This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My 2010 Prius lurches when I go over pot holes or rough patches. I can control the lurch, but it does not feel right. It does not happen all the time. I am not sure what makes the difference between it happening and not happening. I received the title to the car in 8/27/09.
I bought a 2010 Prius in October. I live in Maine where winter driving conditions are not great. I have had three incidents now of driving at a low speed on plowed but snowy roads where the brakes did not catch when I applied them. Once was going around a downhill curve which was scary. Each time they eventually catch but not until I have skidded for about 3-6 ft. Fortunately, I have not hit anyone yet. I called my dealer yesterday and was told there had not been a recall and there was nothing to be done about it yet.
Toyota Prius brake loss of control - when the vehicle goes over a bump (e.g. pothole, manhole) when the brake is being applied, it doesn't immediately stop but instead seems to lurch forward with the sensation of loss of control. This especially happens on city streets or in icy conditions. If there was a person or car in front of the vehicle, the Prius would have hit the person/car. This happens every day at the same stop (bump in road when turning), as well as random places at least weekly since purchasing the car in September 2009.
2010 Prius surges forward when I hit a bump with the brake pedal depressed. I have had a few near misses but no accidents to this point. Last occurred yesterday.
My 2010 Toyota Prius has the same problem that are listed on this site with brakes. When trying to stop immediately after a bump or pothole and during minor slick condition the brakes don't react immediately. A couple of weeks ago I slid into an intersection with my brakes fully engaged before the brakes kicked in. Thank god no car was in front of me. The car behind me saw what was happening and slowed down. This brake problem occurs weekly since my purchase of the vehicle in September 2009.
- Baltimore, MD, USA
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I was going down a fairly steep hill, applying my brakes evenly as I approached a stop light. There were no cars in front of me, and the road was dry. Suddenly, I thought that I had been struck from behind because my car lurched forward (as though I had been struck). My 2010 Prius was only about two months old at this point. The brakes re-engaged after a second or two, but I was afraid that I would have hit someone if I hadn't been alone on the road. The same thing happened when going down another steep road about three weeks later. Again, there was no property damage and no one was hurt. But I was startled. I do not know if the road was uneven or if there were potholes. I have not reported these incidents to the dealer, the car company or the police because (although they scared me), I did not think much about them. Now that I know that others have experienced this, I have become fairly worried.
Prius 2010. 1. when stopping and one of my front tires goes over a pothole, stick, or any other markedly uneven pavement, the brakes release propelling the car forward. 2. I notice most when I am going down hill. So far it has only happened when I am going slowly and braking hard enough to stop the car. It has not happened at higher speeds in traffic when I am merely slowing down in traffic. 3. I brought it to the attention of the service department at the local Toyota dealer. I was told that it is the way the brakes are supposed to operate. I pointed out that I have owned 11 cars over the years and rented far more and never experienced this before. The complaint fell on dead ears.
I was driving my 2010 Toyota Prius (which I'd taken delivery on about January 6), and I noticed what seemed to be a power surge or a momentary brake failure when I went over a pothole while I was slowing down after exiting a highway. The car seemed to lurch forward, so that I had to take my foot off the brake and re-apply it. This happened first on January 20, but has occurred three times since then. I've been trying to figure out what it was; at first I thought it was a power surge. But when I saw the article in the New York times on February 3, I knew that was exactly what had happened to me. Every time it's happened as I was braking over a speed bump or pothole. I have made an appointment with my Toyota dealer but have not gone yet.
Emergency braking delay in brake action. When the vehicle ahead of me immediately hard-braked on a yellow stop light at a "red light" camera monitored intersection (westbound Illinois 38 at summit in villa park, il) I had to brake hard and maneuver to avoid rear-ending him. This was the first, and only, emergency stop situation I have had with my 2010 Toyota Prius. We were travelling just a bit below the posted 35 mph limit, and I was following at an appropriate interval (3+ seconds or about 3 car lengths). There was about a 1 second delay between jamming on the brake and significant braking action. I never experienced such a delay in my ABS equipped 2000 Chevrolet Monte Carlo ss or my 1995 Ford Windstar LX, since this experience I drive the Prius with a greater interval, although this means other drivers regularly merge into the "safety" gap that I am trying to provide.
I want to report a momentary brake failure of 2010 Prius over uneven roads 2 months ago. I didn't report it earlier because I didn't know if it was a one-off or systematic issue. Two months ago, I was driving a newly owned Prius with hardly 4000 miles on it over a stretch of rt. 93 from andover to boston. I was traveling at about 65 - 70 mph on the left fastest lane. I cam across a bumpy patch, probably the road was being repaired, and it was not late for me to slow down as I didn't expect such unevenness on a major highway. I stepped on the brake while the car was being tossed up and down by the bumps and I immediately felt that the car lost braking. Luckily, there was no car ahead of me and the braking did recover after the car settled down. I owned 4 Toyota's from SUV to the hybrid and Prius is the only one that has this problem. I just want to support other people's complaints about this car. I must say that the braking did recover quickly that a collision was not likely unless someone drive the car very fast on an uneven road that is also crowded. However, a car should not behave like this under any conditions.
I have a 2010 Prius that "lurches" when I brake. This only happens every once and a while. I took it to the Toyota dealership, they looked it over and said it was fine. To say the least I continue to be very concerned.
I was driving my 2010 Toyota Prius down the road here in berkeley, ca, and applied the brakes as I was hitting a bump in the road. The brakes did not work. I thereafter lifted my foot off the brake and hit them again, at which point the brakes worked correctly.
I've been monitoring the Toyota recall news because I have experienced similar braking issues with my new 2010 Prius. The best way I can describe it is as if the braking system "hiccups" when the brake is applied while traveling over an uneven road surface. As this was a new vehicle type that I had never driven before I thought it was inherent.
I have a 2010 Prius and had a 2005 Prius with all the safety features. When I had the 2005 Prius, I noticed on some roads that during braking, the brakes would release then reengage, giving the sensation that the car is accelerating. This happens when the road has a series of dips (washboard). The first couple times this happened, it was rather frightening because the car in front of me had stopped, and I felt as if I were accelerating. This is a reproducible event that occurs at a known location that I simply avoid. The road in this particular area is also down slope, which lends to the acceleration feeling. I have driven my 2010 Prius over this same area with very much the same result. My initial assessment was that the traction control took over to regain traction, however I would not thing this is acceptable. The Toyota dealership said this is normal behavior and is not a problem. Please feel free to contact me and I can describe better the conditions for this very reproducible event.
We have been experiencing, intermittently, the exact problem described in recent news accounts about the momentary failure of anti-lock brakes on the 2010 Toyota Prius. When braking on a rough or slick surface, such as thermoplastic lane or crosswalk markings, the car feels like it's surging forward. We believe it is not so much an actual surging as it is the momentary absence of loss of braking, but it feels like the car is a bit out of control, and potentially dangerous. We have experienced this momentary brake failure on perhaps a couple dozen occasions. Fortunately, none of these incidents have resulted in a crash. We contacted the dealership to let them know that we had been experiencing the same issue described in news reports, and were told that they have not yet received instructions from Toyota about a recall or potential fix.
When braking at lower speeds and traveling over a transition (manhole cover, pavement break), the car will act as though the brakes lose grip for a second, then regain stopping power. I haven't hit anything, but it's been unsettling.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA