NHTSA Complaint #10576068 — 2008 TOYOTA PRIUS

EVERY FEW WEEKS (EVEN SEVERAL TIMES IN THE SAME WEEK), THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS ON THE CAR GO COMPLETELY DARK, WITHOUT WARNING (NO, THE DIMMER SWITCH IS NOT TURNED TO "LOW" OR "OFF"-- THAT IS THE FIRST THING WE TRIED). SIMULTANEOUSLY, OR SOMETIMES AT DIFFERENT TIMES, THE CAR REFUSES TO TURN OFF, EVEN WHEN THE "OFF" SWITCH IS PRESSED CONSTANTLY OR INTERMITTENTLY, FOR UP TO A HALF-HOUR. OBVIOUSLY, IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO LEAVE A CAR RUNNING, SO ONE CANNOT LEAVE THE CAR; WHEN DRIVING, THE LOSS OF ALL THE DASHBOARD INFORMATION IS TERRIFYING, ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS SO DISTRACTING AS TO BE POTENTIALLY CRASH-CAUSING. THE TOYOTA DEALER FIRST CLAIMED IT WAS THE 12-VOLT BATTERY, SO WE REPLACED IT. THIS DID NOT FIX IT. AT THE DEALER'S REQUEST, WE LEFT THE CAR WITH THEM FOR A LONG WEEKEND, AND THEY CLAIMED THAT SINCE THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO REENACT THE SITUATION, THEY COULD NOT HELP US. AFTER SOME BACK-AND-FORTH, THEY AGREED TO REPLACE A "COMBINATION METER," WHICH TOYOTA HAD APPARENTLY FOUND TROUBLESOME ENOUGH TO OFFER FREE "OUT-OF-WARRANTY" REPAIRS OF. HOWEVER, THE DEALER FIRST SAID TOYOTA WOULD NOT PAY FOR IT UNLESS THE DEALER WAS ABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE TROUBLE, AND THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO RECREATE THE DISTRESSING SITUATION. AS IF WE WOULD LIE IN ORDER TO RECEIVE A NEW COMBINATION METER! WE JUST WANT TO CAR TO WORK AND BE SAFE. NOW WE ARE WAITING FIVE-PLUS DAYS FOR THE PART TO COME IN, AND NOT EVEN SURE IF IT WILL FIX OUR PROBLEM. THERE'S PLENTY OF DISCUSSION OF THIS EXACT SAME ISSUE ALL ACROSS THE INTERNET. WHY HAS THE COMPANY NOT FIGURED THIS OUT, AND TRAINED ITS MECHANICS ACCORDINGLY? *TR