October 13, 2005
Toyota Motor Corp. is in the process of notifying 75,000 Prius owners in the United States of a software glitch that can cause the hybrid cars to suddenly stall or shut down.
The problem may cause warning lights in the vehicles to come on prompting the Prius to enter a fail-safe mode that will cause the gasoline engines to stall.
Toyota says that the electric motor in the vehicles have sufficient power to allow the driver to pull the vehicle over and away from traffic.
The vehicles involved in the Toyota service action are from the 2004 and 2005 model years. Toyota sold 53,991 of the Prius in 2004 and 81,042 so far this year.
Toyota, which says this is not a recall, is sending letters to Prius owners asking that they take the cars to a dealership for free repairs.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into the problem after receiving a number of complaints about the hybrid vehicles stalling or stopping unexpectedly, often on highways.
