2003 Toyota Prius: problems, recalls and reliability

“Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota prius. While driving approximately 35 mph, an unknown warning message displayed and the steering wheel was very difficult to turn. The vehicle was restarted and functioned as normal. The failure occurred multiple times. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 11v304000 (steering). The failure mileage was 63,000.”Owner report · Steering · Apr 2015

“While driving, the steering wheel begins to shudder. At one point, it power steering makes a spontaneous turn to the left, which I prevent with my hands, but nevertheless moves the car to the left enough to cause an accident if the driver is not paying close attention, or happens to be too near another car. The power steering immediately shuts off, and the rest of the trip continues with no power steering, until the car is turned off. The next time the car is turned on, the power steering is back (until it happens again). *tr”Owner report · Steering · Jun 2014

“Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota prius. While driving 10 mph, and making a left turn, the steering wheel shook violently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the cause of the failure could not be found. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was included in NHTSA campaign number: 11v304000 (steering). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.”Owner report · Steering · Jun 2014

“The vehicle would not come to a stop when the brakes were applied. An alarm/light indicator came on for ABS brakes at the same time. I had to apply the emergency brakes for the vehicle to come to a stop. I was able to avoid two vehicles and came to a stop in the bus stop area. The vehicle was towed for repair but the repair shop cannot find the root cause of the problem without the need to replace the entire braking system. For a vehicle with only 36k miles this seems highly unusual and a severely dangerous situation. *tr”Owner report · Service Brakes · May 2014

“Purchased car on ebay from a pa dealer, did not know, nor was I told that the car had no airbag. Whether it was removed or not replaced I don't know. My wife was driving and received a compound fracture of her right leg. I understand that it is a federal offense not to notify a buyer of missing airbags. My wife had to be airlifted for treatment, and still is unable to walk correctly. She has continuous pain. *tr”Owner report · Air Bags · Mar 2014

“Started vehicle , began to pull out of driveway and steering wheel began to shake violently. Had to stop vehicle to wait for steering wheel to stop shaking. Has been doing it everytime I go to start vehicle . Seems to do o.k. Driving at speeds above 10 mph. Starting to get slight vibration at highway speeds. Toyota dealership says power steering rack needs to be replaced at a cost of $3400.00. *tr”Owner report · Steering · Sep 2013

“While backing up slowly (under 10), the car suddenly sped up, unintended accelerated, to hit the movable barrier and another car before braked.”Owner report · Structure · Aug 2013