I was the lucky (as in BAD Luck) recipient of this failure. The dealer told me he's only seen two since 2009 (vehicle launch). So they fixed it but the fix is to basically reboot and recalibrate the system. They didn't tell me this at the time and it causes the sequel "VSC Strikes Back!". I actually am entering this incident after the SECOND failure of this damn thing. UGH!!!

Here are the symptoms. As I was driving, my dashboard lit up like the Fourth of July. Every possible light (except the hi beam indicator) went off and my brakes STOPPED WORKING. Furious pumping and 3 seconds later (and one lifetime flash before my eyes), they started to re-engage. But the control was gone. Touch those suckers with a feather and they lock up!!! Steering was weird too! So I limp home 26 miles because I have confidence in my ability to drive but in hindsight, I should have gotten the sucker towed. I'm glad that it was light out and a nice day with dry pavement! Or I would have gotten nailed for sure in that rush hour traffic.

So the dealer fixes the car via the recalibration I mentioned earlier. I'm happy as a clam because everything's working now. And BOOM, a year later and one month later, the sensor now completely faults out (outside of the 1 year warranty -again just lucky I guess). This time the repair bill is almost twice what I paid the first time to have it fixed.

Let me just end this with a balanced comment. Saved a lot in gas, paid a lot for electronics.

Here are the symptoms. As I was driving, my dashboard lit up like the Fourth of July. Every possible light (except the hi beam indicator) went off and my brakes STOPPED WORKING. Furious pumping and 3 seconds later (and one lifetime flash before my eyes), they started to re-engage. But the control was gone. Touch those suckers with a feather and they lock up!!! Steering was weird too! So I limp to my destination about 1/2 a mile away.

A tow to the dealer that originally "fixed" this problem. This time the repair bill is almost twice what I paid the first time to have it fixed.

This is the point where I clean my computer screen from making this noise PHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!

Let me just end this with a balanced comment. Saved a lot in gas, paid a lot for electronics. If this had happened when the roads were bad, it could have been a safety issue.

Another Break Issue Been Neglected.

On Sunday afternoon, after taking a short grocery trip, I returned home and everything was working fine. An hour later my son wanted to take the car to drop my nephew to his home. As he entered the car and pushed the start button, the message appears on the dashboard central display CHECK VSC SYSTEM. And all the lights, brake Oil, Vehicle stability, Hand Brake and one more light were on. Not knowing what that means, he asked me and then checked the website to understand what this means. We found that it basically relates to complete braking system and brake controls. And suggested the authorised dealer should look into it. At the same time, I thought this could be cold weather, lets try driving. May be the lights will go off then. As we were trying to take this off our drive way, we noticed that we had to press the brake pedal all the way to the bottom to stop the car. It was working but not the way it should be and as it was always in the past.

Hence, next morning we took this car to the dealer. The service advisor mentioned that we have to pay for $103 + tax for diagnosis, even though I had bought the extra protection warranty from the dealership. They were not willing to listen to this, and stated that we have to pay for this diagnosis. And then if the parts needed for repair are under warranty, they will be replaced. I called Toyota Canada and the customer service person told me that he is taking down the whole issue (about extended warranty protection) and would let us know in about 4-7 business days. Almost 4 hours later, I got a call from the service advisor, stating that there is No Problem detected. And everything is working fine now. I was shocked and wanted to understand that what would have happened and how come no parts were replaced and this braking system is suddenly working okay. And the answer was:

(Service advisor told me) Its like the Home Computer freezing, in that case we simply shut down and restart the computer and then it works fine. This similar thing has happened with this $40,000 car. I hope, if that is the case and acceptable by consumers, every car manufacturer would have been Bill Gates. That costly and tested computer system integrated into the car, states that CHECK VSC SYSTEM and all brake related lights turn on. Technician comes back with the theory that there is nothing wrong. And if we see that again, they will look into it again. Isnt it shocking?

I am still wondering that we were lucky that this happened at home and car was on the drive way. What if this problem (so called computer mis-behaving and freezing) happened on the busy road or highway. By the time, we would realize what happened, who knows that we were involved in the accident. It looks like that Toyota or so much qualified and trained service advisors, technicians, had been neglecting these similar cases like this in the past until, someone died in the accident and this became world news.

Are they serious, who know that at that time, I am involved into the accident? Is Toyota and Dealership looking for that? May be they replaced the critical parts and to hide this becoming another critical repair related issue similar to what happened in the past, the dealer quietly replaced the parts and states that there in nothing wrong. The whole repair took them almost four hours. That is the time they called me and said that there nothing wrong with the car. I am scared, What if I or my wife or my son is driving the car and suddenly the brakes do not work? And if the braking system, malfunctions again. What if the same message appears again, I take it to dealer ship, and they charge me another $ 103 for diagnosis and for no reason, (as per them) all is working fine again?

The car is driven mostly by my wife and she generally assists my daughter who is suffering with M.S., what if something goes wrong, this time in the middle of road, it can be anything, Does the company care for this? Or they have not learnt the lesson from past. May be similar cases had been neglected in the past, which resulted into those big issues all over the world. Charge customers for doing nothing. Or maybe there another method of making the billions of dollar lost in the battle to fight cases against poor quality control and repair issues and not carefully understanding the problems happened in the past for break failures. Enclosed is the copy of invoice (paid in full), which states that nothing was found and code is cleared. (Since I am unable to attach the copy with this e-mail, for reference, it if from ATTRELL TOYOTA, Brampton. Invoice Number TOCS189730, Dated 3rd January 2011. VIN # 4T1BB46K69U075418)

Surprisingly, Toyotas design their computer and load tested software. This accordingly fits into the automobiles mechanism. Then why would a warning message appears, for no reason? I am, till now not been able to understand what is going on. But I am terribly scared. If the home computer dies or malfunctions, life is not in danger. But if anything gets reported on car computer system and if we neglect it, its dangerous safety issue. An argument which started for the Extended Warranty Protection Coverage is now a Serious Safety Issue. I want a reliable service dealer checks this problem issue and corrects the hidden problem and certifies that car is good to go. All that at Toyotas Expenses and then refund those charges to me.

I hope this issue with raise some eyebrows, someone will hear this, be it Toyota Canada or Japan or Media and once again, make the Toyota responsible for this neglect. FINALLY - NOT TOO SURE ABOUT THE REPAIR, FEARING BRAKE ISSUE - SOLD THE CAR AT LOSS OF ALMOST $10,000.