2004 Scion Xa

MY CAR IS A 2004 PRIUS PURCHASED AUGUST 2004. ON APRIL 18, I HAD BEEN DRIVING FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES, THEN STOPPED AT A STOP SIGN. UPON RESUMING DRIVING, A WARNING LIGHT (TRIANGLE/EXCLAMATION MARK) AND THE HYBRID SYSTEM WARNING LIGHT (EXCLAMATION MARK OVER A CAR) CAME ON. THERE WAS NO WARNING SOUND. INITIALLY, THE CAR STILL RAN, SO I CONTINUED AT LOW SPEED (<30MPH) AND HAD MY PASSENGER LOOK UP WHAT TO DO. AS I CONTINUED, I REALIZED THE POWER WAS LESSENING, SO AFTER ABOUT A MILE, I PULLED OFF THE ROAD AND PARKED. AT THAT POINT, I COULD NOT GET THE CAR TO TURN OFF, OR TO DO MUCH OF ANYTHING. THE MANUAL SAID NOT TO DRIVE THE CAR IF THE HYBRID SYSTEM WARNING LIGHT COMES ON, SO I CALLED FOR A TOW. WHEN THE TOW DRIVER GOT THERE, WE REALIZED WE WOULD HAVE TO TURN OFF THE CAR TO GET IT ONTO THE FLATBED TOW TRUCK, SO THE DRIVER KEPT PUSHING BUTTONS UNTIL THE CAR FINALLY TURNED OFF. THEN, WHEN WE TURNED IT ON AGAIN TO PUT IT IN NEUTRAL, IT SEEMED TO BEHAVE NORMALLY. NONETHELESS, I HAD IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP (WORLD TOYOTA, ATLANTA, GA) WHERE THEY KEPT THE CAR FOR 2 DAYS, BUT COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG, AND DID NO REPAIR. SUBSEQUENTLY, I FOUND A "TOD" SERVICE BULLETIN (HTTP://WWW.ALLDATA.COM/TSB/TOYOTA/1100764800000_1103011200000_EG047R-04/1.HTML ) AND BROUGHT THAT TO THEIR ATTENTION, BUT THEY DID NOT SEEM TO THINK THAT IT FIT MY CIRCUMSTANCE, AND AGAIN DID NO REPAIR.

OUR 2004 PRIUS ON FOUR SEPARATE OCCASIONS HAD A COMPLETE ENGINE SHUTDOWN WITH LOTS OF INDICATOR LIGHTS LIT ON THE DASHBOARD. THIS HAPPENED TWICE WHILE WE WERE TRAVELING ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS IN TRAFFIC AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, ONCE IN A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS BEING SERVICED, AND ONCE AS WE PULLED INTO A TOYOTO DEALERSHIP FOR SERVICE. WE WERE NOT AWARE WE COULD SEND A COMPLAINT TO NHTSA UNTIL WE SAY TODAY'S MSNBC ARTICLE. THE FIRST ENGINE SHUTDOWN OCCURRED IN THE HYANNIS TOYOTA DEALERSHIP IN MASSACHUSETTS. THEY TOOK QUITE A WHILE TO FIX THE VEHICLE AND MADE SEVERAL PHONE CALLS TO TOYOTA ENGINEERS FOR HELP. THEY WROTE ON OUR RECEIPT: "NEEDS TRANS REPLACEMENT FOR PERMANENT REPAIR." AFTER WE LEFT MASSACHUSETTS WE DROVE ACROSS COUNTRY TOWARD OUR HOME IN CALIFORNIA. THE OTHER THREE ENGINE SHUTDOWNS HAPPENED DURING THIS TRIP. WE HAD TO BE TOWED (AT TOYOTA'S EXPENSE) TWICE AS A RESULT OF THE INTERSTATE ENGINE SHUTDOWNS AND ENDED UP AT A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI. WE HAD TO STAY SEVERAL DAYS AT OUR OWN EXPENSE WHILE THEY REPAIRED THE VEHICLE, AGAIN CONSULTING SEVERAL TIMES WITH TOYOTA ENGINEERS DURING THE REPAIR. AFTER WE REACHED CALIFORNIA WE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO SOUTH BAY TOYOTA AND REQUESTED THE "PERMANENT" REPAIR DESCRIBED ON THE HYANNIS TOYOTA RECEIPT. WE WERE TOLD THEY WOULD DO NOTHING BECAUSE THERE WAS NO INDICATOR SHOWING ANY PROBLEMS AT THAT TIME. WE MADE SEVERAL PHONE CALLS TO TOYOTA BUT WERE UNABLE TO GET THEM TO DO ANYTHING FURTHER TO OUR CAR.