Attention to : Toyota Japan/Toyota Malaysia Headquarters

Subject: Complaints due to dissatisfaction of the hybrid cars & services given.

Dear Managing Director of Toyota,

A very good morning, I'm writing this letter regarding on the subject above. Recently, we have been facing countless issues from our car, Toyota Hybrid Prius C. We are absolutely dissatisfied of this so called "Toyota Hybrid Technology".

Reference number : WYD6916 (Car registration number)

For us, Toyota has been a number one priority in our private transportation sector. We are sure of that because Toyota has been awarded 'The Best Car Services' last year 2015. Most importantly, Toyota Hybrid Cars has always been an extremely trusty technology to benefit of humankind. The reasons behind all these are since the day Toyota Malaysia has promised and gave us a quality assurance on your hybrid technology/cars, we have YET to be suspicious and NOT until we have found out numerous problems.Typically,

No.1 : Our Toyota Hybrid Prius C has happen to be overhauled in just two & a half years time.

No.2: Our Toyota Hybrid Prius C is still in the same condition after a month of being "diagnosed and repaired" at UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd Lot 4523 Batu 5 56100 Jalan Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.

No.3: The unprofessional technicians,branch manager & staffs are taking our issues for granted and not solving them immediately even after number of calls and requests made during the month of "inspection" of our Toyota hybrid Prius C.

In addition, this is the 3rd time we are writing this letter to reinforce the issue once more. The following issues have occurred for the 3rd time in the year of 2017 :

No.4 : We were told that our car has been checked & verified to be in the state of a overhauled engine for the 3rd time.

No.5 : UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd has not been responsible for our problems and also rejected our warranty due to a given reason of slight delay in servicing our Toyota Prius C. In fact, even if a slight delay in servicing DOES NOT affect the hybrid system of our car but only triggers the issues in the gearbox,engine,car performance & etc.

No.6 : - breakdown in the middle of road while both of my children are in the vehicle.

- When we were driving on a uphill, our vehicle’s engine was switch off for a while & there was a notice displayed on our meter “There is an issue with the Hybrid System, please stop the vehicle immediately for safety purposes.”
- My son, who is a beginner driver, was driving our vehicle on our way back from Mid Valley and our vehicle stopped out of a sudden at the highway in front of Scott Garden (before the traffic lights).

Addressing, on the 6th issue pointed out, the safety purposes of our vehicle has been ignored. Therefore , have you considered our children’s safety while being on the road as accidents can happen at any point of a second? Its beyond our control.

After receiving all these negative & disrespectful feedbacks,we are seeking you to respond to us on this matter and take immediate actions now. We do not want to repeat ourselves again and we do not hope to expose these problems on social media towards finding the solutions.Please once again take serious consideration in improving your standards of customer care/services.

When I collected the vehicle from UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd,Malaysia on 27th January 2017 (New Years Eve) I was told that you had carried out a “full service”, had diagnosed [particular faults: Toyota Prius C Hybrid System] and had put these right.

However, in accordance with the Civil Procedure Pre-Action Protocol, I would be willing to refer my case to the Motor Industry Code of Practice for Service and Repair, as I understand that they have a free conciliation and low cost independent arbitration scheme.



This would be a way of successfully resolving my dispute without resorting to legal action. Please confirm whether you are a member of the Motor Industry Code of Practice for Service and Repair. Thank you.



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Sorry to hear this. Perhaps it's a lemon car? Anyhow, TOYOTA should address this issue without irritating the customer.

Also, perhaps you should block out the writer's personal details such as her hp etc

My 2012 prius c car hybrid battery also went kaput last week. three days repair and back online already. Still under warranty though, if not the hybrid battery costs RM6700+RM300 labour. And I service outside Toyota so I got a warning to service the car in Toyota next time. However I am not the only one who got away with not servicing by toyota. You can google and can find one blog.

The small battery (every car has this) is also weak. However I got no budget and defer the replacement. Mind you the car is 5 years old and never replace the small battery. the small battery costs RM1100 though.

The car is really cheap maintainance. Never change brake pad (and they are still thick). No timing belt. No brake fluid change.

Try Toyota Subang.

Sorry to hear about your car.

I've recently had my CT200H (2011 model) hybrid battery changed. No fuss - the moment the warning light appeared saying -check hybrid system- I took it in and they noted the warning code. Lexus (UMW, essentially), ordered a battery which took about 6 weeks to ship in and it was installed. I understand that they ran out of stock at the time and these are shipped in due to weight and safety reasons (so no flying).

The car was fixed and it works like new now.

My battery was done at 130K km and only serviced at Lexus. I understand it does cost about RM7-8k to change out the battery if you have to pay for it but given the savings on fuel, it generally works out to some savings.

Your problem may be with the hybrid system and not just the battery. During the 6 week period, I drove with the orange check light on without many problems. I had a little less power since the battery was weak and my fuel economy dropped by about 15%. But it never told me to stop. I felt confident and safe while driving the car (even 400km KL-Ipoh-KL).

While I had a smooth experience, Toyota does need some pushing and they generally respond seriously when customers are unhappy, especially those who service their car with Toyota all the time.

Unfortunately, Toyota may have legitimate reason to void the warranty due to your actions of not servicing with them for any number of reasons.

I think that for them to seriously avoid the warranty though, they would need to prove causation that damage was external, not internal.

Please pursue this matter, and if necessary, go to arbitration on this. Toyota needs to stand by their technology.

My 2012 Prius C is showing this message this morning. Called Toyota Service Centre and they advised to drop the car today but will have to wait until Monday for them to have a look at the car as they're fully booked and too busy today due to CNY public holiday. Anyone experienced this issue before?

This post has been edited by popow: Feb 15 2018, 02:45 PM


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Hybrid battery is died! Good luck for changing a new battery. It’s cost you about 7-8k exclusive gst and service charge. Money isn’t the problem while the time period of waiting on new coming hybrid battery to your car. Good luck buddy!

But it's still under extended warranty.

Hi @prophecus. I sent you a PM. Can you please check? Need your advice urgently. Thank you.

may i ask toyota prius c used car is nt worth to buy ? can i know the top speed of the car? tqq

Prius C you need to park the car under shade all time so that the hybrid battery can last. I got a 2014 Prius C and changed battery in 2018 for free. Now under another battery. For the starter battery, just use it until kaput as cost RM1000/piece. Buy a car starter power bank and put it in your Prius all the time in case you can't start the car. Toyota service center always ask you to change the expensive starter battery. They profit that way!

This post has been edited by JRitzman: Mar 3 2022, 12:09 PM

Hi Any owner would like to assist us in this stidy of hybrid:electrc car

This post has been edited by HYMS: Apr 11 2022, 01:38 AM

So having hybrid car for long term is no good ya? Especially if you stretch it for >10 years of ownership?