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Toyota Prius Traction

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Toyota Prius • General Complaints • Acceleration • Availability • Battery • Fuel Gauge • Headlight • Insurance Costs • Service Delays • Tires • Transmission • Traction --- • Happy Hybrid Owners --- Test Drive • Three Lead Feet Meet Little Fuel Sipper --- News • Toyota Ready to Expand Safety Recall Beyond Floor Mats • U.S. Prius Sales Drop 45 Percent • Prius Tops Consumer Reports Best New-Car Value List • Toyota Parks Plans For New Prius Plant • Prius Vandalism On the Rise in California • Toyota Plans Prius Plant in Mississippi • Solar Panels to Power Prius Air Conditioning • Unexpected Problems Confront Prius Owners • NHTSA to Hear 'Silent Killer' Complaints • Reports of Prius Price Gouging Rise with Gas Prices • Prius, Porsche Models Top Most-Satisfied Lists • Should You Buy a Second-Hand Prius? • Winter Weather Warning for Prius Drivers • Prius Again Tops Owner Satisfaction Survey • Prius Helps Toyota Knock Off Ford for #2 Spot • Toyota Recalls Floor Mats, NHTSA Warns Prius Owners • Feds Probe Prius Runaway Acceleration • Prius Owners Report More Unintended Acceleration Incidents • Runaway Acceleration Plagues Prians • Toyota Delays Third-Generation Prius • Sales Top 1 Million but Some Owners Find Prius Doesn't Age Well • Prius Owners Losing Ground in Traction Battle • Prius Traction Control Complaints on the Rise • Prius Stalls in Snow; Owners Steamed • Prius Shuts Down in the Snow, Reader Complains • Prius Supplies Increase as Sales Slow • Prius Discounts Popping Up in Showrooms • EPA Finds Prius #1 in Gas Mileage • Prius Owners Question Mileage Claims • Prius Tops Consumer Satisfaction Survey • Hybrids Don't Always Deliver the Expected Fuel Economy

Many consumers tell us they like their Prius just fine, if only it would go in snow. Ironically, it seems that the traction control is to blame.

Tim of Spokane, WA August 22, 2008

Tim of Spokane WA (08/22/08)
The traction control system is very dangerous and warrants an immediate recall. When accelerating from a stop (like pulling out into traffic) on a slick roadway, the car will move into traffic, then stop, then move forward another few feet, then stop, and then pull forward again. The car literally 'hops' out into the path of the oncoming cars! I've nearly been hit many times. On steep slick roads, the car will slow down and nearly stop.

I have snow tires with studs on the car during the winter and this does not help the problem. The dealer tells me that this is normal operation. This is the most dangerous vehicle I have ever seen.

A small amount of testing will reveal this dangerous design flaw. This warrants immediate Dept. of Transportation intervention and possibly a class action lawsuit.

I'm afraid to drive the car during the winter and so I can't take advantage of the good gas mileage that I was promised.

Thomas of Tijeras, NM April 9, 2008

Thomas of Tijeras NM (04/09/08)
I recently purchased a used 2004 Toyota Prius hybrid with 63,000 miles. It looks and runs like new and I like it very much, but it started snowing unexpectedly on the drive today. Two to three inches accumulated on my gravel driveway and dirt road as I live in the mountains of New Mexico.

I needed to leave the house for an errand and to my dismay it would not climb the slight grade out to the main road.The tires would not turn even with my foot to the floor. I took six runs at it before the snow packed enough to just bearly crawl out to the road. Once on the main road it refused to climb the first hill I encountered. I litteraly had to back down the hill against the traffic to the bottom of a blind hill hoping not to get hit.....in only two inches of snow!!!!!

I am in total dismay that a vehicle like this is allowed on American hiways....this car is scary and very dangerous. I commute 30 miles in each direction and is the sole reason I bought such an economicalrunning car. It is 30 miles uphill into the mountains from work and is snowy or muddy for many months of the year. My community is filled with two wheel drive vehicles and they would never have a problem is such conditions.

I have owned two wheel drive vehicles, even front wheel drive cars that would have not even the slightest problem. I also own a fleet of trucks for my business that are two wheel drive and we drive them in the snow all winter...this is a horrible problem and it needs to fixed. This rediculous traction control is uneffective, dangerous and has rendered this vehicle useless to me for days,or weeks at time!

I am having a hard time comprehending how such a massive blunder has gone on unfixed....If I drive home in good weather and it snows at night....I am stranded at my house....and then the grader pushes extra snow into the drive as it does it job. I can't get a little momentum to get out! I firmly believe that Toyota must be forced to fix this issue with a recall...this car is dangerous since the driver has limeted control of the cars actions. I am very discourged and angered that I won't be able to use this during winter and the spring thaw......it is absurd!!!!!! I will buy the best snow tires I can and carychains so I'm not stranded on the road somewhere while little cars with bald tires drive right on by.

On the upside, this car is normally fun to drive, and gets great milage, just can't use it!

Bruce of Oak View, CA April 5, 2008

Bruce of Oak View CA (04/05/08)
The Prius is a very misunderstood car, particularly if you don't read the owner's manual. There are many helpful sites on the web - try Priuschat.com for helpful hints and to find other people with similar problems. From Prius_Technical_Stuff@yahoogroups.com web site, if you have problems driving in the snow:

1. Put on proper tires! (Preferably on four different wheels so that you don't take the chance of ruining them when you switch in the spring/fall.) Either Nokian WR or one of the modern studless snow tires from a first tier tire manufacturer (Michelin, Bridgestone, Nokian, Yokohama are). This is the most important thing you can do.

2. For most on road winter conditions, higher pressure helps more than lower pressure.

3. Be sure to use four snow tires.

4. If you are already stopped sometimes you need to tell the Prius that you really, really want to go. Slowly press the accelerator pedal down until movement happens. If you are not stopped, then light pedal pressure is best. Heavy pressure on the pedal will start the wheels spinning which will cause traction control (TC) to kick in, slowing the vehicle down even more. This is kind of the opposite of an old fashioned car so it requires a bit of practice.

5. There are some situations that no car will traverse, but in general you will be able to go anywhere that a car of similar ground clearance will go if you have the proper tires on. IMHO, the Prius is a fine winter car. It's kept me on the road when cars around me are slipping into the ditch. The vehicle stability control (VSC) is a feature that I wouldn't do without in any future cars. Most of the problems on Consumer Affais could have been avoided with proper owner training by the dealer sales force.

My experience with the Prius gas tank is that when the flashing icon starts, I set my trip odometer to zero and know that I can go another 50 to 75 miles before I need to fill up. Fill up is usually then about 9.5 to 10 gallons. The bladder gas tank helps fight global warming.

Karen of Oneonta, NY March 21, 2008

Karen of Oneonta NY (03/21/08)
2007 Prius. Same stalling problem on slippery surfaces as reported by others. It IS dangerous. I live in upstate New York and travel I-88 between Albany and Binghamton regularly. There are very steep hills on this route. In a recent snow storm, when traffic was going 25 - 30 mph on the interstate (except the semi's going 50), the Prius' engine started backing off when I was trying to go up a very steep hill. I thought it was going to stall in the middle of the interstate. I was white-knuckled for about an hour nursing the acceleration carefully to try to keep from stalling. If it had stalled, I would have been rear-ended. I found out about this problem only after I bought the car. If I had known it was this bad, I never would have bought it living where I do. I also have a VERY steep driveway (20%?). Needless to say, it usually stops about half-way up when it's slippery.

Anne of Topsham, ME March 17, 2008

Anne of Topsham ME (03/17/08)
Overzealous (to say the least) traction control on Prius I have gotten stuck on my driveway more times than I care to recall. And that's with studded snow tires. The guys from Toyota may say it doesn't pose a safety problem, but he's full of you-know-what. You effectively lose power when TC takes over: if you are on a hill, you SLIDE uncontrollably. If we didn't have barriers keeping us from falling off the side of our steep driveway, I would have plunged 15 feet over the edge of the driveway more than once. The driveway pitch is indeed steep (15 degree pitch with a curve at its worst). My new trick is to back up the driveway to get home, but even this doesn't work if the car thinks it's too slick. I've gotten stuck at intersections that are steep- and if that's not dangerous, I don't know what is. I do not know what's keeping this ridiculous feature from being recalled. Toyota has no business marketing this vehicle in climates where the ground freezes. I've been told by the dealership that nobody has this problem. One look on the internet yielded lots of hits. If I cannot get the TC turned off, I'll likely get rid of the car. After all, it doesn't approach achieving its advertised fuel economy in town (maybe their standards were tests done in a flat dessert??)

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