NHTSA Complaint #10643860 — 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS

ON 4/24/14 I BROUGHT THE VEHICLE INTO LYNCH TOYOTA IN MANCHESTER, CT IN RESPONSE TO A RECALL TO FIX A PROBLEM WHICH INVOLVED LOSING POWER WHEN ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE. THE INVOICE COVERING THE REPAIR INDICATED "SOFTWARE UPDATE FOR MG ECU AND POWER MANAGEMENT ECU AS PER CAMPAIGN EOE". ON 9/29/14 I WAS DRIVING IN MODERATELY HEAVY TRAFFIC ON I-84 IN WEST HARTFORD, CT WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO ACCELERATE TO PASS A SLOW MOVING VEHICLE. AS I BEGAN TO PASS, THE ACCELERATOR SUDDENLY FAILED TO WORK AND THE ENGINE STOPPED AND WOULD NOT RESPOND EVEN THOUGH I CONTINUED TO DEPRESS THE ACCELERATOR, ALTHOUGH I HAD NO POWER THE STEERING WORKED AND I WAS ABLE TO GLIDE TO THE SHOULDER ACROSS THE RIGHT LANE OF TRAFFIC. I TURNED OFF THE ENGINE, RESTARTED IT AND IT HAS FUNCTIONED NORMALLY SINCE. I RETURNED TO LYNCH TOYOTA ON 10/6/14 TO HAVE THE PROBLEM ADDRESSED. THEY EXAMINED THE VEHICLE BUT WERE UNABLE TO DETERMINE WHAT WAS WRONG AND ADVISED ME THERE WAS NOTHING THAT COULD BE DONE. I CALLED TOYOTA CUSTOMER RELATIONS AT 800-331-4331 AND SPOKE WITH AN INDIVIDUAL WHO IDENTIFIED HIMSELF AS "[XXX]". HE ALSO ADVISED ME THAT SINCE THE DEALER COULD NOT DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM THAT NOTHING COULD BE DONE. I ASKED HIM IF TOYOTA HAD RECEIVED OTHER SIMILAR COMPLAINTS BUT HE SAID THERE WAS NO WAY TO CROSS REFERENCE THAT INFORMATION. THE COMPANY'S CASE NUMBER OF MY COMPLAINT IS 1410062141. I AM PERPLEXED BY THE COMPANY'S RESPONSE BECAUSE IT HAS GIVEN ME EXCELLENT SERVICE FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS. IT SEEMS VERY ODD THAT IT WOULD NOT FOLLOW THROUGH FURTHER IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN THE ENORMOUS LIABILITY EXPOSURE AN OBVIOUSLY DANGEROUS PROBLEM LIKE THIS COULD PRESENT. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).*TR