Toyota's Prius Recall Makes Another Cameo
Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling roughly 752,000 vehicles due to a presumed faulty hybrid system. Around 267,000 of the affected units are Prius vehicles sold in the United States.
According to the manufacturer, certain Prius (MY 2013-2015) and Prius V (2014-2017) models can fail to enter fail-safe driving mode in response to certain hybrid system faults. While the conditions for this are said to be fairly specific (though not explained by the automaker in any detail), the resulting failure would see the car lose power and stall. Obviously, this represents a safety risk.
Thus far, Toyota hasn’t acknowledged any injuries stemming from the issue, though it did say it could pose a serious hazard to motorists traveling at speed. Rather than defaulting to limp mode when problems arise, affected vehicles may simply cut power entirely. Toyota said steering and braking should no be affected, however.
This isn’t the first time the issue has cropped up. Toyota recalled 2.4 million hybrid models (globally) in 2018 under similar circumstances. As in this case, the vehicles’ software couldn’t understand how to enter fail-safe mode, so a software fix was issued to remedy the problem. Yet that wasn’t the first time Toyota had to address the matter. Similar recalls were made in 2019, 2014, and 2015 — making us believe there might be more at play than some software gremlins.
From Toyota:
For all involved vehicles, Toyota dealers will update the hybrid system software at no charge. For customer satisfaction, if the vehicle has experienced an inverter failure with certain hybrid system faults related to this condition, the inverter will be repaired or replaced at no charge to customers.
Owners of involved vehicles will be notified by late August 2020.
Customers who aren’t interested in waiting two months to be abridged of the situation may want to hit up the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recalls website to see if their vehicle makes the cut. All that’s needed is the VIN and a little free time. Toyota’s Customer Experience Center can likewise be reached at 1-800-331-4331.
[Image: Toyota]
Consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulations. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, he has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed about the automotive sector by national broadcasts, participated in a few amateur rallying events, and driven more rental cars than anyone ever should. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and learned to drive by twelve. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer and motorcycles.
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Yesterday I was standing in front of my truck goosing it to a high idle (bleeding coolant system) with another vehicle not far behind me and suddenly got terrified for no good reason. Rechecked that it was in park, rechecked the parking brake (as if that would do much), and then recalled that the software on my vehicle can't switch the truck into forward gear. [It's a keeper.]
You mean to tell me that blocking of the left lane is because they stalled out and are coasting? Makes sense now