2002 Toyota Prius

MODEL: TOYOTA PRIUS 2002 PURCHASE FROM : PUTNAM TOYOTA, CERTIFIED UNIT, JUNE 2004 FAILURE TYPE : TIRE BURST ON SIDE WALL OF THE TIRE, TWICE IN 5 MONTHS. FAILURE ROOT CAUSE : DRIVE OVER PARKING CURB, AT LESS THAN 2 MPH. FAILURE LOGIC : WHY THE TIRE BURST IN SUCH A MANNER, ESPECIALLY TOYOTA CLAIM, THIS IS A SPECIAL DESIGN OVERLOAD PRESSURE TIRE. PART REPLACE/SERVICE: BOTH TIRES WERE REPLACE AT CAPITOL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. COST PER INCIDENT: TIRE =$79.00, LABOR = $60.81, TIRE ONLY AVAILABLE AT TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. CONCERN: WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF I DRIVE 60 MPH ON FREEWAY, AND HIT A BUMPER UNEVEN PATH ON THE HIGHWAY, WOULD IT BURST AS WELL ! *JB

MY HUSBAND NEEDED TO TAKE HIS CAR TO THE REPAIR SHOP AND I WAS FOLLOWING HIM. WE ARRIVED AT OUR DESTINATION AND HE PARKED HIS CAR IN A PARKING SPACE. I HAD OUR DOG IN MY CAR AND DECIDED TO PARK THE CAR IN A SHADED PARKING SPACE. AS I WAS ENTERING THE PARKING SPACE, MY CAR FELTLIKE IT WAS ACCERLERATING EVEN THOUGH MY FOOT WAS ON THE BRAKE. THE AIRBAGS THEN EXPLODED AND THE CAR CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. THE AIRBAGS BURNED MY ARM AND THE NOISE FROM THE BAGS FRIGHTENED MY DOG AND HE JUMPED FROM THE CAR. I WAS ENTERING THE PARKING SPACE AT ABOUT ONE OR TWO MILES PER HOUR. I DID NOT HIT ANYTHING. THE AIRBAGS MALFUNCTIONED. TOYOTA INSISTS I HIT A WALL. I HAVE A WITNESS TO SUPPORT MY SIDE. TOYOTA REFUSES TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS INCIDENT STATING I WAS DRIVING AT THE SPEED OF 1400RPM. THAT WOULD MEAN I WAS GOING 55MPH WHILE ENTERING THE PARKING SPACE.THEE SEEMS TO SOME DAMAGE TO THE FRONT OF THE CAR, BUT IT OCCURED SOME MONTHS BEFORE THIS INCIDENT. THE PARAMEDICS WERE CALLED AND THEY ATTENDED TO A BURN ON MY RIGHT ARM, IT WAS NOT SEVERE ENOUGH FOR ME TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL .

JUST WANTED TO ALERT YOU THAT THERE MAY BE A POTENTIAL DEFECT WITH THE TORQUE SENSOR, WHICH AFFECTS THE POWER STEERING. I RECENTLY ENCOUNTERED THIS IN MY 2002 TOYOTA PRIUS WITH 43,000+ MILES ON THE VEHICLE.*AK \ BASICALLY, THERE ARE NO PRECEDING SYMPTOMS BEFORE THE POWER STEERING FAILS. UPON FAILURE, THE PRIUS CENTRAL COLOR TOUCHSCREEN LCD DISPLAY SHOWS THREE ICONS, WITH THE "PS" ICON IN RED. YOU WILL ALSO SEE AN EXCLAMATION POINT ICON LIT ON THE GREEN LCD DISPLAY NEXT TO THE SPEEDOMETER. AT WHICH POINT, YOU HAVE NO POWER STEERING AND THE CAR WILL BE HARD TO STEER. \ WHEN THIS OCCURS, THERE MAY BE A TEMPORARY FIX, WHICH WORKED FOR ME. PULL OVER TO A SAFE AREA AND TURN OFF THE CAR. WAIT 30 SECONDS, AND THEN TURN ON THE CAR. YOU HAVE EFFECTIVELY REBOOTED THE PRIUS COMPUTER SYSTEM WITH THE TORQUE SENSOR, AND THE POWER STEERING SHOULD RETURN FOR THE TIME BEING. \ THE VEHICLE SHOULD BE TAKEN TO THE NEAREST OFFICIAL TOYOTA SERVICE SHOP (AKA DEALERSHIP) AND HAVE THEM RUN A DIAGNOSTIC CHECK. THEY SHOULD SEE CODE "C1513 TORQUE SENSOR ABNORMAL" IN THE PRIUS' MEMORY BANKS. THEN SIT DOWN FOR THE PRICE TAG: $3159 - $4,160 TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE POWER STEERING RACK, SINCE THE SENSOR IS INTEGRATED IN THE RACK ITSELF. THIS INCLUDES THE LABOR OF ABOUT $261. \ IT IS RECOMMENDED NOT TO ACCEPT ANY "COST COVERAGE OFFER" FROM THE SERVICE SHOP UNTIL YOU CALL THE TOYOTA CONSUMER SUPPORT LINE AT 1-800-331-4331. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A SERVICE QUOTE FROM THE SHOP, THEN CALL THE SUPPORT LINE AND COMPLAIN. THE SUPPORT LINE WILL ASSIGN YOU A CASE WORKER AND PROVIDE A CASE NUMBER. THEY WILL CONTACT THE SHOP AND MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE. TOYOTA COVERED THE COST OF THE PART 100% FOR ME, AND ALL I HAD TO DO WAS PAY FOR THE LABOR SINCE MY CAR WAS OUT OF WARRANTY PER THE 36,000 BUMPER-TO-BUMPER COVERAGE. \ IN CONCLUSION, I AM VERY HAPPY ON HOW TOYOTA HANDLED THE POWER STEERING ISSUE. THIS IS TO INFORM OTHER 2000-2003 PRIUS OWNERS IF THEY ENCOUNTER A SIMILAR PROBLEM.

I NOTICED ROAD NOISE AND DETERMINED THAT IT WAS A TIRE NOISE. SINCE I WAS TRAVELING OUT OF MY HOME STATE - I TOOK THE CAR TO BE CHECKED BY A LOCAL TIRE CENTER.HE GUY LOOKED AT THE TIRE AND IMMEDIATELY POINTED OUT THE UNEVEN WEAR OF THE FRONT TIRES - COULD FEEL THAT THE STEEL BELT WAS ALMOST EXPOSED. I HAD JUST MADE A 1000 MILE TRIP AND FEEL LUCKY THAT THE TIRES DIDN'T BLOW. AT THE TIRE DEALERSHIP, THEY WONDERED WHETHER THIS WAS AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH THE TOYOTA PRIUS - THEY HAD ANOTHER PRIUS IN WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. HE INDICATED THAT IT LOOKED LIKE AN ALIGNMENT PROBLEM. WHEN HE TRIED TO ADJUST THE REAR ALIGNMENT, HE WAS UNABLE TO RESET IT TO THE RECOMMENDED SPECIFICATIONS. THE SAME WAS TRUE OF THE OTHER PRIUS THAT HE HAD IN THE SHOP. SO OF COURSE I SHOULD EXPECT THE NEW TIRES TO HAVE UNEVEN WEAR. NOW I AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THIS CAR. AT LEAST I'M AWARE OF THE PROBLEM, BUT WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER PRIUS OWNERS THAT ARE IN DANGER?? THIS CERTAINLY APPEARS TO BE A DESIGN FLAW - THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL!! I HAVE HAD REGULAR MAINTENANCE AT THE RECOMMENDED TIME BY THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. NO ONE EVER INDICATED THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE ALIGNMENT OR ANY OTHER KIND OF TIRE PROBLEM. BUT AFTER READING ALL THE OTHER COMPLAINTS ON THIS WEB SITE REGARDING THE TIRES, I FEEL THE CAR IS UNSAFE. I WILL BE GOING TO MY TOYOTA DEALERSHIP & I KNOW THEY WILL COVER THE COST OF THE NEW TIRES BUT THAT DOESN'T FIX THE PROBLEM. I BELIEVE TOYOTA NEEDS TO MAKE PRIUS OWNERS AWARE OF THE DEFECT BEFORE SOMEONE IS INVOLVED IN A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. *AK

IN NOVEMBER OF 2003 I HAD A TIRE BLOWOUT WHILE ON THE FREEWAY. THE CAR HANDLED WELL AND I WAS ABLE TO GET OFF THE FREEWAY AND PUT ON THE SPARE. WHEN REPLACING THE TIRE I FOUND THAT I HAD TO PURCHASE A "SUPER HEAVY DUTY" TIRE BECAUSE OF THE WEIGHT OF MY CAR. THE TIRE WAS INFLATED TO THE SPECIFICATIONS IN MY OWNER'S MANUAL (35LBS). IN APRIL I HAD A SECOND BLOW-OUT AND REPLACED THE TIRE AT MY TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. AT THAT TIME I WAS INFORMED THAT TOYOTA FOUND THAT INFLATING THE TIRES TO 45LBS SEEMED TO BE WORKING BETTER. I HAVE NOW REPLACED ALL FOUR TIRES AND INFLATED THEM TO THE RECOMMENDED 45LBS. IF TOYOTA HAD NOTIFIED ME AS AN OWNER THAT THE MANUAL WAS NOT CORRECT AND THAT THE TIRES SHOULD HAVE BEEN INFLATED TO 45LBS I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN TWICE AS MUCH USAGE OUT OF MY TIRES AND I WOULD NOT HAVE EXPERIENCED TWO BLOWOUTS AND A WHELL REALIGNMENT COST. THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL, NOTICE TO OWNERS AND A RPLACEMENT OF TIRES AT TOYOTA'S COST.*AK

2002 NEW TOYOTA PRIUS DELIVERED WITH BRIDGESTONE POTENZA TIRES. THESE TIRES HAVE FAILED AFTER 12,000 MILES. THEN CHANGED TIRES (ALL 4) WHICH FAILED AT 10,000 MILES. TOYOTA CORPORATE SAYS ITS NOT THEIR CONCERN. DEALER TOLD ME THEY ARE NOT SAFE TIRES. I HAVE REPLACED TIRES EVERY 10,000 MILES. TOYOTA CORPORATE RECOMMENDS THESE TIRES AND TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEM.*AK

SEVERAL MONTHS AGO I HAD A BLOW OUT ON MY LEFT REAR TIRE. THOSE THINGS HAPPEN- SO I REPLACED THE TIRE, GLAD THAT THERE WERE NO INJURIES OR DAMAGE. TWO WEEKS AGO THE SAME THING HAPPENED ON THE LEFT FRONT. WHN I WENT TO THE DEALER I WAS ADVISED TO KEEP THE TIRES INFLATED TO 45LBS THOUGH THE OWNER'S MANUAL (ON MY 2002 PRIUS) ADVISED INFLATING TO ONLY 35LBS. THE DEALER SAID THAT THEY FOUND THAT 45LBS ALLOWED BETTER WEAR AND AVOIDED THE BLOW-OUTS. OWNERS SHOULD BE ADVISED OF THIS AND GIVEN REPLACEMENT TIRES WITH AN ADJUSTMENT FOR WEAR. I WAS OUTRAGED THAT TOYOTA HAD THIS INFORMATION AND ESSENTIALLY SAT ON IT. ON THE 2004 PRIUS (WHICH WE ALSO OWN) THE TIRE IS LARGER AND THUS THE "PROBLEM" HAS BEEN CORRECTED BY TOYOTA...EXCEPT THAT OWNERS OF 2002 PRIUS'S ARE DRIVING AROUND ON TIRE THAT LITERALLY BLOW UP.