2002 Toyota Prius

REPEATED PROBLEMS WITH STEERING, INCLUDING UNCONTROLLABLE VIBRATION OF STEERING WHEEL AND LOSS OF POWER STEERING. CAR HAS 39K MILES. PROBLEM HAS RECENTLY GROWN WORSE, WITH COMPLETE LOSS OF POWER STEERING AND APPEARANCE OF PS WARNING ON COMPUTER SCREEN DURING HIGHWAY DRIVING. PROBLEM IS ESPECIALLY PREVALENT IN COLD WEATHER. VERY DANGEROUS. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA PRIUS. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH WHEN THE POWER STEERING WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE POWER STEERING RACK WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE DEALER DEEMED AS UNSAFE TO DRIVE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 90,000.

STEERING WHEEL SHAKES WHEN STARTING TO BACK UP OR GO FORWARD . HAPPENS IN COLDER WEATHER MORE OFTEN <DEALER SAID IT WAS NOT A WARRATY ISSUE WHEN I FIRST APPROACED THEM IN 2004.. HAD 60K MILES ON IT. THEY SAID IT WAS AN ELECTRONIC STEERING ISSUE WITH MOTOR ON RACK AND PINION GEAR. TOYOTA PRIUS 2002 YEAR MODEL, THEY WOULDGO T REPLACE IT OF OVER $1000.,,, SAID TO DRIVE IS AND NOT WORRY BUT IF IT GOT WORSE TO BRING IT IN,. WELL RECENTLY I HAVE TALKED TO MANY OTHER PRIUS OWNERS WITH 2001 AND 2002 MODELS AND SOME HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEMS AND SOME HAD IT FIXED SO I DEICDED TO GO TO PRIUSCHAT AND FOUND THIS WAS A PROBLEM ,. AND WAS DANGEROUS., BUT THERE IS NO RECALL NOTICE ON THIS ISSUE., SO I THOUGHT IT BEST TO LOOK INTO AGAIN AND SEE YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT REGISTERED THIS YEAR.,., IF THERE IS MORE INFORMATION YOU CAN PROVIDE I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MT IMPRESSION IF THE SERVICE MANAGERS AT TOYOTA LIKE TO SKIRT THE ISSUE OF DANGER OR POSSIBLE ACCIDENTS AND TRY TO GET YOU TO REPAIR IT AT YOUR COST,,,,I HOPE YOU FOLKS LOOK INTO THIS MATTER MORE DEEPLY. *TR

STEERING WHEEL SHAKES VIOLENTLY FOR A FEW SECONDS THEN STOPS. UP UNTIL YESTERDAY IT DID THIS SPORADICALLY WHILE BACKING AND TURNING. YESTERDAY, IT DID IT DURING WET WEATHER, 50 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, BACKING AND TURNING. THEN IT DID IT AGAIN WHILE DRIVING AND TURNING IN A PARKING GARAGE. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME IT HAS EVER DONE IT GOING FORWARD. THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN OCCURRING FOR APPROX 8 YEARS ON AND OFF. TOYOTA DEALERSHIP SAYS THEY CANNOT REPRODUCE PROBLEM. *TR

2002 TOYOTA PRIUS STEERING RACK FAILURE. APPROXIMATELY 2 WEEKS AGO THE STEERING IN MY PRIUS BECAME DIFFICULT TO TURN AND PULSATED WHEN TURNING. THE TOYOTA DEALER, WHERE I HAD PURCHASED THE VEHICLE, INSPECTED THE CAR AND INFORMED ME THAT THE STEERING RACK WAS FAILING AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AT A COST OF $3,000. AFTER RESEARCHING THIS ON THE INTERNET I FOUND THAT THIS IS A PROBLEM INHERENT TO THESE 1ST GENERATION PRIUS MODELS. I CONTACTED TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE AND OPENED A CASE TO SEE IF TOYOTA WOULD OFFER ANY ASSISTANCE IN THE REPAIR OF MY CAR. ONLINE AT OWNER FORUMS REGARDING THIS PROBLEM THERE WERE MANY INSTANCES WHERE TOYOTA WOULD REPAIR THE VEHICLE AT NO COST TO THE OWNER OR AT LEAST OFFER SOME ASSISTANCE WITH THE COST. I WAS REFUSED BY TOYOTA WITH ANY HELP OF ANY KIND. I BELIEVE THAT SINCE TOYOTA WAS AWARE OF THIS DEFECT DURING THE 2001- 2003 MODEL RUN AND CHANGED THE STEERING RACK FOR THE 2004 REDESIGN TO ELIMINATE THIS PROBLEM THAT THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL TO ADDRESS THIS MATTER. I BASE THIS ON THE VOLUME OF CARS EXPERIENCING THIS ALONG WITH THE FACT THAT TOYOTA HAD A SPECIAL SERVICE CAMPAIGN IN PLACE AT ONE POINT THAT REPAIRED THESE AFFECTED VEHICLES WHEN CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCED THIS PROBLEM. TOYOTA IS NO LONGER RUNNING THIS REPAIR CAMPAIGN. *TR

SEVERE SHAKING IN STEERING OF 2002 PRIUS. ALSO ENCOUNTER LOSS OF POWER STEERING FOR A SHORT TIME 4 DIFFERENT TIMES. TAKEN TO DEALER 3 TIMES !ST TWO TIMES I WAS TOLD IT JUST NEEDED GREASE ON THE STEERING COLUMN. 3RD TIME WAS TOLD IT NEEDED $3400 OF WORKING AND THAT THE CAR WAS DANGEROUS TO DRIVE. CAR HAD APPROXIMATELY 107,000 MILES THE THIRD TIME I TOOK IT IN. AFTER I CONTACTED TOYOTA CORP. THE DEALER CALLED TO SAY HE WOULD WORK WITH ME ON THE PRICE, BUT I CAN NOT TRUST HIM TO DO THE WORK. IT HAS NOT BEEN FIXED YET I HAD ASK THE SERVICE MANAGER IF THE CAR WAS SAFE TO TAKE ON A LONG TRIP THE 2ND TIME I TOOK IT IN AND HE SAID YES. IT WAS ON THE WAY BACK FROM THE TRIP THAT I LOSS POWER STEERING DRIVING ON I95. THANKFULLY I WAS ABLE TO CONTROL THE VEHICLE UNTIL POWER STEERING RESUMED. *TR

MY 2002 TOYOTA PRIUS'S ELECTRONIC MOTOR STEERING ASSEMBLY STOPS WORKING AFTER APPROXIMATELY 1HR OF DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. AT 75 MILES PER HOUR, WARNING LIGHTS TURN ON AND STEERING ASSIST FAILS. STEERING THE CAR FROM THE ROAD IS INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT. AFTER TURNING THE CAR OFF AND BACK ON, THE STEERING WORKS ONCE AGAIN. THE CAR IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE AS THE STEERING FAILS UNEXPECTEDLY AT HIGH SPEEDS. THE DEALER STATES THAT THE FIX WILL COST $3200, WHICH IS OVER HALF OF THE VEHICLE'S KELLEY BLUE BOOK TRADE-IN VALUE. *TR

THE ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING ASSEMBLY MALFUNCTIONS AND STOPS PROVIDING ASSISTANCE TO THE DRIVER ON A 2002 TOYOTA PRIUS, ON ONE INSTANCE THE GASOLINE MOTOR STOPPED WORKING AND I WAS LEFT DRIVING AT LOW SPEED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE ELECTRIC MOTOR ONLY. THE LATEST INCIDENT OCCURRED ON MAY 31ST, 2010 WHILE DRIVING AT ABOUT 65 MPH ON A FREEWAY, THE CAR LOST THE POWER STEERING OPERATION, MULTIPLE WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON THE SCREEN, THE GAS MOTOR SHUT DOWN AND THE SPEED OF THE CAR DROPPED TO AROUND 23 MPH. THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS RESPONSIVE ONLY IN THE RANGE OF 0~23 MPH. I TOOK THE CAR TO A SERVICE CENTER AND THE SERVICE ADVISOR TOLD ME THE ELECTRIC POWER STEERING MODULE WAS DEFECTIVE AND NEEDED REPLACEMENT. REVIEWING THE SERVICE RECORDS FOR THE CARS I FOUND THAT IT PRESENTED THE SAME SYMPTOMS ONCE IN 2006 AND THREE TIMES IN 2008. THE SERVICE CENTER EITHER CLEANED A SENSOR OR COULDN'T REPLICATE THE PROBLEM. THE PART WAS NEVER REPLACED. WHILE RESEARCHING NHTSA SITE I FOUND THAT TOYOTA HAS FILE TSBS BACK IN 2004 RECOGNIZING A PROBLEM WITH THIS PARTICULAR COMPONENT AND IN SOME CASES EXTENDED THE WARRANTY ON THE PART. I CONTACTED TOYOTA AND THEY REFUSE TO ASSIST IN THE COST OF THE CAR REPAIR. *TR