NHTSA Complaint #11431442 — 2014 TOYOTA PRIUS V

Hi my name is [XXX]. Toyota headquarter case # [XXX] Incident day July 6, 2018 I had a big technical problem with my 2014 Toyota Prius V where it caught on fire because one of the valve lifters fell into the engine head and broke the engine block while driving. When that happened, the oil began to leak into the muffler and the engine and hybrid wiring immediately caught on fire. Many of my colleagues who also bought the same vehicle for Taxi business use in San Francisco all have a similar issue as mine. A few of theirs caught on fire, and a few others mentioned to me that the head gasket for their same Toyota vehicle blew out and each of them had to replace it at around 120,000 miles. I believe that’s why they don’t manufacture these same vehicles anymore because of the defectiveness in the engine. I opened a case with Toyota Manufacturer back in July 2018 and they sent a specialist to inspect the vehicle after the fire. He found the piece that fell inside the engine and that damaged the engine. The Toyota specialist admit to me that the engine of my 2014 Toyota vehicle is very defective and must be covered under warranty. My mechanic replaced the engine for me with a used one with 28,000 miles. This entire case was documented under my name with Toyota Motors Manufacture. I contacted the highway safety and I tried to file a claim against Toyota at the time, but I never got a follow up on my case after I left various messages. All they said was that they will investigate but never gave me any information regarding the engine fire situation or honor any warranty. I hope this incident will be investigated by your department and have this vehicle under recall. Thank you. PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).