A Toyota Prius rampaged out of control on a Michigan highway recently, endangering the driver as well as those nearby. It's the second known incident of sudden, uncontrolled acceleration in the computer-controlled hybrids.
The driver of the 2005 Prius, Herbert of Battle Creek, Mich., experienced an as-yet unsolved software problem quite unlike any previously reported. In an earlier incident, a Prius stalled on a highway near Fremont, Calif., then took off on its own and smashed into the tow truck that had come to rescue it.
The Toyota Prius gasoline-and-electric engine combination is coordinated by a sophisticated software program that more and more consumers are reporting as suspect. Toyota has recalled the Prius to examine the software but in a least one case sold a Prius that contained the faulty program.
The story of the latest runaway Prius shows that diagnosing often serious problems with the complex hybrid can prove difficult while leading to lengthy maintenance delays.
In October, Herbert was traveling down the road in his Prius with the cruise control active at 55 miles per hour.
He found it necessary to speed up while passing a slower vehicle on the highway. That is when the problem with the Prius began. "I let off the accelerator and pressed the brakes several times, but the vehicle continued to accelerate under full power," Herbert said.
"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," he told ConsumerAffairs.com.
Herbert found himself barreling down the road with the cruise control stuck wide open, running approximately 20 miles over the posted speed limit, all the while continuing to accelerate.
Still searching for someway to slow his runaway hybrid, Herbert "elected to apply full braking force to the Prius while 'laboring' the vehicle to a standstill on the gravel shoulder of the road."
Once he had regained his composure, Herbert pushed the main power button, and the vehicle shut down. "The cabin of the Prius exhibited a strong odor reminiscent of an electrical motor smell," Herbert said.
A tow truck hauled the disabled Prius to Herbert's Toyota dealer to begin what he expected to be a "root cause analysis" of the frightening problem that led to his wild ride.
Many Toyota dealers and technicians however, are not yet up to the level of electronic sophistication problems the complex Prius hybrid can present. "The dealer informed me that they were able to recreate the safety issue, but they were not able to identify the cause," Herbert said.
Three days later, "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," the Prius owner said.
Finally, more than a week after Herbert's Prius was first towed into the Toyota dealership he was told that, "they could not find anything wrong with the vehicle after driving it 300 miles," and that he must return the loaner vehicle the dealer had provided and pick up his Prius.
Herbert was given no information or evidence of any testing or other effort to discover what caused his Prius to run amok.
"The manager indicated that the person who experienced the issue is a porter and was not authorized to make any technical assessments," Herbert said.
Herbert took his questions about his Prius into arbitration with Toyota but the matter was not resolved satisfactorily. That means that Toyota refuses to concede there is a problem with Herbert's Prius or any problem that Toyota is unable to identify and isolate.
In the meantime, Herbert is reluctantly driving the 2005 Prius hybrid that carried him on perhaps the wildest ride of his life.
