NHTSA Complaint #10948013 — 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS

MY 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS IV HAS 98,731 MILES ON IT. THE ENGINE AND POWER TRAIN MALFUNCTIONED DURING A COLD START SO I HAD TO TAKE IT INTO THE TOYOTA DEALER. IT HAD TO BE TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP ON A FLAT-BED TOW TRUCK BECAUSE THE CAR TRANSAXLE/TRANSMISSION WAS LOCKED IN THE DRIVE POSITION, WOULD NOT GO INTO NEUTRAL, AND THE CAR ENGINE WOULD NOT START REV ABOVE AN IDLE. WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO START IT THE ENGINE ACTED LIKE IT WAS MISFIRING VERY BADLY AND RATTLED VERY BADLY. IT SOUNDED LIKE THE ENGINE WAS NOT GETTING ANY OIL CIRCULATION SO I DIDN'T ATTEMPT ANY MORE COLD STARTS. I COULD NOT GET THE ENGINE INTO NEUTRAL OR ANY OTHER GEAR SO I HAD IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP. WHEN THE CAR WAS AT THE DEALERSHIP I WENT THROUGH MY RECORDS AND FOUND A LETTER TITLED 'WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM NOTIFICATION - ZF3' THAT I HAD RECEIVED SEVERAL YEARS PREVIOUS. THE DOCUMENT EXTENDED MY PRIMARY COVERAGE UNTIL 31 MARCH 2017 DUE TO A POTENTIAL FAULTY EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION (EGR) VALVE. 'A FAULTY EGR VALVE WOULD CAUSE THE ENGINE TO ROUGH IDLE/RATTLE FROM THE TRANSAXLE AT A COLD START DUE TO A STICKING EGR VALVE. IF THIS OCCURS, THE VEHICLE MAY ILLUMINATE THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND SET DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODE DTC P0401. IF THE CONDITION IS VERIFIED THE VEHICLE WILL BE REPAIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE APPLICABLE TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN UNDER THE TERMS OF THIS WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.' THE SYMPTOMS MY CAR EXPERIENCE DURING COLD STARTS BEGIN AROUND 92,000 MILES BUT NO 'CHECK ENGINE LIGHT' OR 'DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODE' EVER ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. AFTER 92,000 MILES IT ONLY HAPPENED OCCASIONALLY, AND ALWAYS DURING COLD STARTS. NORMALLY AFTER A FEW SECONDS OF IDLING THE RATTLING WOULD GO AWAY AND THE ENGINE AND DRIVETRAIN WOULD PERFORM AS IT SHOULD. I TOOK MY CAR IN FOR A SERVICE AND TOLD THE DEALERSHIP WHAT WAS HAPPENING, BUT THEY COULD NOT DIAGNOSE ANY PROBLEM.