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The Prius can take owners on a wild ride (http://www.westword.com/2009-04-23/news/the-prius-can-take-owners-on-a-wild-ride/1)

Can an author take some isolated instances and call it an overall danger anymore?

This should be upgraded to a News Article.

This is pretty scary considering I'm was planning to buy a 2010 prius.

Anyone from cleanmpg experience this problem?

This is pretty scary considering I'm was planning to buy a 2010 prius.

Anyone from cleanmpg experience this problem?Toyota has sold a million Prius and this does not happen much. I'm not that concerned and suspect it to be overblown mainly by hybrid-phobic people.

I've heard from a couple of people that 'Yota's traction control system takes some getting used to--some of the article's stories sounded like that may have been the issue, not anything to do with the Prius as such.

Some of the other stories sounded like computer brain farts--the lead story about the car that freaked out in the rain probably had water splash in the engine compartment and cause transient electrical/computer problems. That can happen in any car, none of them are perfect.

I think this a very slanted article put together. In our small locale, there is a report at least monthly of someone running through a building or stop sign, etc. because the car or truck "just took off on it's own."

I have never seen anything like this happen in our 08 or either of the 05's.

Don't let a negative article like this scare you off from one of the most financially and ecologically sound purchases that you can make.



This is pretty scary considering I'm was planning to buy a 2010 prius.

Anyone from cleanmpg experience this problem?

mine was one of the ones that had the TSB performed for the car shutting down, before I bought it

I'm not buying it....the article that is, not the prius.

I remember several years back people were claiming their Audi's were accelerating on their own. After further research they concluded people were accidentally pushing the gas instead of the brakes.

Voodoo22,

You are showing your age-the Killer Audi scare was at least 20 years ago-funny how time flies.
I'm pretty sure that the-transmission lock- requirement for you foot to be on the brake when an AT is placed in D or R arose from the Killer Audi scare.

My memory is that there was some slight glitch in the Audi's-they would rev up a bit- but most of it was as you say-driver error. There was always plenty enough braking on tap to overcome the engine revs( it was full throttle revving), but folks would panic and miss the brake pedal, or worse, hit the gas pedal.

I'm not worried about my Prius.The only negative aspect I've noticed is the traction control shuts off power when I'm pulling onto a slightly sandy street.If I'm cutting it too close-pulling in front of a speeding car-then the second or so of cut traction seems like forever.

Charlie

Yikes... for the record, that article did not turn out as I'd hoped. Its more than a bit sensationalized.

As for the two issues mentioned, I haven't seen a lot of evidence (ie, something above 0.001% of owners).

So some Prius info I've gathered... If the Prius ever does something you don't like... turn it off. If your stopped, just hit the power button... if your in motion press and hold the power button. This will trigger an emergency off. If your going slow enough (< 7 mph) it will also trigger an emergency stop, but that is kinda gut wrenching.

If your having trouble with the Traction Control, I hear flooring it helps. This may be counter intuitive, but there you go. I live in South Texas, so no ice for me to test this on.

11011011

There have been lots of cars that have claimed this issue. Audi, Jeep and many others. I think most were tied back to driver error or floor mat issues.

I have been concerned about fly by wire throttle's. But as of yet I haven't seen any thing that would lead to a problem concerning them. I would have to wonder if yota is covering up something. All it takes is a bit of stray voltage, a back feed or well placed harmonic of some sort.

One thing that does scare me concerning the PII is the traction control. That's down right stupid how they make the cars do what they do. Can the traction control be turned off?

Jeff,

What little I know about Prius traction is some have complained about it when there is snow. This may be related to reverse being EV only (need verification).

Hi All:

___Besides shutting down a Prius via button, every vehicle can be stopped even with full power applied by the engine with the brakes. It did sound like a few of the people in the story did do this as they were able to slow the Prius and shut it down with smoke pouring out so there may be something to it...

___Of course this has happened to many other vehicles as well for whatever reason (driver error usually) but I have never experienced such a thing in my 5,000 or so miles behind the wheel of a Prius- I or -II?

___Good Luck

___Wayne

One thing I noticed is that in every situation in the article not a single person put the car in neutral. A car can't go if the transmission is in N.

We have drive 3 different Prius now for about 50,000 miles and haven't seen anything remotely related. Two different 05's and an 08.