2014 Toyota Prius Steering Problems

The contact owns a 2014 Toyota Prius C. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds and turning from the left lane, the steering wheel popped out. The vehicle was able to reverse however, tires were pushed inward. The vehicle was pushed out of the roadway. There were no warning lights illuminated. The hazard light was inoperable. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 170,000. The VIN was not available.

I was dropping my daughter off at school and the car completely shut down on me and turned off in the middle of an intersection. I have just had brakes and oil changed but ever since I got the car codes keep popping up and when checked it’s all good. Front lights keep glitching and even with new brakes there is still a bad sound. My dash computer thing keeps going in and out. It happens a lot more when it rains and makes a sizzling sound I’m afraid to drive it in the rain. I’m besides myself how the car turned off on me and my child we couldn’t move I could accelerate and we almost got hit then another light came on and I couldn’t even turn my wheel. Very dangerous

Good Evening, I'm writing to request a callback in regards to my 2014 Toyota Prius which is subject to a recall. "The involved vehicles were designed to enter a failsafe driving mode in response to certain hybrid system faults. Toyota has found that in rare situations, the vehicle may not enter a failsafe driving mode as intended. If this occurs, the vehicle could lose power and stall. While power steering and braking would remain operational, a vehicle stall while driving at higher speeds could increase the risk of a crash." I recently just moved back to South Florida, I was living in NJ for a few years and had the Inverter malfunction earlier this February, 2023, forcing the car to enter the fail safe mode described giving me the warning to "Check Hybrid System, Stop the Vehicle in a Safe Place". The car was at Toyota Universe, Little Falls, NJ for about 45 days, since this was going to take the complete replacing of the inverter and an update of some sort of software. After receiving the car back around March 17th, I moved back to Florida about 2 weeks later. This evening around 5:30 returning from work, the car stalled again while I was driving surrounded by dense traffic, wouldn't accelerate with all lights flashing. Thankfully I was able to pull over slowly into a parking lot after which my steering wheel locked, and my car was no longer able to be put into Drive or Reverse. Car was only able to shift into Neutral and Park. This was the most terrifying experience of my life had something worse happen in the middle of traffic. I have dropped off my car to the dealership parking lot and will be checking it in first thing in the morning. I'd like to ascertain what I should expect from Toyota Manufacturing should this issue be unfixable? I am more than happy to let them attempt fixing it, but I also need to live a normal life and don't feel the need to be responsible for a manufacturing defect putting my life in jeopardy every time I go drive.

Lost steering on car while driving. Shop noted right control arm completely corroded through and broken axle. Entire undercarriage rusted and corroded. Available for inspection. Sudden loss of steering is a risk factor for serious injury or death. Problem has been looked at by two independent service centers who have agreed on problem. Has not been inspected by manufacturer, whom I have contacted over 8 times regarding this issue, or by any other party. There were no warning signs or symptoms prior to failure.

While driving, I received a warning "hybrid system malfunction". Within seconds, the vehicle powered off and the steering wheel LOCKED. I had no control of the car and came to an abrupt stop in lane 1 of a two lane road. I was fortunate that it was late in the evening with few cars on the road, had I been on the highway during rush hour the outcome, due to loss of power and control (steering), could have been catastrophic and perhaps fatal for me or other commuters. I note that in 2014, Toyota notified NHTSA of a recall to, "rectify software in two of the Prius's electronic control units, one for the motor/generator and the other controlling the hybrid system." Further Toyota said, "In rare circumstances, it could shut down the hybrid system itself, resulting in loss of power and the vehicle coming to a stop". This is exactly what happened to me the other night. Toyota claims, in 2014, that "it has received no reports of accidents or injuries related to the problem." This seems to be an extraordinarily amount of good luck as I could have been easily rear-ended the other night. Curiously, in this NHTSA data base, another owner reported an incident (11439720) on November 8, 2021, that is similar to the experience I had just days prior. And our VINS are eerily close. Coincidence? Not likely. Does the 2014 recall apply to my car and if not, why not given I experienced the exact same symptoms?

VEHICLE STALL . SHOW 'CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM ' STOP THE VEHICLE IN A SAFE PLACE' DEALER SAID PROBABLY INVERTER IPM FAILED.

TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL MORE THAN QUARTER TURN. RATTLING, CLICKING NOISE IS APPARENT OUT OF CENTER STEERING CONSOLE. TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL MORE THAN 360 DEGREES. THERE ARE SEVERAL RATTLES AND CLICKS IN THE WHEEL. DRIVING IS NOT AFFECTED. IT FEELS AS IF SOMETHING IS LOOSE INSIDE THE AIRBAG. THE MAIN CONCERN IS A FEELING OF LOOSENESS NEAR THE AIRBAG CENTER. THE VEHICLE CAN BE STATIONARY IN MOTION. IT DOES NOT MATTER IF THE VEHICLES IN MOTION. THE ONLY THING IN MOTION IS THE STEERING WHEEL.

I BOUGHT A 2014 TOYOTA PRIUS C 10-07-2017 FROM CARVANA WITH LESS THAN 30,000 MILES. WITH 2 NEW TIRES IN THE FRONT BRIDGESTONE ECOPIA 175/65 R15. IT WOBBLES AT SPEEDS ABOVE 50 MPH AND SLOPPY STEERING THE ROAD WAS DRY. WELL AT THAT TIME THE THE CAR WAS STILL UNDER WARRANT WITH CARVANA SO IF I CHANGE MY MIND ABOUT IT I COULD GET ANOTHER CAR. SEARCHED THE WEB FOR SIMILAR COMPLAINTS AND FOUND A FEW. SO WE TOOK THE CAR TO A PLACE THAT SOLD BRIDGESTONE TIRES TO REPLACE THE REAR TIRES THAT WERE ORIGINAL BUT GOODYEAR BRAND SAME SIZE. SO NOW WE HAVE 4 TIRES THE SAME AND QUESS WHAT HAPPEN THE SAME WOBBLY DRIVING AND SLOPPY STEERING AT 50 MPH. SO WE TOOK THE CAR BACK TO THE SHOP. THE MECHANIC SAID I GUESS THAT IS WHY THEY PUT THE 2 NEW TIRES IN THE FRONT TO CORRRECT THE PROBLEM BUT WHAT YOU NEED AFTER MY TEST DRIVE IS A 4 WHEEL ALIGNMENT. SO I SAID GO AHEAD AND DO IT. DURING THE PROCESS THE ALIGNMENT MECHANIC GUY SAID THE FRONT PASSED BUT THE REAR FAILED. SO THEY CALLED TOYOTA DEALERSHIP AND ASKED IF THEY WERE SPECIAL SHIMS TO FIX THE REAR ALIGNMENT. THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP SAID THERE ARE NO PARTS FOR THAT BECAUSE THAT CAR MODEL DOES NOT REQUIRE A REAR ALIGNMENT. THE C IN TOYOTA PRIUS MEANS C IS FOR CITY DRIVING ONLY. WE WERE STUNNED. I SAID I KNEW THEY HAD A REASON WHY THEY GOT RID OF THE CAR BUT CAN YOU FIX IT ? THE MECHANIC SAID IT IS A POSSIBLE FACTORY DEFECT AND WE SEE SOME OF THOSE SOMETIMES BUT I THINK WE CAN FIX IT AND SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS WITH THAT CAR. WE CAN USE SOME SHIMS THAT ARE MADE FOR A DIFFERENT TYPE OF TOYOTA CAR AND SEE IF WE CAN GET IT IN PROPER ALIGNMENT. I SAID I AM WILLING TO GAMBLE ON YOUR EXPERTISE GO AHEAD AND DO IT. IT IS STILL UNDER WARRANTY WITH CARVANA BUT I DO LIKE THE HATCHBACK CAR. AFTER THE WORK WAS DONE THE TEST DRIVE PROVED THE SUCCESS AND THE PROBLEM WAS GONE. OH AND BY THE WAY IT DRIVES GREAT ON THE HIGHWAY AND I STILL OWN IT.

AS I TRIED TO MAKE A RIGHT TURN AT A VERY BUSY INTERSECTION, I HEARD A STRANGE NOISE AND TOTALLY LOST CONTROL OF THE STEERING WHEELING. I TURNED THE STEERING WHEEL 360 DEGREES ALL THE WAY, AROUND AND AROUND, BUT THE CAR KEPT GOING STRAIGHT... AFTER A MINUTE OR SO, THE COORDINATION BETWEEN THE STEERING WHEEL AND THE WHEELS RE-ESTABLISHED AND I COULD MANAGE TO DRIVE TO A NEARBY PARKING LOT. THE SITUATION HAPPENED AGAIN IN THE PARKING LOT BEFORE IT CAME BACK TO NORMAL. WE TOOK THE CAR TO A LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP AND LEFT IT THERE FOR 2 DAYS. HOWEVER, TECHNICIANS SAID THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATION THE ISSUE MEANING THEY COULD NOT FIND ANY PROBLEM WITH IT. THEY TOLD US THAT IT IS PROBABLY THE ELECTRICITY PART! WE ARE VERY UNSATISFIED WITH THE ANSWER AND VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE UNSAFE CONDITION IT MAY CAUSE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 TOYOTA PRIUS. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, THE VEHICLE DROVE OVER A POTHOLE, WHICH CAUSED THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE TO ELEVATE. THE CONTACT LOST CONTROL OF THE STEERING AND BRAKES. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 1,500. THE CONSUMER STATED HE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER, FOR ERRATIC STEERING WHEN GOING AROUND CURVES AT MODERATE SPEEDS. THE SAME MORNING, WHILE DRIVING, THE VEHICLE WENT OVER A DIP IN THE PAVEMENT. THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE WENT AIRBORNE AS IF, IT WAS ON A HYDRAULIC LIFT. THE CONSUMER HAD NO CONTROL OF THE STEERING OR BRAKING. WHAT SAVED HIM WAS THE LEFT REAR BRAKE AND THE TIRE JERKED ON THE PAVEMENT AND PULLED THE VEHICLE BACK STRAIGHT. HE EXPERIENCED THE FAILURE FOR A SECOND TIME. UPDATED 10/29/14 UPDATED 11/21/14*CN THE CONSUMER STATED THE DEALER COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE DOESN'T OCCUR WITH MULTIPLE PEOPLE IN THE VEHICLE. THE DEALER REFUSED TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE ALONE.*JS

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 TOYOTA PRIUS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH, THE STEERING WHEEL BECAME EXTREMELY LOOSE CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO SWAY ABNORMALLY. THE CONTACT INDICATED THAT THE STEERING WHEEL WAS DIFFICULT TO MANEUVER WHEN MAKING A TURN. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 1,100.