Toyota Prius Unintended Acceleration

My Toyota experience as reported to the NHTSA, which may be of interest to anyone thinking of buying a Toyota. This was the first incident. It happened again last week.

Comments: I own a 2007 FJ Cruiser. I live in RI. I have a degree in mechanical engineering and a law degree. On Monday, I was accelerating down an on-ramp. When I reached 50mph I had to "punch" the gas pedal to avoid a tractor trailer. When I took my foot off the gas pedal, the pedal stayed stuck to the floor. I pumped the brake a few times and nothing happened. I moved the shifter to neutral but the truck did not drop out of gear. The truck was still accelerating at full throttle. I moved the shifter forward and back, probably through several gears and nothing happened. I tried to feel around the base of the gas pedal for obstructions. I also hit the gas pedal with the ball of my foot about three times but it did not move.

Finally, I moved my foot around the side of the pedal and began kicking it. I believe the pedal came unstuck at this point and the truck dropped into neutral and I was able to slow down. Fortunately, I did not hit anything. Toyota Corp told me to drive the car to the dealer the next day. The dealer said they would be able to retrieve data from the on-board computer, showing position of the pedal and shifter, among other things. Later the same day, they said the car was ready for pickup and there was nothing wrong with it. They also told me there was no data available on the computer, which they told me meant nothing went wrong. They also told me if I shifted the car into neutral while the accelerator was depressed, the computer would record and "event." They also told me if I moved the shifter to neutral, the truck would shift to neutral without fail.

In essence, they told me I was lying. Finally, they told me there was nothing else they could do. I called Toyota corporation several times and they told me there was nothing more they could do. The floor mat was unhooked and may have been a contributing factor but no one has been able to demonstrate to me how the floor mat could cause the gas pedal to be stuck in a completely depressed position. Now, I am concerned that there are not only problems with accelerator but also with the on-board computer which the dealer claims did not record any "events." I am at a loss as to what to do next. Any guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Knocked the front bumper loose. Also, the car would not shut off and continually made a high-pitched noise. We got out of car and walked back to the house. Called the insurance company and they contacted a wrecker service to get the car. We were able to shut the car off the next day.

I took my 2010 Prius in for sudden acceleration issues. My car has had numerous 'episodes' and they refused to acknowledge a problem. I drive my only child in this vehicle, and frankly, I'm afraid to drive it. We have purchased numerous vehicle from this dealership, and sadly, it will be our last. Not sure what is going to happen; not sure they even know how to fix my car. It has a mind of its own. For now, I'm carless and frustrated.

I only want to ask why no one has posted anywhere that I've seen, in all the reports I've read, that the first thing to do if this happens is put it out of gear?

Has anyone used the braking mode if the Prius starts to accelerate? I use it all the time for snow driving.

Our 2006 Prius had a suddenly acceleration incident yesterday. I was parking the car, so thankfully going at probably less than 5 miles an hour. I was doing a 3 point turn. I went halfway into the parking spot, reversed to get a better angle and then engaged drive to go forward. The accelerator pedal just went loose, as if a spring had disengaged. There was no tension at all and the accelerator pedal just fell all the way down to the floor. The car lurched forward and accelerated. I pressed the brakes as hard as I could. The worked and our car came to a stop and missed hitting the car next to my parking spot by inches.

Fortunately no damage was done and I and my 2 daughters who were in the car with me were not hurt. We were all badly shaken. A passing stranger put the car in neutral for us and we pushed it into the parking spot. I then called my husband who drove the Prius home without incident (we were at that point a very short distance from our house). Today, we rented a car until we can buy a new one. I will never drive that Prius again. I really just wanted to let people to know about this, because Toyota said that the problem with our model and year was the car mat, and we removed our car mat and this still happened.

I experienced unintended acceleration while driving on the highway in my 2005 Toyota Prius whilst under cruise control on May 3, 2009. Braking failed to slow down the vehicle as did initial cancellation of cruise control. I tried to decrease speed with cruise control stick by holding down. Switching off cruise control button and on again followed by repeated cancellation eventually worked.

With the exception of soiling my underpants, no physical damage occurred but the fear caused some serious mental damage as well as a fat ear from the wife who would not believe it was the car and thought I was driving crazy.

On February 7, 2010, I was driving our Toyota Prius at approximately 8:30 am. It was Sunday morning so there was very little traffic. The road was flat. The sky and the roads were clear and dry, and it was 50 degrees outside. I was going maybe 25 to 30 mph. Up ahead, the traffic light had turned red and the car in front of me stopped. Luckily, there was quite a distance between me and the stopped car. I removed my foot from the gas pedal and began to slowly press the break pedal. As I was pressing the break pedal, the motor revved and the Prius rapidly accelerated. I stomped harder on the brake and swerved into the left lane to avoid hitting the car that was stopped at the light. The motor was still revved up and I fish tailed. Then the motor returned to normal and the car stopped. I was very lucky the car stopped before running the red light and into oncoming traffic.

We drove the car for another two weeks as I encouraged my husband to make an appointment to have the car looked at. There were no more incidents of the acceleration problem. When my husband called to make an appointment, he described the problem to the service department. The Toyota service representative told him our Prius model was not part of the recall for the problem described, and Toyota would not cover a diagnostic review of acceleration problem for our car. Today, my husband took the car to Putnam Toyota in Burlingame, CA. The service representative was Wesley **. I did not attend the meeting but when I drove up to pick up my husband, he told me the service representative was taking the matter seriously and wanted to ask me more questions. I parked and went in.

Wesley ** at first seemed interested. I described the incident again. It rapidly became apparent that Wesley was only interested in putting words in my mouth and telling me that I obviously had come too close to the car in front of me before beginning to stop and stomped on the gas instead of the brake. I reiterated what I had previously told him, that it was a leisurely Sunday morning with no traffic and I had plenty of room between me and the stopped car in front of me. He said he would test drive it and, hopefully would find nothing wrong.

I told him I was sure he would find nothing wrong from a test drive. He even went so far as to say that the vast majority of recalled cars have never experienced this acceleration problem. I told him that I had. Of course, that didn't matter and he ignored me to continue in his own fantasy world, confident that I must have imagined what happened.

We picked up the car this afternoon and gee, guess what? Toyota found nothing wrong! End of story. Toyota is absolutely, completely disinterested in fixing this acceleration problem. If there is anything you can do to get this acceleration problem fixed in our car, I would greatly appreciate it.

I have a 2008 Prius, and can easily recreate the braking problem on the street where I live. It's very consistent, where the car begins to skate. The Prius also has steering issues, where the hyper-sensitive steering constitutes an extreme hazard in a mild wind gust, in a rutted road situation, or any time "over-correcting" might come into play. Further, there is a very dangerous reflection on the inside of the windshield, when driving on a dark road at night. It is a green line that goes straight across my line of vision.

Toyota knows about these things. I'm waiting for my car to be recalled. I'd get rid of it in a heartbeat, if I could get a fair price for it. This is a huge purchase for me, and one that I made very carefully. I feel totally burned by Toyota. I talked to Toyota about it, and they said they were very sorry, but there is nothing they can do. The economic damage has been done, because I can't sell the car for what I have in it. It's very stressful to drive a car that won't stay on the road, that I have to fight with every day just to keep it on the road.

Any time I go over some sort of uneven ground, which in LA is often, my car lunges forward and even though my foot is on the brake, nothing happens. I feel really scared to not have control of my vehicle in those moments. Toyota better recall all Prius cars and I think they should be compensating us for the years that this problem hasn't been fixed with their dealerships/company knowing full well that it is a common problem. They kept it a secret from their customers.

I own a 2007 Toyota Prius and have experienced momentary loss of braking over a rough surface. This is a highly repeatable experience and I have adjusted my driving habits accordingly. I drive over the same railroad tracks just prior to a traffic light every day. While braking, with my foot firmly on the brake pedal, the car seems to lunge forward apparently as the brakes release for a split second. At the same time, my traction control light will flash on and off until the road smooths out. That split second is enough to cause an accident with the car in front of me if I don't give myself extra room or slow down prior to the tracks.

I have seen similar complaints for same model year of 2007 and earlier, I believe, on this and other websites. Some believe that this is a software glitch that occurs when the braking switches from the electro-magnetic to the mechanical braking system. I would hope Toyota is aware of this problem and that earlier models are included in any recall.

Driving my 2008 Prius April 2009 in imperial valley. Coming off at rd. onto hwy 86 driving south to el Centro. After bringing up to hwy speed, my car continued to speed up. I thought maybe cruise control not working, however, should shut off when brakes tapped. I applied steady pressure to brakes as the car kept accelerating. Was able to slow somewhat, took foot off brake and speeding up again. This happened several times for the distance to Costco gas station where I was able to exit off hwy to. The brakes had distinct burning smell. I had been braking hard, very hard for quite a while.

Fortunately the incident caused no harm other than terrifying my daughter. Took car to Mossy Toyota where I purchased it to have checked out. After leaving over night, the service crew was unable to reproduce the malfunction which I believed to be something electronic. They said brakes still fine. The service mgr. pretty much blew me off telling me I just didn't understand the way the car worked. It was physically impossible for the hyrid Prius to behave as I described. Apparently, he either thought I was making it all up or shoving my incident under the rug because Toyota doesn't have a clue as to what is going on either. As I travel, I am ever aware this continues to be an issue.

At this point in time, I am just not driving the car as much as I had intended, using the car for work traveling back and forth from San Diego county to Imperial county in an effort to save gas. At the time of the car purchase, I also bought a booklet of service calls which are scheduled @ 5,000 miles apart. Unfortunately the packet of service tickets have an expiration date. I have nine remaining and don't think I will drive 45,000 miles by 2012. At the least, the expiration date should be waived being that the car has safety issues.

We purchased a 2010 Prius and have several incidents of the car accelerating when we start to engage the brakes. It feels exceptionally bad if you are on any type of rough road (terrain). We are very concerned about our safety in this car!

We try to control the car and now drive it very carefully and do not ever get too close to the car ahead us, as we are never sure how the car is going to react. We paid a lot of money for this car and would feel much better if Toyota would recall this 2010 model Prius!

We purchased a 2010 Prius and have several incidents of the car accelerating when we start to engage the brakes. It feels exceptionally bad if you are on any type of rough road (terrain). We are very concerned about our safety in this car!

We try to control the car and now drive it very carefully and do not ever get too close to the car ahead as we are never sure how the car is going to react. We paid a lot of money for this car and would feel much better if Toyota would recall this 2010 model Prius!

On the afternoon of January 26th, 2010, my wife was driving our 2006 Toyota Prius at approximately 30mph. As she approached an intersection, the vehicle surged forward despite firmly applying the brakes. She employed all the strategies recommended by Toyota but was not able to stop before striking another vehicle that was stopped ahead in her lane.

The road was level, clear of debris and dry at that time. Her view was unobstructed and there was more than adequate time and distance to stop the vehicle under normal circumstances. Three people were injured in this event, which I hesitate to call an accident. While I am not happy to learn of other's experiences, it helps to know that despite what the dealers and Toyota will have you believe, there are serious defects with the Prius that compromise the safety of the motoring public.

My daughter was driving her 2007 Toyota Prius (900 miles) and had accelerated after a stop sign to 15 mph when the tie rod broke and the car veered at a 45 degree angle into a parked car. I arrived at the accident scene within a few minutes and along with the police officer took pictures of the vehicle as well as the skid marks from the center of the road to the parked car.

The official police report listed the cause of the accident as a broken tie rod and not driver error. I had the car towed to my local dealer, who was very supportive, until the local forensics engineer from Toyota became involved. He and I (I was also a mechanical engineer for an engine company) inspected the underside of the car, and he could not find a root cause for the failure of the tie rod, so he concluded that the tie rod broke after the Prius hit the parked car, so it was not Toyota's fault, and therefore, would not cover the broken tie rod under warranty.

I asked him how the skid marks from the center of the road to the parked car can be explained, and he had no answer. Typical case of Toyota burying their head in the sand with a quality problem.

I have a 2007 Toyota Prius hybrid car with currently 24,000 km. Since new, vehicle has serious braking issues. When trying to brake over train tracks, potholes, drain covers, gravel, puddles, or ice, the vehicle slows slightly then lurches forward (feels like a brief acceleration). And the brakes slip before grabbing hold. Many times this has caused vehicle to enter intersections on red lights if the roads are wet. Also, the vehicle has slid off the road on gravel, and it slips regularly over train tracks.

Dealer is not willing to repair the vehicle at their expense, and to date, the vehicle does not have a recall to repair it (although there is recent media discussion over only the 2010 model brakes with the same issue).

I own a 2008 Toyota Prius, which I love. Unfortunately, I believe it has potential problems in that upon occasion, it will lurch forward when put into gear without ever touching the foot pedal. It has done this in reverse also. Best description is as if it has a sudden power surge.

Today's news about the suspension of Toyota sales had me wondering why the Prius was conspicuously absent from the list. We have a 2010 Prius with 3500 miles on it. Twice lately, I have noticed the surge of acceleration on bumps and it has been alarming. When I found other testimonials about this on this site, I don't feel paranoid any more, just worried. Perhaps there is something in the jarring that causes the fault?

I purchased a 2010 Prius on 1-16-2009 at the San Diego dealer, Mossy Toyota. I drove the car from San Diego to Chico, CA. While I was going over the Grapevine between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, I was traveling about 70 mph when I lost acceleration to the vehicle. I had to dodge cars and trucks and finally was able to come to a stop on the side of the road. I turned off the Prius and then sat there wondering what had just happened. I only had 100 miles on the car and it lost acceleration! I turned the Prius back on and put it in drive and drove the rest of the way 500 plus miles to Chico, Ca. with no further problems. I called the San Diego salesman, Mark, and discussed the loss of acceleration with him. He had never heard of such a thing. I spoke with the Chico service person, Gary, and he said the same thing, never heard of such a problem.

A few days later, on Thursday, 1-21-10, I was driving from Chico to Monterey for a meeting. The car only had 900 or so miles on it. I was to stop off in Merced, Ca. to pick up a friend. I was on the outskirts of Modesto, Ca., going 70 mph in the fast lane of three lanes and it was pouring with rain. Once again, I lost the ability to accelerate! I was very worried since the traffic was terrible and with the rain, it was a very dangerous situation. I was able to pull to the middle lane as my speed continued to decrease with no acceleration. Then, I signaled to move to the slow lane but there was a Jeep Cherokee coming very fast in back of me. I just held my breath and prayed that he would not crash into me.

I was able to get out the of way to the side of the road and stop the car. I had just escaped a very serious accident with other cars on the freeway since I had no acceleration! I was just a few hundred yards from two lanes merging from the right onto the highway. I just sat in the car and looked at the gauges. The radio was working, the windshield wipers were working and the gauges were working. I turned off the car and started it again. Then I put it into drive and drove very fast to be able to enter the traffic lane.

I called Mark at Mossy Toyota in San Diego to report it again. He had no idea what had happened. I called Gary in Chico and spoke to him. He said for me to take it to a local Toyota dealer because it was such a safety issue. I took the Prius to Merced Toyota and the service man, Rick, had no idea what was wrong and causing me to lose acceleration. I left the car and took another car to Monterey for the training conference.

On Friday, 1-22-10, I received a call from Rick, Merced Toyota. Rick told me the following: service called tech support and faxed over the "operation history" for them to review. "After reviewing with TIS came to conclusion that the park button of the shifter was inadvertently touched." This means the car was slipped into neutral those two times. I was told by Rick at Merced Toyota that Toyota had redesigned the Prius dashboard in 2010 and placed the park "button" much closer to the heater controls and the music buttons. Rick told me that if it slips into neutral again, just use the gear shift and put into drive!

I told Rick that I am very upset with this Prius and the safety hazard it is on the freeway when I lost acceleration. Someone else is not going to be a fortunate as I was and they may end up in a terrible crash, possibly killing people. Rick, Merced Toyota, told his salespeople about the problem of the car slipping into neutral when the park button is "inadvertently" touched by the driver. He asked the sales people to tell future buyers about the problem.

This is a very serious problem and needs to be corrected immediately. There needs to be an urgent warning to all 2010 Prius owners and all Toyota service departments and Toyota sales departments letting them know of this serious danger because of the new placement of the park button so close to the other buttons on the dashboard. Obviously, I am very upset and very unhappy with my 2010 Prius. I would never had purchased the car if I had known of this serious danger!

2005 Prius.Uncontrolled acceleration on NV highway to approx. 90 mph (wife = driver, myself as passenger). After about 30 seconds, car returned to normal. No carpet bunched up under pedal (by close inspection)!

I have a prius, when I stepped on the breaks it skidded very shortly and then i accelerated it spit forward without any of my accelerating on its own, it freaked me out! scared me when the car went out of control

"freewheels" or coasts, which is a part of the trick to its good gas mileage, so sometimes braking can take more effort. If you need to brake more quickly, push the joystick selector into the "B" position as you apply the brakes and you will feel the car slow down tremendously, with no adverse affect on the car. Also, when driving, get up to speed quickly and then lightly tap the brake pedal.That shuts off the gas engine. I consistently get 60 mpg on the freeway at speeds of 65 and under, 45-50 around town. I do have the same problem getting it to shut off at times, almost having to "Stand" on the brake pedal while pushing the power button. Toyota needs to look into that.

Driving downtown at a speed of approx. 25 mph. Trying to stop the car at a pedestrian crosswalk where another car already stopped. Stepping on brake pedal did not stop or slow down the car. Instead car accelerated and the car that was already stopped at the crosswalk was rearended.

I purchased my car in March 2009 and have about 7000 miles. Today I had an incident of sudden acceleration. I had just pulled out from a stop light when my car lunged forward at high speed..I was not on a highway, but a 25 mile area. I tried to stop with brakes, but when they had no effect on the speeding vehicle, I quickly hit the power button and the car came to a stop. I was very fortunate that there was no one or thing in front of me at the time.. and the cars behind me were able to pull around me when I pulled to the side and stopped. I was very frightened. I took the car down less traveled streets and was afraid it would happen again on the way home. It didn't. I will take it in to the dealer tomorrow but I'm afraid they will not know what the problem is and I have seen other problems of this sort on the internet. I called the dealership before I started the car again and they already told me it was probably the mat...That was the first thing I checked before I started the car again and that was not the case. They also asked me about cruise control, but I don't use cruise control and it was not accidently turned on. I am very afraid to drive the car and don't know what to do if they don't find anything wrong with the car.

Report of an accident/crash in 2008 Prius. On May 1, 2009 at 7:25 a.m., I was backing my 2008 Prius out of our driveway. I had exited the garage and had pressed the button to close the garage door. I hadn't yet buckled up, which I usually do in our turnaround (cul-de-sac), since sometimes I have to lift myself up out of the seat when in reverse to see clearly out the rear window. (That habit has changed; guess you can't be safe in your driveway!)

There was nothing I could do to stop the Prius. I presumed that I was on the brake, but there was little time to analyze as the car kept hurtling, and within 5 seconds I had crashed into the garage door, jolted into the garage, crushed 2 bicycles, and rammed into the inside (kitchen) wall, crumbling drywall, decimating a closet, knocking the back door and frame out of the entryway. An inner wall was moved 6 inches.

I never passed out, or had any dizziness or any other physical reaction through this entire episode. My head hit the steering wheel (I think), breaking open the left side of my lip and severely bruising my cheek. The airbag hadn't inflated, despite the hard crash through the kitchen wall. Other damage: moving cupboards out of their spaces, knocking a hole through the drywall/insulation in the family room, jarring the stairway wall and breaking the drywall edge leading to our lower level and knocking an original painting off of the mantle breaking the glass.

The whole front end of the Prius was crushed in, the top and sides scratched and the driver's side door had to be forced open by my husband to get me out. After the initial (and terrible) shock, we went to the ER and then 45 minutes later to an eye/ear/nose/throat specialist, who stitched up 3 layers of my lips/cheek to close the gaping wound.

My theory: IF it had gone into drive to move forward, I would have never accelerated to the 15 mph (seemed faster) that I was undoubtedly going when I crashed through the garage and into the house, causing this havoc. My husband said it sounded like the house had exploded. believe that there was something terribly wrong with the control system or the computer on this car, purchased in Sept. 2008, currently recording 13,000 miles on the odometer.

For two months we were dealing with home, medical and car insurance, along with contractors, inspectors, insurance adjusters and the Toyota Claims Dept. Toyota also sent an inspector from the regional office in Kansas City and with an official letter, then declared our Prius safe, with all signals and computers checking out "fine." Toyota was responsive, albeit slow.

My wound is healed but still swollen. The physical and emotional trauma has lessened, but this is an experience I'll never forget. Now, three months later and based on the reports below of other people having similar experiences the second time, our Prius is "repaired" but I have still not driven it and won't except when I have to. I am still afraid that it will accelerate again, without my initiating it. (My husband is driving our Prius.) After $14,000 in repair costs (covered by car insurance) It looks as good as new. Everyone's description on this web site is amazingly similar to the experience I had. Who says this won't happen again?

My 2005 Toyota Prius "shoots forward" when I'm breaking. It's very scary!!

This occurs when the car is in battery mode and I'm trying to stop.

This is my own personal experience with my 2001 Prius which we bought as a certified vehicle in April of 2006 from Performance Toyota of Sinking Springs PA. We noticed prior to the accident that the vehicle tended to buck but we assumed it was because it was a hybrid and the nature of the beast. In Dec. 2006 I was traveling on the PA turnpike and the vehicle suddenly lost power all the dash lights were on. I limped the car to the side just beyond a guardrail and put it in park. As I sat there the vehicle suddenly accelerated full throttle backwards slamming into the guardrail and wiping out the rear end of the vehicle.

I had a black eye, a damaged ankle, a cracked rib, and general pain particularly in my arms, neck and legs. Because as soon as I realized what was happening.....I stood on the brake pedal.....but to no avail......only the guardrail stopped it. The airbag did not deploy either.

The car was supposedly fixed at Performance Toyota of sinking spring PA. Obviously it wasnt fixed at all. I was told by Toyota corp after Fitzgerald Automalls Toyota could find no codes in the computer just after the crash, that it is commen for the Prius once it has corrected itself to wipe all the computer codes out.

This has happened time after time. What sense is there in having the computer sensors and things if they arent going to tell you what went wrong with the vehicle? It covers Toyotas butt for sure. I have been struggling with the insurance company, the dealerships, and Toyota corporation over this since that accident in 2006.

I have filed a report with the NHTSA as well. Toyota will not help. In fact the same dealership who supposedly fixed this car.....before it came out of the garage, I walked to the showroom to trade it in and was told it wasnt even worth book value due to a diminution clause they could not certify it. It also accelerates forward ( it truly has a mind of its own and cant be trusted to take out of the garage not to mention out of town).

Appx 2 weeks ago they replaced the hybrid battery saying that was the problem (my car is still under an extended warranty). A week later it did the same thing died under power all dash boards lit up.....I took the car back in.....they could not duplicate the problem........then they sent one last technician out and he saw the dash lights come on and the car lose power. The Manager of Del Toyota told the Manager from Toyota Corp. Kevin (after I gave permission to drive it some more) that there are no problems with the car it drove fine (Guess he doesn't believe his techs huh? Since one of them experienced it).

Kevin the manager (who is supposedly the highest level I can speak to...which i highly doubt) said that Toyotas determination is.......they arent going to do anything. I called Toyota corp to find out why since my car was under warranty and they saw the problem they wouldnt do anything.....Kevin replied that the manager Dominique (from Del Toyota of Thorndale PA) said the car drove fine. I called Dominique....he said that he personally did not experience the problem (although his techs did...who told me I had to pay for the car to be torn down to find the problem......mind you, my cars under warranty). Dominique also stated that he fixed the problem by charging the hybrid battery to 80 % (yes this is the same hybrid battery they replaced a week prior). This is the second claim I have filed concerning the same problems.

I have been dealing with this piece of crap since 2006 but cant afford a new vehicle .....this one wasnt cheap. Everyone in my family who drives the car knows DO NOT take your foot off the brake when you are at a stop sign, traffic light, or in a bank line etc. This car is a death trap.......a accident waiting to happen.......I would wager its why they traded it in .......in the first place. And its not the only one doing this......Toyota has a problem that they will not admit to. I have tons of links concerining this problem. I have a huge file of correspondence etc with Toyota, insurance companies, dealerships etc. who wont do anything. Oh and while im at it this thing eats tires......so badly that some of them we have had chunks come out and can see the cording.

I was trying to back up my Prius in my backyard to park it when it suddenly and unintentionally, without any driver error or mechanical error such as a mislain floor mat, accelerated forward. It moved so quickly that i was unable to react in time to brake it before it hurtled 20+ feet thorugh my neighbor's wooden fence, cracking off a support post that was 4' by 4" and hurling two large panels through the air. When I finally got it braked, I was already through the fence and in my neighbor's back yard. I creased front the bumper of my car. It happened so suddenly and without warning, i really did not understand what happened or if I had blacked out. the damage was slight, but only by my good fortune in threading between 2 crepe myrtle trees -- which I did by pure accident.

I experienced unintended acceleration with driving my wife's 2005 Toyota Prius. We had driven this car approximately 65,000 miles without incident. I was driving alone to Montreal. In traffic on a multi-lane highway in Canada, the car did not slow when I let up on the accelerator, and then I realized that it was actually accelerating. I used the service brake repeatedly to keep the speed down to the speed of the traffic (probably about 60mph) until I found a place to pull off.

Between applications of the brake, the car continued to gain speed. One foot was on the leftmost footrest, the other on the brake, so I was not inadvertently depressing the accelerator. Upon pulling off, I used the service brake to stop, noticed some unusual noises, then shut off the car with the button. Got out. Brakes were very hot. After a few minutes for me to calm down and the brakes to cool, I got in, started the car and it has behaved normally ever since (probably about 1,000 miles so far).

When I arrived at my destination, I went online and Googled "Prius runaway" and found numerous entries, some completely consistent with my experience. It was not caused by floormats. It is conceivable that I accidently engaged the cruise control, but repeated hard application of the service brake did not cancel it. I felt that it would have accelerated to top speed without my aggressive application of the service brake. I braked intermittently to prevent excessive fade. The period of time from when I noticed the uncontrolled acceleration to when I shut the car off was on the order of a minute or two at the most, though it seemed very long at the time as I maneuvered through the traffic.

I opened the window, freed myself from the seat belt, called for help to get out through the window. The car wouldn't stop acceling until the cops came over in response to my 911 and helped me switch the car off. Insurance said my car is totaled. Toyota has scheduled to look at my car next week. I hope they have a good answer. I would like to know if there is a law suit in the works, I see that several others have faced what I went through with my brand new prius.

Car is totaled, I am at about 4-5K loss for using this fancy car for about 4 months. Stuck with an accident history on my driving history and above all emotional trouble and time with Toyota, Insurance, Car Dealer, Lien holder, Government agency to see if they have a solution to my problem. I wonder how many others are out there with same issues with their wonderful hybrid.

I was driving my 2007 Toyota Prius on I-90 westbound in Wisconsin heading toward Minnesota. I was driving at or around 68 mph (speed limit 65)as I had the car on cruise control. There was a sign that the left lane was going to end, so I started to speed up to pass a freight truck that was in the next lane. Concurrently, I saw two police cars on the left shoulder.

As I started to accelerate, the truck sped up and I realized that there was no way I would be able to pass and eased back the accelerator. The problem was that the accelerator stuck and the car started speeding forward. The good news is that I was in the free lane with no one in front of me to hit, the back news is that it took me a bit of time to use my shoe to disengage the accelerator. I was startled and shaken by the experience and had planned to get off at the next exit to re-group. That is when one of the police officers pulled me over for speeding. He said he clocked me at over 85 miles per hour in a 65 per hour zone. I told him that the accelerator stuck and told him that I thought it may have been the rubber mats (bought at Toyota dealership for the car) in the car. I had recently had the car cleaned inside and out and once stopped I noticed that they had not put them back in the spot where they won't move. While the officer was checking out my license, etc., I looked to adjust the mats and found that while they did not seem to be in the correct slots, they weren't anywhere near the accelerator. Also, the accelerator stuck on the "top" of the pedal, not the bottom.

I would think that the officer could see that I was noticeably rattled when he returned to my car as I explained what had transpired, but it did not prevent him from issuing the citation.

I have owned my Prius for just over 2 years and have it serviced regularly. I absolutely love the car, but this was alarming. This had happened once before right after I got the car, but the speed and circumstances were such that I shrugged it off as a fluke.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten that my visiting sisters car was parked at the end of the driveway, about 30 feet from the garage. Going at a slow back up speed, I hit her car. (Later examination showed no dents or scratches on her fender.) Naturally, I was startled as well as upset that Id hit her car.

Next happenings are sketchy, but real. Of course, I wanted get out of reverse gear and move forward, in order to get away from her car and get out of my car and check to see if there was any damage. At that point, I either went into neutral or drive, Im not sure which. The car then lunged forward, going up to 10-20 mph. There was nothing I could do to stop the Prius. I presumed that I was on the brake, because to shift, my foot needs to be on the brake, but there was little time to analyze as the car kept hurtling, and within 5 seconds I had crashed into the garage door, jolted into the garage, crushed 2 bicycles, and rammed into the inside (kitchen) wall, crumbling drywall, decimating a closet, knocking the back door and frame out of the entryway. An inner wall was moved 6 inches.

I never passed out, or had any dizziness or any other physical reaction through this entire episode except saying Stop, STOP, Oh no, Oh my God. My head hit the steering wheel (I think), breaking open the left side of my lip, and severely bruising my cheek and cutting open my bottom lip. The airbag hadnt inflated, despite the hard crash through the kitchen wall. Other damage: moving cupboards out of their spaces, knocking a hole through the drywall/insulation in the family room, jarring the stairway wall and breaking the drywall edge leading to our lower level and knocking an original painting off of the mantle breaking the glass. The whole front end of the Prius was crushed in, the top and sides scratched and the drivers side door had to be forced open by my husband to get me out.

After the initial (and terrible) shock, we went to the ER and 45 minutes later to an eye/ear/nose/throat specialist, who stitched up 3 layers of my lips/cheek to close the gaping wound. I havent been able to talk well or eat well at this writing, about a week later.

My theory: To shift you must be on the brake. If I was on the brake, it didn't work, but charged forward. IF it had gone into drive to move forward, I would have never accelerated to the high speed that I was undoubtedly going when I crashed through the garage door and into the house, causing this havoc. My husband said it sounded like the house had exploded.

This ranks as one of the scariest and most frustrating experiences of my life. I havent been in any kind of a car accident since I was 16 years old when I sideswiped a car on the day I got my drivers license. I have never received a ticket. I believe that there was something terribly wrong with the control system or the computer on this car, purchased in Sept. 2008, currently recording 12,000 miles on the odometer. Based on the reports below of other people having similar experiences the second time, Im afraid to drive the Prius again. It seems to me that fixing the smashes and scratches wont correct the brake, acceleration and timing problem that I experienced. Currently, our Prius is in the body shop. We dont know what to do at this point. Not a happy story. Im also afraid to drive the car again.

I had an unexpected acceleration incident with my 2007 Prius Hybrid on March 25, 2009. As I was backing into a parking space, my Prius accelerated, and jumped the curb within seconds and hit a brick pier atteched to the roof of the building. The bricks flew off. Fortunately, there was no one on the sidewalk. The bricks were on the facade with a metal pipe in the middle which remained intact.

We live in a mountainous area of North Georgia. We purchased our 2005 Toyota Prius three years ago, and almost immediately got stuck on the gravel road leading up to our home. If the car hit a bump, all forward motion would stop and the wheels would individually 'take turns' in trying to motivate the car forward. The only way to get started again was to back down the road and get a running start in order to get back to our home. On several occasions, because this has happened after dark, we have had to leave the car and walk the remainder of our driveway, because of the danger in backing up....long sheer drops.

Thinking that we could solve the problem, and make it easier for visitors at the same time, we decided to pave (asphault) the driveway to our home (.6 miles) at a cost of $30,000. Since then, we have had no problems for most of the year, until last fall, when leaves fell on the pavement, and we had a slight rain. The Toyota Prius again would break traction on even the smallest quantity of wet leaves and slow to a crawl. Then, when it hits the next section of fallen leaves, it stops completely and refuses to budge.

I have talked to my Toyota dealer about shutting off the traction control and they have said that it cannot be done. I them called Toyota (International) for the second time, and they have stated that the traction system is working the way it should..... I have essentially purchased an automobile that cannot reliably get me to my home whenever gravel and fallen leaves are present. We just don't go out whenever it snows, or, we drive our Honda /Civic, which never has trouble with our road or driveway. This does not seem right. In all other respects, the Tyota is great, but because of my recent heart surgery, getting stranded on my driveway is a definite liability.

I think that Toyota has the capability to modify its traction control software, or provide a button to temporarily disable it, but for some reason, Toyota has decided, not in favor of the consumer, but for Toyota's bottom line..... to ignore issue. We will be willing to take an active role in any class action suit that may be brought against Toyota if this issue is ever brought to court.

On June 17th, 2008 I was driving down Grand Ave. in Oakand at slow speed due to traffic conditions when suddenly my 2007 Toyota Prius felt as if it uncontrollably sped up and lunged forward. I hit the brakes but it did not stop it from running into the back end of the car in front of me. It was very unnerving. The damage has been repaired by my insurance company and I had been driving the car again. Yesterday, August 11, 2008, as I was pulling into the Safeway parking lot in Montclair, I again was going at a very slow speed when again the car inexplicably lunged forward uncontrollably accelerating on its own. I once again hit the brakes and was able to abruptly stop the vehicle. It is very scary that this has happened twice. Fortunately the second time there was no damage done but the possibility of hurting someone is too much for me. I am afraid to drive this vehicle at this point. I am taking it in to the dealership today to see what their story is. After this happened a second time I googled problems with toyota priuss run away acceleration and I found your site. The experiences of other folks on your web site were so similar to mine that its so disturbing that this might be such a huge problem.

There was approximately $6,000 worth of damage to my vehicle and $800 worth of damage to the vehicle I collided with. The emotional stuff I am feeling right now has no price tag. Thank God there was no bodily harm done. I am angry that toyota might know that there is a huge problem with this vehicle and are sitting on their hands. Priuss NO! I want some answers.

I bought a new Tpyota Prius April of 2006 and paid $2,500 extra for a 8 year 80,000 mile warranty. On July 21, 2008, I was driving the Prius 35 MPH, went to pass a slow moving vehicle when the car suddenly surged and accelerated down the road for about 1.5 miles and on up to 62 MPH before the acceleration stopped. In this event I had tried to stop the car and could not. Pushing on the brakes, I went through a stop sign at a busy T intersection but was able to manage the turn without loosing control. Not knowing what to do and fearing damage to the engine if I pushed the POWER OFF button. I raised my feet off the floor and held tight to the steering wheel, as I anticipated what my next action would be, the car continued to speed up until it reached 62 MPH, then as mysteriously as the acceleration started, it stopped. I used to love my car... now I am afraid of it. This was not the first time. In the last year or so it has occurred about 6 times, but only lasting for seconds. Before we could figure out what it was doing, it would stop. We took the car back to the dealer, Toyota of New Bern. They had the car for a couple hours, said they could find nothing and then charged us $80.00. We argued that this was suppose to be warranty work as we confirmed before we set up the appointment. But they refused to give our money back saying since they could find nothing, they could not charge it against our warranty and we had to pay. What good is this bumper-to-bumper warranty that we paid for to protect us from unexpected costs in our retirement if it is only as good as the mechanic who works on our car! That was our argument with them that got us no where.

Now I am $80 poorer and my life is in danger everytime I drive my car. Since we are retired and living off social security, we are unable to get another vehicle. Our only hope is that Uncle Sam will force Toyota to do a recall for this very serious problem. I have more than 39 years of driving experience and I have never had this problem with any car before. Toyota says it is the car mat and I read the Feds agree. Who at Toyota is paying off who? This problem is affecting my entire life. We used the last of our savings trying to set us up for retirement, a new car to hopefully service us for the rest of our life, the Prius because then we could afford to drive it. Is this problem giving us economical strain? You bet. That $80 was groceries for 2 weeks. And now I fill with anxiety every time I need to go anywhere. Will today be my last?

From what the eyewitnesses seen. It was certain the car had accelerated on its own and when she tried to brake it failed. We have wrote to Toyata and they deny that the car had any defects. They would not release the black box info that is in the vehicle to see what exactly happened. The autopsy confirmed our grandmother did not die of a heart attack or any thing other then what the crash did to her. We need justice! We need the media to know what kind of Company Toyota is.

On August 10, 2008 my wife, Elizabeth James, experienced an unintended acceleration of our Prius resulting in a totalled car and long term minor injuries for her (chronic back pain, obstructed intestines). I am pasting her accident report to the police below.

NHSTA has checked out our after market floor mats which could have caused the problem but my wife claims that they were not the problem, that she looked at her feet to be sure they were on the brakes and the mats were still in their usual place as they had been for almost 10 months.

Here is what she states on the morning after the accident:

I was alone, driving my 2005 Toyota Prius. I was traveling from my home in Eagle, Colorado, in route to Denver International Airport to fly to Little Rock, Arkansas to visit my father. At approximately 7:45 am I was driving eastbound on I-70. I had passed the intersection of I-70 and US Hwy 40 and was watching my speed, as the limit was 65 mph. I was in the right hand lane. I had to apply my brakes to keep the speed at 65 mph. I noticed that when I let up on the brake the car was starting to speed up even though I was not pressing on the accelerator. I had not been using the cruise control. I was going downhill so at first it did not occur to me that there was a problem. Suddenly the car started to accelerate. No matter how hard I pressed on the brake, the car would not slow down. While keeping my right foot on the brake I slammed my left foot on the emergency brake and saw the red light go on, indicating that I had engaged the emergency brake. The car continued to speed up. When I looked at the speedometer I was going 90 miles per hour. I was quickly approaching the car in front of me, unable to slow down. I passed that car on the right hand shoulder and then saw an exit ramp ahead (exit 233, Lawson).

I exited off I-70 and proceeded down the Lawson ramp, I continued to press as hard as I could on both brakes and the car was not slowing at all. In my rear view mirror I saw blue smoke coming out of the back of the car. I traveled through the stop sign and continued down the frontage road through the town of Lawson. I saw some pedestrians walking on the right hand side of the road. After passing the pedestrians I saw that the road was curving to the left, going under an underpass to 1-70. I went straight ahead, leaving the road and crashed through the forest. This whole time I had been pressing on both brakes, and the car was not slowing down at all. I felt the car tumbling and was aware of the air bags deploying. I finally came to a stop.

I tried to find my cell phone but when I saw that I was in the river I crawled out of the car, waded through the water, over rocks and tree limbs and climbed up a steep embankment to the highway to get assistance. I am hurt. I have intense back and neck pain, as well as pain in my right ankle and heel. I am extremely sore all over with some scrapes and bruises.

This is husband Ted again, I am working on a video to put on youtube where I have some photos of the car in the river plus video and photos I shot of the car and the accident scene plus footage I shot when the Toyota engineer was evaluating the vehicle.

Toyota's official postion at this point is that the accident was caused by her brakes being worn out prior to the incident.

Here is text from a letter sent by my lawyer to a legal claims employee with Toyota:

December 5, 2006
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
Troy H Higa Claims Administrator
Legal Department
19001 South Western Ave Torrance, CA 90501

RE: Toyota Reference FCRP200609051499, 2005 Toyota Prius, VIN#JTDKB20U657045329 Dear Mr. Higa: I received your letter via fax, dated October 23, 2006. Frankly, I was disappointed in the approach taken by Toyota with regard to this accident and the defect in your product. I firmly believe this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of this defect, and it is clearly a problem which Toyota Motor Company needs to address.

By the grace of God, Elizabeth was not injured more seriously or killed as a result of this defect. It was only her quick reactions and level headedness which avoided injuries to the public or greater property damage.

The sales of Prius vehicles are quite brisk and this defect represents a huge safety concern for the public. The long-term cost to Toyota is going to be much greater if Toyota continues its present course and merely ignores this defect. This entire strategy is out of line with Toyotas stated policy and guiding principles. It is possible, I guess, that only Mrs. James vehicle was defective, but I will be surprised if that, in fact, turns out to be true. Continuing to ignore this problem in the long-term will mean greater injuries on the road and possible deaths.

One of Toyotas guiding principles is the protection of the public and the promotion of public safety. Ignoring this defect, particularly when Toyota is in a unique position to determine the source of the defect is unconscionable.

One of Toyotas guiding principles is that it strives to provide clean and safe products.

This defect creates a totally unreasonable risk to public safety. The current course taken by Toyota is not a morally appropriate or financially advantageous strategy. Toyota should be working, in earnest, to determine precisely what caused this vehicle to accelerate and why this acceleration was not disengaged when the brakes were applied. The goal of Toyota should be to earnestly investigate this defect and get it remedied before further injuries occur or lives are lost.

I am amazed at the shallowness of Toyotas analysis in this case. I expected more from the number one car maker in the world. The James have been loyal Toyota customers over the years having purchased three Toyota vehicles. The clinets have purchased Toyota vehicles for their quality and innovation. Toyota has always presented itself as company committed to quality and serving the needs of its customers. Ending the analysis with a determination of brake failure is extremely short-sighted and does not reflect a commitment to producing safe products or to meeting the needs of the customers.

Given this vehicles unintended and uncontrollable acceleration, one would expect the brakes on this vehicle to be completely used up. The fact that the brake linings are completely worn down to the metal illustrates only the efforts she was putting forth to attempt to stop this vehicle.

Toyotas conclusion that this accident was caused by excessive brake wear is simply a diversion to avoid determining the true source of the defect. In our telephone conversation and in your letter, you indicate there were signs of previous brake wear. I would like to know what evidence you have to support this conclusion.

The brake shoes and pads were taken down to the shear metal in an attempt to stop this vehicle. I can see no evidence which would point to prior excessive brake wear. This vehicle was less than a year old and had approximately 14,000 miles on it. Brake wear is simply not an acceptable answer.

Your analysis in this case is an inch deep and falls far short of the rigorous analysis necessary to find the source of the defect and the remedy to ensure the public safety. Mrs. James was not the first one to experience this unintended acceleration. Apparently, an individual in Woodland Hills, California had a similar experience. See attached National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report dated June 15, 2006.

This is not an isolated incident. The grades and weight of this vehicle do not support a conclusion of improper brake usage. There was no problem with the brakes prior to the accident. My client is a 48 year old school teacher and mother of two. She is a highly experienced driver with an impeccable driving record. She has traveled the mountains of Colorado for many years and is very experienced with mountain driving. She has lived in the mountains of Colorado years without incident.

Driver error does not make any sense and is simply a rouse to avoid Toyotas taking responsibility for its clearly defective product. I have attached a series of photos for your review. The grades and weight of the vehicle do not support Toyotas conclusion of worn brakes. The James Prius was not heavily loaded semi where brake failure could be a plausible answer. This was a woman with no passengers traveling on a Blue Bird day that had her car take off like a missile.

She used everything within her means to get this vehicle stopped resulting in the brake linings being completely destroyed. Stopping the analysis at brake failure is simply Toyotas way of avoiding a truth that they have a defective product which needs to be fixed. I sincerely hope Toyota is not involved in some sort of cost benefit analysis in choosing to ignore this defect. Mr. and Mrs. James continue to be hopeful that Toyota will step up to the mark and take responsibility for their defective product. The Toyota literature is full of lofty goals and pronouncements about being a global citizen.

This is where the rubber meets the road, is Toyota going to stand up and be a responsible citizen and take responsibility for its defective product? I anticipate having the little black box and computer from this vehicle examined and the data from those components read. It is my understanding that we may need additional information from Toyota to understand the codes we get from these components. Please let me know if Toyota will agree to provide this information without the need for formal discovery, or not. Please let me know within ten days if Toyota intends to change its position from that which was expressed in your October 23, 2006 letter so I can begin to make preparations to file suit without delay.

At present, I dont have any indication that serious injuries were involved in this accident, but certainly with the vehicle crashing into a gas station the potential for a real tragedy was present. The defect in these vehicles needs to be remedied before someone is killed. By my count this is the fourth incident which I am aware of involving a Toyota Prius failing to respond to the driver and accelerating out of control.

These incidents have occurred in California, Michigan, Colorado and now Washington. I am sure Toyota has heard about many more. Contrary to Toyotas public statements, public safety appears to be low on the priority list. It appears Toyota has adopted the dollars and cents approach to defects i.e. until the costs get too high no sense in trying to figure out what the defect is or try to remedy it?. You are on notice, the Toyota Prius is defective and the defect is of such a nature that serious injury and death may occur.

My client continues to want to find the source of the problem and be sure it is fixed to avoid future injury and possible loss of life. If Toyota changes its position and wants to determine the source of the defect to avoid future injury or loss of life, my clients Toyota Prius remains available for analysis.

The car was totalled. We still have it stored away as possible evidence for a court case. Our statue of limitations in Colorado runs out on August 9th of this coming summer.

My 80 year old father experienced unintended acceleration while driving his 2006 Toyota Prius. He stood on the brakes, pulled over and shut the engine off. After restarting, the car behaved normally. The accelerator was not jammed by a carpet for floor mat. Contact with West-Herr Toyota has been initiated. The car cannot be trusted and will not be driven until the problem is satisfacorily resolved

No visible damage but the effect of the racing engine and full power braking on the car's longevity are unknown. My father will not drive the car so he has to drive his large pick up that guzzles gas and causes economic hardship. He also now owns a $23000 Prius that is unsafe to drive.

I bought my Toyota Pruis in July 27 2006. Before buying the car from a used car dealer I Went to Cumberland Toyota in Cookeville Tennessee to asks questions about the battery. Trying to inform myself prior to buying the car. I asked about the battery and was told never had they seen the whole battery fail only a cell at a time to the tune of $200 per cell. I did not want to spend the money on a brand Prius I wanted to test the waters on a used one first.

When I bought the car it had 73200 miles on it which meant I still had 26800 left on the battery warranty. Okay I bought it and thought I was living the dream! But only for a monment.

In November when it got cold I would start the car and have no power. So I would turn it on and off until the engine would kick on and it would go. This when on for a few months. I learned how to get it to go. Finally it went totally down, No Power!!

Took it to Cumberland Toyota for them to tell me I have over filled the gas tank and have ruined my Cars brain and also have to replace the gas tank! I said What! You are telling me because I went from $19.79 to $20.00 that I grew up doing it is going to cost me $1900 dollars! I couldn't believe my ears.

Now keep in mind I am single with 2 teenage daughters. No husband or boyfriend to tell them they have lost their minds. So I tried to do it myself. Long story short I ended up paying them $928. No gas savings yet!!!

I move on. Almost one year later I'm driving on the interstate in Nashville Tennessee going 65 miles per hour in the right lane because I was getting off at the next exit. I was moving over to let an 18 wheeler on in a split second out of the BLUE No Warning the car looses power. OH MY GOD I was scare to death I started waving my right arm to let him know I was in trouble.

Thank God he must have seen me in destress. It was also raining and a Friday afternoon. I went from 65 to 25 in about2 or 3 seconds. I could have been killed that day had I been in the left lane. I so afraid to drive this car! I made some how to the side of the interstate without getting hit. The car went about 1/8 mile at 20 miles per hour to the next exit. I call a tow truck and had it towed to Beaman Toyota In Nashville Tennessee. Mark Asst. service manager told me the main battery was down it would be $6890 to fix it.

I checked on a battery replacement when I bought it and was told $2000 but it never happens. So I have it towed to Cumberland Toyota in Cookeville Tennessee and they called tech support for the Toyota Hybrids and found it was a leave sucks up in a filter which in turn prevented gas and air to go to the battery and drained it. $225 to tow and $276 to charge the main battery plus tax. Now I've gone from $6890 to $549.85.

They told me it could happen again. So I'm stuck with what I feel is a defected product. I'm Toyota's rolling ginney pig. I work across the street from a Very Large Toyota Dealer. I have ordered Lemons for my car. I'm going to drive around with lemons on this car so no one will buy one.I'm In sales and talk to 100 or so people a month. I would never recommend a Hybrid.

I don't feel that way about all the Toyota Product. Did I mention both my daughters drive Toyotas. Scion Coupe and Scion XB Box. I bought the car because I'm a single mother with 2 jobs. I comute about 500 miles a week and thought the Toyota Prius was my answer. It's been my worse nightmare. Also keep in mind only because I felt something wasn't right about my $6890 qoute I had it towed for a second look. I saved over $6000. What is up with that!

New evaluation of Toyota Prius Un-comanded Acceleration Problem reported and commented on Previously. I originally reported that the acceleration problem I perceived had not been caused by a floor mat or driver error. Those facts have not changed. I do not have the all weather floor mats and my floor mats were secure before and after the incidents.

I cannot say that there are no problems associated with the all weather floor mat option, but they were definitely not a part of my problem. I recently made a trip to California and have some new observations of the system and the perceived problem. In all fairness to Toyota, I think the following should be recognized and considered. I drove the car to altitudes above 10,000 feet above sea level and drove on steep mountain roads. I had the sensation of un-comanded acceleration more than once and believe that in each case it was not actually a defect in the system but a failure to properly interpret how the vehicle is designed to react under heavy loads.

I was able to repeat the phenomenon multiple times and verify what was actually happening. With the original problem, there was not enough time to analyze and I could not repeat the problem at will, to evaluate possible causes.

The Prius drive system is set up to acquire power to the wheels from either the electric motor or the gasoline engine or both. The gasoline engine is only used to charge the batteries or to provide a mechanical boost to the torque provided by the electrical system. The engine RPM is not directly proportional to the speed of the vehicle. The engine runs at one of 3 RPM settings depending on the power or torque requirement.

The drive system provides a no shift transition to driving with the electric motor and the gasoline engine thru all speed ranges under most flat land driving. When a power increase is needed on normal acceleration, the engine will go to it's intermediate RPM Range as needed and the power is applied smoothly and without any significant change in sound level or pitch. However, when maximum power is called for, the electric motor immediately produces maximum torque and the gasoline engine may not immediately go to it's high RPM range depending on the speed, battery charge condition, steepness of the road grade,etc. When the computer calls for the high RPM setting for the gasoline engine and the engine RPM increases, two things happen.

First the sound level increases in pitch and volume. This is not in direct proportion to any speed change of the vehicle and the sound is sufficient to cause alarm for an individual who is used to having the sound pitch level vary directly with vehicle speed. Second, the horsepower of the gasoline engine is directly related to the RPM. When RPM increases under full throttle, the torque is applied at the wheels after the sound level change and the vehicle may indeed experience greater acceleration than before the RPM increase. When this occurs while the car is on a steep or high altitude, up-hill grade, the car will actually experience an increase in acceleration beyond what is supplied at a lower RPM and it occurs outside the expected sound and time ranges that most drivers expect.

This creates the illusion that something is not working right and that it is dangerous. It appears to be a characteristic of the drive system and is not a problem unless perceived as a problem. The reason I had thought that the original problem was solved by turning off the cruise control may very well have been coincidence because, at the same time as I hit the cruise control handle, I took my foot off of the accelerator pedal. Releasing the accelerator pedal has taken care of the problem whenever it happened in the mountains on my trip.

I cannot say there are not additional problems, but the problem has not occurred except under high acceleration conditions on the freeway or in the mountains. I can make it happen on even a slight grade near home at approximately 5,000 feet above sea level and suspect It could be repeated at sea level under the right conditions. In my case, I now believe that the condition I have had is totally controllable and was a miss-interpretation of what I thought in the very short time when it occurred the first two times.

The time interval was far too short for adequate analysis of the problem. Since I have found a way to repeat it, I feel much more comfortable.

Twice now in two days my 2006 Aug Toyota Prius (20K miles) has accelerated out of control. Both times it occurred after a hard acceleration (i.e., pedal to the floor). After the second time I intentionally tried to reproduce (since that would be key to getting it fixed) and was able to on my way to work (i.e., the third time its happened now). Once I got into work I sent an email to all of the Toyota Prius owners explaining my experience and that I would keep them informed. One of them forwarded me this link. After reading the link with the reference to the floor mats I inspected my car. I have purchased after market Toyota Prius mats from Toyota. The mat was not centered and it did have a ware mark where the accelerator was rubbing it. And as I manually depressed and released the accelerator it did seem to catch a little. So I moved the mat around and was able to reproduce the problem. The mat did catch the accelerator and hold it. As with others the only way (without knowing what the problem was) to stop the Prius was to bring it to a full stop and press the power button off. And again, with others, the Prius seemed to reset itself. But here is the rub. If it truly were the mat catching the accelerator the previous three times than why did turning the car off solve the problem. There is nothing with the power button that would do this. And yet each time when I restarted the Prius it was fine (i.e., if the accelerator were caught under the mat once the car was turned off the problem did not persist). To me this doesn't make any sense. So what I've decided to do is remove the mat and drive the car for a month to see if the problem occurs without the mat. If this does turn out to the problem than one has to ask why Toyota would sell a Toyota Prius specific mat that would have any potential of causing this problem. If this does not turn out to the problem (i.e., the problem happens again without the mat) than that is bad and others should know. How do I go about updating the site with my experiences within the next month (without the mat)?

I have a 2007 Prius purchased the last day in December 2006. After driving the car approximately 1000 miles it, my Toyota Prius Hybrid had an uninitiated full throttle acceleration while driving on an expressway. Startled, I slammed on the brakes, the acceleration fought my braking as I pulled over and turned off the car. Shocked, taking a deep breath what was that?

This first episode I put at the back of my mind because I had just purchased this car from an friend who owns a Toyota dealership and I didn't want to be complaining or concerning him already.

This uncontrollable acceleration? occurred a second time at approx. 13000 miles when I had been stopped at a traffic light, it changed to green and I started to move forward; it took off charging toward the car in front of me. Standing on the brakes, I pulled over and turned off the car. Very frightened, I sat wondering what I should do next. What happens if I turn the car on and it takes off again?

I did turn the car on, and everything was normal. I called Toyota an talked to a sales person and explained this dangerous experience. He confirmed that he was familiar with the problem and also experienced this himself when driving one of the earlier models of the Prius.

He told me to bring it in immediately and was certain that service would know what this was. The Toyota service manager was certain that this very serious and dangerous event was due to nothing more than a floor carpet jamming accelerator pedal.

As I explained to him, I didn't have floor mats when this happened the first time.

Disgruntled, he took my car into service. A day later, they came back to me saying that they couldn't find anything and were certain it was the floor mat and would I pick up the car. This time I called my friend who owns the dealership and sold me the car. I informed him of the problem, he did keep the car for a few more days and asked one of his technicians to drive it home.

I realized that the likelihood of this occurring within a short period was extremely low. Again, they weren't able to find anything and asked me to come pick up my car, suggesting that I put the car into neutral the next time it happens.

That doesn't feel to comforting. Before going to pick up my car and returning the loaner, a concerned friend sent me this link - http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/08/prius_acceleration.html.

I forwarded this link to the owner of the Toyota dealership. He too expressed concern and asked me to keep the loaner for a few more days while they get someone for Toyota to look further into this.

At the moment, I'm still in the dealership loaner car. They still have my Prius.

This is an addendum to Toyota Prius owners experiencing full throttle excelleration unexpectedly. This was reported to Toyota of Glendora who noted that 2004 and 2005 models have a computer flash to solve the problem. The event occured about summer 2006 when the car had less then 10,000 miles. I left a resteraunt with a high center type driveway, momentarily lost traction as I made a rapid right turn to the left lane to make a left turn. As I was almost stopped for the light, my foot was on the brake (NOT on gas) the car was surging forward being held back by brakes. I quickly checked for anything under the accellerator including the floormat, foot on the gas, any other cause, all were negative. I pulled into the gas station on the corner with the engine still reving max rpms, put it in park and shut down the power. I waited a moment, aware of anomolies with computers ( I am a computer engineer). I double checked external causes finding none. I turned the car back on and it behaved normally. I cautiously drove it home. I reported this to the dealer on the oil change and he said there was a service bulletin on the 2004-2005 models but not on the 2006. He offered to reflash the computer.

Gentlemen.

I am the owner of a Toyota Prius as well as a qualified Professional Engineer and systems problem analyst. My work has involved automobiles as well as aircraft and industrial systems. I also have a business card for accident reconstruction and expert witness work.

I have had an incident of acceleration, beyond what was commanded, in my Toyota Prius 2 times. The cause is unknown. However, in each case, a simple touching of the lever that disengages the cruise control caused the system to immediately go back to a normal condition with the cruise control off. I can assure you that the incidences that I had did not involve mechanical sticking or jamming of the accelerator pedal because of a piece of carpet. It was not driver error.

The fact that the condition was corrected immediately by disengaging the cruise control indicates that the problem may be in the cruise control system itself. It could be either a mechanical or electronic/electrical problem in the cruise control system. In each of the instances that I have had, the problem was instantly corrected by my reaction and it has not occurred at any other time. My vehicle has approximately 12,000 miles on it and the problem occurred in the first few hundred miles and again after the first 5,000 mile oil change.

The problem could easily cause a serious accident if the driver, caught unaware, did not take immediate and correct remedial action or if it happened at just the wrong time. This was an intermittent and easily cancelled condition that occurred when I was accelerating on a freeway and did not cause anything but a surprise requiring an immediate reaction. In each case, the vehicle was accelerating at a rate below maximum and went to and stayed at maximum without driver command. It took an immediate reaction to stop the acceleration.

It is necessary for the responsible engineers to search for and find this problem before someone who cannot react correctly in a very short time has a serious accident.

Marvin L. Kaylor P.E. (Retired)

I had a very similar case with the Prius owner you mentioned in your lemon of the week. For me, I was coming up on a red light and there is a large crease or bump in the road.

When my Prius hit the bump in the road the traction control systems kicked in, and at the same time the brakes felt unresponsive and the car felt as if it was accelerating or lunging forward. I almost rear-ended the car in front of me. Luckily I was able to stop the car in time.

I also have many other safety issues with the Prius like ALL of the onboard controls in the car being on that computer screen (which you can't see during the day time in sunlight), and having to take your eyes off the road to adjust climate or change the radio to try and look at a screen you can't read. Also, my legs fall asleep after 20-30 minutes of driving the vehicle.

Toyota Customer Experience (their customer service call center) basically told me working as intended and it sounds like normal operation. I hate this car, will be glad when I'm rid of it, and will likely never buy a Toyota ever again (and I'm a repeat Toyota customer). Dublin Toyota my dealer as well offered NO help on actually validating whether or not this was normal operation and tried to sell me a new car at an outrageous price.

I was drivig a new Prius (fewer than 600 miles) and experienced an uncontrollable accerlation while entering a freeway in Everett, Washington. As I attempted to merge into heavy traffic, I accelerated up the on ramp and was attempting to place the car between two vehicles going at a rate of approximately 50 miles per hour. The car lunged forward and would not slow down without my repeated pumping the brakes. I exited the freeway immediately (approximately one-half mile) in heavy traffic unable to disengage the throttle.

I got the car to stop on the off-ramp and turned it off with the power button. Knowing that this was also an unsafe place to leave the car, and after I gain some confidence in myself I started it up once again it was going at full throttle. I got it into an adjacent vacant parking lot. I noticed a foul odor that I assumed was the brakes. While I went to a telephone to call the dealer (Rodland Toyota).

They asked me to drive it to them. Approximately, twenty minutes later my husband who was with me took over driving and when he started the car. The car no longer was running at an uncontrolled rate, however, we didn't accelerate more than was absolutely necessary. On the way to the dealer we noticed the display was not recording the trip as it usually did. When I spoke with the service department, they suggested the possiblity of the rug covers being the problem. This was not the case, the rugs were not close to the accelerator.

I thought it may have been the cruise control kicking in. But as the car was new to me, I had not yet used the cruise control, on purpose or by accident. The dealer did not know of any other incident of this type and after giving the car a going over, decided it must be an operator error. I've driven for over 40 years and honestly feel this was nothing to do with my driving.

For once, my husband agreed, this car was experiencing problems. The dealer failed to find anything wrong and could not get the car to accerated uncontrollably again. I like the car, but no longer trust it. I would like to believe it was me, so I could trust the car. However, now after seeing other similar incidents, realize that there is a problem and Toyota needs to fix it.

The only damage was to my nerves and possibly my brakes. The owner's manual insisted the car should not be accelerated like what happened before it was driven severl hundred miles as it cold impair the future energy efficiency.

Well??

Prius Acceleration Problem. Car acceleratd and hit a parked Taxi in front. Small accident. Police Report recorded accident.

Asked Toyota to diagnose car problem. Nothing found. Tried to return car, exchange for other, did not accept terms. Husband will not allow wife and daugther to drive car and has switched cars with wife.

To whom it may concern,

I wrote this letter to request resolution of problems I encountered with my Prius Hybrid, Model year 2005/1224E. I have tried to resolve this problem with the dealer from Toyota without success.

The problem is as follows: On October 21, 2005. I was traveling in cruise control active at 55 miles per hour. Upon approaching a slower vehicle and checking traffic, I proceeded to accelerate the vehicle in an attempt to quickly pass the vehicle driving before me. Upon successful passage of the vehicle, I let off the accelerator and pressed the brakes several times, but the vehicle continued to accelerate under full power.

Under the conditions, I tried to quickly disrupt this safety critical issue. To the best of my recollection I tried to slow the vehicle by pushing the power button, manipulating the cruise control lever, and putting the vehicle in neutral. All attempts were unsuccessful.

Under considerable distress, traveling approximately 20 miles over the posted speed limit at this point, and continuing to accelerate, I elected to apply full braking force to the Prius while laboring the vehicle to a standstill on the gravel shoulder of the road. Regaining my composure, I pushed the power button, and the vehicle shutdown. The cabin of the motor vehicle exhibited a strong odor reminiscent of electrical motor smell.

Per my request,Toyota towed the vehicle to the dealer the following day to begin root cause analysis. On October 25, the dealer informed me that they were able to recreate the safety issue, but they were not able to identify the cause. On October 27 the Toyota technician called to inform me that he drove the vehicle 80 miles, but could not recreate the issue, but he was aware of the comments on the 25th.

On October 28, the Service Manager informed me that they were unable to detect the cause and stated that they would like to ship the vehicle to Cincinnati for further testing. On October 29, I picked up my personal belongings from the vehicle. On November 1, the dealer stated that they could not find anything wrong with the vehicle after driving it 300 miles, and that I must return the loaner vehicle.

To my knowledge the Prius was not sent to Cincinnati for testing. Upon asking the dealership about the comments on October 25, the manager indicated that the person who experienced the
issue is a porter and was not authorized to make any technical assessments. At that point I asked to speak to the initial contact. He acknowledged making the statement on the 25th, but did not want to comment further. During this process I requested arbitration from Toyota and was assigned arbitration number 2005-1028-0355.

I was so concerned about this safety issue that I initially refused to drive this vehicle any longer and under good conscious did not feel that I could sell it. The issue remains not solved.

Arbitration failed to resolve issue.

Economic reasons are forcing me to drive the vehicle. This is not an acceptable situation.