NHTSA Complaint #10567535 — 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS

I STARTED NOTICING A HIGH PITCH NOISE SPORADICALLY ON MY CAR AFTER IT WAS A FEW MONTHS OLD. IF I STOPPED AND RESTARTED THE CAR, THE NOISE WOULD GO AWAY. WHEN I BROUGHT IT TO TOYOTA THEY COULD NOT REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM. IT WOULD HAPPEN ABOUT 1-3 TIMES PER MONTH AND SOME MONTHS NOT AT ALL. ON THIS PARTICULAR TRIP ABOUT A MONTH AGO, I DID NOT NOTICE THE NOISE ON START UP (I HAD A COLD THAT AFFECTED MY HEARING), BUT DID HEAR IT AFTER GETTING ON THE HIGHWAY. THERE WAS NO WHERE TO REASONABLY PULL OVER AND RESTART THE CAR SAFELY, SO I KEPT DRIVING. AFTER ABOUT 15-30 MINUTES THE SPEEDOMETER CLUSTER/DASH THAT DISPLAYS THE SPEED, FUEL AND DRIVE POSITION WENT BLANK AND THE NOISE WENT AWAY. SEARCHING ONLINE THERE WERE AT LEAST A HANDFUL OF OTHERS WHO EITHER HAD THEIR SPEEDOMETER REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY OR OTHERWISE WITH THE SAME ISSUE. I ALSO FOUND A RECALL ON THE 2009, A YEAR EARLIER, PRIUS FOR THE SAME ISSUE AND YES THE SAME COMPANY MAKES THE PART. I BROUGHT MY CAR TO THE DEALER ASAP AND THE DEALER WANTED TO CHARGE ME $120 TO DIAGNOSE. WHEN I QUESTIONED THEM, THEY SAID THEY NEED TO TAKE THE DASH APART, WHICH IS A LIE AS THIS WOULD BE MORE EXPENSIVE AS PER OUR CONVERSATION. I ASKED FOR A QUICK COMPUTER DIAGNOSIS AND THEY REFUSED. I THEN CALLED TOYOTA WHO SAID MY CAR IS LONG OUT OF WARRANTY FOR THIS PART AND THAT BECAUSE I DIDN'T PAY FOR A DIAGNOSIS THEY WOULD NOT TAKE IT FURTHER. WHEN I PRESSED ON WITH THEM THEY HID BEHIND CONFIDENTIALITY WHEN I ASKED ABOUT OTHERS WHO HAD THIS ISSUE AND THEN THEY SAID EVEN IF I PAID FOR A DIAGNOSIS AND THIS WAS FOUND DEFECTIVE THERE ARE NO PROMISES. THEY WANT ~$1,200 TO FIX THIS DEFECT. *TR