NHTSA Complaint #11157078 — 2008 TOYOTA PRIUS

FOR SEVERAL YEARS OUR TOYOTA PRIUS HAS EXHIBITED THE FOLLOWING ISSUE: INTERMITTENTLY, AND WITHOUT WARNING, WHEN YOU START THE CAR THE DASHBOARD DOES NOT LIGHT. AS A CONSEQUENT, YOU CANNOT NOT SEE THE SPEED YOU'RE DRIVING AT, THE FUEL LEVEL OF THE CAR, ANY WARNINGS SUCH AS CHECK ENGINE, LOW TIRE PRESSURE ETC, AND YOU'RE NOT ABLE TO USE A NUMBER OF OTHER IMPORTANT FEATURES SUCH AS CRUISE CONTROL. IN ADDITION, YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO TURN OFF THE CAR WHEN YOU REACH YOUR DESTINATION. BECAUSE YOU CANNOT TURN OFF THE CAR, YOU CANNOT LOCK IT. UNDISCLOSED TO CUSTOMERS, THERE HAS BEEN FOR SEVERAL YEARS AN EXTENDED WARRANTY BEING OFFERED BY TOYOTA, TO THE DEALERSHIPS, TO FIX THIS PROBLEM (WARRANTY POLICY BULLETIN, POL 12-05). THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED ONLY TO DEALERSHIPS. AS I CUSTOMER, I NEVER RECEIVED INFORMATION ABOUT THIS EXTENDED WARRANTY. I ONLY FOUND OUT ABOUT IT VIA OTHER CUSTOMERS. OUR LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP (TOYOTA OF OLYMPIA) HAS REFUSED TO APPLY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY AND FIX THE PROBLEM. WE CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP SEVERAL YEARS AGO ABOUT THE ISSUE, WHICH THEY HAVE A RECORD OF. TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE ALSO REFUSES TO HELP US GET THIS ISSUE FIXED AND APPLY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY. THE CASE NUMBER WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE IS 1812072507. BOTH TOYOTA AND THE DEALERSHIP STATE THAT THE CUSTOMER MOST REPLICATE THIS INTERMITTENT ISSUE TO A DEALERSHIP MECHANIC BEFORE EITHER ENTITY WILL AUTHORIZE FIXING THE ISSUE. SEVERAL WEEKS OR MONTHS MAY GO BY BEFORE THE ISSUE APPEARS AND IT APPEARS ONLY FOR AN UNPREDICTABLE DURATION BEFORE "GOING AWAY", SO THIS IS AN IMPOSSIBLE BURDEN OF PROOF FOR THE CUSTOMER -- THE CUSTOMER HAS TO TAKE THE CAR TO A DEALERSHIP AT THE MOMENT THE INTERMITTENT ISSUE OCCURS, AND MUST ARRIVE AT THE DEALERSHIP AND GET THE MECHANIC TO IMMEDIATELY DROP THEIR OTHER WORK IN ORDER TO HOPEFULLY WITNESS THE ISSUE BEFORE IT "GOES AWAY".