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.
Incident #1 on January 5, 2011 - sudden change in braking performance caused crash. Accident occurred in company parking lot. There was snow on the ground. I attempted to slow down to make a right turn. The car initially started to slow down. But as I attempted to turn to the right the car started to slide. I tried to control the slide with the brakes but the car would not slow down and it slid into a stone curb causing over $1,700 in damage to the car. There was no feeling of any braking occurring. There was no feeling of the ABS brakes pulsing to control the slide. Incident # 2 on January 19, 2011 - sudden change in braking performance created dangerous stopping condition. I was approaching a red light at an intersection going about 30 mph. There was no snow on the ground. The road was wet. I applied the brakes and the car initially started to slow down. Suddenly the brakes were no longer slowing the car down. I thought the car was going to fail to stop at the intersection. I increasingly applied more and more pressure on the brake pedal and the car began to slow down. The car did finally stop and did not cross the intersection. The brake pedal pressure that I had to apply was extreme - it felt like a car with power assisted brakes but that the power assist had failed. There was no feeling of the ABS brakes pulsing to control the braking of the car.
The contact owns 2010 Toyota Prius. While driving approximately 15 mph and applying pressure to the brakes, the vehicle would not stop. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but the technicians were unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer stated that they could not assist with repairs if the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 1,000 and current mileage is 6,000.
I had taken an exit after having driven about 15 miles on hwy 85 & had my foot off the accelerator as there was red signal ahead. Before coming to a full stop the light turned green so put my foot on the accelerator but than had to brake almost within seconds as I saw a car ahead at the next green light not moving. The car felt like it surged & drove what I believe was abnormal distance with my front crashing under the back of an old Buick. I had 3 other family members in the car who felt the same jerk. The road was wet from prior rain. There was not much damage to the car I crashed into but my car was considered total loss, 15 months old with 28K miles. No air bags were deployed. Ironically I had picked up the car from the dealership just that morning because my daughter had complained about the jerking when applying brakes when she drives 20 miles to work in a stop & go traffic on hwy 280. This was not the first time she had complained to dealership about this either. The dealership like before reported nothing wrong. The car had the sw upgrade done when it was recalled in Feb/Mar. Post the crash incident Toyota had their expert examine the brakes who reported, brake reservoir fluid level 5mm above the max level & some white substance suspended in it near the surface, but still brake system to be in good condition.
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. While stopped at a traffic light, the vehicle was hit from the rear by another vehicle. After the vehicle was hit, it accelerated to a high speed. The contact engaged the brakes but the vehicle continued to accelerate; the contact attempted to turn off the ignition but that did not stop the vehicle. The vehicle changed directions and crossed over a grassy area and crossed over three lanes of traffic and crashed into a concrete median. The contact stated that all the lights failed. The two passengers were injured. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The VIN was unavailable. The current and failure mileages were unknown.
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the repair for recall 10V039000 (service brakes, hydraulic) was performed February 2010. The contact attempted to stop at a traffic light and when they hit rough pavement, the vehicle would not stop properly and went through an intersection. The dealer inspected and stated that there was nothing wrong, the failure mileage was 18,654 and the current mileage was approximately 19,000. Updated 02/09/11 updated 03/03/11
- Northeastham, MA, USA
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2010 Toyota Prius. S10 appropriate handling- letter from regarding Toyota problems the consumer stated when he went to start his vehicle, the brake pedal went straight down to the floor and the vehicle would not start until pressure was applied to the brake. After trying several things, the brake finally came on. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealer, but they were unable to find anything wrong. On April 27, 2010, the incident happened again with the brakes. A notice appeared on the dash to put the vehicle in park. When he did, the brake came on. Updated 12/22/10.
Loss of braking effectiveness. Happens when going over bumps while applying the brakes. You don't lose braking power completely, but it would be like you had lifted your foot off the brakes partially. It has happened about a dozen times since I have owned the vehicle (a little over a year). I am unable to determine what factors make it happen. I don't know if it is speed, severity of the bumps, or braking pressure, or combination. I know that temperature makes no difference, as it has happened in winter and summer. The last incident happened when a bicyclist moved in front of my car to avoid bumps. I applied the brakes (it was not severe), and as I went over the bumps, I lost braking power. My speed was approximately 15 mph. Toyota has done a recall on the brakes, but I continue to have the problem. I have talked to other owners, and they are having the same problem, even after the recall. The consumer stated when he drove over a bump in the road, the braking decreased significantly for approximately 3 seconds. He also stated the engine raced briefly, but the vehicle was not in gear at the time. Updated IVOQ 03/01/11
I own a new 2010 Prius. It has 1800 miles on it. While driving with someone else in the Prius, there was a braking problem. We both felt a loss of braking by the Prius when I was braking for a right turn and went over a bumpy section on the road surface. The Prius experienced a momentary complete loss of braking over the bumps. It felt like we actually accelerated for an instant. In any case, the brake pedal was engaged firmly the whole time. The Prius then slowed down normally, and I made the turn at the corner. But we both looked at each other in surprise at what we felt during that braking event leading into the turn. I called the dealer and had them look up the computer patch history on this car. The dealer stated that all the computer patches had already been applied to this car before it was delivered as new. So far, this has only happened once. I have been driving the new Prius for only 1800 miles. It was purchased new off the dealer lot Aug 2010. It happened in Oct 2010. Extreme loss of braking over bumpy road surface. I have many years of driving experience in many types of cars on many different road surfaces. I have never experienced this type of momentary complete brake loss before.
2010 Toyota Prius, no accidents, but close calls. When I am slowing to a stop, and if the vehicle hits a rough spot in the road, for example a pothole, the brake pedal lowers slightly and the car appears to have the anti lock braking take over and the car speed decreases slowly under the control of the ABS and may not stop in the remaining distance to a stop sigh or traffic light. At least 4 times, 3 since the software update for my car, I have been stopping and within about 20 feet of the stop sigh there was a significant bump or pothole and with my foot on the brake continuously I noticed that the brake pedal depressed slightly and my rate of slowing decreased and my car drifted past the stop sign. This all happened with my foot still on the brake. I told the Toyota dealer about this and was informed that it is the way the car is designed, that any time that the computer senses a wheel slip, the ABS takes over. But on dry road conditions, this is problematic because in my area there are often un repaired roads with ruts, potholes, bumps and etc. Near the intersections. Having the ABS take over provides a lag time in the stopping of the car and each time I have gone past the stop sign and slightly into the intersection approximately 5 feet into the path of other vehicles. I am an engineer with nasa and know what I am doing and have been told that this is a design feature, but this feature can and has left me exceeding my planned stopping distance and could have lead to an accident.
On 2010 Prius, brakes seem to release, generally for a moment, at low speeds when going over a bump on passenger side of the car. Car seems to accelerate momentarily, until brakes are hit again. This has happened a number of times but is sometimes hard to recreate. Car has 3000 miles. Dealer says brakes operating as designed and recall adjustment has been made.
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. While traveling 2 mph the contact applied the brakes and noticed that they would not engage causing the contact to crash into a wall. No one was injured and a police report was not filed for the incident. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where the contact was informed that the failure could not be reproduced. There were no prior warnings. The current and failure mileages were 1500.
Brake failure. 2010 Toyota Prius iv -- the vehicle's brakes lose pressure and the brake pedal loses pressure (regardless of how hard I press on the brakes as this is happening). The brakes are temporarily disabled and the vehicle unexpectedly accelerates as a result of its momentum prior to initializing the brakes. The failure occurs when the vehicle passes over a dramatic change in the texture/friction of the road surface. I have experienced the failure dozens of times, when driving over metal surfaces (manhole covers, pothole covers, temporary construction covers, metal expansion inserts in bridges, etc), as well as small patches of condensation (such as small puddles under a bridge when the surrounding road is dry). The failure is not related to hydroplaning, and has occurred at speeds as low as 15 mph. The failure causes the vehicle to accelerate until a few seconds after it has passed over the slick surface. After returning to the regular road surface, the brakes slowly regain traction and resume their function of slowing the vehicle down. This failure occurs every time these criteria are met -- regardless of whether road conditions are wet or dry. So far no accidents have resulted from this failure on my vehicle, but I have been unable to control the problem or decrease its effects. Again, this problem occurs even at low speeds, such as in city traffic while braking to stop at an intersection. Many times it has caused me to nearly hit the vehicle in front of mine. So I have been forced to leave an extra 40 feet between my vehicle and anything in front of me, which is not always feasible because I live in an urban area. I have already taken this vehicle into the Toyota dealership as part of their recall to fix the software which controls the interactions between the hybrid brakes and the normal disk brakes. Local dealerships have consistently denied that there is a problem with the vehicle and the Toyota company will not return my phone calls.
1. pulling in to a parking space, slight uphill angle, stepped on brake and car lurched forward over a barrier and into another vehicle. 2. the vehicle gave no prior indication of a problem. Extensive damage to hood, bumper, right fender and radiator. 3. vehicle was towed to a repair facility. Once repaired, vehicle was taken to dealer for diagnostic of brake failure problem where it currently remains.
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. While driving 20 mph over rough terrain the contact applied the brakes and they failed to engage. The vehicle was not repaired nor was there a diagnostic test performed. There were no prior warnings. The current and failure mileages were 6000.
Was driving Prius 2010 model II with brake software applied by dealer about 1.5 months ago. Today (7/27/2010) I exited highway and began gentle braking on offramp, as suggested by manual to maximize regeneration. About half-way down offramp, I realized car in front of me was completely stopped and that I had to stop much more quickly than I was planning to. I don't recall being particularly distracted, but I can't rule out I noticed the stopped vehicle later than I should have. In any event, I'm not sure how hard I pressed the brakes, but I recall distinctly thinking "oh, my god. Nothing is happening" and 1-2 secs later I plowed into the car in front of me. The collision was hard enough to cause temporary pain to the driver in front of me, but no air bags were deployed and the Prius appears to not have major frontal damage - hood is bent back and maybe slight frame distortion => the impact clearly was not at the ~40-50 mph I was going when just exiting the highway, so some braking clearly did occur -- but I have the distinct feeling that my previous car (Subaru outbook) would have easily stopped in time. After accident, I tested brakes by going 15-20 mph in parking lot and braking hard. Always stopped quickly, I'm guessing w/100% friction braking. So brakes are probably not "defective" in sense of lost hydraulic fluid, etc... but I have never before experienced the feeling "I'm not stopping" except once when losing traction on icy road with a non-hybrid. The fact had time to think this thought at all probably means maybe 0.5-1.5 sec passed while braking ineffective. Checked for tire/skid marks on road or evidence of strong tire wear and found none, while I have on other cars when I have had to brake hard => Prius not braking hard despite emergency. Seem to have been caught in transition between regen & friction mode" this is still discussed in Prius forums -- software fix not good enough!" this is potentially very dangerous. Btw, car was in "eco" mode.
The contact's brother owned a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated her brother died in a head on crash. While he was driving at approximately 65mph North bound, a truck waiting at a traffic light was rear ended by another truck pushing the truck into the contact's brother lane of traffic. The contact stated witnesses advised her that brakes failed on her brother's vehicle and he was not able to bring the vehicle to stop when he saw the truck approaching. The police report was not available. The VIN was unknown. The failure and the current mileage was 21,000.
Brakes do not work when decelerating and road is uneven or bumpy. We took the car in for the recall fix and the problem persists. Brake failure happens 3-4 times/ week driving in seattle.
Grabbing brakes: Parked and sat in the car on a slight inclined driveway for some time listing radio. When I started backing up and tried to brake, there was no braking and then clunk clunk noise and car stops, tried again, same thing no braking and then little more pressure on brakes, clunk clunk noise cars stops. There was no way to smoothly glide the car down. This happened around 5 times. During last service I explained dealer about the problem but they could not reproduce it.
While braking and the car is slowing down to below about 10 miles an hour, it will surge ahead if it goes over rough pavement or a bump. The ABS recall has been performed on the car, and it was brought back into the dealer after the recall and the dealer confirmed that the recall was applied. The dealer claims that this behavior is "normal". the car has been back to the dealer two times so far.
I own a 2010 Toyota Prius, and last week I had the ABS ECU updated per the recall. Prior to the update, braking over a bump or pothole would result in a little 'skip' on the road as the brakes kind of fluttered. I just pressed the pedal a little harder and all was well. Post update, I have a serious safety problem. I have experienced the brakes disengaging completely as the car hits a bump. The little 'skip' is gone, and now there's a panic moment where the car lurches forward with no brake pressure. I have to really mash the pedal the get the brakes back. Prior to the update I was a little worried that the slight increase in braking distance might have resulted in a crash. Now, I am very afraid. The car is almost uncontrollable when this happens, and it is always unexpected. I feel that if I crash, I will be held liable for something that isn't my fault. I ask the NHTSA to revisit the Toyota recall for the 2010 Prius and make them prove they fixed the problem. I do not think they will be able to.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Penfield, NY, USA