| Components - Details | |
|---|---|
| NHTSA Complaint Number: 004260305 | Incident Date: Feb, 13 2004 |
| Consumer's City: SAN JOSE | Consumer's State: CA |
| Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO | Manufacturers Name: Toyota Motor Corporation |
| Model Name: PRIUS | Model Year: 2001 |
| Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No | Component's Description: Vehicle speed control:accelerator pedal |
| Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No | Persons Injured: 0 |
| Vehicle's VIN#: JT2BK12U810 | Date added to File: May, 25 2021 |
| Date Complaint Received: Feb, 13 2004 | Complaint Type: IVOQ |
| Incident Reported To Police: No | Purchase Date: May, 04 2001 |
| Was Original Owner: No | Anti-lock Brakes: Yes |
| Number of Cylinders: 4 | Date of Manufacturer: - |
| Was Vehicle Towed: - | Description of the Complaints: The 2001 toyota prius has a faulty accelerator pedal and should be covered under the 8-year hybrid system warranty. not only are there safety issues with this problem (e.g. sudden loss of acceleration that could cause accidents, incorrect communication between the accelerator and the hybrid system, etc.) but there is a lack on toyota's part to admit that the accelerator is a critical component of the hybrid system. when the accelerator fails, it causes the "check hybrid system" light to appear on the dashboard and can make the car dangerously unresponsive (especially on the freeway). the hybrid system is expecting information from the accelerator, and when it doesn't receive it, either the gas engine, or the electric engine, or both engines fail to operate. even though two toyota dealers (stevens creek toyota and capitol toyota) agree that this is a serious safety issue, both claim that this repair is not covered under the 8-year hybrid system warranty. however, if this accelerator problem is not directly related, then why does the warning light come on when the accelerator sensor fails? also, why did the dealer who performed the $654.52 repair tell me that the complete accelerator assembly part had just been recently revised by toyota? (i might add that an independent electrical engineer analyzed the part and concluded that the accelerator has an mtbf of 1500 hours. he concluded that every prius owner would be subject to this same hazardous problem several times during the lifetime of the car!!) i have substantial evidence from other prius owners who are experiencing the same problems and would be happy to share this information with your investigation team. in my opinion, these problems are serious enough to merit consideration for either a recall or a revision of toyota's "hybrid system" warranty policies. i appreciate any assistance you can provide me in this matter and i hope that together we can prevent needless deaths from this unsafe accelerator. *ak |
