2014 Toyota Prius V

RATTLE TYPE OF NOISE CAN HEAR AND FEEL FROM DRIVER'S SIDE IN FRONT SUSPENSION AREA WHILE DRIVING LOWER SPEED AND WHEN PUSH BRAKE AND STOP . MOST OF NOISE HAPPENED WHEN PUSH BRAKE TO STOP AND SLOWLY START DRIVING / MOVING VEHICLE AGAIN . THOUGHT NOISE IS FROM SUSPENSION BUT AFTER BEING FULL INSPECTION ON VEHICLE , MECHANICS BELIEVE IT'S NOISE FROM " HYBRID SYSTEM POWER INVERTER " . SEARCH RECALL STATES ON NHSTA WEB AND FOUND RECALL IS " INCOMPLETE " . SO AM PLANING TO BRING IT AND ASK AT TOYOTA DEALER IN CULVER CITY CA WHERE I ORIGINALLY PURCHASED VEHICLE FOR REPAIR / REPLACE INVERTER . IT SUPPOSED TO BE PERFORM AS FREE OF SERVICE .

TOYOTA ISSUED SAFETY RECALLS E0E AND F0R FOR THE FAILURE OF THE HYBRID INVERTER. IF THE INVERTER HAD NOT FAILED YET, THE TOYOTA'S REMEDY IS A 'SOFTWARE RE-FLASH'. THE SOFTWARE REFLASH 'REMEDY' IS NOT SUFFICIENT. THERE HAVE BEEN AN EXCESSIVE NUMBER OF INVERTER FAILURES AFTER THE SOFTWARE RE-FLASH 'REMEDY' FOR THESE RECALLS HAS BEEN COMPLETED. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS TO DRIVERS, AS IT LEADS TO UNINTENDED DECELERATION ' THE PRIUS SPONTANEOUSLY ENTERING 'LIMP-HOME MODE' OR EVEN A 'HYBRID SYSTEM SHUT DOWN'. THIS IS DANGEROUS AS IN RESULTS IN DRASTIC REDUCTIONS, IF NOT THE COMPLETE LOSS, OF POWER. THESE UNINTENDED DECELERATION OCCURRENCES PREDOMINANTLY HAPPEN WHILE THE VEHICLES ARE IN MOTION ' MANY TIMES AT HIGH SPEEDS. BETWEEN ONLY TWO DEALERSHIPS, WE HAVE DOCUMENTED APPROXIMATELY 100 INVERTER FAILURES AFTER THE E0E AND F0R SOFTWARE REFLASH 'REMEDY' HAS BEEN COMPLETED. DURING ONE INVERTER FAILURE, WHICH TOOK PLACE AFTER RECEIVING THE E0E SOFTWARE RE-FLASH, EXCESSIVE HEAT WAS GENERATED WITHIN THE INVERTER THAT MELTED STEEL BOLTS AND CREATED AN ELECTRICAL ARC THAT BLASTED TWO HOLES THROUGH THE ALUMINUM CASE OF THE INVERTER ASSEMBLY. THE DRIVER STATED IF SHE HAD EXPERIENCED THIS FAILURE WHILE ON THE FREEWAY, 'SHE WOULDN'T BE HERE ANYMORE.' THE VEHICLE WAS A 2012 MODEL YEAR AND AT THE TIME OF THE FAILURE IT HAD ONLY 31,222 MILES ON IT. INSTANCES OF UNINTENDED DECELERATION WILL CONTINUE TO GROW DAILY UNTIL TOYOTA IMPLEMENTS A SUFFICIENT REMEDY THAT WILL PREVENT THESE LOSSES OF POWER FROM OCCURRING. ATTACHED PLEASE FIND A REPORT DETAILING, FOR ONLY TWO DEALERSHIPS, THE INVERTER FAILURES WE'VE EXPERIENCED AFTER THE E0E AND F0R SOFTWARE RE-FLASH REMEDIES HAVE BEEN COMPLETED. ALSO ATTACHED, PLEASE FIND THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE INVERTER WHICH EXPERIENCED THE ELECTRICAL ARC. PLEASE CONSIDER THAT "DATE THIS HAPPENED" AS THE FILING DATE OF THIS REPORT. *JS

WHEN DRIVING AT 30 MPH, CAR HAS VIBRATION..TOOK BACK TO DEALERSHIP. BRAND NEW CAR, HAD TO PUT 4 BRAND NEW TIRES ON IT. COULD NOT GET IT TO BALANCE..AFTER TWO NEW TIRES..AFTER ALL NEW TIRES BALANCES..ALIGNMENT OK. COULDN'T FIGURE IT OUT, BECAUSE IT STILL HAD THE VIBRATION. TALKED TO HIGHER MECHANICS @ TOYOTA VIA PHONE SAID "NATURE OF THE CAR".BEFORE AND AFTER THE 30 MPH IT SMOOTHS OUT AND NO VIBRATION.

AFTER PARKED FOR 20 MINUTES, THE CAR IS DEAD, HAD TO JUMP START. BATTERY WAS REPLACED BY THE DEALER, BUT THE ISSUE WAS NOT TAKING CARE OF. AT LEAST 3 MORE TIMES SINCE THE BATTERY REPLACEMENT, I FOUND MY CAR WAS AGAIN DED AFTER PARKING, CAN NOT EVEN OPEN THE DOOR WITH REMOTE. BUT ALL 3 TIMES THE CAR WAS ABLE TO POWER ON AFTER A FEW MINUTES ON IT'S OWN WHILE WAITING FOR TOW... ABOVE THAT, THE CLOCK, TRIP ODOMETER AND TEMP SETTINGS WERE RESETTING ON RANDOM TIMES SINCE 650 MILES, AS WELL AS THE RADIO WHICH WILL TURN ON AND OFF AT RANDOM. DEALER REPLACED THE RADIO BUT IT STILL DOES THE SAME. I WAS TOLD THAT THEY (DEALER) CAN'T TELL ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR, AND CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT, UNLESS IT'S DEAD WHILE IT'S IN THEIR SHOP, EVEN AFTER I SHOWED THEM THE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS OF THE ISSUES.