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June 2, 2005
Feds Officially Investigating Toyota Prius Stalling Issues
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a preliminary investigation of the 2004-05 Toyota Prius hybrid cars to determine whether a defect is causing engine stalling.
NHTSA has received 33 complaints from Prius owners who say they were traveling between 35 and 65 mph when the engine cut out. Toyota has previously said a software problem is causing the shutdown.
In half the cases, the Prius would not restart and had to be towed. No injuries have been reported.
Michael Millikin over at Green Car Congress asked me if he thought the news would hurt Prius sales and I think no way -- in the media you're either teflon coated or a dog to be kicked, and right now Toyota is on a roll. Witness the recent recalls they've had and the relative shrug it's gotten from the media.
Contrast this with other automakers going through tough times right now -- a similar incident would elicit 1,500 word stories on how this is another example of how they are out of touch. My response is that unless hybrid batteries start exploding, nothing is going to hurt hybrid sales.
About 75,000 Prius cars would have to be recalled if the NHTSA formally finds a defect.
Posted by Frank at June 2, 2005 6:18 AM | Filed under Auto News
| Hybrid
| Toyota