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Toyota Prius: Unintended Acceleration

kpaxx submitted on 8/14/2007 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 9:31:40 AM

31 user comments | Category: Spy News | Source: | SOURCE: www.thetruthaboutcars.com

ConsumerAffairs.

com has collected complaints from Toyota Prius owners regarding throttle control. One, a new Prius with 600 miles on the odometer, accelerated wildly while the owner was attempting to merge onto a busy interstate. On another occasion, the traction control system (itself another problem reported on the site) kicked in and the car accelerated. A third time the car refused to slow after passing another car. One Prius owner, an engineer, discovered that tapping the lever that disengages the cruise control solved the problem– even though the cruise control system was already turned off. Toyota denies any mechanical or software problem exists. They suggest that a wadded carpet may have caused a sticky go-pedal.

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kpaxx

I know about cars because I have actually raced cars and have worked on cars. I have driven and repa

— kpaxx (View Profile)


User Comments

enthusiastx11

that is funny.
a prius accelerating wildly.
please.

— enthusiastx11 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 10:56:19 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 9   

Kinger

Is this another case like the Audi unintended Acceleration fiasco in the 80's? Where the car wasn't at fault at all it was the owners?

— Kinger (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 10:16:40 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 8   

w209w114

I doubt it. On another case, Toyota is currently working with thousands of experts to cover up this story and secretly recall the vehicles just in time to be named top pick in Consumer Reports :)

— w209w114 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 3:59:23 PM | | Votes: 1   

kpaxx

Hard to know with all the computer control on the prius..there was no drive by wire in the Audi..

— kpaxx (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 11:02:29 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

Agent009

No drive by wire in the Audi, but also proven to be adriver issue. Still happens to this day across the board.

"I thought I hit the brakes" when the actually press the accelerator. Hard to prevent stupid drivers.

— Agent009 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 11:15:53 AM | | Votes: 7   

enthusiastx11

GS300:
how is it that you seem to know every person who's had a dramatic car incident? from flaming BMWs to wildly accelerating priuses.... i've never even heard of any of these nutso stories anywhere except here.

— enthusiastx11 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 1:20:51 PM | | Votes: 1   

Will_

The traction control/cruise control systems on the Prius aren't capable of ever really being turned fully "OFF" from what I have understood in the past. One bump of the knob can put the car in motion automatically.

— Will_ (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 11:14:38 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

Agent009

Didn't know that! That could be an issue. But I bet this will be determined to be a driver issue.

— Agent009 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 11:16:50 AM | | Votes: 1   

Threepoint1415926

This has been how the Mercedes cruise control has worked since forever... I've not heard a lot of problems with "wild acceleration" from someone taping on the cruise control in one of them. Maybe it's the placement? Where on the Prius is the cruise control?

— Threepoint1415926 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 3:31:04 PM | | Votes: 1   

1970toyotamarc

My Prius, big surprise, does not do this.

If anyone does some serious searches on consumerafairs.com, he will never buy another car. You will come to believe that all cars are death traps.

— 1970toyotamarc (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 11:39:58 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

S4cabriofoxone

Hmm, where have I heard this before?

Something tells me there will be no huge "60 Minutes" event trying to de-fame them.

— S4cabriofoxone (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 11:43:42 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

henbmw

In no way would I ever describe a Prius' acceleration as 'wild'; even if I didn't have any control over it.

— henbmw (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 11:52:18 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

NBCGLX

Exactly. Even under the best conditions, Prius acceleration is tame to say the least.

— NBCGLX (View Profile)

Posted on 8/16/2007 8:14:09 PM | | Votes: 1   

TehShibbs

And with the all-weather floor mats in the 07 ES. Toyota just finally released new floor mats to correct the problem.

— TehShibbs (View Profile)

Posted on 8/15/2007 8:23:01 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

1970toyotamarc

agreed, consumeraffairs should be viewed with a lot of skepticism, not just by Toyota drivers (tho they seem to attract a huge number of Toyota bashers, and the articles seem to me to skew very negatively whenever Toyota comes up).

— 1970toyotamarc (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 4:27:52 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

supermoto

Prius drivers often get confused about which pedal does what. That's probably one reason they drive under the speed limit in the fast lane.

— supermoto (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 12:55:35 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

S4cabriofoxone

Oh, Prius drivers are just terrible! The ones I've encountered may just be the worst on the road, so I always try to get out of the way if I see one coming; preferably, I'd be in front of it. There are so many Prius owners who are out there for the green image, and don't actually know how to drive.

— S4cabriofoxone (View Profile)

Posted on 8/15/2007 2:53:36 AM | | Votes: 0   

SevorbeupstryIsBack

It's all about driver involvement.

— SevorbeupstryIsBack (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 1:19:57 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

david989

Did a German fanboy post this to make Toyota look bad? It was probably some German car, maybe the Sauerkraut 5000 or something and they just replaced it with the Toyota Prius and changed the date to make it look like it happened recently. The Prius is bullet proof. It's so solidly built and engineered nothing goes wrong. Ever.

— david989 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 1:30:24 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -5   

aanji

I wouldn't consider the issue that funny (at least the part where Toyota refused to research on the issue). Who knows, there may be other drivers who met with the same issue and ignored it thinking it's stupid even to report to somebody.
I don't know why many people are totally biased towards Toyota. Their quality is better than the most. No questions on that. But when a issue is reported to them, they are not the best in accepting / resolving it. I personally have met with such an issue. Will you believe if I say there was a left-pulling issue in at least 15% of 03, 04 and 05 model Camrys, even brand new ones. Their service bulletins didn't cover this aspect. So they couldn't fix this. Many consumers tried to get the fix from Toyota but of no use. Some people sued Toyota. There was a whole blog forum for this issue. I was one of those. I had mine fixed from a local mechanic using one of Toyota's TSBs that they had given for later models.
So I'd say until and unless there are no more reports of the issues anywhere else, you can't say for sure.

— aanji (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 2:53:04 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

M53R

No car maker is bulletproof.

My cousin had an issue with a brand new Toyota Aurion (It doesnt come in the US, its out Camry V6 equivalent) and something in the computer went wrong and the car started starting and stoping by itself. He went to the Toyota dealer and they fixed it... this is the 2nd time I hear this same story.

— M53R (View Profile)

Posted on 8/14/2007 6:52:34 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

beanjapan

"that is funny.
a prius accelerating wildly.
please."

I second this. come on...

— beanjapan (View Profile)

Posted on 8/16/2007 10:23:07 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

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