NHTSA Complaint #10513331 — 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS

I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY, GOING THE SPEED LIMIT WHEN MY BUMPER BOTTOM BECAME PARTIALLY DETACHED. IT CAUSED ME TO SWERVE SLIGHTLY. I IMMEDIATELY SLOWED DOWN AND PUT ON MY EMERGENCY LIGHTS, DRIVING SLOWLY ON THE FREEWAY UNTIL I COULD PULL OFF SAFELY. ONCE ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, I INSPECTED MY CAR AND SAW A LARGE BLACK BUMPER PIECE DRAGGING FROM THE FRONT OF THE CAR. I WAS 1 MILE FROM THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP, SO I DROVE MY CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP. I WAS TOLD BY THE SERVICE PERSONNEL THAT THIS WAS A DESIGN ISSUE WITH THE TOYOTA PRIUS AS IT IS VERY LOW TO THE GROUND AND MANY CUSTOMERS HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE BUMPER. IN THE TWO YEARS I HAVE OWNED MY TOYOTA PRIUS, I HAVE NOTICED THAT IT HITS THE PARKING LOT SEPARATIONS BECAUSE IT IS LOW. I MUST STOP BEFORE THE PARKING LOT SEPARATION IN ORDER TO AVOID THIS. IT IS STRANGE THAT THE TOYOTA WOULD BE ALLOWED TO BE SO LOW AS TO CAUSE THIS PROBLEM. EVEN MORE ALARMING IS THAT MY BUMPER BOTTOM SUDDENLY FELL OFF, WITHOUT WARNING. THIS SEEMS LIKE A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS AND POOR DESIGN THAT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED. *TR