Toyota Prius Reviews

I own an '07 Toyota Prius. At 50,000 miles both headlights began turning off intermittently. Turn them on, one would turn off, then the other would turn off, randomly. This makes driving at night unsafe unless I re-set the lights by turning them off and then on again. Thinking that the problem was an intermittent contact on a $160.00 relay, I went to the dealer and found that both headlights contain a computer and is a common issue - one computer for each headlight. Both computers are bad and intermittently failing. Coincidental that it's both computers failing and began at exactly at 50,000 miles. The dealer will also not replace the computers without replacing the HID headlamp bulbs. At this point with the excessive costs associated with disassembling the car's front-end, it's probably wise to spend the $289.00/headlamp bulb while it's torn apart.

This is not a complaint but rather a comment on the numerous Toyota Prius complaints I have read.

My name is Alicia and I'm hoping that something can be done since Toyota Corporation can't help me and the Dealership don't care. I want to be able to share the type of service I receive. I bought a used car not from Toyota but from a small private own car lot which isn't running anymore, But I buy a used 2001 Toyota Prius Hybrid and I bought it back on March 2007. I bought the extended warranty on the car but it ran out a week before my car started having problems. I took it to Toyota Dealership and they diagnosis the car and it was the Hybrid battery going out on the car and the est. cost is $3860.00.

A few weeks ago we went away for a week and the Prius would not start. We were 200 miles from home. We took it in soon as we could. They gave no reason for it. Here lately the radio would not work then on its own it started working but we started having intermittent window problems then the driver side head light would not come on then both lights would go out and come back on so I took it in the dealership. Said both right and left head lights would not come on. They called the warranty up and they said it wasn't covered even though they can't truly say why any of this electrical thing is happening. But the really outrage is the warranty won't cover this. The car is a 2006 2 years old. It does have 43,000 but we had a 100,000 warranty. The biggest shock for all the Prius owners - the 2 lamps cost with labor and tax $894.00. In any other vehicle you might pay $26 dollars. Please tell me we're not the only ones.

I purchased a Toyota Prius on January 30, 2001 from Dublin Toyota in Dublin California. The Prius was used as a demonstrator and had 7961 miles on the odometer. I was told you are going out the door with a new car warranty. And the contract includes notation, Day Of First Use 01/30/2001.

I am very pleased with my 2008 Prius and to be truthful, I do not understand all the complaints I read about. I have done the math, not paying attention to the gauge, and I have been getting between 54.5 and 60.2 mpg on the open road. There is also a comment on this website regarding the disposal of batteries. I think the disposal of old tires is much more of a problem and the countryside is littered with them. The service received has been excellent. The only problem I have had is someone in a grocery store parking lot either backed into the rear of my car, or did so with a shopping cart, which did some minor damage. Maybe people should dwell more on the high cost of repairs rather than worrying batteries which, at least in my area, can be properly disposed of with no problems. May be when God decides to build a car, it will be perfect. Until then, the next best thing is the Japanese automotive God named Toyota.

auto stopped while trying to climb a gravel hill no power to the engine it just stopped dead and would not proceed ,would not proceed at all stuck. Also same conditon in snow on flat to slight incline..Very very discuring.Plan on law suit Was not informed of this situation by the dealer

Had to use small spare tire on front left wheel of 2007 Prius when had flat tire while driving. Had two instances of power off to drive wheels while driving with small spare. Seems likely due to very sensitive traction control. First instance occurred when pulling out into traffic and accelerating moderately rapidly, but steadily; power to drive wheels cut off twice while trying to cross two lanes and merge with two lanes. Second instance occured while normally accelerating through a moderate turn to right from a stoplight.

My 2008 Toyota Prius has had challenges with calculating mileage since I purchased the car. I have never expected the car's average mileage to be dead on, but close would be nice. I just got back from a lengthly road trip and the mileage, when calculated by hand, differed as much as 11 mpg ... with the car noting the fuel economy was better than acutally achieved. I was only getting in the high 30's on this trip ... ugh!!! Today I took the Prius into Toyota to have the fuel gauge recalibrated (this would have been the third time). Toyota told me that the difference can be up to 15 mpg difference and that there was nothing wrong with the car. While waiting for the car to be taken care of, I looked around the car lot ... I now have a 2009 Toyota Camry SE (my 1992 Camry has over 250K on it). No more worries about all the different issues I experienced with my Prius ... I am looking forward to seeing how my Camry runs!

We bought a Prius to save money. Didn't save much, will be spending more. The car is under warranty so you might not notice pending huge bills right away. The air filter is so small you have to replace it every 6000 miles and it cost $30 each. They way overrated the MPG which is like the only reason anyone puts up with an ugly car.

The auxiliary battery of my 2005 Prius drained when the dome light was accidentally left on, while I was on vacation. I tried to jump start using the procedure described in the Owner's Manual, which probably would have worked if the post designated for that had been more accessible and larger. After this failed attempt I contacted the dealer and was advised not to try and jump start, because of possible serious damage to the electronics but to have the car towed.

We placed an order for a 2008 Prius at Reinhardt Toyota in Montgomery, Alabama on May 2, 2008 with specific items requested and they required $1,000 deposit. We requested delivery for a scheduled trip one month away which came and went with no car. They did call us several times with cars coming in that did not fit our requirements. We had ordered the Prius with Touring package #6, plus XM radio, dual headrest DVD players, and 18 wheels, basically loaded. Our main request was a LIGHT color due to the heat factor. As weeks went by we received call after call with dark colors offered and passed on them. Finally we got a call from the original contact Joseph Saffold saying that it had been too long after four months and that we should have gotten a car by then (8/18/08) and that he would investigate. He also said that new models were about to come out and that they would not honor the old price since the new ones would be higher in price. On Friday, 8/29, we received a call that they had a light blue Prius with package 6 if we wanted it. We made an appointment and went in the next day. After accepting the car and filling out the paperwork the price on the car had jumped $2,400 over the contracted price. When questioned about the difference we were told that they had made a mistake in pricing the car when the order was placed and that they would not honor the contracted price because of the mistake. After expressing much displeasure about the fact that it was their mistake to begin with and for them not to honor it resorted to dishonoring the contract, they agreed to refund the non-refundable deposit of $1000.

We rented a Toyota Prius from Alamo in Las Vegas, it was a free upgrade from the economy class cars they were out of. Never driven one so we said yes. Alamo provides a simple instruction page on how to start the car and go. The owners manual was burried under the spare which we found the day before we returned the car. Overall, good. Larger inside than I was expecting, more room than a Dodge Calibre we rented last year. The bad? This car absolutely hates mountain roads. Had a major fit trying to go up mountain passes. Constantly shifting back and forth, engine winning like mad. Turning off the AC helped a little but flat out and it would do 31 mph and sounded like it was ready to explode. Going down the passes, I put the shifter in to B, which I later found after lots of searching in the manual, means what exactly? There is one page that says to use B for down hills. Even in B the car would speed up ot over 70mph, only when going slower would B force the tranny into a lower gear to help slow the car. Other complaints & observations. A weird combo of touch screen controls and buttons on the dash and steering wheel. The rental had 34,000 miles on the odo but the rear tires were nearly worn out. At one time in Las Vegas the brakes seem to stop working. I nearly rear ended another car. For the first 6 days the brakes seemed very touchy. 44.5 mpg for the first 313 miles. 49.8 for the return trip of 255 miles. I realize hybrid owners want to 'save the earth' with these cars but really the economics aren't there. I figured it could save me $1200 per year in gas for as much as I drive but considering how much the car cost and how short its going to last without major repairs, that will never pay off.

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.

By both the fuel gauge and the miles driven, I figured I had at least two if not three gallons of gas left in the 12 gallon tank of my Prius. The slope of the drive may have had an effect, but I was amazed that the amount pumped was 11.575 gallons. Since I was 30 miles from home I had asked the attendant to top it off. but this was ridiculous! I asked the state board of weights, etc., to check, and they found no problem with the pump. Upon reading some of the complaints here, I guess I don't have anything to complain about. I keep records on all gas purchases, and this dropped my mpg average by about 5 miles per gallon, from 50 down to 45 mpg.

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.

I purchased a 2008 Toyota Prius on May 14,2008. My husband and I put down $2000.00, which she said would be 100% refundable if we change our minds. At the time she said the car would be in, in 4-6 weeks. I had a trip planned to Florida, and I had hoped to use the car for the trip. Two weeks before our planned trip(June 20,2008) I called to see if she heard anything. I called 3 times in July, and again 2 times in August. Then on August 8th, I received a phone call telling me the car I wanted will be in, in 2 weeks.BUT. The MAnufacturer has increased the price of the car $1500.00 and they have to pass at least half of this onto the consumer.So, my car will now cost me $750.00 more than the contract i signed. ( I feel this is because we were paying cash and they didn't feel they were making enough of a bonus. ) I reviewed my contract to find a line on the second page, stating the dealer can change the price before delivery if the manufacturer has increased the price.) After doing much research I found that Toyota is considering a price increase for 2009, but if they increase the price it won't take effect until the end of the year. I really feel I am being scammed because of the popularity of the car, and because we're paying cash.

I am getting very poor mileage on my Prius. The city EPA is 48 and the highway EPA 40mpg. I am getting at most in the low 30's in the city. This is with a constant eye on the computer monitor, very, very slow stops (sometimes not touching the accelerator for 3 or 4 blocks). When I accelerate, I do so slowly and then try to maintain a constant speed around 30 to 37 mpg. If I'm going downhill, I often don't touch the accelerator at all. I'm actually a hazard on the road, the way I'm driving. Currently, my average for the last 100 miles is 29.8 mpg. If I drive with traffic, but non-aggressively, the average goes down to about 21 or 22 mpg.

About two months ago I purchased a new 2008 Toyota Prius. 30 days after that, I noticed that the car was leaning to the left Drivers Side?. I called the dealer and they said bring the car in and we will fix it under the Warranty? I took the car to the dealer were I purchased it. After two days, they said that the car does lean to the left, but Toyota Corporate said it is expectable for the car to lean up to 1/2?. By my measurements the car leans more like 9/16?, which is very noticeable.

It appears that Huntington Toyota has entered into a contract and taken a deposit for the purchase of a car under false pretenses and they may be doing this to others. First, 2 months after I entered into a contract to purchase a Prius and just a few days before the delivery date listed in the contract, Huntington Toyota contacted me in an attempt to collect a higher price for the car then the price specified in the contract. Now, almost 5 months after the date of the contract and despite the fact that they have held my deposit for the full 5 month period, Huntington Toyota has failed to obtain a vehicle to fulfil the contract. In late February or early March, my wife and I went into Huntington Toyota to test drive a new Prius. At that time, a price was quoted for the package II and the package 5 Prius. On March 9, 2008 I returned with my wife to Huntington Toyota to purchase a Prius. After the price of the Prius Package II was verified by the salesman, a contract was prepared. When I reviewed the contract, I saw that in addition to the expected sales tax, Dealer Fee and NYS Inspection and Tire Deisposal Fees, another $349.00 had been added to the agreed upon price as an Administrative Fee. I questioned the salesman, regarding the additional Fee, however, he indicated that this was a required charge, basically for dealership profit and there could be no discussion with respect to waiving or reducing the additional Fee. Although I did not like the answer or in fact, the attitude of the salesman, I went ahead with the purchase. The agreed upon delivery date indicated on the contract was 5/15/08. At the time I entered into the contract, I discussed the date of the anticipated delivery with the salesman as the lease on my current vehicle would be up in June and I would definitely need the new vehicle before I returned my leased car. In fact, we even discussed the transfer of the license plates to the new Prius. The salesman indicated that there was NO problem or any anticipated delivery delays for the Prius package that we had picked. I signed the contract and gave the $500.00 required deposit. On May 12, 2008, the salesman who had handled the contract called to tell me that a notice was being sent out indicating that there was going to be a factory increase in the Prius price later in the month and the dealership would be passing the increase on to the purchasers. Although I did not need the car yet, I told the salesman that I would take the car immediately. However, he indicated that they did not have a car to give me. As I already had a contract and an agreed upon purchase price, I did a quick review of the Terms Of Agreement and found that the Terms clearly indicted that, NO ADDITIONAL FEE OR CHARGE WILL BE IMPOSED OR COLLECTED DUE TO CHANGES IN THE MANUFACTURERE'S LIST PRICE. Accordingly, my wife promptly called the salesman to point this out. As she only got a run-around, she asked for Ian who originally helped us, however, Ian claimed that he did not know anything about the Terms of the Agreement even though they are standard on all of their printed forms. My wife then asked for someone in charge to call her. She later spoke with Frank who identified himself as the customer relations manager. Frank's only response was to indicate that if we did not want the car on their terms, they would cancel the contract. As a result, my wife sent a certified letter to the dealership pointing out the Terms Of Agreement. Although the price of gas had increased substantially and the demand for the Prius (and price) had greatly increased since the date of our contract, we expected Huntington Toyota to live up to their printed Terms of our Agreement. On May 14, Sam Seldin, Manager or Owner of Huntington Toyota, called to say that they would abide by the agreed upon price. However, since that time, we have been repeatedly told that no Prius - Package II has come in. I have been directed to speak with Tara, who has indicated that she is the person responsibe for distribution of the car allotment given to the dealership. Tara has advised me that the dealership receives allotments twice monthly and we have been first on the waiting list for Package II for several months. However, despite this, it is now 5 months since we ordered the car and although an allotment should have been received at the end of July, Tara and Sam do not take any of my calls to advise as to whether or not they have a car and they have failed to return any of my messages. It appears that Huntington Toyota may be taking deposits on cars that thy either can't obtain or they are fulfilling more recent contracts at higher prices.

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.

The 07 Toyota Prius stated 60 MPH for in town, and from the first tank, I have averaged only 45 MPH. Why was Toyota not being honest about the MPH? Did the EPA really change the way it rates MPH?

Re: 2005 Prius purchased 4/30/05 Noise after shut-down or when brake is depressed to start __________________________________________ On 7/11/08 we took the car to the dealer to have this problem investigated because the noise continued intermittently for several hours the previous night. As we left for the dealer, the ABS warning lights came on, but, we experienced no problem with the brakes on the three mile drive. We were told that the cause was the ABS actuator and it would cost $2600 to repair. We were only 2-1/2 months out of warranty with only 32,016 miles on the odometer - not the 36,000 that would put us out of warranty if the time hadn't run out. We were stunned to have such an expensive repair on such a new car. We immediately contacted Toyota Motor Sales. On reviewing the service record, we found that we had had the car serviced for a different complaint (an unexplained beeping when the brakes were applied) in May 2007. The identical part had been replaced under warranty. The new part was warranted for 1 year. Again we were out of warranty by a couple of months and after only 13,000 miles of driving. Toyota Motor Sales negotiated with our dealer and decided that between them they would cover the $2000 cost of the part and we should pay $600 labor (estimated at 5.5Hrs.) to replace it. Checking on line indicates several cases of failure of this part. However, many people may be experiencing problems without realizing it because of the strange and unpredictable symptoms. Toyota has published Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) BR001-07 that describes the problem and instructs the service departments not to do anything unless the customers complain. In our experience this would put many of the complaints out of warranty. ________________________________________ Tires ___________ We are also very unhappy with the the tires and/or the suspension system. We have experienced excessive tire wear and after 32,000 miles we need a new set.

Would love your opinion about this: After providing me a written price quote for a Toyoa Prius (via phone and fax)and taking a $500 deposit (via credit card over the phone about 11 days ago) - Plaza Toyota actually tried to extort more money out of me today when I came to pick up my car. I am well aware of the high demand for this automabile and was quite content to wait the 8 to 12 weeks the sales person quoted me, initially, as my wife's lease isn't due back until October 1st, 2008. So, I happily placed an order with them, assuming I would have the car sometime in September. No problem, right? Then, Stephan, the sales guy, called me three days ago to tell me they had a car for me if I wanted it now, which was exactly how I ordered it (okay, it had one additional feature I hadn't asked for - Lo Jack - but they'd let me have that for only $1,195 more...) BUT, the caveat was, I had to act very fast in order to secure it. After reviewing my tight finances, I decided it was in my best interest to get the car now, because Stephan began to intimate that it may NOT actually be available in September if I waited. So, I said yes. He gave me specific instructions on what to do to make the deal happen: He would send me the vehicle VIN number, which he did; then, I had to put the car immediately on my Allstate insurance policy LAST NIGHT (they have a 24 hour toll free number you can call and get that taken car of..., Stephan informed me)and have them send a copy of the INSURANCE CARD directly to the dealership (which they did... I got a copy too). He then instructed me to bring a CERTIFIED BANK CHECK for my deposit (I emptied out a 9 mos. Certificate of Deposit in order to make this deposit early Tuesday morning). They also had their credit manager - a nasty and abrupt fellow named Vince - get on the phone to provide me with a ridiculously HIGH interest rate for a loan (7.99%?!) which he allegedly got for me from Chase due to my fine credit rating. I told him I would finance it myself through my own bank and contacted Bank of America and got approved for a loan rate of 6.22% Monday afternoon and they sent me the appropriate paperwork and said all I had to do was give this to Plaza Toyota. Monday evening, after banking hours, of course, Stephan informed me that Bank of America was wrong, they would not accept THEIR paperwork and I would have to bring an additional check in the full amount of the LOAN (sounds fishy, huh?) or I could finance the car with them. Once again, they got this fellow Vince involved and he pressured me into telling him the rate I got from my bank. Through some miracle of modern mathematics, he was able to reduce my rate through Toyota to 5.88% - so how could I refuse, right? In addition, since I had no way to get to Brooklyn, a one and a half hour trip from where I live - they even offered to take my LEASED Nissan Pathfinder back (to help me out - since they are such nice people, so then, I could simply drive myself to the dealership, drop off the car, and drive off in my beautiful new Prius. I called Tuesday morning when I was on my way to inform Stephan when I would arrive (I was running a bit later than expected.) Upon arriving at Plaza Toyota, Stephan met me outside and parked my Pathfinder for me. He then took me inside to show me my new car (beautiful! Exactly what I wanted!) It was sitting right there on the showroom floor. Of course, he pointed out that the hand-written in market price was $33,000 - not the agreed to price I was getting of $28,564. He led me to his desk and immediately started to back peddle on the deal and told me I was going to have to pay more for the car if I wanted it as his managers could sell it all day long to anyone for up to $5,000 over sticker! I told him we had a contract and I would not pay a penny over what they quoted me. Of course, they then ganged up on me with the big, brute of a sales manager who came over to intimidate me and tell me I could WAIT for a car but that this car was NOT mine and there were other people waiting for it - ahead of me. Naturally, I told him that was NOT my problem, as they had brought me in to purchase this car, provided me with the VIN # and everything and had to honor the deal. They claim there was no deal. They had my deposit. They had my copy of my license and insurance card. I had their price quote, a checklist of items I had to bring in to pick up my vehicle... I had a contract with the quoted price which they sent to me via fax, which had phone order written on the signature line but - so the sales manager said to me there is NO CONTRACT. Well... I say different.

We bought a 2008 Prius in early May and have about 2000 miles on it. The car runs perfectly and we are getting just slightly under 60 miles per gallon. I'll file another report in a year, but judging by my experience and the relatively few complaints you have listed, I'd say the Prius is a good buy.

In December 2008 I bought a new Toyota Prius from another dealership out of town (Thousand Oaks). I just took it into (Ventura Toyota)for the 5000 service. At that time was getting an average of 45mph and up. I'm the only driver and very caught up in max mpg thing. The Prius makes it real easy with it's computer assisted dash display. After my service my mpg dropped to 38/39. I ran a comlete tank of gas through it before I went back to let them know something isn't right.

While accellerating into traffic on US-2 WB from Country Club Road in Gogebic County, Michigan, the throttle on my new Prius (4,000 miles) stuck wide open. I was able to maintain 55 mph by sporadic breaking and finally managed to brake to a stop. While the engine was in the accellerating mode, I was unable to shift to neutral, shut the engine off, or otherwise stop the vehicle. After I was finally able to brake to a stop (with both electric and gas engines still drawing full power), the engine did shut down for a few seconds and I was able to hit the power button and shut the engine off. I thought, at this time, that whatever was wrong would have rectified itself, so I restarted the car with the power button, while in park. The engine returned to it's normal idle cylcle, but as soon as I put the shift lever into drive, the engine again began racing and as I was now in heavy traffic in a 40 mph zone, I had to maintain steady pressure on the brake pedal to keep the car within a safe speed and lane usage. The engine (both gas and electric) now applied more power as I was breaking and before I was able to pull off the street, the brakes were smoking so badly my brother thought thew car was on fire. Once into the parking lot of a local bank, and stopped, the engine again paused briefly and I shut it down with the power button. While this engine racing was taking place, I tried to shift to neutral, hit the park switch, the power putton, stepped on and off the throttle pedal repeatedly, and switched the cruise control button on and off several times. The only succesfull remedy was to brake down through full applied power to a stop, with smoking brakes and wait for a pause in engine rpm. If I waited for more than a second or two, the high revs would resume and run high for several more seconds. My Toyota dealer advised me that they could find nothing wrong, test drove the car for 10 miles and had no recurrence. They also suggested that my floor mat had become stuck on the throttle pedal causing the incident. The service manager (Eric Bolen) stated that Toyota maintained that this rampant throttle run was IMPOSSIBLE I am a retired Michigan State Trooper especially trained in accident investigation and reconstruction, a former Cummins Diesel mecahnic and have installed several after market cruise controlls on at least three different makes of vehicles, so I am very familiar with mechanical and electronic systems. I am also quite experience in dealing with emergency driving situations after spending 25 years on the road as an enforcement officer. After being told about the floor mat excuse, and knowing that I had tried to step on and release the accellerator pedal over and over while the incident was happening, I did take the time to place the floor mat both over and jam it under the pedal.......neither tactics were able to jam the pedal's movement. In spite of Toyota's claim that this condition is impossible, I have enough experience with vehicles and emergency driving situations to know that this actually did happen, was not a matter of a floor mat getting jammed either on or under the accellerator pedal, and in fact was the result of some internal operating system glitch. At this juncture, I have no complaint with our Toyota dealer or their employees, and the vehicle seems to be functioning normally now. I am concerned that Toyota has not addressed this as a safety issue, however. Had this happened with my wife driving, I am sure this would not have come to a safe conclusion. We are still driving this vehicle but I have instructed her in how to handle a simililar condition should it recure. Thank you for providing a forum for getting this information out. If necessary I can provide vehicle VIN etc for more thorough evaluation.

Joe Benton at consumer affairs published an article Unexpected Problems Confront Prius Owners which contains many inaccuracies, lies, and misleading statements about the Prius. Clearly, he has no clue about how a hybrid works, and he is possibly also intentionally misleading potential customers. For example, Battery failure More than one Prius owner has returned from a business trip or vacation to find their hybrid dead in the garage with no power and unable to start. Jump-starting the Prius can be tricky. The enormous and expensive main battery is easily damaged and convincing Toyota to replace the battery is difficult, This clearly shows that Joe has no clue about the batteries in the Prius. It is the small 12V battery that causes the car not to start up (not the big one). This battery can be easily jump started by any other car. He also talks about tire wear of the 2002 Prius. This is irrelevant for the vast majority of Prius owners who bought one since 2004. Joe also states: But so few Prius owners have obtained the 60 mpg that the Japanese automaker eventually backed off the claim, blaming the error on Environmental protection Agency fuel mileage testing. This is FALSE. Toyota never back off those numbers. The laws dictate that the carmakers can only publish numbers from the EPA. The EPA recently revised their MPG tests for all cars.

Subject: 2008/2009 Toyota Prius With the lease on my soon-to-be discontinued Jaguar X-Type up in September 2008, I've made several contacts with Dallas-Fort Worth dealerships concerning purchasing a 2008/2009 Prius. I learned there is only one DFW story. With waiting lists now exceeding six-plus months, I have been told every 2008 Prius is now delivered at at least $3,000 above sticker. With two customers bidding driving the final out-the-door price to $5,000 above sticker on the only Prius arrival at a certain DFW Toyota dealership this past week. One very seasoned sales professional we've used for years to lease business vehicled from noted it's now impossible to reach break-even on fuel cost savings in less than 5-8 years on any Prius being sold. The Camry Hybrid availability is better, yet, the most modestly appointed is now fetching a few cents under $30,000, with a 3-4 miles per gallon gain on the highway over the $17,000 4-cylinder gas version, that $13,000 difference can buy a lot of $4, $6, $8, and even $10 gas! One very important point to add...the professional we've been leasing Toyotas from for business over many years, literally refused to place us on the Prius list saying the gouging made him sick.

I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS WIH MY TWO PRIUS AUTOS I HAVE OWNED IN 2002. We have traveled well over 70,000 miles without a mishap. The few times I have had starting the car was when my smart key and cell phone were in the same pocket. We recently drove from Dallas to Estes Park (change in elevation of about 8500 feet, total of 870 miles) and a fully packed car and got 52.2 mpg. Furthermore, I know of a lot people who own a Prius and I have never heard a complaint from them. IMHO, I have owned a lot of cars in my life and none has given me more satisfaction as Prius.

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.

My Prius had the brakes go out (luckily for me it was under warranty and I had a Toyota staff person advocate for my warranty so it was honored) however, after reaching 100,000 miles, my display is now starting to show the same signs as some of the other people are complaining about the monitor turning off the radio, or a/c while I'm driving.

I have just read the comments of a person who reported problems with their Toyota Prius gas capacity. I have had a related issue. I noticed that the range the car could drive on a single tank varied significantly over the course of 12 months. Summer I could go 520 Miles with a single fill while winter it drops to around 400 or less. Related to this was the amount of gas I could put into the car. In summer and empty tank would take up to 9.7 gallons while in winter it would take around 8. When I asked the Toyota service department about this they explained that the tank is actually a bladder and that capacity varies with the temperature.

I have an '08 Prius...and it's a great automobile....because I use it for for what it's specifically engineered for! I'm sorry the people on this website are having problems or have experienced injury and loss. But honestly, most of what I have read shows me a total lack of intelligence and common sense. I am astounded that people are actually trying to use this car in conditions I'd hesitate driving my Tundra truck with a V-8 in. The Prius is engineered for urban, in-town, moderate road conditions...Not the Alaskan bush country! If you need to drive up a steep gravel incline or blizzard to get home every day, BUY A VEHICLE DESIGNED TO USE THAT WAY for God's sake! And I'm sorry...but getting an attorney involved in a situation he or she knows absolutely nothing about is ludicrous. The novel-length diatribe accusing Toyota of ignoring a supposed defect with brake failure is comical. If brakes are worn down to metal-on-metal, it's a case of long-term brake usage and ignorance of the owner-operator...not Toyota. I really like the guy who expected to get 60 MPG on a USED '05 Prius. Yeah, 60 MPG...on a used car no less. Idiot. Try a motorcycle dude. You also might try reading the specs on the car before you buy it. That will help take away some of the disappointment. Hey people...they're cars...they break. Name me one car that doesn't have problems. The problem I see in most of these complaints is unrealistic expectations by owners, poor knowledge of basic automotive engineering principles, and lack of common sense. Ignorant people + automobiles. Bad combination.

After a wait list of 3 months I finally got my new 2008 Prius, witch by the way here in Israel costs 47000 $ and not 23K$ as in the states. I began to drive the car and I liked it, but when I calculated the fuel consumption, I found out that it drinks fuel like Russian drinks vodka. Actually 15.5 liters per 100Km , but this is not the only problem. I have an EV button that should let the car run with the electrical engine until 50Km/h, unfortunately there are times when the EV just refuses to work and on the screen it writes some invalid work add and beeps 3 times. I know all the rules about how it should work: the battery must show 4 bars or more and the car must be under 45Km/h without accelerating the car. I showed the problem 3 times to the technician at Toyota Nethanya , we drove the car together 3 times, also once I took with me their big boss (CEO) and he told me after he saw the problem that this is not a car problem , this it how it should go because all the heat sensors the battery has , about the high fuel consumption he told me that my driving is to be blamed, even that I showed him that I drive very moderate . They run some diagnostics and told me everything passed . They want me to meet some Toyota specialist that can meet me only Wednesdays once two weeks in the morning until 12. I explained them that this problem happened only after 12 when it is hotter and the car must be driven more the 2 hours in the heat, they told me this is the best they can do. I am so sorry I bought Toyota Prius , I consider to sell it after only less the 2000 Km I drove with it, hope no one from Israel is reading this.

we bought a new 2002 toyota prius and with 20,000 miles on our original set and 50000 on our 2nd set we now have to buy a 3rd set of tires because the outer tread has worn down to the radial. these tires are supposed to last 65000 miles and neither toyota nor bridgestone will do anything about this potentially life threatening problem. We had the tires rotated, balanced and aligned as needed. In my opinion, if you want a eco freindly car buy a honda.

i made a righthand turn into trafic there was a small amount of rainwater on the road the tirer started to spin the car came to a stop on its own this was on a very bussy road i pushed the gas again and again . after a very long 12 or 15 sec. the tirer stopped spining and down the road i went. i,m glad the cares coming at me saw what was going on and gave me room. the car is dangerous. someone must make toyoya fix this.Don't get me started about trying to get up a gravel road; time to get out and push.

The Traction Control system on my 2008 Toyota Prius is worthless. I have a steep gravel driveway that is extremely hard to climb due to the unnecessary engine cut outs, especially if there is any extra weight in the rear of the car. The engines quit when the computer senses any type of slippage; worse in the summer when gravel is dry. Also there are very noticeable engine cut outs when just going over bumps on level pavement. My previous Prius, a 2002, would slip a bit on the same driveway but I had much more control over the car and the speed compared to the new 2008, very acceptable. Heavier tires with more rubber on the road made little difference with the 2002; I expect the same when I get better tires on the 2008. Had I known about the problem with this earlier, as I have just found reported on the internet, I would not have purchased this car. I think Toyota should recall and correct these cars' problem. Perhaps a trade in on a 2009 model with optional on/off Traction Control as found in many other vehicles would work for me and others. The trade in could be prorated like the warranty on tires. But I should not have to take a big loss on selling the car after disclosing this problem to a potential buyer; Toyota should eat that loss. The argument that shutting down the power to the front wheels in all cases of slippage is ridiculous. If the issue of over spining the electric motor is the reason for this system, as pointed out in some of the chat rooms, how did the earlier years of Prius, such as the 2002 I had, get by without any such issues coming forward? I am now considering selling my 2008 Prius for something that works safely for me. Toyota should have informed the buying public of this limitation once it became an issue back in 2004 instead of denying the problem. I would join a class action suit against Toyota to get them to make this right. I appreciate Toyota for being on the cutting edge of technology and making sensible cars for our times but Toyota also has to take responsibility for their mistakes along the way. This Traction Control system is the worst thing to come along in a long time. Thank you for this forum.

Well, it is official from Toyota Corporate ... if you do happen to have challenges filling your gas tank ... there is NO fix ... Toyota notes that 6 - 7 gallons at a fill up is normal! As having owned MANY cars, what is not normal is being able to acutally fill your gas tank.- ... :-( I am perosnally astounded and saddened that this design flaw has not yet been corrected, after years of complaints by Prius owners. Here is the response from Toyota Corporate ... you will note that they do encourage comments from owners. (You may also wish to contact and file complaints with the BBB, NHTSA, your state's Attroney General, Consumer Reports, and the NCDS - National Center for Dispute Settlement over the issues you are having with your Prius!) Subject Re: Prius gas tank safety issues Dear Ms. : We apologize with your dissatisfaction with the fuel tank bladder in your 2008 Prius. As your Case Manager explained to you, this is the design of the fuel tank and there is no repair available to change the design. We appreciate you taking the time to let us know of your dissatisfaction with the fuel tank bladder because the only way we know what our customers are looking for is when they tell us, as you have. We try to scope our customers out in advance, by researching the market, conducting interviews, surveys, focus groups and doing our homework, but there's no better source than a Toyota owner who takes the time to tell us like it is. We can't guarantee that a change would be made, but if it were, it would be driven by just this sort of honest communication. We have documented your email at our National Headquarters under file #. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us. Sincerely, Toyota Customer Experience

We just bought a used 05 Prius and thought it would be great to get 60 miles/ gallon. Like others who hoped for 60 miles/gallon we have been disappointed. The on board computer reads about 41 to 43 around town. I have not figured the mileage by the old fashoined way but my guess is it is less than the computer. We have been huge Toyota fans for many years but this is really a huge letdown for our Toyota loyalty. We have had the vehicle for about a week and are thinking of selling it. Subaru or Honda are very appealing.

I have just read several stories of concern on: https://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/toyota_prius.html. There are MANY other websites that speak to Prius problems: https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/prius_winter.html - http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f1205be - http://www.hybridcars.com/forums/2008-prius-fuel-tank-capacity.html - http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-main-forum/10650-prius-fuel-tank.html - http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/f10/problem-putting-gas-prius-1611/ - these are just the ones I have stumbled across.

I bought a 2004 Toyota Prius a year ago, I have covered 30,000 kilometres in it over that year and I'm as happy as a pig in muck with my Prius. This is a fantastic car which uses about half the fuel of my last car, a 2 litre Camry. I have recently completed 2 long journeys of about 7,000 kilometres each, the first with wife and son, the last on my own. I have nothing but praise for this car. On the last trip I covered nearly 3000km over 2 days sleeping in the back when tired and I arrived fresh at my destination. The Toyota Prius is a great interstate car. It returned 5.1 litres per 100km on the open road speed limit while it achieves 4.2L/100km around town, totally awsome!

Your article is misleading. I have owned my Prius for 4.5 years. I have checked my mpg against the computer on every fillup. The error is never more than a couple 10ths of a gallon. I average 48 mpg summer and 42 mpg winter. Whatever the Bloomington lady's problem is, it is not due to false advertising or an intentional computer bias caused by Toyota. Both my brother and a few friends get similar mileage.

There are a lot of complaints about the Prius I see. I just wanted to give my two cents by saying that my Prius is a GREAT car. I bought it used for $18K in Jan 08 with 80K miles on the odometer. It now has over 100K and I am getting 57mpg city/highway combined. I easly go just under 600 miles on one tank before I have to refill. I would recommend a Prius to anyone (if you can find one) and I cannot wait until the price of the plug-in battery packs comes down. The battery packs are just too expensive right now, but as the price of gas goes up, the battery pack price will come down.

My new 2007 Prius Toyota with 5000 miles on it quit running. Would not start. Called dealer and had maintenance dept. walk me through a jump start as with these cars you do it under the front hood not in the back where the battery is. Car still would not start. They said have it towed in. I did have it towed in the 85 miles to the dealer. After several mis communication calls and two different reports on my car I found out they will not fix under warranty. Say I jumped it wrong. They say I caused the damage and that warranty is only for defective parts. How come the car wouldn't start in the first place? How could I do that much damage anyway? I was very carefull anyway and know red from back and positive from negative. Why did the mechanic walk me through the jump if it had potential to damage the hybrid system. Why didn't he just say to have the car towed in. They want me to pay a minimum of $4800 and maybe the towing which could be thousands more. I bought this car because of the high maintenance rating and know look what a mess I am in.

My wife and I just purchased a 2008 Prius Touring edition from Northcutt Toyota in Enid, Oklahoma. The salesman Jeff Wagner was absolutely the best salesman I have ever had the pleasure to deal with. As for prices of insurance we insured our new Prius through State Farm with 100/300/100 coverage with a $500.00 deductible paying $52.00 a month/$624.00 a year. Both of us have a great driving record but I have very poor credit. It is possible that those receiving high insurance rates, such as $1500.00 a year, are receiving that rate because of poor credit, even if they have a great dirving record. Most all insurance companies run credit reports and AllState insurance is one that will charge you more for auto insurance due to poor credit and/or cancel you if its really bad (I know this from experience). I suggest checking with all insurance companies as it is possible to get a decent rate for the Prius, it just takes time to find the right insurance provider.

We just got back from an over 2000 mile road trip. There was an area where we needed a full tank of gas. We stopped to fill up in Ashland Oregon (the gas is pumped for you here) and thought the tank was full. After switching drivers ... not quite 83 miles later ... we were down to four clicks on the fuel gauge!!! Luckily, there was ONE last station before we headed into an area of no gas stations. I filled up and managed to nearly fill the tank. We called our local Toyotal dealer on Tuesday May 26th to report the issue and never received a call back even though I talked to a live person! (This tech noted that this was becoming an issue, even though Toyota was not acknowlodging it!) I did not get a call back ... I called again on Friday after we managed to get home. Mine you, each fill up took extroadnory measures (pulling the pump nosile nearly entirely out of the tank ...) which seems a HUGE safety risk JUST to fill a gas tank! and then filling the tank REALLY REALLY slowly and the letting the AIR bubble out a couple of times ... JUST to get a FULL tank of gas!!!!!!!!! Also on our road trip we ran into another Prius owner at a reststop. He owned a 2005 Prius. We asked if he has any challenges with filling his tank. He did and was told that it had to do with the ambient temprature! I passed on that I was told that there was a bladder and that there were many issues with trying to fill up a Prius. In addition to the fuel gauge NOT working and the average fuel guage NOT working ... long stroy not so short ... the Prius does get reasonable fuel ecomomy (my 1989 Honday civic got 39MPG) this fuel tank, gas guage, average mileage, is a HUGE saftey issue!!! I cannot count on the gas guage to tell me when I am low on gas ... since it takes nearly 200 miles for one tick to tick off ... I cannot count on the average mileage to tell me when to fill up ... I have to look at the miles driven and guess about 40MPG at when to fill up! I tell you ... I have had several Toyotas, but not one where I had NO IDEA as to what or when I needed to fill up!!!!!! !

I am writing concerning some issues with the Toyota sales staff that at some dealerships in western Pennsylvania who have displayed very unprofessional behavior and poorly represented Toyota. My wife and I are contemplating purchasing a Toyota Prius. We have been very excited about this prospect and have been motivated buyers to say the least. On Wednesday May 21, 2008, I made several calls to local Toyota dealerships in Western, PA (Baierl Dealership in Mars, PA, North Hills Dealership, McKnight, PA, and Diehl Toyota in Butler, PA. I asked the sales representatives at Baierl and North Hills about Prius availability and was treated very rudely and told that I would not have any luck at any other dealership. It was obvious that they did not want to sell me a Prius or any other type of car. I then called the Diehl Toyota dealer in Butler, PA. I was thrilled when I spoke to a sales representative named Todd who told me that the dealership had six Prius available and that we could test drive one. On Saturday May 24, 2008, my wife and I went to Diehl Toyota and an employee approached us and asked us if he could help. We told him that we wished to test drive a Prius and he told us that the dealership did not have any available. I was confused and told him that I spoke to Todd and that he said there were six available. The man frowned and told me that he would look for Todd. After 10 minutes of waiting, we went in search of this man and while we were wandering the dealership a different Diehl employee approached us and asked if he could help. We told him what we were there for and once again we got told that they did not have a Prius to test drive. He also told us that Todd had gone home for the day. I believe this man was the sales manager, Brandon Znosko. I once again relayed what Todd had told me, and miraculously, Todd appeared a few minutes later. Todd introduced himself to us and then immediately followed this up by telling us, You have me for fifteen minutes because Im going to the hockey game in Detroit tonight.? Apparently this was more important than providing any type of customer service. He then hurriedly took us to the suddenly existent Prius collection on the side lot and we took one for a rushed test drive. During the entire experience it was obvious that he had no interest in selling us the car. I then asked Todd if there was another sales person available who could take the time to assist us with our questions and describe the cars features. The answer was No?. He did not apologize and suggest setting up an appointment at a later day, nor did he attempt to set us up with another representative upon our return. Todd also explained that this fleet of Prius cars was technically not part of the inventory and were being used as rentals. But for a $1000 deposit we could hold one until July. So it appears the cars are for sale, but also not for sale. This appears to be a way around some corporate directive asking the dealership to not sell the Prius. At the conclusion, I informed Todd that we were impressed with the car and would probably buy one. But not from Diehl. Additionally, I generally get my Jeep serviced at Diehl Jeep. Not anymore. I was appalled at the level of customer service at Diehl and I cannot believe that any franchise owner or manager would allow this type of behavior from his employees.

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.

This problem has appeared 3 times on this site and involves the 2004 Prius. The monitor shows that there is a bad connection of the air conditioner. Sometimes the radio will cut out and especially going over a bump in the road the display shows no power coming from gas or battery. The rest works but when we took it in the dealer did not know what was wrong but said that it was not a conection to the air conditioner. We had bought the extended warrenty but the milage was over by 1000 km. or 600 miles. They replaced the monitor at $3500. but a week later the same thing is happening. It goes back tommorrow but after praising the Prius for 5 years have little good to say about the PR work and honisty of the dealers. Will log on to tell you the rest of the story as it unfolds.

Severe troubles with the traction Control System on toyota Prius. In snow or Ice conditions the wheel lock up due to the traction control system and leaving me stranded in snowy conditions.

I have 40,000+ miles on my Prius, I have owned the 2007 model for 1 year. I tis rock solid, and with what little common sense I have; I have not had any of the problems reported by the people above::: Makes me wonder, why am I not having any proplems, doesn't seem fair, because I don't have anyone to blame for my lack of common sense. Why didn;t I get a car that has problems, then I could complain too.

The Toyota Prius nearly killed a mechanic and me today, literally. I had the car stored for months in my flat level driveway for a relative who is traveling abroad. Naturally, the battery went dead after not being driven during this time. So, I had a mechanic come and he started the engine today. While the Prius engine was running, both the mechanic and myself were half in and half outside the car; the mechanic by the driver side and me by the passenger side. The car suddenly lunged in reverse and the driver side opened door of the Prius totally destroyed my car driver side door parked along side it, and somehow the mechanic brought the car to a stop. The mechanic claims the Prius was in neutral but the brake had been applied when it suddenly, with no warning, accelerated in reverse. Im thankful we escaped without injury but now I have a hefty expense to replace my car door. Just imagine if someone had been behind the Prius today, they likely would have died.

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

June 2004 Toyota Prius....28,800 miles. Computer Display unit on the dash-board has gone faulty. Toyota say its not covered on the 8yr Hybrid system warranty? They are looking for almost 3500 euro to replace it.....after ONLY 28,000 miles!!! Have been offered a Reconditioned unit for half the price? There must be a manufacturing problem with this unit??

I have a 2004 Prius. I need to update the GPS. It costs $350 and I find that usurius. It is totally unfair for it to cost so much to use a part of my totally paid for equipment. I am willing to pay for an update, but somewhere in the vicinity of $75 would be far fairer.

I bought a Toyota Prius in the Summer of 06 and over the last two years have had to replace 6-7 tires on the car. In the last 15,000 miles I have replaced 3 tires and at my most recent service I was told that the rear passenger tire (a tire I had replaced in the last year) was threadbare and need to be replaced. I have replaced the tires for a variety of reasons including sidewall problems, flats, and worn tires. After suggesting that there might be a problem with the tires they have been putting on this car, I was told that the problem must be with my driving, not the car or it's tires. The dealer did replace one tire for free after I returned within one month of replacing that tire, but there has been no compensation or discount offered for any of the other tires. My main issue is that Toyota must be aware of these problems (an internet search revealed many people complaining of tire problems on their Priuses, but they do not give this information to the consumer. Furthermore, when I tried to suggest that there was a problem with the kind of tires they are placing on this car, they simply said they had not heard of any other complaints and the problem was probably due to my driving.

I recently bought a Toyota Prius 2008. After one week I had a dead battery. I have since learned that the car is started with a small 12v battery and due to the size and number of items it runs on the car (radio, CD, air conditioning fan, alarm, smart key entry etc) the battery can go dead very quickly. if the car is not driven, the battery dies in 7 days. Even if you drive the car, it takes approx 10 hours of driving to fully charge the 12v. I have never read this in any of the research I did on this car. Obviously the Prius is a great car, BUT it has to fit the way you drive.

While test driving a Toyota Prius today the car accelerated on its own even though my foot was off the gas and on the break. The sales women was in the car with me and was as frightened. I drove the car about a half a mile before I could find a driveway to pull off on. By then the car was engulfed in smoke from the breaks over heating. I was finally able to pull off the road and stopped the acceleration when I tapped the accelerator. We drove the car back to the dealership to the service department. Upon telling the service person our story he commented that this happens all the time with this car and blamed the problem on the accelerator being caught in the floor mat. I immediately walked ou to the car opened the driver door, got on my hands and knees and examined the floor mat and then pushed the accelerator down to the floor and determined there was a inch distance between the mat and accelerator. Toyota has a problem they need to solve!

I have a 2006 Prius fully loaded. I was checking the tire pressure one day and had my hand in front of the tire. The engine kicked in, I guess to charge the battery and the car jerked forward an inch or two. Good thing I moved my hand quick enough. This is an accident waiting to happen. So becareful if you have it on park and the engine is on. In addition, when I'm waiting for someone in the streets and put it on park. When the engine kicks in, the car jerks forward. And you know, in NYC midtown area, there are alot of jay walkers. I hope they take this safety concern into consideraton in future models.

Toyota Prius balked (shut Down) when entering highway from a incline and we were not able to get out of the way of oncoming traffic. Repair costs to prius almost $10,000. Cannot get up drive way when it rains, snow makes the car start and stop often.

I have an '06 Prius, and I love it! I also sell Toyota's and talk to Prius owners all the time - in fact - it was my customers that actually sold me on the car. As for the MPG results a lot of people are complaining about...... there is some 'technique' involved in getting the most out of the car. A good sales person will properly explain this... if you drive it like a 'normal' car - you are not maximizing it's potential. Hence, the reason the Energy Monitor screen is there - to help you be aware of your driving habits. In the city, for example, I can be driving at 35 MPH, and might be using the gas engine - getting maybe 45-70 MPG.... if you let off the gas pedal so the gas engine shuts off - then eggshell the gas pedal you can maintain the 35-40 MPH (on flat roads) and be using electric power only - getting 99 MPG. Awareness makes a HUGE difference in your MPG results. I typically average 44-52 MPG - depending on where I'm driving (freeway at 75 MPH I get 40 MPG; mountains I get 50+ MPG, in town I get about 45 MPG). If you want to better understand how to maximize the potential of this car - go to your local dealership and ask for a Hybrid Expert sales person, and have them go over the techniques that will make you a better hybrid driver. They are minor adjustments to typical driving habits that make a huge difference!

I put money down on a 2008 Prius with option package 2. The car was to be there in 3 or 4 days. I was called that my car was there and to come finish up the paperwork. It was raining and cold and the sales person took us out to the red Prius, explained a few things and gave me the key and left. I drove home and discovered that it did not have all of options 2. Only the AM/FM CD player. There is no Smart Key system, Backup camera. I don't know yet if it has the Vehicle Stability Contro. It is not listed on the window sticker I was given. This was yesterday 4/11/08. I live 60 miles away from the dealer.

Bought an '07 prius in August, 07. no trouble until winter hit. then all kinds of trouble with fuel tank. bladder? first time we were told about it. they ought to be right up front about this! found out all winter that the bladder, the fuel pump nozzles, the outside temperature, the gas temperature, etc etc etc ad nauseum,,, dictates how much fuel you can put into the tank when the gauge says it's near empty! This is ridiculous in and of itself. but when the temp got to 45 degrees outside, finally... and I was able (with much joy) to actually FILL the blasted tank, it burped - with fuel spilling out... I am outraged by this design flaw, and further outraged by other design flaws affecting winter driving and have to wonder when are we going to STOP admiring the emporer's NEW CLOTHES and DEMAND that TOYOTA FIX this? other car manufacturers deal with recalls ALL the TIME and don't blink and eye: we have to expect toyota to step up to the plate, admit they made a mistake, and FIX IT !!!

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.

06 prius since Oct 06. I drive normal- top speed 120, at 55-60 mph i get 60-55 mpg. At 75 mph i get 46 at 80 i get 35. It has to deal with a 4 cylinder pushing a heavy car. I had no problems yet other than losing a key fob and paying $273 to get it replaced and reprogrammed. BC

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:

I purchased a 2008 toyota prius tourng edition completly loaded. I was excpecting to get about 43 miles a gallon combined city and highway. I drive very normally no jack rabbit starts or high speeds just moderate driving most of it city driving. In the winter months in Montana the Prius routinely averaged 26 miles to the gallon(very dissapointing),We drove the car 3,500 hundred miles from Montana to San Diego and back. On this road trip the car averaged slightly above 36 mpg. The car has been checked by the dealer 3 times and to no avail they have not been able to correct the mpg. I have 3 other vehicles a BMW x-5 a mercedes 430 s and a jaguar xjs all of these vehicles get the mpg listed for each vehicle. I am stumped that Toyota can not find the challenge with my prius touring vehicle. I shall soon be approaching the lemon law clause if this is not resolved.

Purchased a Prius in April 2007. I read in the manufacturer's manual that the gas tank is 11.5 gallons. By October, when I filled up, the tank would take only 8.5 gallons. When I called the Service department, I was told that the cold weather prevented the gas tank bladder from expanding fully, but that as long as I was still getting 47.2 miles per gallon, that I should be happy. I wasn't. By the time the weather warmed up in February, the gas tank was still only taking 8.5 - 9 gallons, therefore, the story about the cold weather was a lie. When I called Toyota once again, I was told that there is a defect in the bladder, and that as long as the gas mileage does not decrease, there is no reason to replace the tank. I stated to them, that as long as this does not meet manufacturer specifications, it is a manufacturer defect, and must be replaced. They laughed at me! When my Husband, who also owns a Prius, and has experienced that exact same drop in gas tank volume, went in to has his oil changed, the service manager explained to him that when the gas tank is run down to a low volume, the tank gets air in it, and this prevents the bladder from expanding fully. The bladder never does recover its full original volume. I want the problem corrected, Toyota has so far blown off my concerns, and has not responded to my complaints.

My wife purchased a new Toyota Prius on January 10, 2008. We live in the hilly terrain of Eastern Pennsylvania. We have been driving on snow covered roads for 50 years. Driving down a slippery hill, we engage a lower gear and the engine compression brakes and the brakes are pumped or held down if ABS equipped. There is no safe way to drive a Prius down a snow covered hill. A prospective buyer in our area should be warned before purchasing.

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.

I have just read the complaints of the Prius in snow. I live in Maine and have a steep driveway and commute 80 miles per day to work. Good snow tires solved the problem

I brounght my 2006 Toyota Prius in to have the drivers side headlight looked at, it was intermittent. The dealer said the headlight computer was bad, that was $600, luckily my extended warranty covered that, but they then said when the computer went bad it also took out the headlight, so I said fine what that going to cost $60-$70, no said the dealer it going to be $315, because its a Hi Intensity light, so I said go ahead and replace it. They order the light install it, drive it on bumpy roads to make sure they have the problem solved. I get a call now the passenger side headlight is intermittent, thats another $315, so I call the Toyota customer Experience Center to find out if there is another choice that would be less expensive, Jack, put me on hold looked it up and said no. I got back on the phone with the dealer and told him to go ahead and order the headlight for the passenger side. After I get of the phone I figured I would google 2006 Prius Headlight, a website called www2.partstrain.com, had it for $111.15. I called the dealer and cancelled the order for the passenger headlight, I asked if he could take out the drivers headlight too, he said he could but he would still charge me the $315 for the part. I am totally fine with being charge ALL LABOR associated with this job, but I think it's bull that A HEADLIGHT for a compact car cost $315 when the whole car was $23,500, I would totally understand that price on a Lexus or Infinity, but on a Prius? I feel the Customer experience center was not forth coming on my options. I have nothing negative to say about the dealership, I understand they have to buy the parts that are Toyota authorized.

In Dec 04 Dale of Msp reports his Prius runs out of gas after using only 10 gallons - published tank capacity is 11.9. I just bought a 2008 Prius and have had the same problem twice - I deliberately ran out of gas to test the range of the tank. So, apparently Toyota still hasn't fixed the problem.

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??)

I am the owner of 2006 Prius. On February 25, 2008 at 8am heading to work, suddenly, the hazardous red light and the battery light went off on my dashboard screen and realized that my car was loosing power on busy 110 Harbor freeway north bound. I panicked not knowing what happened. The car became heavy and it started to slow down no matter how I pushed the accelerator.

I really like my Toyota Prius except when it is snowing. I was stopped on a slight incline and the traction control system would not let me get going. This was really distressing as a large truck was coming at me and I am sure he was wondering why I wasn't moving. The slush would cause the tires to slip and the control system would not let the tires spin enough to get a grip on the pavement. This could have caused a bad situation. I have been driving for more than 40 years and know how to drive in the snow. Would suggest a switch so that the driver could turn off the system.

I really like my Toyota Prius except when it is snowing. I was stopped on a slight incline and the traction control system would not let me get going. This was really distressing as a large truck was coming at me and I am sure he was wondering why I wasn't moving. The slush would cause the tires to slip and the control system would not let the tires spin enough to get a grip on the pavement. This could have caused a bad situation. Would suggest a switch so that the driver could turn off the system.

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.

Impossible to drive off in 2 inches of snow due to the wheel shut off of the 2007 Toyota Prius' traction control. This was on my driveway and on a parking lot. Thanks god it was not in real driving condition! Toyota, please give us the ability to shut down the traction control in such situations!

On warm days when I use the air conditioning in my 2007 Toyota Prius, there is a smell of mold. I brought the car in for service and was told by Bob that the problem was my fault because I was circulating the air within the cab. He advised me to switch it to outside air. That was a lie. I've since learned that the car defaults to outside air. I brought the car in again to get service and this time they put some kind of awful smelling air freshener through the system. They insisted that the problem was not covered by the warranty, and I've paid for each service visit. I purchased the car last April and the warranty is expiring soon. Toyota has been playing cat and mouse with me. They assigned a case worker who leaves messages for me at home when I'm obviously at work. She then takes two days to get back to me. They are conciously running out the clock so that future repairs won't be covered under the warranty. In the meanwhile, the front passenger seat doesn't slide forward and the CD player won't fast forward or back. I'm afraid the very first new car I've ever had in my life is a disaster. Please help!

This is the first winter I've driving my 2006 Toyota Prius. I am very concerned with how the car drives in ice and snow. It is extremely dangerous and I will not drive it if the is any chance of snow or ice on the roads. Just one of several times I was caught in a potentially dangerous driving condition. One dark snowy night, I was attempting to pull out onto a roadway and the wheels began to slip. Then the engine power cut back until the wheels stopped slipping. Every time I tried, the same think happened. I was in the middle of the intersection and the car would not advance forward. My car was sitting broadside in the road to oncoming traffic. There was another car behind my car before I pulled out. He is now at the stop sign. So now I cant go forward because the car stops when the wheels slip. And I cant backup out of the intersection because there is a car behind me. And now there is a car coming towards me broadside. Well with the help of a couple of very alert drivers (on that dark road) we were able to avoid a very serious accident. I live in Pennsylvania and Ive been driving in winter for over 40 years. And Ive driven all types of vehicles. It is my believe that this is not a safe car to drive in ice or snow. It is just a matter of time (if it hasnt happened already) before someone is seriously injured or is killed.

I purchased a new Toyota Prius in 2004. Backing up is very dangerous. There is a bar across the rear window obscuring rear vision, the car is absolutely silent outside (electric motor)to a person behind me. There is a backing up beeper but it can only be heard inside the car! Toyota should minimize this danger by recalling for a rear camera, and an outside loud beeping backup noise.

I have a 2004 Toyota Prius that has had only one fault in 70000 miles. From the day we brought it home the brakes have grabbed severely when first starting out in the morning and after the car sets for some hours. The agency keeps saying that it is moisture in the brakes and has to burn off. I have checked with several neighbors who own the vehicle and they do not experience that problem. I get no satisfaction from the dealer and am concerned that my warranty will expire before the problem is remedied.

Was forced to lose several days of work due to lack of transportation on days with slippery road conditions.

2006 prius will not go in 1 of snow or more the anti slip traction control kicks in and shuts down power to the wheels. I was entering a intersection on Rt 202 with a slight incline and the wheels slipped and I stopped in the middle of the incline. This almost caused an accident with on coming cars. Toyota dealer said the car was good in new england. He did not say only on sunny days

I have to report that I lost control of the 2007 Toyota Prius I was driving with two inches or less of snow on the road. The wheels completely stopped responding to acceleration, forcing me across a road resulting in a minor collision with no injuries, but a ticket for me. I can't believe Toyota can allow this condition to exist without remedy. How about a sensor that allows the gasoline engine to power the car in bad weather?

My 06 Prius has an intermittent problem with the HID lamp shutting off. After some research on the WEB, I see that this is a wide-spread problem with many 06 Prius owners with HID headlamp systems, and that replacement of the bulb does not solve the problem. This is a potentially dangerous situation, especially when BOTH lights can go out at night;(reports on line). While there have been no serious accidents or deaths because of this problem, I think it is just a matter of time until that occurs. Toyota USA should acknowledge the problem and do the right thing and stand behind the product that made it No. 1 in USA sales and recall and replace the defective part or parts before their success story becomes tarnished, or worse someone dies as a result of an accident where the headlamps failed at night.

I had an experience today with a 2007 Toyota Prius that I had rented from Avis. I was excited to be able to rent a Prius for 10 days. Unfortunately, that excitement soon faded. I drove the car to work this morning, and by this afternoon it started to snow. My trip home was on the Garden State parkway, and all seemed fine with the handling in the snow. When I got off the Parkway, I headed home. The street I live on has a small uphill grade, and was snow covered, but not particularly icy.

I am one of the first to buy a Prius in 2001. Now, after 130,000 miles of driving the main battery is dead. Toyota dealer is telling me the battery for the main battery was for 100,000 for my car, although the new Prius' come with 150,000 mile warranty. I have been told by the dealer (which I don't trust), that I am the 3rd Prius which required main battery replacement. Labor and part, plus tax: $4,500. Only a week before that I had to have a sensor, that helps air/fuel mix, replaced for nearly $400. Unfortunately, there is no third-party service provides who know how to fix Prius. The independent repair shops don't know about or scared to touch electronic/electrical stuff. Soooo, this means you are stuck with your Toyota dealer and Toyota's prices for parts... to the end.

I bought a preowned 03 Toyota Prius. The tires said 50# pressure which I thought was odd. I emailed Toyota with 2 questions and they answered one but ignored my question about the tire pressure. My dealership acted ignorant about it also. So I emailed Toyota again and said What tires came standard equipment on the 03 Prius? This time they responded and said We have no way of knowing that and told me what tires I should use. So I see all these problems people had on your website that people had with their Prius tires and realize now that Toyota was probably lying to me i.e. that they know there was a problem with those tires. And that the tires I have on with the unusual 50 psi are probably replacement tires that the original owner had to put on.

This is a comment on the reports of traction control failure in the Toyota Prius during snowy conditions on hills. I live in Dayton, OH and have driven a Prius here since Feb 04 (35,000 miles). We get perhaps 20 snowy, slippery days a year.There are some steep hills where I live and the driveway to my house is fairly steep. I have never had any problem with power shut down as described. The ABS part of the system works perfectly.

Our Toyota Factory Navigation System in our 2008 Prius Touring Does Not Function As Advertised By Toyota. My Dealership Anderson Toyota in Kingman AZ. has done everything possible to assist in this matter. This Mavigation System Does Not Recognize and will not allow input of our listed home street address. Consequently, we are Unable to use the turn by turn navigation to any addresses or back to our home address? Toyota Customer Care blames this on the Navigation System Manufacturer, and the fact that this is considered a 'rural area' and is NOT mapped in detail by Navteq=System Manufacturer. Toyota stated to me just yesterday; Although you are experiencing continuous difficulties with your Navigation System, Toyota does not have a solution to the problem. You will need to PURCHASE Update Discs as they become available from the manufacturer? Toyota WILL NOT Supply you with these update discs as they are considered 'customer pay items'? The Factory Installed Navigation System Does Not Work As Is Advertised. My Dealership AND a Toyota Senior Field Tech BOTH Tried to Input my home address BUT Neither could get it to accept the address. The subdivison I live in has been in existance 15 years. All streets were mapped and platted out at the time of inception. County Maps, as well as the Local Phone Book Maps BOTH show this street! I asked for system update discs to be provided for me due to system failures. Toyota REFUSES to send them to me. WHY? That is the ONLY Solution making sense! UNLESS Toyota Wants To Refund Me The Price Of The Navigation System? As a sidenote; My wife was at Office Depot and input our home address in both the Tom Tom and Megellon aftermarket Navigation Systems. She HAD NO Problem with both accepting the address as well as providing Turn by Turn Directions Right To Our Home! It's a SAD Commentary when a cheap aftermarket system works much better than the VERY EXPENSIVE Factory System!

I bought my 2007 Prius just over a year ago. It has been in the shop MANY times for various problems that seem like quality control issues, (ie: bolt missing on chassis, defective seat lock, rattle in dashboard, etc.) The biggest problem is that it is sitting in my garage and won't budge whenever there is the slightest bit of ice or gravel. Either the VSC or the Traction Control cause the brakes to lock. What good is a car that is unusable for many months of the year!?! Isn't that what buying a Toyota is supposed to prevent? My friends with Prius's are able to drive their cars, so I'm guessing that mine is a lemon. Also, my husband has the same problem, so it is not driver error.

I was driving to Strasburg, PA. It started snowing and there was about an inch of snow on the roads. Everytime I used my brakes to slow down, my car became a sled. I had to resort to driving around 8 - 10 miles per hour, not brake and do a lot of praying. I thought I was going to wind up spinning out of control and getting into an accident. At one point, I thought of parking the car in an available lot and calling my family to come and get me. Thank God that the vehicles behind me were patient with my inching along at such a slow speed.

I just want to respond with info re. the problem Dale and others had with fuel and fuel economy on the Prius. Here's my experience and what I found out today: I am getting great mileage, but about 4 months ago (at about 10K miles on my 2007 Prius), I noticed that I was getting fewer miles per tank than before. I had been getting 410-425 miles without breaking a sweat. My mpg was even improving at 42 mpg. I was completely dissed at the dealership when I went in to get this explained/fixed the first time.

Yeah...the Japanese didn't bomb Pearl Harbor and the Toyota Prius gets 60 mph in the city...yeah. Try 35 if you're lucky...

I purchased my Prius in Oct of 04 and approximately 6 mos later the gas mileage fell dramatically and I started having problems with electric system. They then replaced gas tank to no avail. I took it in multiple times, even between the hurricanes and never did they remedy the problem. I went from ~60 mpg to ~ 40 mpg. Lots of times they would say that I was wrong and so I took the gas mileage by keeping data gas tank to gas tank and indeed the mileage had fallen. I kept taking it in and had my mileage documented. One service man told me that Toyota falsely sets the initial gas mileage. Katrina hit our community and there was much delay in getting my car serviced, over and over again. For this reason the warranty and all should be extended. I recently had to replace the battery and despite having the big 100K warranty I had to pay for it.

I have a 2007 Toyota Prius I bought it as I believed the 60 MPG ads...which are a lie. I moved to Wisconsin and am lucky to get 42 MPG. I live 8 miles from work and then only get 38 MPH as the car doesn't warm up. The interior of the Silver Mica color shows EVERY tiny dirt spot and is impossible to keep clean. Aren't there agencies that watch dog these outrageous claims???

I am a seasoned driver in the snow. I can drive front wheel drives, rear wheel drives and four wheel drives. I am a forester and have been driving in snowing conditions for 28 years, 22 of those years on the job. I just had my first experience driving my Toyota Prius in the snow today. The engine cut out all power anytime the wheels slipped at all. It made controlling the vehicle on an uphill climb almost impossible.

My 2004 Prius w 49000 miles on it runs like a top! No problems whatsoever. I bought an extended bumper to bumper warranty just before the 36 K warranty ran out in case something does goes wrong but so far so good. I'm good til June 2010 or 75 K miles.

I own a 2006 Toyota Prius. It has a very serious design flaw which Toyota denies and refuses to fix. In slippery conditions, if there is any wheel slippage, the car shuts down all power to the wheels leaving you without any control. When pulling out into traffic power to the wheels just dies if it's slippery (especially in snow) and leaves you helplessly exposed to oncoming traffic. I'm afraid to drive it in anything less than perfect conditions. Additionally, the car can't even climb a hill in snow. Other cars drive past me on both sides while my car refuses to apply any power to the wheels. People are going to get killed.

I bought 2007 Prius in Jan. 2007. Since I took it home, I noticed (1) it has rattling noise (when starting engine and stopping on traffic, (2) engine shakes, and (3) 44 miles on Hwy instead of 60 as promised. False representation and fraud. I took it back to Toyota dealership 4 times for the same complaints, but I was harassed and refused services under warranty. The manufacturer rep showed up at dealership and told me the 2007 Prius was as designed and refused to service my 2007 prius. He also refused to give me Toyota's corporate address or to file arbitration for resolution. The dealership managers and GMs are very hostile to threaten me out the door. I got a Toyota lemon. I do not recommend Toyota to anyone.

Dec. 1 snow, Prius stopped engine/battery power totally on medium uphill approach to driveway/garage resulting in car falling off driveway into ravine of trees.

My 2008 Prius is getting a very disappointing 35mpg around town. My dealer says it checks out fine on their computer. What am supposed to do now???

My Prius gas gauge is stuck at 5 out of 10 bars. Filling it up makes not change, driving it makes no change. I see others are complaining about the accuracy of the gas gauge and the difficulty of completely filling the tank (both of which I experience), but not too many mention it getting stuck. Any Help?

Summary: After a series of problems with the Prius engine Roseville Toyota informed me that I needed to have the cars transmission replaced. The estimate for repairs is around $7,000, almost the value of the entire vehicle. I am disappointed that the quality of the Prius has been so poor, and naturally the vehicle is no longer covered by its warranty. Back Ground: 2003 Prius, Odometer reading 116,289. On 12/22/2008, I started the car and the Check Engine light appeared. I tried driving to the dealership, but the engines power failed after several miles, and I was towed to the dealership. The dealership informed me that the gasoline engine shut down and the battery ran out of juice. The dealership checked the sparkplugs and coils, detected slight misfire until warm but could not reproduce the problem. The cost of the service was $123.77.

I work for a Toyota dealership (but, I am not neccesarily a fan)however, I think your writer, Joe Benton is way off base in his Prius mpg article and I believe that the tone of his comments are slanted against Toyota. He says that Toyota was the one stating the 60 mpg city figure. Not true. The EPA mandated those figures be on the window sticker, not the manufacturer. Toyota knew that the EPA's test was antiquidated and not at all accurate on Hybrid vehicles. Anybody that looks at those EPA numbers must understand that they have nothing to do with real-world driving conditions and were only to be used to compare one vehicle to another under their same unrealistic test conditions. In fact, during the 60 mpg label days we always told customers to expect about 45 mpg. Toyota never said that these cars get 60 mpg so it shouldn't be put on them. Blame the EPA - your tax dollars at work.

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On September 14, 2007 I pulled up in our driveway in our 2006 Prius and stopped at the mail box to get the mail. At that time the gas engine switched off and over to electric. We are at a dead end so I pulled forward, (approximately 4 miles per hour) to make a y-turn to back into our driveway. When I pushed down on the brake the car jolted forward (I didn't even get a chance to try and pump down on the brake again) and went through a six foot wooden fence with such force that it broke not only the wooden fence panel but also the sturdy cemented in wooden post.

I have a Toyota Prius hybrid car bought 3.5 yrs (2004)ago with 69000 km on the clock. [the warranty is 3 yrs bumper to bumper, and 60000km for the electrics]. The consumption display screen developed an intermittent fault. The fault develops about 3 minutes after the engine is turned on, and disappears after about 20 minutes of driving. During the fault period, the following happens; - The radio suddenly cuts out but can be turned on again. - The touch-screen display computer is extremely slow. - Cannot change the aircondition settings, but the A/C is working. It also indicates the A/C is not connected. - The gas consumption indication stops, yet the odometer works perfectly. The garages I have been to cannot/would not repair but would change the display unit for $3200 + taxes !!! Any suggestions ???

I bought a 2008 Prius and today, after only 2,000 miles it stopped while I was driving on the interstate... Two warning lights went on (brakes, engine) and power was lost...I had it towed to the dealer and am waiting to hear what is wrong...but my confidence in the reliability of Toyota and Prius have been seriously undermined. Waiting to see what happened.

2007 Prius- gas mileage is now at 33 mpg as winter temps are in the 20s. Very disappointing since the 50/61 mpg is a falacy.

Gas pump stops fueling at 1/2 tank at every pump we visit. After that we have to top off the other half of the tank. This is frustrating to say the least! This does not happen to other cars, just the Prius!

I am the owner of a 2005 Toyota Prius. Minus the traction control system it is a wonderful vehicle. The traction control system (TCS) is flawed by design and should be subject to a mandatory Federal recall. The TCS has left me and my family stranded in front of a oncoming semi-truck closing at 60 plus MPH. The Prius would only inch ahead as the truck now in a panic stop situation loomed upon us. This all due to a small amount of sand on the payment. There have been numerous other problems with the TCS in snowy conditions. Perhaps Toyota would respond to a class action law suit as this situation is extremely dangerous not to mention the added costs of having to have another vehicle to drive should it snow.

I, too, purchased a 2007 Toyota Prius at the advertised rate of 60 MPG. I brought my car back to the dealer at 3000 miles because I was only getting 40 - 43 MPG. I had brought the car in at 2000 miles but the technician told me that the car needed a break-in period before it would achieve better mileage. Needless to say, the mileage did not improve. The dealership checked the car out and stated that it was getting what it should at 35 - 43 MPG and that Toyota was only following government regulations by posting the 60 MPG rate that was provide by the EPA. I asked for and received the corporate number and called and spoke with a case worker, only to hear the same retoric. Obviously Toyota took advantage of the EPA results to hype their sales and I feel that I, along with many other consumers, was taken advantage of by Toyota.

I recently purchased a 2007 Toyota Prius and I cannot even make it up my driveway after a light snow. The engine completely shuts down and you have no control over anything. I simply slide back down my driveway very quickly and pray no one is behind me. Very dangerous!

I want to be included as one of the people that is very disatisfied with my toyota prius' performance in snow. I have the same problem with lack of traction as the drive train shuts down immediately when there is a slip. This makes it impossible and unsafe to drive in snowy conditions. When I called Toyota in California to complain they told me that I was the first one to voice this complaint. I told them that I found that hard to believe since there are postings all over the internet. They said the problem isn't fixable. This is unacceptable. Please help.

It is rarely, if ever, the cost of ownership for hybrid vehicles is discussed. Recent Internet research efforts found little published on the support issue for these hybrid vehicles incorporating advanced electronic technology.

I just finished reading an article on your site about the on-board computer on the Toyota Prius. I just bought a 2008 Toyota Prius and noticed that I too am not getting the mpg that the computer claims. For instance, the other day it claimed I got 51.4 mpg but when I took the miles I drove and divided it by the gallons I put in the tank, it was more like 46. This has been pretty consistent. Something seems wrong with the on-board computer; it isn't presenting the correct results. I called the dealership and the manager there couldn't help me out other than telling me to go to the service department.

12/1/2007--2 to 3 inch snowfall of wet heavy snow. Driving car into untraveled parking lot@ about 10 - 12 mph. Traction control engaged to keep from spinning tires. As traction control turned ON and OFF repeatedly, car gradually lost all momentum and came to complete stop. Moving throttle pedal had no effect. With car at idle, traction control light would blink ON and OFF and car would shudder in place with no forward movement. Had to back out of parking lot, being very careful to not get out of my tracks I had made going in. This problem was repeated in my own driveway a little later.

I own a 2001 Prius. About 2 years ago, the dashboard warning lights began coming on randomly. The lights indicated either to contact a Toyota dealer immediately or to find a safe place to pull off the road and stop depending on where in the owner's manual you looked for the meaning of these warnings. After the first dealer on-board diagnostic check, I was told that the only thing they could find was that maybe I had some bad fuel. The warnings continued, although the car seemed to run normally. The warnings disappeared after the car was turned off and cooled off. The warnings became more frequent, and after leaving the vehicle for a couple of days with the dealer, I was told that the diagnostics indicated the fuel tank was Imploding. Because it's a bladder, I had understood that was normal as the fuel was used. The dealer said that the fuel tank needed to be replaced, and I had it done. I filled the tank and when the gas gauge read about 3/8 full, the warnings showed up again. This time the diagnostics showed that the Engine Control Unit and a relay needed replacing. These items are under warranty, so there was no charge. The gas tank replacement cost me $621.61. After about 1000 miles, no warning lights have appeared. The problem first showed up at about 50,000 miles, and the warranty work was done 391 miles after the tank replacement. I am convinced that the original problem was the faulty relay and Engine Control Unit and not the gas tank. I found on 3 web sites that other Prius owner's have had a similar experience. I am trying to get an resolution with the dealer and Toyota to find out just how the tank failed and what Toyota has done to prevent future occurances in their hybrid models.

The Prius traction control presents a driving experience I can only liken to riding a bicycle in the snow. Traction does not exist in snow, mud,ice and other slippery conditions. Unlike the bicycle, studded tires offer little traction outside of braking.

Toyota Prius is a great vehicle with one major flaw....the fuel supply system. The tank is a bladder tank that will 'burp' fuel back out if you fill it to its capacity - negating some of the fuel savings realized by the hybrid system. The gas gauge (read 'guess gauge') is also a major concern. When the warning light and indicator come on telling you to refuel, you are running on fumes. I was able to go for 3.7 miles before running out once the warning came on. Ridiculous. The dealer always says that they have made the adjustments to correct the problems and things stay the same. I suspect that the problem is with the bladder system, and that it makes it difficult to determine the amount of fuel remaining in the tank. Lets put a conventional tank in with a proven gauge system and put this problem to rest.

Called to arrange an test drive on a 2008 Prius Touring auto. We arrived the next morning for the appointment and he got caught in traffic on 99 and was a little late but no big deal But when he showed up he told me he did not have an 2008 Prius Touring that I could test drive. Nor did he have the color he told me the day before that I could look at Then he tried to get me to look at a different car. We walked away without the test drive.My wife was upset as the car was going to be purchased from her father's estate money.She left crying. we went to another dealership and they had a Prius Touring we could test drive and treated us really great

After 1 1/2 years of driving my used 2001 Toyota Prius without any problems I experienced an error on the display screen and the car became extremely sluggish. Thinking that there could be a problem with the hybrid system and not wanting to do any damage to the workings of the car - and knowing very little about what that may be - I had my Prius towed to the nearest Toyota garage in Burnsville, MN, which is, by the way, where I purchased the vehicle.

We purchased our 2004 Prius in November 2003 as a clean fuel vehicle for my husband to use as he traveled from our home to work at the Pentagon each day. The vehicle currently has 105,000 miles on it, and has received regular maintenance/service ,at the dealership, every 3,000 miles. About three weeks ago, a warning light (synergy failure)came on, so my husband took it in, and was told that there may have just been a short in it which made the light come on. He paid $126 for this information. A week later, he got home from running errands, and the car completely DIED before making it into our garage. He had to have it towed to Toyota. It has now sat there for eight days, and it looks like there is no hope that is can be fixed. How can this be on a vehicle that is touted as one of the best?

My 2007 Toyota Prius needs new tires after about 21,000 miles. I previously had a 2003 Toyota Prius and wore out several sets of tires on it. The Prius wears out tires rapidly. I am pleased with the Prius in all other respects.

My husband was driving my 2006 Toyota Prius when he fell asleep at the wheel and rear-ended a car. The aribags did not deploy. The Prius considered a total loss. We are very concerned that in a total loss accident the airbags did not deploy!

While driving my Toyota Prius uphill on a gravel road I had to made a sudden stop to avoid striking a deer. I attempted to move forward again after the deer cleared the area. The traction control kicked in and I was unable to move forward. Luckily I was able to place the car in reverse and drive down the hill. Once at the bottom I was able to gain some speed moving forward and finally made it up the hill.

I bought a Prius in 2005. August of 2007 I noticed the car did not want to accelerate and felt like it was driving heavy on the highway. I brought it in to the dealer and they said there was no problem. Today Oct. 6, 2007 I was driving on the highway and all my power started to shut down. First the hazzard light went on then the car began to slow down to a crawl. I was able to exit the highway and pull over. When I push the power button, all the lights go on but the car will not go into the drive position. I called customer service and they are assigning me a national consultant to work one on one with me and the dealership. I must now wait until Monday for them to call me arrange for a tow truck and schedule an appointment.

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 own a 2005 toyota prius and i went through a power steering replacement, and two small batteries and the big battery. I was lucky to have them replaced because i was insured. i'm wondering how many time i have to pay 500 dollars after i run off the insurance. the only time i didn't have any problem i drove it at least 3 times a week. but i have to take the van from elk grove to stockton and im paying right now in two places. i wish i can return it back.

I own a 2001 Toyota Prius and have been experiencing the same sudden loss of power while highway driving as described by Thiettranh of Concord. The incident has happened to me at least twice per year for the past few years. I can temporarily resolve the problem by pulling off the highway, turning off the car and waiting about 10 minutes before restarting. The car will restart and run with hesitation and chugging for several miles and then seem to be ok. The warning light remains on until I bring the car in for diagnostic service. I would coordinate the periodic recalls with these service calls and results or the diagnostics directly related to the loss of power problem were inconclusive until this last incident and service call on Sept. 13, 2007. It was determined the accelerator sensor switch is at fault and should be replaced. The part will cost $486.00 + installation and, of course, it is out of warranty. I cannot understand why this wasn't determined to be the problem sooner, while it was still under warranty.

I own a 2005 Prius. Generally I like the car. But it has a life threatening design flaw related to the traction control. On several occations, I have tried to get up slightly slippery hills. Each time the wheel spins a little, the car comes to a complete stop. The number one rule in getting up a slippery hills is, don't stop. On other cars, I do a little controlled wheel spinning if necessary to keep momentum. The Prius traction control makes that impossible. Last year, for example, I was leaving a friends house at night. They live up a dirt road. I drove down an incline, across a wooden bridge around a bend and up a plowed but slippery hill. The car stopped half way up the hill. I was unable to proceed because the car lost it's momentum. I had to back the car back down narrow snow covered dirt road with steep drop offs on both sides in the very dark night around a corner and over a bridge. this occurred 4 times before I was finally able to get enough momentum to get up the hill without Traction control stopping me. I almost slid into a 20 foot deep gully trying to back around the bridge. This system is massively flawed and Toyota apparently has refused to install a traction control override switch. How do you suggest I proceed? should I wait until I have a major accident to pursue the matter? Or is there someway to encourage Toyota to put their customer's safety first? Thanks.

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)?

My Toyota Prius lost power and shut down on a Southern Calif freeway. It acted like I ran out of gas but I had a full tank. Pressed accelerator- no power. The red water temperature light came on. It was towed to the dealer. Diagnoses; trans axle malfunction; replaced HV transaxle also replaced drive belt and tensioner. 74,000 miles on the car. No more warranty (60,000 mi). After much nagging Toyota said they will help me with half the costs of the part. This ordeal costs ME $3,490.74. I am disappointed and it could have been a very dangerous situation. Please include me in your investigation.

I have had the Prius come to a stop in deep snow and then attempt to start up by spinning one wheel at a time for one turn and stopping. I would have been able to keep a less sophisticated car moving in snow such at that.

I have a 2006 Toyota Prius since December 2006, 28,000 miles. 3 weeks ago I went to pick up my daughter from school, I decided to back up my car and wait for her to come out; suddenly my car accelerated while I had my foot pressing the brakes, it was going too fast I had no time to do anything, I crashed onto a wall about 10 ft. on front of me.

I purchased a 2003 Prius in Dec 2002, it has less than 55.000 miles on it. Six times the warning lights, engine ck lites, etc have come on. The car has gone from ~25 mph to 19 to 12 -- all the way to 3mph,-> 2->DEAD. Three times I have waited anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours and the car has restarted with no problem. Three times my car required towing to the dealership. The dealership has NOT found a problem yet. The last time this happened, my car was at the dealership for 1 week to be driven and checked out. One mechanic did not feel comfortable driving it home because it may 'die'.

Anyone here have a 2001 Prius that has been diagnosed with a failed transmission (transaxle)? Mine is at 91K and started humming a few days ago. I brought it in to a dealer for a diagnosis. They told me it was the transaxle. To replace it with a rebuilt transaxle would cost me almost $5K.

Yes,I really like my Prius, and fully agree with the issue of loss traction and control?I live on a gravel road, and have to park my car in the winter, because of loss of power,traction shuts down, and no way to keep moving when the car shuts down, with or without studded snow tires?

I have a 2005 Toyota Prius hybrid car it is the worst investment I've ever made this vehicle has cost me an arm and a leg to maintain. I've already bought three sets of tires and as many alignments costing me 13 hundred dollars and forget how much the oil changes cost. I've taken this vehicle to the dealership three time to have the rack and pinion checked out and they say theres nothing wrong with it this is bumkis because a vehicle should not go through three sets of tires in two years. I own a dodge Dakota pickup for about ten years and only replaced the tires four times and it costs less per tire than the Prius tires.

Purchased 2007 Toyota Prius, was told about 45-60 MPG, only averaging around 39-41 MPG. Not really close to what was promised.

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?

Fact is nothing has happened with either of my two Prius cars. I owned a 2005 and traded it for the more advanded 2007 model. I have not experienced any thing that has been mentioned in you article.This is an excellent trustworthy vehicle. No slipping or stalling nonsense. Taction is excellent. Performance expecially on the 2007 model is good. Sorry, but I just don't understand why these people are having problems. I will buy another in 2009.

I was pulling into my garage , half way into the garage, at a residence that was rented to me as I was far from home. Suddenly my Toyota Prius (2007) accelerated out of control and drove into the wall of the garage damaging my nerves , the car and the wall. My husband, thinking it was user error put the car in reverse and it accelerated again without the driver control. It was towed away to Amigo Chevrolet where we were told that they could find nothing wrong with it. The car was under warranty. We were left 900 miles away from home, no car while Amigo had to get technicians from Denver to look at the car. We bought the Car as our retirement car. My husband and I are 70+ and have found ourselves without a car until someone can find what is happening. They say it can't even be traded in ? To date we reported the issue to Toyota and have waited 3 days without a response from Customer service at Toyota.

I have a 2005 Prius. It has hestitated several time on me. This last time I almost got in an accident. It chugged along serveral times in a row. No lights went on. It has 99,000 miles and has a warrenty to 100,000. It has been at the Toyota dealership 5 days. They cannot find any problems.

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.

I have never gotten above 40 miles per gallon on my new 2007 Toyota Prius. The only reason I purchased it was for the 60 MPG. The dealership keeps telling me I need to wait until the engine is broke in. It now has over 2,000 miles and the gas mileage is averaging 35 mpg.. The computer states i get 44 mpg on average.

I took my 2005 Toyota Prius in for routine maitenance this morning -- and now, with only 2 years wear (about 26000 miles) the dealership says I need to replace all four tires and get an allignment job (at more than $400 total). My mother's 2001 Prius had its tires replaced by the dealer at 25000 and the replacement tires only lasted 25000 miles. The dealer would not replace my Goodyear tires, even though warranty should be good for 50000 miles (claims the allignment is the issue...)

Gentlemen.

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.

I have problem with my 2002 Toyota Prius! The car stall on the freeway with 3 warning lights but luckily I am already close to my destination and took the exit ramp. I believe there is problem with the hybrid component. The warning lights are PS which stands for power steering, warning light and hybrid component warning light. Before this incident happen, I have several incident where I feel the car is losing power but no warning lights and the car recovered.

Twice, on Julyb 29, 2007, our 2006 Toyota Prius took off like a rocket in circumstances just like Herbert's wild ride in Michigan last October. According to Angel: (1) No one has ever had this problem before and (2) They can not recreate it. My instructions to him are to tell me what caused this.

I have read your article on Toyota's false advertising for mileage on the Prius vehicle and want to share my experience. I bought a 2006 Prius last March based on Toyota's advertisement of 50 miles to the gallon on the highways and 60 miles to the gallon in the city. I have driven the car nearly 10,000 miles and what I have found is that highway mileage is about 48 which is very close to their claim. HOWEVER, mileage in the city is a horrendous 38-42 compared to the advertisement of 60 miles per gallon. I took the car to Claremont Toyota who is the dealer I bought it from, but I was told that everything in the car is working the way it is supposed to work. They said that the low mileage was probably related to driving habits. I responded that I have tried very slow starts and smooth stops without any noticeable improvement. They said that they could not help me and that I should write to Toyota.

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.

We purchased a 07 Toyota Prius. After purchasing and reading all the caustion in the owners manual we started wondering how much EMF is being given off by the high voltage cable. We used a ELM meter that showed where our newborn sits was over 24 mG (our meter only goes to 24 mG so we don't know how high it really is). What is considered safe for kids is 2 -3 mG. I asked Toyota if they could shield to reduce it and the answer was NO. They stated the car has been tested and was consider safe by the numbers they got. I asked to see the test results or what the EMF numbers that Toyota considers safe for kids and they would not tell me.

I bought a 2007 Toyota Prius. In the first tank of gas the average MPG was 31. I took it back to the dealership & was told by the service manager that couldn't be right & to run another tank. The second tank MPG was 34.4. The ONLY reason I bought a Prius was because of the advertised gas mileage. I would NOT have bought this car if I'd known about its pitiful performance. I understand there is a class action law suit against Toyota over the advertised Prius mileage. I would like to become a part of this process. Please advise me on how I can become involved. Thank you.

2001 Toyota Prius has been stalling intermittently for 3 years. The dealer has replaced the hybrid battery which was on warranty (thank goodness!) and now says they need to replace the accelerator pedal position sensor which is not on warranty and the part will cost $435 plus tax and 3 hours of labor.

My Prius 2005 ran for 20000 miles and all 4 tires lost all traction and thread.Inspection has failed due to that.I have to change all 4 tires.This is riduculous for only this much mileage..

My 2003 Toyota Prius has a steering problem. Dan Cava Toyota in Fairmont informed me that my rack and pinion gear will need replaced. Cost @ $1800.00 I read on the internet that other Prius cars have steering problems covered by a recall, mine is not covered. I have 85000 miles on the car.

2005 toyota prius--traction control cuts power if the wheels slip even slightly, causing the vehicle to stop moving. It is impossible on snowy roads, and very dangerous when pulling quickly from side streets into traffic (wheel slip increases when wheels are turned; happens easily if roads are wet).

I have been experiencing problems with my 2002 Toyota Prius. Sometimes, upon start-up, the engine warning lights come on with their exclaimation points and check engine signs, but there is nothing wrong. I have stopped the car, checked the oil, coolant, etc. and can find no problems. The car runs fine with the warnings on, and if I change the computer screen back to the engine parameters, it displays that everything is running correctly. Only twice did it actually have a problem, in that it ran very rough upon start-up, and then shut the gas engine off and only ran on electric power. However, on both occasions, all I had to do was turn the key off and back on, and the car ran fine with both engines doing what they're suppose to. After having the car off for a while, it usually starts back up fine with no warning indicators.

i bought a 2007 prius from san marcos toyota, the epa mpg was 51 hwy and 60 city. even now with the revised mpg, they are still saying it will get 55mpg in town. i get 28 mpg all town driving. it has been in the shop three times. they deny that there is anything wrong with my car. the last time i reset the consumption meter as it dropped it off. a mechanic drove it 17 miles, after i signed the ticket saying nothing was wrong. the mechanic and i got in the car so he could show me how it runs, i then hit the consumption chart and he had gotten 28.7 mpg. he was shocked by the look on his face, took it back in the shop and said he checked a few more things and then said that there was nothing more he could do.

While traveling south on I-95 to Florida in May 2007, my 2005 Prius shutdown in 70 mph traffic. I was in the middle lane and had to resort to coasting along. After 2 minutes and nearly dying by all the traffic around me, I pushed the start button (while drifting at 15mph) and the car restarted.

i have a 2007 prius, 2800 miles, i will not run on the battery(electric motor). i have had it in the shop twice now, they run their computer diagnosis and both times have told me that there is nothing wrong with my car. it gets 28MPG in town. there is something wrong and they do not seem to want or have the ability to repair this car. i will take it in one more time and then i qualifies under the texas lemon law.

my 2007 prius is stalling and the dealer cnat find any thing wrong they say that no codes are showing up on the computer. but the car will stop running. If I turn it on and off several times then it starts again and runs untill who knows when.

I experienced a problem last week with my 2005 Prius hybrid that is troubling to me. I came out to my vehicle to find it dead and unable to start. I looked for any accessories that might have been left on, but found none. I pulled out the manual and diagnosed a dead 12V battery. I proceeded to follow the jump start procedures in the manual after asking for assistance from bystanders at the museum where I was parked. I have jump started vehicles on numerous occassions in the past. The jump was unsuccessful, so I called a tow truck recommended by the dealer and had it towed there.

Last week all the warning lights came on on my 2003 Prius. Took it into the Toyota dealership where I purchased the car, which now has 32,000 miles on it. They ran the diagnostics and told me the fuel tank, fuel pump and all the connectors had to be replaced for a cost of $870.

In response to your negative article and just to relate my experience with my 2002 Prius, bought new and now with 48K miles on odometer, yes, there have been a few items repaired under warranty. But, what car doesn't get some of those? And, I firmly believe this has been the best car I have ever owned, and there have been many of those. It's a delight to drive, and my average MPG is around 48 in warm weather and 40-42 during wintertime. I very much love my little Prius. It's a great car with a wonderful design and ingenious technology. Toyota has been very supportive to address any concerns I have ever had with my car.

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Giving into all the hype, when I went looking for a new car, I decided to go with the money-saving, eco-friendly Prius. I bought it used, 3 years ago. It had 72,000 miles on it, and ran great. For the first year that is. When it came time for the 100,000 mile tuneup, that cost me nearly $700. 6 months later, the computer system fails, along with a transmission leak, and fuel pump replacement. Costing me another $2600.

Purchased new Prius in 2004. Within a few months the multi function display did not work with the result of unable to get gas into car while driving! Very dangerous. Two weeks ago the display began to do strange things but this time I recognized it when the radio kept turning off and the display kept saying odd things. DIsplay has to be replaced again.

2007 Prius 1400 miles. Saturday: Car completely dead. Does not respond to smart key. Prior to it's failure heard 4 odd honks. Used manual key and attempted to turn power on. Power came on briefly and then died. Called Toyota dealership and was told I would speak to someone immediately. Left a message for service/sales? manager. Heard nothing. Called next day in am and was told to have it towed. Tow truck personel had to put prius on dollies as there is no way to put it in neutral as electical system controls all. Was concerned about jump starting due to odd configuartion of battery. Called today stating that I needed to be to work and I have no car. Was hoping they would help me with a loaner or a fixed Prius. The Prius was fixed. All it needed was to have the accessory battery charged and it was my fault as I left the right rear door ajar. I always engage the alarm I told them and I saw no dome light on. I am not at fault. They are making me pay the 136.00 towing bill as I am the person that left the rear door open (which I did not). I am refusing to pay and I am going up the chain to complain as this aforementioned dealership was not helpful.

Los Angeles Time, Thursday, May 24, 2007 I read an add for Frontier Toyota and it says Prius $19,998 2 to choose (77086916, 77087952) I call talk to a new car sales person Diego his name, he kindly said let me check, after chequing, said yes we still have 2 of them, great I will be their to buy one at 8PM. As soon as I hung up I call Garo, my brother in-law he wants one to, as I was driving to the dealership which is 1.15 min. away, my friend David calls and he wants one to.

I have a 2004 prius, i have been having a monitor problem, it wont work properly. I have told Toyota about it and there response is at this time we cannot help you with anything the problem that iam having is an well know problem, there is an tsb out on it from Toyota witch tells the dealer how to repair the problem but only if the car is under factory warranty, my car has 49k miles on it its out of warranty, but that shouldn't hold Toyota from fixing the car when they know this models have this problem and they Even have an tsb on it, i think they should extend the warranty on it or recall the part.

Our 2003 Toyota Prius has 91000 miles on it. When we went to start it the dashboard lit up with multiple warning lights. The dealer picked it up and said that the transmission went out and it would cost $6000 to fix and it was out of warranty. When we explained to the dealer and to Toyota customer relations that the transmission was part of the Hybrid Power train covered for 5 years and 100000 mi they refused to cover it. Not even a partial coverage. This considering the car was working fine when it was last shut off.

I was advised to buy a Prius for the tax credit, since I made money, over what we usually have, by working in New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina. I bought an '06 which was to be a $3192 tax credit. Toyota hadn't authorized the credit for the '07 at the time. They did so the next day, our tax person called me, and I ordered an '07. It turned out that we were to get the half credit for the '07, or about $1,596. At tax time I was notified that we would be taxed using the AMT (alternative minimum tax) rate, effectively doing away with the credits. We got a total of $476. for both cars. My question is, how can the US Government encourage people to buy clean emission cars by offering a tax credit, then reneging on the deal? I'm told by a CPA friend that if Congress doesn't do something about it, the AMT will effect approximately 20 million people in '08.

I bought a 2007 Prius on 11/25/2006, as a weekend commute vehicle, dishing out $39,000 for the car, leather seats and service. I had my eyes focused on the car window ad announcing 60 city mpg and 51 highway mpg. I thought that I will be saving gas money to pay for my $600 monthly car payment.

I also found that the mileage on my 2006 Prius fell far short of the advertised 60 mpg city. I am often getting as low as 35 mpg in city driving, highest I've ever gotten is about 40 mpg. I did my research before buying and bought the Prius because of its high mileage and low carbon footprint. Salesman who sold me the car continually touted the 60 mpg city mileage, made no mention of possible lower mileage.

On April 30, 2007 my 2001 Prius had a 30K mile major service. On May 3, '07, my Prius completely lost its brakes while on the 170 freeway. The invoice says found brake booster was defective and had failed. They found codes indicating problem in computer, yet did not check this system during major service. They charged over $1500 despite fact that this appeared to be a problem best addressed (& paid for) by Toyota. Glendale Toyota said they'd never had this problem despite servicing many 2001 Prius' many with much more mileage than mine. Toyota hdqrts in Torrance CA refused to allow access to or info from data base to find out if this was an anomaly.

Within the lastr two days I purchasded a toyota prius from ourisman chantilly toyota in va. I was not appraised that the EPA estimates on the window sticker and all other advertisements were incorrect. When I called toyota they said it was EPAs fault and they were required to advertise the higher mileage even though EPA has revised the estimate based on consumer complaints.

On Jan 9th 2007, we bought a new Toyota Prius. Our driveway is fairly steep and is dirt/gravel. We came and went for three weeks without any issue, then our car started shutting down about halfway up our 3/10 of a mile driveway. Once the wheels slipped the car simply shut down. We took it back to Toyota AutoPark in Fayetteville Arkansas where we purchased it. They said they hadn't had any problems like this before and contacted Toyota to get more information. They reprogrammed the computer and put different tires on the car to no avail. May 8,2007 they sent representatives from Toyota Little Rock and Houston, TX to our home with another Prius. It also stopped on our driveway. They have now told the dealership they are accepting no responsibility for this problem and the car is operating as it is supposed to. Our daughter's Honda sedan pulls our driveway just fine, as did the the loaner car Toyota gave us. I had no reason to suspect that the car would not do so. The Houston representative guessed that our road may have been frozen in Jan. which is why the car pulled the driveway just fine for the first three weeks. They will not pay us back for the car or pay the dealership for their loss.

The 12 volt battery in my 2002 Toyota Prius discharges and it won't start if the car isn't run every day. Repeated trips to the dealership have not cured the problem, despite an upgrade of battery.

I drive a 2005 Toyota Prius on the sometimes snow-covered roads of Western PA. I am usually the fastest car on the road when they are snow covered, passing all the SUV's and Hummers. I have even driven 20 miles on unplowed backroads when the main roads were a sheet of ice, no problem.

I own a Toyota Prius and have experienced this problem of getting stuck in minimal snow in my relatively flat driveway. Shoveling around the car didn't even help. I had no other person to help push the car. So I couldn't leave.