NHTSA Complaint #11298473 — 2008 TOYOTA PRIUS

I WAS DRIVING MY CAR AS NORMAL ON A CITY STREET AND THE SPEEDOMETER AND WARNING LIGHTS (EXCEPT FOR THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT) ALL TURNED OFF. WE PULLED OVER BUT THE CAR WOULD NOT GO INTO PARK OR TURN OFF. WE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO CONTINUE DRIVING, NOT KNOWING OUR SPEED OR ANY WARNING LIGHTS THAT COULD PREVENT SERIOUS INJURY (INCLUDING KNOWING THE LEVEL OF THE GAS). ONCE WE GOT HOME IT TOOK ABOUT 10 MINUTES TO GET THE CAR INTO PARK AND OFF, BUT PRESSING THE PARK AND POWER BUTTONS IN RANDOM ORDERS. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ULTIMATELY ALLOWED THE CAR TO TURN OFF. IT HAS HAPPENED TWICE NOW AND IT'S SCARY NOT KNOWING THE SPEED ALL THE SUDDEN IN THE MIDDLE OF DRIVING. ALSO, HAVING BEEN IN SUCH A HABIT OF CLICKING THE PARK BUTTON AND BEING SAFELY IN PARK, WE ALMOST CRASHED INTO OUR HOUSE AFTER BEING IN THE DRIVEWAY THE SECOND TIME, NOT REALIZING THE DISPLAY HAD JUST GONE OUT AGAIN FOR A SECOND TIME UPON ARRIVING HOME. THE CAR CONTINUED ROLLING FORWARD OF COURSE UNTIL THE BRAKES WERE SLAMMED. I UNDERSTAND THERE WAS AN EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR MY YEAR PRIUS (2008), BUT HAS SINCE ENDED. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHY THIS WASN'T A RECALL. TOYOTA NEEDS TO CONTINUE TO HONOR THE REPAIR OF VEHICLES THAT ARE AFFECTED. JUST RECENTLY, IT WAS RELEASED THAT TOYOTA IS RECALLING THE 2019 MODELS FOR THIS SAME ISSUE (SPEEDOMETER GOING OUT) AND THEY ARE REFERRING TO IT AS A SAFETY ISSUE. THIS SHOULD BE DONE FOR ANY MODEL AFFECTED AND SHOULD NOT HAVE AN END DATE.