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Prius Safety & Crash Test Ratings
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I told him to call a lawyer instead of a newspaper. From the description here and on the Yahoo forum, it sounds like Toyota is not stepping up and taking care of these spontaneous combustion cases.
Whatever the problem is, I hope it does not extend to 2006 Prius models like mine!
I don't think the Gen 1 had the same warranty on the battery. Five years comes to mind...
Is his insurance going to cover the fire???
From what I understand from our insurance company, they are covering our loss and then their lawyers will fight Toyota to reimburse them.
Since our insurance won't cover the loss of the items in the car, my husband is thinking of taking Toyota to small claims court to cover those items. I thought it was a good idea.
I would be interested in how the insurance companies make out with Toyota.
First, larsb should be absolutely ashamed of his attitude about someone's car catching on fire. He apparently sees it as a political issue to be glossed over lest the Prius get unwanted bad press. Truly a fanboy gone wild.
Next, I'm quite glad to hear that it seems to be only the early version of the Prius that's been burning as I have several friends with the new version parked in their garage. The Prius, based on my very limited admittedly experience, does not appear to be aging well. Another good friend bought one of the early ones and put about 130,000 miles on it before it "broke down" (and I dont know the details) while the couple were on a long vacation trip. They had it towed to nearest Toyota dealer where the estimate to repair was appx $10,000. That's what I call high maintenance! So they did the sensible? thing and wlaked out to the lot and picked out a new Prius, paid for it and continued their vacation.
Last and to hopefully demonstrate that I'm not here (just?) to bash the Prius, there most certainly is another vehicle that is prone to burn. Bunch of them in fact. Surpirised no one in here mentioned the Ford "cruise control switch fires" that caused some number of fires, at least one that burned a house down and I think the folks inside were killed.
And second, anyone who classifies the Prius as a "vehicle prone to burn" is just being ignorant.
There are more than a million Toyota hybrids on the road worldwide, and a large percentage of those cars are Priuses (or Prii, depending on your preferred term.)
There are very VERY few instances of a Prius catching on fire, and in FACT, I can only find one or two VALID NEWS STORIES using Google which even refer to such an event. Can anyone find and post more?
So, with such a small number of Priuses catching on fire, can anyone with confidence or solid data say that a Prius is "prone to burn" more than any other car?
I think NOT.
P.S. Just Googled "prius fire" + burned and "Prius burned" +fire AGAIN TODAY 2-26-2008 and found virtually nothing new about Prius fires. The data indicating that a Prius is a fire risk just does not exist.
I also have a 2007 Highlander hybrid which smells like it's burning when we go up a long, steep hill. It has something to do with the electric motor assist. The smell goes away on the way down.
Small problem easily solved during a 4,800 mile trip concluded on Saturday.
Noticed a burning smell when we got out of the car several times. I first thought it was truck brakes since we first noticed it a rest areas along the last 660 mile grind of the trip. When I got home on Sunday, I had the bugs washed off the car and smelled the burning smell again in our driveway. I opened the hood and discovered that a foam rubber strip which had been secured with some kind of double stick tape to the top area of the radiator had come loose and blew back directly onto the catlytic converter which is near the front of the engine.. I'll say BURNT!... to a crisp!.
I suppose this could have been worse if it became enflamed but as far as we know it didn't. I removed it and scraped the residue off of the catalytic converter with a putty knife. Problem is solved. I will ask the dealer about this problem this week during servicing. I don't think this is significant and I don't think there will be any long lasting issue with it, but do wonder why they put a cheap piece of self stick foam rubber near the engine compartment and so close to the catlytic converter heat source. So..if anyone else smells something burning, check this out first.
So the HH might have a similar issue.
Not too many cars that have burned over the decades can make THAT claim.
Anyway, the smell went away after a couple of months.
Was it one of these kind of fires maybe?
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There are these new Toyota adds where people are totalling their current vehicles to get into a Toyota....
There must be people who actually do this. Because the police, insurance and auto makers will come after you, even if it is not really your fault. So if you have this in mind or it happens to you by accident, you better have the same lawyers OJ had. It will certainly cost you more than the actual value of the car.
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There is nothing inherent to a Camry Hybrid which makes it more flammable than any other Camry.
Toyota has more than a million hybrids on world roads, and if there was something unusually flammable about their design, we would know it by now.
Anecdotal reports of maybe three to six hybrid fires does not serve as proof that there is a problem.
Maybe if we had hundreds of them flaming in garages, yes. But search long and hard on Google to find any hybrids which mysteriously caught on fire and it's not easy to find anything.
I assume you are willing to buy it, or pay for the owner to buy a new car? That is assuming that he doesn't have a large family and require a larger car...
Also, the wiring in the cruise control system of the Fords seem to incite fires.
There is a recall on this one.
Gerri
For me you begin to lose your appeal. You must have a Prius and think they are the best car on the road. You point out GM just to try and down grade them to make your point better. What about all the Toyota trucks they are quietly buying back due to frame rust on 2 year old trucks. I can remember back a few years ago when people were having problems with the display on the Prius and if I remember they were being charged like 2500 bucks or more for a rebuilt display and the common consensous was to spring for the extended warranty due to this problem. Any car built by humans can and do have problems and that doesn't bother me in the least. What bothers me is how the dealer/manufacturer does at fixing the problem and in that field Toyota I feel does the worst of most companies always dening the clam or their famous its running like it is supposed to like the throtle hesitation on the Camrys or the truck that the government finally made them recall after people were killed by it. Now thats really stepping up to the plate. :shades:
http://www.carspace.com/suzikn/Albums/priusfire/
The Prius had been parked in my driveway for 48hrs. At about midday my neighbor came to the door and told me my car was full of smoke.
I went out and heard crackling coming from the rear end. I opened the trunk and the back of the seat and all the carpet was flaming and melting.
We got the fire out before it progressed too far and the firefighters said the fire started where heat had melted a hole in the far right corner of the protective metal casing for the Prius Hybrid battery pack.
I should also say I'm in Australia.
I phoned the dealership to tell them about the problem and they asked if they could come take photos. Naturally i agreed and waited to hear back from them.
They did not call, so I called and asked for their assessment they told me we would have to arrange for a tow at my expense and then they would get a very busy specialist to investigate the car in a few weeks or so.
The car was not fully insured. I did not recieve any letters of any type from Toyota to bring my car in for service or recall.
I have attached photos of the car here http://www.carspace.com/jayma8
Toyota Australia told me this was the first time this has ever happened. I informed them that my research identified other similar fires in the Prius.
Does anyone know who i can talk to for help or if Toyota is doing anything to rectify this situation and help their customers who have had their Prius spontaneously combust?
And I know of some full-size GM SUVs that have caught fire while parked.
But, I cannot find anything at any website about a Prius catching fire.
True, some frames on some Toyota p/ups have rusted badly.
And some Ford Pintos catch fire when struck from behind, and some GM p/ups have problems with the paint fading/peeling.
Even some VW Passats have had their seat heaters catch fire.
Please do not tell me what I think.
I am merely stating that I have been unable to find any report of a Prius catching fire. I asked if perhaps there were a GM SUV nearby, since they ARE known to catch fire.
And the fact that someone had to pay out some $2500+ to get their "displays" fixed is truly a big deal. But when a warranty expires, then a warranty expires.
Buying a car does not entitle you to free service and repairs forever.
If you cannot afford repairs after the warranty has expired, then by all means by an extended warranty program, or don't buy the car at all.
I have seen people buy a car, that could not afford to have the car serviced, or to replace the tires once they were worn out.
Too many people believe that car ownership costs end with the car payment.
There is a whole lot more to it than that.
Simpletons, like that, are probably the ones who complain the loudest.
Their short attention spans do not allow them to realize what they will be in store for after the car's warranty has expired.
It's like having kids. Surely these folks cannot believe that the hopital delivery bill is the end of the road in costs associated with raising a child.
I give up. Preach to those who feel victimized by the automakers.
I am not one of those!
So if I park next to a Toyota pickup with a GM vehicle does that mean the frame on my GM will rust out like on the Toyota? According to you the answer is yes.
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Hope you decide to join the ranks of CarSpace bloggers too! :shades:
Like I said, I am NOT saying that is the cause, but there have been SEVERAL incidents by some drivers who have demonstrated to me by not only "non-verbal" communications ( finger-pointing ), but also some who have passed me with so little space between my car and theirs that I was surprised the outside mirrors on both our cars/truck didn't get torn off.
This has occured several times as I mentioned earlier. I drive the speed limit in the second lane ( the one next to the exit/merge lane, NOT the very inside lane ).
One guy in his bigg Ford P/U nearly scraped off my left side because I was driving the speed limit ( 50/40 ) on the exit/access road. When I came up behind him at the stop light, he communicated with me, again "non-verbally", so when the light changed, I returned the signal but with BOTH of my middle fingers. He sped to the shoulder, stopped and jumped out, but I was at my turning point and missed out on the "discussion".
In short, some people just don't like Priui. Even if they aren't covered by "Save the Whales", or Obama stickers. Mine is unadorned. I just mind the speed limit, and try to maintain the following distance interval, much to other's chagrin.
Perhaps yours was a victim of Priui haters, since it was outdoors.
I am not familiar with anybody having a Prius fire in their garage.