Federal safety officials say they're investigating reports of Toyota's popular hybrid Prius car stalling without warning. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it's looking at about 75-thousand cars of the 2004 to 2005 model years.


A statement from Toyota Motor Sales says the probe is "not a recall." The company says it's cooperating with regulators. It says the investigation is in "an early stage" and officials are just trying to find out if more study is needed.

"I searched the NHTSA reports myself. I actually found 14 reports; however, 3 of them were duplicate entries. So there were really only 11 vehicles reporting that "VEHICLE LOST POWER" problem. The following are summaries of all the NHTSA reports and links so you can read through the details yourself:

fuel gauge (November 29, 2004)
highway stability (April 1, 2005)
crosswinds & tires (March 19, 2005)
VEHICLE LOST POWER (April 19, 2005)
brake problem (April 12, 2005)
back seatbelt (December 30, 2003)
navigation accuracy (December 10, 2003)
cruise-control (December 15, 2003)
brake problem (May 2, 2004)
tire traction (May 9, 2004)
VEHICLE LOST POWER (June 16, 2004)
VEHICLE LOST POWER (July 18, 2004)
tire wear (September 23, 2004)
brake light assembly (August 10, 2004)
back seatbelt (October 15, 2004)
VEHICLE LOST POWER (October 29, 2004)
* duplicate entry, same vehicle (October 29, 2004)
* duplicate entry, same vehicle (October 29, 2004)
brake fluid (November 23, 2004)
tire blowout (November 22, 2004)
accelerator stuck (October 12, 2004)
air bags (December 28, 2004)
* duplicate entry, same vehicle (December 28, 2004)
fuel guage (January 1, 2005)
backseat latch (February 4, 2005)
VEHICLE LOST POWER (February 24, 2005)
VEHICLE LOST POWER (November 1, 2004)
VEHICLE LOST POWER (March 30, 2005)
* duplicate entry, same vehicle (March 30, 2005)
VEHICLE LOST POWER (April 17, 2005)
VEHICLE LOST POWER (April 20, 2005)
VEHICLE LOST POWER (May 2, 2005)
VEHICLE LOST POWER (May 7, 2005)

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