Prius C Moves forward when shifting in reverse...

The only thing I have experienced that is even close is when the engine can sometimes speed up uncommanded (assumed in response to battery charging or engine temperature needs). I have noticed this only when stopped. Never have I had it (or any car or truck, any brand, including Toyota) lurch forward when in reverse, or vice versa.

 

I'm confused. This sounds less like sudden acceleration and more like a problem with shifting into reverse. (And yes, the lemon law does not apply if it is a one-time fixable problem--let us know how it turns out.)

ETA: it's unclear from your post if the car is still at the dealer, or if they even looked at it. I'm curious to know why they say happened.

 

If you (or the dealer) can't duplicate the problem, I would chalk it up to some sort of freak occurrence, but I would not think the car was a lemon or that it shouldn't be driven again. If you have the car, what happens if you just shift into reverse and remove your foot from the brake pedal? Is there any forward or backward motion without the accelerator being engaged? You are certain you were in reverse (not neutral or drive), and you were on a level surface?

I wouldn't give up the car or stop driving it just because of one incident - if you cannot reproduce it.

Like Ashley, I'd be very interested in knowing what your dealer had to say after they looked at it.

 

Sudden acceleration? Are you kidding? You pressed on the gas pedal! Now if you didn't press on the gas pedal then you'd have a story. Since you did you simply have an issue with your gear selection mechanism. Take it to a dealer and never utter the words sudden acceleration again unless you are racing.

 

Can a moderator please rename this thread title, it's totally misleading.

To the OP: FTC and lemon law have nothing to do with what happened to your car. Perhaps NHTSA, IIHS, and of course your local Toyota dealership and/or Toyota's regional service representative.

Thankfully you're OK, and it's a bummer to hear the car went forward when it was supposed to be in reverse, however this sounds like a simple warranty issue, not something to vigorously wave a media-promoted buzzword about. Sorry to sound like a jerk, but it's more efficient to focus your target where it's effective and not somewhere else just for the sake of venting.

What has the dealership said?

 

After two days of no response from OP I guess this is one of those posts: registered to post the first thread and gone ...

 

In the world of online forums, it's likely three possibilities:

A) The OP was a troll and just wanted to throw a wave of irrational fear out there [maybe from CR? LOL!]
B) The OP found out they were actually putting it in "D" and are suitably embarrassed.
C) The car was easily fixed and the OP is now on their merry way.

 

I find all these "sudden acceleration" stories very hard to believe. I suspect option 3. When I was getting used to the car, I did put the shifter in the wrong gate a couple times. Easy to do with a new vehicle and I'm not going to call it a design flaw. I also personally believe that most of these runaway car stories are B.S. There will always be a way to stop the car... pull out the damn key, parking break just plain old brakes....

 

Another 1 post wonder that does not return

 

Perhaps OP put it in B gear thinking it is R?

 

all,

Now I'm a little confused here. I don't own a Prius "C", but got a chance to look at one in the dealership when I was in for service a week ago. It doesn't have the typical Prius "joystick" (only a normal type automatic transmission shifter on the floor), so I don't think I saw "B" in there as a choice (may have to go back & look again though, since it IS a Prius). The shifter in the wrong gate scenario (that yogipaolo mentioned) I can see happening in a manual 5 or 6 speed transmission when trying to find/engage reverse, but reverse should be between P and N in a normal automatic transmission shifter & not anywhere near D or 3, 2, 1. I will have to look at the Prius C's shifter again. If there is a "B" there right after "D", then it would be active (after passing through "D") and if the OP mis-read the B for an R and pressed on the gas, of course it would make the Prius go forward (but we all know R is between P & N and never right next to D and so should the OP).

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Yeah, B=Backwards! LOL

 

Correct. The floor console shifter is laid out like this:

^^^Front of car^^^

*P* <--park
*R* <--reverse
*N* <--neutral
*D* <--drive
*B* <--brake mode

 

The currently selected gear is also pretty clearly displayed in the dash too, but I guess even this could be missed by the chronically unobservant.

It's now 70 hours since the OP was last seen by the board, so they haven't been back in three days to check for responses. I'm increasingly prepared to shelve this in the fear-uncertainty-doubt hit and run posting category.

I realise from experience in other forums that people do have this strange habit of trying to tag their random issue to one they perceive as "more popular" in the hope of getting attention, but the bow is stretched pretty wide with this one... "As soon as I pressed the gas pedal my car started moving forward" by definition has nothing to do with "sudden acceleration".

At the end of the day, clearly no-one else here has experienced anything like it in their c's.

 

Looks like the original poster never logged in again. Nothing to see here.

 

I think I know what might have happened to him as something almost identical happened to me. I put the car in reverse (yes r, not b or anything else) but moved forwards. Was incredulous myself for a moment or two, and then realized what I must have done wrong. On vehicles with push button start, you must have your foot on the brake while pressing start. I probably forgot to do this, and only applied the brakes before shifting out of park. In this case, I assume the car treats all gears as neutral, and if you are facing a downhill slope as I must have been, the car will roll forwards.

I'm pretty sure pressing start again with my foot on the brakes fixed the issue. Anyway, what would be good is to have a more noticeable alert that you've shifted gears with the car not properly started. Aside from the little "ready" indicator that comes on when you start properly, everything else appears the same when you only have the electrical on, including the dashboard readout of the gear you're supposedly in, even though you are in fact in neutral.

 

My prius moved forwards twice while in reverse. It happened all in session. The first time it happened i pushed park and then i put it in reverse again and it started to move forwards again. At this time i turned off the car completely and turned it back on, then i put it in reverse and it was fine. Also, about an hour before this happened my window did something strange as well. I had my passenger side window down, as i pull the switch the window started to move up then when the switch clicked it started to move down again so i let go of the switch and tried it again and it was fine. These two strange occurance never happened before to me.

 

From your info, you have a '10 Prius liftback, NOT a Prius c that the OP has.

Prius c's shifter is COMPLETELY different than that of the liftback. There isn't even a park button to push on the c.

You should really start a separate thread or this post should be moved to a separate thread. Also, are you sure it wasn't the car doing its normal rocking back/forward after you put in Park and release the brake?