2007 Toyota Prius Traction Control Problems

MY 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS ACCELERATES WHILE BRAKING AFTER HITTING BUMPS ON THE ROAD. I WAS BRAKING TO COME TO A STOP, THE CAR PROPELLED FORWARD 2-3 TIMES, THE TRACTION LIGHT FLASHED TWICE ALL WHY I HAD FULL PRESSURE APPLIED TO THE BRAKE PEDAL. LUCKILY THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME HAD NOT STOPPED COMPLETELY OTHERWISE THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN AN IMPACT AS I HAD NO METHOD OF MAKING THE CAR STOP MOVING FORWARD. THE CAR WILL ALSO PROPEL FORWARD WHEN GOING OVER RAIL ROAD TRACKS OR OTHER BUMPS/POTHOLES IN THE ROAD. FROM A DRIVER STANDPOINT, IF THE CAR LOSES CONTACT WITH THE ROAD THERE IS SOMETHING ELECTRONIC THAT CAUSES IT TO ACCELERATE EVEN IF THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED. *TR

THIS FAILURE OCCURS WHENEVER ONE WHEEL LOOSES TRACTION WITH THE ROAD. INSTEAD OF THE ANTILOCK BRAKING KICKING IN, THE BRAKES ON ALL WHEELS ARE BACKED OFF GIVING THE FEELING THE CAR IS ACCELERATING. THIS HAPPENS WHEN YOU GO OVER A BUMP OR SNOW. ON SNOW YOU HAVE TO ALLOW ADDITIONAL BRAKING DISTANT. THIS IS THE SAME PROBLEM AS DESCRIBED FOR THE 2010 PRIUS. *TR

I NOTICED IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS THAT THE "SLIPPERY" SIGN ON MY PRIUS 2007 CAME ON MANY TIMES EVEN UNDER VERY SAFE ROAD CONDITIONS. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN I DID A RIGHT TURN SLOWLY, THE "SLIPPERY" SIGN WOULD COME ON. ON FEBRUARY 26, 2010. I WAS DRIVING MY CAR WHEN IT STARTED TO SLEET. ALL OF A SUDDEN, MY CAR LOST CONTROL AND STARTED TO SPIN UNTIL IT HIT THE SNOW BANK ON THE ROAD SIDE. IN THE FOLLOWING WEEK, THE CAR SLIPPED TWICE WHEN I APPROACHED STOP SIGNS SLOWLY AND APPLIED BRAKE LIGHTLY. WE EXAMINED THE REAR TIRES WHICH WERE THE ORIGINAL TIRES WITH 48,000 MILES ON AND THE MARKINGS WERE MOSTLY WORN OUT. I WOULD ALSO WANT TO POINT OUT THAT THESE OLD TIRES PASSED INSPECTION ON THE SAME DAY OF THE ACCIDENT AND WE JUST CHANGED THE TIRES HOPING TO IMPROVE THE TRACTION. AFTER THE TIRES WERE CHANGED ON MARCH 6, 2010, IT SLIPPED ONCE IN THE FOLLOWING TWO WEEKS UNDER THE SAME SITUATION WHEN I APPROACHED A STOP SIGN SLOWLY AND APPLIED BRAKE LIGHTLY. THE ROAD CONDITIONS WERE ALL PERFECT WHEN THESE 3 SLIPPAGES HAPPENED AFTER FEB. 26, 2010. I HAVE READ SOME ARTICLES(CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM) AND CHAT ROOMS(PRIUSCHAT.COM) ONLINE AND FOUND QUITE A FEW SIMILAR EXPERIENCES FROM OTHER PRIUS DRIVERS. *TR

I HAVE MULTIPLE TIMES EXPERIENCED A DANGEROUS OVER-SENSITIVITY OF THE TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM ON MY CAR. IT CONSISTENTLY HAPPENS IN THE FOLLOWING SCENARIOS: A) IF I AM DRIVING AT A LOW SPEED, SAY 20 MPH, ON A SMOOTH, DRY PAVED ROAD AND THEN "PANIC BREAK" THE TRAC SYSTEM KICKS IN AND TEMPORARILY CUTS POWER TO MY CAR, RESULTING IN A MOMENTARY LOSS OF BRAKING. B) IF I AM WAITING AT A STOP LIGHT IN THE RIGHT HAND LANE, ABOUT TO MAKE A RIGHT HAND TURN, AND THERE IS EVEN A MODERATE AMOUNT OF GRAVEL ON THE ROAD OR THE ROAD IS WET, THEN I ACCELERATE TO MAKE MY RIGHT TURN, THE TRAC SYSTEM AGAIN KICKS IN, RESULTING IN A MOMENTARY LOSS OF ACCELERATION. I HAVE BEEN COMPENSATING FOR THESE OCCURRENCES, HOWEVER I FEEL VERY UNSAFE IN THIS CAR YET NO ONE SEEMS TO WANT TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. WHEN I TOOK MY CAR TO THE DEALER, THEY LITERALLY JUST SAID THAT THE CAR WAS "OPERATING AS IT WAS DESIGNED TO." WELL THEN MAYBE IT IS THE DESIGN THAT NEEDS TO BE RE ASSESSED. *TR

INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). I OWN A 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS, I HAVE BEEN HAVING THE SAME ISSUES OTHER DRIVERS ARE REPORTING IN THAT THE VEHICLE WILL INCREASE SPEED WHEN GOING OVER BUMPS, OR ON A SLIPPERY ROAD. I ALWAYS ASSUMED IT WAS SOME TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM AND IT WAS NORMAL, HOWEVER THE RECENT NEWS STORIES HAVE MADE ME AWARE THAT MY SITUATION WITH MY VEHICLE IS NOT NORMAL. I HAVE CONTACTED TOYOTA ABOUT THIS MAJOR ISSUE, HOWEVER THEY ADVISED ME THAT BECAUSE THE VEHICLE IS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY THAT THEY ARE NOT HELD LIABLE FOR THE VEHICLE. THEY ALSO STATED THAT DUE TO NO RECALL BEING ISSUED FOR THIS MODEL AND YEAR THAT NOTHING CAN BE DONE, UNLESS I AM WILLING TO PAY TO HAVE THE ISSUE AT HAND RESOLVED. I DO FEEL THAT THE BRAKING ISSUE IS IDENTICAL TO THE 2010 ISSUES. NOT SURE WHAT TO DO, AND THEREFORE I AM WRITING TO YOU. THE INCIDENT DATE WOULD BE WHEN EVER I DRIVE MY VEHICLE, NO CRASH HAS HAPPENED YET HOWEVER. [XXX] *TR

INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER WHEN TIRES LOSE TRACTION (2007 TOYOTA PRIUS - VIN: [XXX] ). *TR

MY WIFE HAS A 2007 PRIUS, ON WHICH WE RUN DUNLOP GRASPICS SNOW TIRES, 185/65R15, IN THE WINTER, ON ALL 4 CORNERS. WE HAVE RUN THE GRASPICS ON A DODGE CARAVAN, FORD MUSTANG, AND ACURA RSX, WITH GOOD RESULTS, ON SNOWY / ICY ROADS. ANYWAY, WE WERE IN CANADA, DECEMBER 6, 2008, BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY, TEMP ABOUT 6 DEG. F. ROADS IN THE CITY HAD 1 - 2 INCHES OF SNOW, WITH ENOUGH SALT TO MAKE A NICE GREASY MIXTURE, (TOO COLD TO MELT THE SNOW). I STOPPED AT A STOP SIGN BEFORE MAKING A LEFT TURN. FROM FULL STOP, AND THERE WERE SOME ON COMING CARS BUT A DISTANCE AWAY, I GENTLY STEPPED ON THE GAS TO MAKE THE TURN - NOTHING - OKAY THE TRAFFIC A LITTLE CLOSER, BUT STILL A LONG WAYS AWAY. I GIVE IT A LITTLE MORE GAS, AND MAYBE WE ARE MOVING. FINALLY IT IS CREEPING ACROSS, AND WE COMPLETE THE LEFT TURN WITH NO BENT SHEET METAL. AFTER THIS EXPERIENCE, AND WITH NO ONE ELSE IN THE PRIUS, I DID SOME EXPERIMENTING. THE TRACTION CONTROL APPEARS TO WORK TOO WELL. IT SEEMS TO ALLOW NO SLIPPAGE, AND THERE IS NO FEELING OF FORWARD PROGRESS, OR THAT THE TIRES ARE EVEN TRYING. I DID FIND SOME SIMILAR COMMENTS ON THE INTERNET. I CALLED TOYOTA AND THEY ARE SO CONCERNED ABOUT DAMAGE TO THE PRIUS DRIVETRAIN THAT THE TRACTION CONTROL IS DESIGNED TO ALLOW NO SLIPPAGE. THE PERSON ON THE PHONE AT TOYOTA SAID THAT IF THE TIRES SPUN AND THEN GOT TRACTION, THERE MAY BE DAMAGE RESULTING IN A $6000 REPAIR BILL. I SAID, %$#@ THE $6000; I HAD 4 PEOPLE IN A CAR THAT WAS VERY DANGEROUS AT SNOWY INTERSECTIONS. I ASKED TO TALK TO SOME ONE ELSE AND GOT NO DIFFERENT ANSWER, EXCEPT THAT THEY HAD RECEIVED SIMILAR CALLS, AND THE ONLY ADVICE WAS TO USE SNOW TIRES. NO DEATHS OR INJURIES. NO FIRE NO CRASH. NOT REPORTED TO POLICE. *TR

TOYOTA PRIUS 2007. WILL NOT MOVE WHEN ON ANY SLIPPERY SURFACE. THE TRACTION CONTROL HAS NO OVERRIDE. THIS COULD GET SOMEONE KILLED WHEN THEY ARE TRYING TO MERGE INTO TRAFFIC AND THE TRACTION CONTROL SHUTS THE POWER TO THE WHEELS WHEN IT IS SEVERELY NEEDED. THIS ONLY HAPPENED IN MY DRIVEWAY, MY OTHER VEHICLES WENT THROUGH THE SNOW WITH NO PROBLEM, THE PRIUS KEPT LOSING POWER AND THERE WAS NO WAY TO SHUT IT OFF. SOME ONE IS GOING TO GET KILLED WHEN THE TRACTION CONTROL DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO AND SITS THERE WHILE THE VEHICLE IS SMASHED BY THE ONCOMING VEHICLE. TO REITERATE ONCE THE TRACTION CONTROL TAKES OVER THE DRIVER HAS NO CONTROL OVER THE VEHICLE. *TR

TRACTION CONTROL STABILITY CONTROL VSC CUTS POWER INSTEAD OF GENTLY BRAKING ONE WHEEL. *TR

I HAVE A 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS AND HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME BRAKING ISSUE THAT IS BEING REPORTED ABOUT THE 2010 PRIUS. I HAVE NOTICED THAT WHEN I AM BRAKING WHILE GOING OVER POT-HOLES, RAILROAD TRACKS, OR VERY BUMPING ROADS I CAN FEEL A SUDDEN AND MOMENTARY LOSS OF BRAKING. I ALSO NOTICED THAT THE TRACTION CONTROL INDICATOR LIGHT ON THE DASH ALWAYS TURNS ON WHEN THIS HAPPENS. *TR

I WAS DRIVING MY TOYOTA PRIUS UP MY LONG AND FAIRLY STEEP DRIVEWAY OVER ABOUT AN INCH OF SNOW WHEN THE POWER SUDDENLY KICKED OUT BECAUSE OF "THE TRAC" SYSTEM AND I SLID BACKWARDS INTO A TREE. IT HAPPENED A SECOND TIME WITH JUST A SMALL DUSTING OF SNOW. I GUIDED IT INTO THE MOUNTAIN BUT DAMAGED THE EXHAUST SYSTEM RUNNING OVER A ROCK. I NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY PREVIOUS CAR WHICH WAS A SATURN SEDAN. THE TOYOTA DEALER SAID IT WAS A SAFETY FEATURE WHERE THE ENGINE CUTS OUT IF THERE IS ANY WHEEL SPINNING AND TO GET SNOW TIRES WHICH I DID (WITH STUDS). STILL I RARELY GO OUT IN THE SNOW ANYMORE. IT STILL SLIPS ON OCCASION EVEN WITH THE STUDS. IT WOULD BE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS IF ANOTHER CAR WAS BEHIND ME. LUCKILY THE TREE STOPPED ME OR I WOULD HAVE GONE INTO A RAVINE. OTHER OWNERS HAVE COMPLAINED TO CONSUMER AFFAIRS BUT TOYOTA HAS NOT ACKNOWLEDGED THIS SAFETY PROBLEM. *JB