I think its a problem with the hybrids computer and the no key in the ignition just a push button start not letting the driver shut the car down while its at highway speeds. The Prius, Camry, Highlander and Lexus LS, GS, HS, RX are all availiable in hybrid form. The only models that im aware of that doesn't have the keyless ignition is the Toyota Trucks.
What bothers me is that they tried to blame the floormats. I think they have major issues with the electronics in the car.
Does anyone here have a Toyota? I'd like to here if you really can't get the car into neutral buy selecting it with the shift lever while at speed.

Concerning the failures (or users who don't know how to cope with a problem): I'm not jumping to conclusions until thorough failure mode testing by an independent entity is performed-- but I have pretty strong suspicions that somewhere in the software of the myriad of electrical systems involved (keyless ignition, regenerative braking on the hybrids, manual/automatic shift quadrants, throttle position/transmission interlocks to help prevent transmission damage from neutral drops and the like) there are certain operating modes or conflicting sensor inputs that can result in odd malfunctions. Worse yet it seems that some very key "panic mode" safety overrides and shutdown modes may have been missed by the software guys (who perhaps never envisioned these kinds of failures) or worse yet were purposefully omitted for cost savings.

What's disconcerting is that in many cases there is no longer a direct MECHANICAL way to decouple the engine from the wheels in the event of a failure-- you are relying on software to do it for you. Many shift quadrants are now fully electronic and there is no longer a direct mechanical/hydraulic connection between the shifter and the valve body in automatic cars. You might be asking for neutral, but unless certain software parameters are met the computer might not put the transmission into neutral. Same goes for keyless ignitions, most will not shut off unless certain operating parameters are satisfied. If the software isn't programmed to let you shut things off in the event of a panic situation you better start looking for "plan B."

The internal memo aspect and possibility of covering up a known issue is very interesting as well.

Should be interesting when the dust clears.

A buddy of mine who is a Honda tech just had a tough diagnosis on a Civic that came in for service which refused to shift in/out of park unless you used the manual bypass button on the shifter and then once in gear refused to go out of gear or back into reverse or park unless the same bypass was used. Didn't matter if you stepped on the brakes, the shifter interlock just refused to release the shifter. After some diagnosis and time on the phone with Honda's engineers it was determined that the throttle body (throttle by wire) and throttle position sensor had drifted just enough out of the normal operating range that the ECU was engaging the shifter interlock because it saw that the TPS sensor position was open past the "normal" operating range and it believed that shifting into or out of gear might cause transmission damage. A new throttle body and ECU reset cleared up the problem. It just goes to show that systems that seemingly should not be interacting (at least to the end user) such as throttle body and shifter interlock can under certain situations induce a malfunction that most people would never expect.

All the modern features and convieniences on new cars are great when they're working... but when they're not the level of interconnectedness of all the systems can lead to many new (and potentially exciting!) failure modes.

Personally, I'm sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for someone with a manual transmission Corolla to have a runaway and make the national news. That will be the true "idiot on parade" story. :rofl:

This isnt just hybrids...is it?

Is Toyota using WINDOWS by any chance..... :rofl:

CTRL ALT - DELETE

if this were true there wold bet at least 40 command prompts to make sure you wanted to shut the car down :willy:

this stuff is annoying to hear about but makes me happy to see IDIOTS eat their words about the big three.

HELLS YEAH I will only buy GM fo life

Is there a problem with Toyotas?:_paranoid






They are running VISTA. :D

That guy from California was on Fox News this morning again, he said he does not drive his Toyota faster than 70 mph because he's afraid he will not be able to slow down. My question is why would you drive that vehicle knowing that problem exist? Not exactly a rocket scientist. I think I would get a new or different vehicle...and not a Toyota.

I'm in Australia, my wife has a series 2 Prius, purchased new in 2006

It hasn't been recalled (yet).

She's out right now so I can't go check. Have driven it a few times not many.

From memory (and I will go and check to be sure), there is no Neutral as we normally think of it.

You have:
- Key (which is a plastic square, not a key) slots in before car will start
- Push button start
- then you select Drive or Reverse (only 2 selections)
- There is a "Park" button also
- Foot brake emergency brake

I've not worried too much about my wife's car as she had it serviced recently and asked about recall (at a Toyota dealer mind you).

I might take it for a spin this weekend and try:
1. Pushing start / stop button while driving
2. Pushing park button while driving
3. trying to change gear (selecting drive or reverse while driving - might be bad but I suspect they have an electronic shut out to stop that happening anyway)
4. pull the key out, see if that does anything while driving

Curious to see what the above might show, as said I've probably driven it under 10 times in 3 years

What I have told my wife is if anything ever does happen, just stand on the foot brake and the normal brake. These Prius's brakes rock, first time I tapped em I thought I was going to go through the windscreen, they are very effective brakes, so even if accelerator is stuck on, I gotta believe if you stand on both the emergency brake and the normal brake it will absolutely slow you down, the emergency brake is still mechanical as I understand it, it would have to slow it enough to make some decisions or at least prevent a major fatality..

Anyway will see if I can take it for a run this weekend and do some experiments !!