2012 Toyota Prius Seat Belts Problems

Seatbelt does not retract or lock properly when braking.

VEHICLE IS MANUFACTURED WITHOUT ANY REGARD FOR PREVENTING MICE FROM ENTERING THE PASSENGER INTERIOR--- AIR INTAKE VENT UNDER WINDSHIELD AND 2 REAR DECOMPRESSION VENTS LOCATED IN THE REAR CARGO COMPARTMENT ABOVE THE WHEEL WELLS ARE OPEN TO THE EXTERIOR ALLOWING UNIMPEDED ACCESS TO THE INTERIOR OF THE CAR. HAD MICE IN THIS CAR 2 WEEKS AFTER PURCHASE IN 2012 AND HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH THIS PROBLEM FOR 7 YEARS. JUST RECENTLY, HAD TOYOTA INSTALL 1/4" HARDWARE CLOTH OVER THESE 3 AREAS AND THIS SHOULD HELP SIGNIFICANTLY TO PREVENT ENTRY. ALL PREVENTATIVE MEASURES TO PREVENT MICE ENTRY HAVE BEEN DILIGENTLY TAKEN BY ME, WITHOUT SUCCESS. MICE CAN MAKE A PERSON VERY SICK. THEIR EXCREMENT CARRIES HANTAVIRUS..... AND THE MICE CARRY TICKS, WHICH CAN LEAD TO LYME DISEASE. SIMPLY MANUFACTURING THE CAR WITH THESE VENTS PROPERLY SCREENED WOULD GREATLY REDUCE THE CHANCE OF OCCUPANTS CONTRACTING A SERIOUS DISEASE.THE MICE ALSO DO A LOT OF DAMAGE TO THE CAR ITSELF, IN MY CAR THE DRIVER SEAT BELT WAS CHEWED, AND I HAVE HAD TO REPLACE THE CABIN AIR FILTER SEVERAL TIMES BECAUSE OF NESTING IN THIS COMPARTMENT(AFTER HAVING BEEN UNKNOWINGLY BREATHING THE MICE EXCREMENT AS THE AIR PASSES THROUGH THIS FILTER ON ITS' WAY TO THE INTERIOR. TOYOTA NEEDS TO BE PRESSURED BY YOUR AGENCY TO CORRECT THIS VERY SERIOUS HEALTH HAZARD THAT THEIR CAR IS PRESENTING. THEIR IS NO LEGITIMATE REASON FOR THIS SITUATION TO EXIST. THE COST TO TOYOTA WOULD BE NEGLIGIBLE.THE BENEFIT TO ALL PRIUS OWNERS WOULD BE VERY SIGNIFICANT, LIKELY PREVENTING MANY CASES OF DISEASE. PLEASE TAKE THIS SITUATION VERY SERIOUSLY, AS IS THE CASE. I ALSO WILL BE CALLING YOU TO DISCUSS THIS OVER THE PHONE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP TO CORRECT THIS PROBLEM!

THE DRIVER SEATBELT BUCKLE WILL NOT UNBUCKLE

WHILE DRIVING TO A GET TOGETHER THE BACK SEAT MIDDLE PASSENGER RESTRAINT BECAME SEPARATED FROM THE LOCKING CLIP THAT HOLDS SEAT BELT OVER PASSENGERS LAP. MAKING IT DANGEROUS TO DRIVE WITH MY CHILDREN IN THE BACK SEAT. IT WILL NOT CLIP TOGETHER ANYMORE. I JUST BOUGHT THIS VEHICLE 3 MONTHS AGO AND IT HAD NO PROBLEMS AT THAT TIME.

MY WIFE WAS INVOLVED IN A TWO CAR CRASH WHEN A CAR COMING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION MADE AN ILLEGAL LEFT TURN DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF HER. IT HAPPENED SO QUICK THAT SHE NEVER HAD TIME TO HIT HER BRAKES. SHE WAS TRAVELING BETWEEN 30 AND 35 MPH IN A 35 MPH ZONE ON A TWO LANE ROAD. I WOULD THINK THAT AT THAT SPEED IF ALL HER SAFETY EQUIPMENT WORKED SHE WOULD NOT SUFFER ANY INJURIES. HER SEAT BELT FAILED CAUSING THE SEAT LATCH TO FAIL AND SHE ENDED UP JAMMED INTO THE BOTTOM AND UNDER SIDE OF THE DASHBOARD. SHE SUFFERED A BLOW TO HER CHEST AND INJURIES TO HER KNEES, LOWER LEGS AND FOOT. SHE HAD SURGERY ON HER RIGHT KNEE SO WE COULD GET HER ON HER FEET AGAIN AND IS AWAITING SURGERY ON HER RIGHT SHOULDER. SHE HAD A PRE EXISTING HEART CONDITION THAT WAS RAISED TO EMERGENCY STATUS AFTER THE BLOW TO HER CHEST AND SHE HAD SURGERY FOR THAT AND THEY FOUND A SHORT CIRCUIT IN THE MIDDLE OF HER HEART AND ZAPPED IT. THERE IS ONLY A 2% CHANCE IT WILL EVER RETURN. I HAVE PICTURES OF THE FAILED SEAT BELT AND SEAT. THE SEAT BELT IS IN THE FULLY EXTENDED POSITION AND LOCKED AND CAN NOT BE RELEASED EVEN BY YANKING ON IT. I AM WRITING THIS REPORT SO THIS SITUATION CAN BE CHECKED AND IF FOUND FAULTY CAN BE CORRECTED BEFORE ANY ONE ELSE GOES THROUGH WHAT MY WIFE IS GOING THROUGH.

I OWN A 2012 PRIUS WITH THE TECHNOLOGY PACKAGE, INCLUDING RADAR ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL. I BELIEVE THESE SAME RADAR SENSORS ARE ALSO USED TO DETECT IMMINENT COLLISIONS IN FRONT OF THE VEHICLE, EVEN WHEN CRUISE CONTROL MODE IS NOT ENGAGED. ABOUT A MONTH AGO, WHILE DRIVING NORTH ON INTERSTATE 5 IN DOWNTOWN SEATTLE AT APPROXIMATELY 60 MILES PER HOUR, AND WITHOUT CRUISE CONTROL ENGAGED, MY PRIUS WENT INTO "IMMINENT COLLISION MODE" DESPITE THE FACT THAT THERE WAS NOTHING IN FRONT OF ME -- NO VEHICLES, NO DEBRIS, NO OBSTRUCTIONS. BEFORE SLAMMING ON THE BRAKES, MY SEAT BELT WAS "TIGHTENED" AND THE BRAKES WERE AUTOMATICALLY APPLIED AT FULL FORCE, EVEN WITHOUT MY FOOT TOUCHING THE BRAKE. THIS WAS INCREDIBLY JARRING AND DISTURBING, AND COULD HAVE BEEN A SERIOUS ACCIDENT IF THERE WAS A VEHICLE BEHIND ME. FORTUNATELY, THERE WAS NO VEHICLE BEHIND ME AT THIS TIME. AFTER ABOUT TWO SECONDS OF FULL BRAKING, THE VEHICLE "DISENGAGED" COLLISION MODE AND ALLOWED ME PROCEED AND RETURN TO SPEED. I CALLED THE TOYOTA OF SEATTLE DEALERSHIP AND SPOKE TO THEIR SERVICE DEPARTMENT. THEY WERE UNAWARE OF THIS ISSUE, AND SUGGESTED THAT I BRING THE VEHICLE IN FOR SERVICING. THEY CONFIRMED THERE WERE NO OUTSTANDING RECALLS ON THE VEHICLE. THEY TOLD ME IT WOULD COST AT LEAST $100 FOR A BASIC DIAGNOSTIC, AND IF SENSORS HAD TO BE REPLACED, IT COULD COST HUNDREDS OR EVEN THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. BECAUSE I AM CURRENTLY UNEMPLOYED AND LOOKING FOR WORK, I DID NOT BRING MY VEHICLE INTO THE SERVICE CENTER. I FEEL THIS IS TOYOTA'S OBLIGATION TO FIX, AND SHOULDN'T REQUIRE ME SPENDING MONEY OUT OF POCKET. I WOULD LIKE SOME KIND OF RESPONSE FROM TOYOTA ON THIS ISSUE. I HAVE AVOIDED USING THE RADAR CRUISE CONTROL SINCE THIS MOMENT, BUT THE FACT THAT IT OCCURRED WHILE NOT IN THIS MODE MAKES ME FEEL THAT THE CAR COULD "TAKE CONTROL" AT ANY MOMENT AND CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. THANKS, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) *JS

THE LATCH SYSTEM DESIGN ON THE SEATS ON THE NEW PRIUS V IS FLAWED. INSTEAD OF HAVING FOUR LATCH POINTS, ONE SET OF TWO FOR THE LEFT SEAT AND ONE SET OF TWO FOR THE RIGHT SEAT, THEY HAVE ONLY THREE LATCH POINTS, ONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LEFT SEAT, ONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RIGHT SEAT AND ONE IN THE MIDDLE OF CAR. OUR CHILD SAFETY SEAT HAS THREE BUCKLES DESIGNED TO WORK WITH THE LATCH SYSTEM, ONE ON THE LEFT, ONE ON THE RIGHT AND A TOP TETHER. THE LEFT AND RIGHT BUCKLES CANNOT ATTACH TO THE SAME LATCH POINT BECAUSE THEN THE CHILD SAFETY SEAT WILL PIVOT. THIS MEANS ONE MUST INSTALL THE CHILD SAFETY SEAT AT AN OFFSET TO THE CAR'S SEAT, USING THE MIDDLE AND RIGHT LATCH POINTS FOR A CHILD SAFETY SEAT INSTALLED ON THE RIGHT SIDE. BUT THEN THE TOP TETHER, WHICH MUST GO OVER THE TOP OF THE SEAT DOWN TO A LATCH POINT, IS NO LONGER AS SECURE AS IT SHOULD BE, SINCE THE LATCH POINT IS THEN OFF-CENTER WITH REGARD TO THE TOP TETHER. IF THE CHILD IS OLD ENOUGH THAT THEY NEED TO USE THE CAR'S SEAT BELTS WITH THE CHILD SAFETY SEAT (E.G., A BOOSTER SEAT) INSTEAD OF THE RESTRAINTS BUILT-INTO THE CHILD SAFETY SEAT, ONE CAN'T BUCKLE IN THE SEAT BELT BECAUSE THE BUCKLE INTENDED FOR THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE CAR IS BURIED UNDERNEATH THE OFFSET CHILD SAFETY SEAT. THE MIDDLE BUCKLE IS DESIGNED TO NOT WORK WITH THE SIDE SEAT BELTS. IF ONE USES THE LEFT SIDE BUCKLE WITH THE RIGHT SIDE SEAT BELT, IT'S NOT AS SECURE, AND THEN THE LEFT SIDE PASSENGER (OR A SECOND CHILD SAFETY SEAT) HAS NO SEAT BELT. SO A PROPER USE OF THE SEAT BELTS REQUIRES THE CHILD SAFETY SEAT TO BE CENTERED ON THE SEAT, BUT THEN EITHER THE LATCHES ARE CONNECTED AT AN OFFSET OR THEY ARE CONNECTED TO THE SAME LATCH AND PIVOT. EITHER WAY THE CHILD SAFETY SEAT IS NOT REALLY SECURE. *TR