Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing: Electrical System › Software
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing reported this defect to federal regulators on Feb 12, 2014 and put the number of vehicles at risk at 698,457. The repair is free for as long as the recall stands.
The defect
Toyota is recalling certain model year 2010 through 2014 Prius vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the Intelligent Power Module (IPM) inside the inverter module (a component of the hybrid system) contains transistors that may become damaged from high operating temperatures. If this occurs, various warning lamps will be illuminated on the instrument panel and the vehicle will have reduced power allowing it to only drive a short distance.
The risk
The vehicle may enter a fail-safe/limp-home mode that limits the drivability of the vehicle. The hybrid system could also shut down completely resulting in a vehicle stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Toyota will notify owners and dealers will update the software for both the motor/generator control electronic control unit (ECU) and the hybrid control ECU, free of charge. If an owner experiences a failure of the inverter before the vehicle receives updated software, the dealer will repair or replace the inverter assembly with a new one at no charge. The recall began on March 21, 2014. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331.
5 model years covered
Newest first| Vehicle | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Crashes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Toyota Prius | 210 | 3 | 1 | 26 |
| 2013 Toyota Prius | 414 | 3 | 4 | 40 |
| 2012 Toyota Prius | 424 | 6 | 2 | 46 |
| 2011 Toyota Prius | 522 | 6 | 7 | 37 |
| 2010 Toyota Prius | 2,823 | 10 | 13 | 183 |
What this page is, and what to do next
A recall is not an opinion. It is a Part 573 report a manufacturer is required by federal law to file once it decides a defect poses an unreasonable risk to safety, and it commits them to repairing the vehicle at no cost to the owner. The three passages above are the manufacturer’s own wording as published by NHTSA.
This page describes the campaign. It cannot tell you whether one particular car has already been through the shop — that is tracked by VIN, and only the manufacturer knows it. Check yours at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a franchised dealer, quoting campaign number 14V053000.
Full record for the 2014 Toyota Prius → · Recalls carrying a do-not-drive advisory → · Where this data comes from →