FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS NOT ONLY MY CAR. *TR