2012 Toyota Prius V

TOYOTA PRIUS V 2012 LOST POWER AS I WAS DRIVING OUT OF THE PARKING LOT. I HAD TO MAKE EMERGENCY STOP ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD BECAUSE INVERTER/ELECTRIC MOTOR FAILED. MECHANIC RAN COMPUTER TEST AND FOUND THAT PROBLEM CODES INDEED POINTED TO FAILURE OF INVERTER.I CALLED LOCAL DEALER MCCORD TOYOTA AND WAS TOLD MY CAR DOES NOT FALL TO EXTENDED WARRANTY OF INVERTER AND DID NOT OFFER ANY HELP. SAME DAY I CALLED TOYOTA CUSTOMER CARE AT 1-800-331-4331 AND THEY TOLD ME THAT MY CAR DOES NOT FALL UNDER INVERTER WARRANTY BASED ON MY VIN NUMBER, AND GAVE ME CASE NUMBER 2005072419. I WAS ABLE TO CALL MY INSURANCE COMPANY TO ARRANGE TOWING FROM MY LOCATION TO REPAIR SHOP. REPAIR SHOP COMPLETED WORK AND VEHICLE IS NOW IN OPERABLE CONDITION. I FEEL LUCKY THAT I WAS NOT ON FREEWAY AND DID NOT HAVE MY CHILDREN WITH ME WHEN IT HAPPENED. *TR

THIS COMPLAINT IS FOR A 2012 PRIUS V THAT I'VE NOTIFIED MY LOCAL DEALER AND TOYOTA ABOUT A POSSIBLE SAFETY ISSUE RELATING TO THE BRAKE BOOSTER. THE PRIUS V IS CURRENTLY NOT INCLUDED IN THE ZJB CUSTOMER SUPPORT PROGRAM AND I BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE. BRAKE PEDAL FEELS VERY FIRM AND INCONSISTENT AND MUCH HARDER TO ACTIVATE THE BRAKES. THERE IS CONSTANT (EVERY FEW SECONDS) BRAKE BOOSTER ACTUATION/WHIRRING CONSISTENT WITH SYMPTOMS OF A LEAKING/DEFECTIVE BRAKE BOOSTER PER MY LOCAL DEALER. WARNING LIGHTS FOR BRAKE, ABS, STABILITY CONTROL, AND TIRE PRESSURE ARE ON.

AFTER REPAIR OF STALLING ENGINE CONDITION: VSV VALVE REPLACED, A SOFTWARE UPDATE SUBSEQUENTLY WAS PERFORMED ON MY CAR (JOV RECALL). EVER SINCE THAT SOFTWARE UPDATE IT HASN'T BEEN SAFE TO DRIVE MY CAR : UNSAFE BREAKING, REALLY HARD BREAKING, ESPECIALLY ON HIGHWAYS AND UNTIMELY DASHBOARD LIGHTING RELATED TO TRAC/VSC, CHECK ENGINE AND HYBRID WARNING LIGHT

MY 2012 PRIUS V IS ONLY 90K MILES. STARTING FROM ABOUT 2 WEEKS AGO, THE WARNING LIGHTS INCLUDING BRAKE SYSTEM WARNING LIGHT, ABS WARNING LIGHT AND SLIP INDICATOR LIGHT WERE SUDDENLY LIT ON WHEN I WAS DRIVING, THEN I FOUND THE REGENERATE BRAKE BECOME VERY HARD AND DIFFICULT TO STOP WHICH WAS MALFUNCTIONING. THESE WARNING LIGHTS WERE KEPT ON ALL THE TIME WHEN I DRIVE THE CAR. THE CAR THREW OUT CODE C1391 WHEN GIVEN A DIAGNOSIS. AFTER SOME ONLINE WORK, I FOUND THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM FOR PRIUS V. I WENT TO THE DEALERSHIP HOWEVER THE DEALERSHIP STATES THAT MY CAR, BASED ON ITS VIN, IS NOT IN ONE OF THE CERTAIN CARS COVERED BY ZJB PHASE 2 WHICH COVERS BRAKE BOOSTER AND BRAKE BOOSTER PUMP ASSEMBLIES FOR CERTAIN 2011-2015 MODEL YEAR PRIUS VEHICLES. THE FAILURE OF THE BRAKE COULD BE A DEADLY DEFICIENCY TO ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE CAR WHEN DRIVING. NOW I HAVE TO THINK TO STOP USING THIS CAR BECAUSE OF THE SEVERE SECURITY RISK. TOYOTA SHOULD TAKE ACTION TO SOLVE ALL THIS PROBLEM FOR ALL INVOLVED CARS, NOT CERTAIN CARS. MY CAR IS MADE IN 2012, THE DIAGNOSIS CODE C1391 GIVEN BY MY CAR ARE FALLING INTO ONE OF THE FOUR CODES ASSOCIATED WITH THE BRAKE PROBLEM COVERED BY ZJB PHASE 2. IT IS RIDICULOUS THAT MY CAR WAS NOT ISSUED THIS EXTENDED WARRANTY.

ON JAN. 3, 2018 WHILE MOVING AT A MINIMUM SPEED (LESS THAN 15 MPH) I APPLIED THE BRAKES AND SEVERAL WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED (BRAKES, ABS, TRACTION CONTROL) ALONG WITH A WARNING SOUND. THIS WAS ON A CITY STREET, DRIVING IN A STRAIGHT LINE. I WAS ABLE TO BRAKE TO A STOP. I THEN ATTEMPTED TO CONTINUE TO DRIVE AT A VERY LOW SPEED BUT SOON LOST ALL ABILITY TO BRAKE THE VEHICLE AND I COASTED TO A STOP. I HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO A LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER. I WAS TOLD THE BRAKE ACTUATOR HAD FAILED AND WAS CHARGED $3288 PLUS TAX FOR THE REPAIR. I RECEIVED THE CAR ON JAN. 9, 2018 FROM THE DEALER. ON JAN. 12, 2018 THE CAR FAILED ONCE AGAIN IN THE EXACT SAME MANNER. THE DEALER KEPT THE CAR UNTIL FEB. 1, 2018 AT WHICH TIME THEY RETURNED THE CAR TO ME AT NO CHARGE, STATING THEY HAD CHANGED THE SAME EXACT PART AS BEFORE. THE CAR HAS 84,000 MILES AND I PURCHASED IT NEW. I UNDERSTAND TOYOTA HAS ISSUED RECALLS FOR THIS ISSUE ON OTHER MODELS BUT NOT ON MY VEHICLE. I HAVE RETAINED MY REPAIR INVOICES BUT AM UNABLE TO UPLOAD THEM AT THIS TIME.

FROM A STANDSTILL, UNDER LIGHT WINTER CONDITIONS, THERE HAVE MANY TIMES WHEN THE VEHICLE WILL NOT/CAN NOT MOVE. WHEN THE ACCELERATOR IS DEPRESSED POWER IS SENT FOR A FRACTION SECOND (VERY QUICK PULSE) AND THEN ALL POWER IS CUT OFF AND NOTHING FURTHER HAPPENS UNTIL YOU LIFT OFF ACCELERATOR AND TRY AGAIN. IT DOES THE SAME THING IN REVERSE. THE ONLY WAY OUT OF THIS CYCLE IS TO PHYSICALLY PUSH THE CAR TO GET IT MOVING(SLOW WALKING PACE) AND THEN THE TRACTION CONTROL BEHAVES VERY MUCH LIKE OUR 2012 CAMRY SE V6. A COUPLE TIMES WE HAD OUR CAMRY RIGHT NEXT TO THE PRIUS(SIDE BY SIDE) AND THE CAMRY WAS ABLE TO GET ITSELF MOVING(WITH TC ON) AND PRIUS WOULD NOT BUDGE. BOTH HAVE THE FACTORY TIRES, THE PRIUS TIRES ARE IN BETTER SHAPE THAN THE CAMRY. I KNOW THE TWO VEHICLES ARE VASTLY DIFFERENT AND THAT THIS COMPARISON MAY BE OF LITTLE HELP; I SIMPLY WANT TO EXPRESS THAT THE CONDITIONS THE PRIUS WILL NOT FUNCTION UNDER SHOULD NOT BE THOUGHT OF AS EXTREME, BUT RATHER ORDINARY WINTER CONDITIONS. IT SEEMS THAT THE PRIUS TRACTION CONTROL PARAMETERS DO NOT EVEN GIVE THE CAR THE CHANCE TO GET MOVING BEFORE SHUTTING THE SYSTEM DOWN. *TR