10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
41 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
19 / 0
Average Mileage:
69,865 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2010 Toyota Prius brakes problems

brakes problem

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2010 Toyota Prius Owner Comments (Page 8 of 26)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #368

Dec 282020

Prius

  • 156,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Toyota brake booster pump has failed due to manufacturing defects, which affected the stopping of the vehicle. Toyota has issued recall for this problem but only for latest models (2019 and later). I've called to Toyota and they refused to address this problem. I looked up on internet and found this is a wide spread problem experienced by many owners of priuses. Toyota must issue the recall for all the vehicles affected, not the latest ones only.

- Tampa, FL, USA

problem #367

Nov 242020

Prius

  • 150,000 miles
I am having an issue with my brake actuator/brake booster. This is a known issue and Toyota is refusing to help with the issue. The ABS, brake, and traction control light are on and regen braking is not working. They are supposed to cover this based on bulletin zjb but absolutely refuse any help.

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

problem #366

Nov 222020

Prius

  • miles
Was going 25 mph yesterday November 22, 2020 evening when 4 (brake, ABS, traction & caution) lights came on dashboard. Pulled over the shoulder & turned ignition off. Restarted later & 4 lights still on. Following day, went to dealership & was told brake booster assembly need to be replaced due to internal fluid leak.

- Williamsburg, VA, USA

problem #365

Oct 242020

Prius

  • 114,700 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I have experienced problems with the electrical, oil, and break systems ever since purchasing my certified pre-owned 2010 Prius from the dealership in 2013. Toyota has never provided a satisfactory answer for what is actually wrong with the electrical system; the problem still remains. Toyota also does not have an ideal maintenance plan set up for the known increased oil consumption rate that is directly linked to my model vehicle and has not only not performed routine oil changes but also sent me home after a supposed oil change with zero oil in my tank. But today my main concern that I take issue with and that ive encountered from the get-go, has to do with the breaks. For years I've been telling Toyota about how my breaks do this thing where under the right circumstances (those being things like slight bumps or raises in the road, or going over a manhole cover) the breaks not only give out but actually propel me forward with zero chance for stopping which is quite terrifying already and then when you add in other drivers on the road into the equation is a literal nightmare. Despite my many efforts for Toyota to take a look at them they always refuse any service to them because my dashboard is not displaying any warning signs. Also, due to the fact that its not a constant issue, meaning it only happens under the right circumstances which idk where such a precise place exists near the dealership, they cant experience it for themselves. So my concerns are dismissed leaving me to fend for myself whenever these circumstances arise which no doubt an accident seems to be on the horizon. Then with ~114,700 miles on the odometer, my entire ABS system crashed while I was in traffic. Luckily I am a beyond exceptional driver and also have catlike reflexes so was able to manage my way to the shoulder of the road when this occurred. However, with warning lights now illuminated O

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #364

Nov 032020

Prius

  • 150,990 miles
Upon starting the car, the ABS, brake and traction control lights all came on. Checked brake fluid and it was at max level. Took to dealer and showed code 1391 which showed the brake booster and booster pump assemblies need replacing. It's a known problem with Toyota. A voluntary recall was issued for our 2010, but my specific model wasn't included and recall expired in 11/19 or 150K miles. I'm at 150,992. There is active recall for same issue for 2011-2015 models. It's a known safety issue and they refuse to fix it. It's a $3K job to repair for a car that is worth about double that. When this warning comes up, your braking system is not reliable. Had this happened while driving, an accident could have occurred. Toyota knowing this is a safety issue needs to correct it on all models that show this warning, not just select models.

- Austin, AR, USA

problem #363

Nov 022020

Prius

  • 100,000 miles
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while depressing the brake pedal, the brake pedal was firm causing the braking distance to be extended. The vehicle was taken to Toyota of Lincoln park located at 1561 N fremont St, Chicago, il 60642 who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the brake booster and master cylinder were defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 100,000. The VIN was not available.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #362

Oct 202020

Prius

  • 114,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I went to the dealer as I was told after opening a case with Toyota, , however the solution was not resolved to my satisfaction. Basically. Safety parts were replaced from a recall on 08/2013. A few years later I got another Toyota notification that if I had these brake booster related failures/lights to bring it in, I would have even if I had the lights without the notification. The other day I had the failure related to the defective parts installed on 08/2013. So somewhere between 08/2013 and when Toyota notified me about the lights or the still existing defect, that there was a defect going to happen but did not know when and today I had the failure. I believed that since I had the original replacement brake safety parts replaced that I was driving a safe Prius. I feel the second repair for the same parts should be covered since when they notified me they knew there was a defect and chose not to absorb the cost of this remedy.

- Eustis, FL, USA

problem #361

Sep 272020

Prius

  • 155,778 miles
I was driving a normal commute when at random, the ABS, brake, and traction light went on. The brakes seemed to depress quicker and felt 'off'. I was thankfully close enough to home. The brake levels were fine, however after taking the car into the dealer, I was notified that the break booster failed and needed to be replaced. After research, it appears that there was a recall for this part in 2013, as well as a recent legal suit suggesting that Toyota did not include all vehicles that could be affected by this faulty part (issue typically shows up around 150K miles). I have a 2010 Prius ( included in the suit) with just above 150K and was never notified.

- Rome, GA, USA

problem #360

Oct 032020

Prius

  • 139,000 miles
My car is accelerating while braking. Whenever I try to brake on the road while curbing or stopping at the traffic signals, the car skips/slide forward. It's getting worse on the rainy time though.

- Lincolnwood, IL, USA

problem #359

Sep 182020

Prius

  • 120,000 miles
Vehicle has approximately 120,000 miles. While driving through town or on the highway, our vehicle will intermittently lose regenerative braking. During these instances, the brake pedal softens and greater effort must be exerted to slow and stop the car. Sometimes minutes... at other times the next day after the car has sat in the garage, the indicator lights will all turn off and regenerative braking resumes normally. This creates a very unsafe situation as it can be unpredictable how much pressure to apply to the brakes. This is been noticed at slow speeds, highway speeds, in turns, or traveling in a straight line. The vehicle was diagnosed and determined to have a faulty brake booster/actuator. This has created an unsafe and unreliable situation for transporting my family. What is quite concerning is that this occurred with the 2nd generation Prius and Toyota extended a helping hand by issuing a recall or warranty enhancement. However, my vehicle was produced just months outside of the 13V235000 recall window, yet experiences the same dangerous driving experience as those who were included in the recall. Toyota needs to do the right thing and the safe thing by recalling additional 3rd generation Prius vehicles and repair or replace all faulty components before more crashes and injuries occur.

- Brownsburg, IN, USA

problem #358

Sep 182020

Prius

  • 124,136 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While coming home from work, my wife noticed the brake, ABS, and traction control warning lights of the vehicle came on while on the freeway; my wife had to immediately get off the freeway since she noticed that slowing down the vehicle required much more effort than usual. She nearly had an accident going down the freeway ramp. We have scheduled to bring the car in for a fix since this is a huge safety concern to us.

- Fountain Valley, CA, USA

problem #357

Apr 262019

Prius

  • 100,000 miles
ABS actuator has a leak. It is a $1200 repair. My mechanic, who only works on hybrids, said that this has been happening a lot with my year Prius (as well as other years), but the extended warranty only covers 2011 and later.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #356

Aug 152020

Prius

  • 80,117 miles
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving at low speeds, several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to local dealer headquarter Toyota located at 5895 nw 167th St, hialeah, fl 33015, (786) 235-9734, where it was diagnosed with needing the brake booster to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but, continued to experience the failure. The manufacturer had not been informed of failure. The failure mileage was 80,117.

- Hialeah, FL, USA

problem #355

Sep 042020

Prius

  • 200,000 miles
Previous recalls for a 2010 Toyota Prius (NHTSA campaign number: 13V235000) and a 2019 Toyota customer support program (csp zjb) has acknowledged an unsafe failure mode in the vehicle where the brake booster assembly fails due to high pressure and causes the automobile to have difficulty stopping. On September 4, 2020 while driving down the road at roughly 40 mph, I experienced indication lights consistent with the descriptions outlined in the safety recall and Toyota support program. My automobile also had extreme difficulty coming to a stop from 40 mph and I had to unsafely pull to the shoulder of the road at speed to avoid colliding with the automobile in front of me. The Toyota csp zjb does not cover my vehicle due to time and mileage of the vehicle, but I feel this safety critical system should have been replaced prior to me experiencing a failure. Toyota selectively only replaced brake booster assemblies outlined in the recall and the csp, if the automobile was experience issues. Toyota stopped short of preventative safety measures of replacing this assembly prior to failure, leading to an almost collision event for me. Independent research has identified this issue has been responsible for other Toyota Prius accidents leading me to believe this is a safety issue that should be addressed by the NHTSA before others experience a critical safety failure at no fault of their own.

- Madison, AL, USA

problem #354

Aug 272020

Prius

  • 92,600 miles
I was comfortably driving my 2010 Toyota Prius down a city street on a Thursday afternoon--about 25 mph, light traffic--when suddenly--without any trigger or warning--I lightly pressed down the brake pedal to slow down for a speed bump, and the brakes shuddered, the brake pedal seemed to twitch, and the car started making a loud shrieking and grinding noise every 3-5 seconds. For the record, my 2010 Toyota Prius has been regularly serviced at my local Toyota dealership since I purchased it in 2018. The loud shrieking felt like it was coming from below my feet and from the drive shaft. I pulled over--the shrieking and grinding continued. I stopped the car--the shrieking and grinding continued. I got out of the car--the shrieking and grinding slowed after a few minutes. When I turned the car on again, the shrieking and grinding started and the car was beeping in a way I'd never heard before. Fortunately, I was about 4 blocks from my local Toyota dealership. I asked them if I was safe to drive the four blocks or if I should get the car towed, and they said I should be safe to drive. I drove to the dealership with the car shrieking and beeping. The brakes felt squishy and unreliable, but the dealership has said I should be fine. I dropped off the car. The next day, I got a call from the dealership saying that my brake booster pump and brake cylinder assembly had totally failed. When I asked the technician if there was something I could have done to prevent this, he said, 'no, this is just something that happens to these cars.' The brake failure occurred on Thursday, August 27, 2020. The phone call from the dealership occurred on Friday, August 28, 2020.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #353

Aug 262020

Prius

  • 123,515 miles
Just purchased the car from a used car dealer 8/26/2020 and was driving down a two lane road approximately 45 mph coming up to a stop sign and the brakes went crazy with a continuous buzzing sound from the brakes and the dash ABS, traction control, brake system warning lights all came on, would not stop causing me to run the stop sign and make a turn to slow down and finally come to a stop. Had the trouble code read and the store read the diagnostic trouble code as C1391 and reset so I could drive the vehicle slowly home. I checked for recalls on this dtc 1391 but my 2010 VIN was not included in the recall. They need to recall all of the 2010 Prius.

- Ooltewah, TN, USA

problem #352

Mar 042020

Prius

  • 98,000 miles
ABS system went out.

- St. Augustine, FL, USA

problem #351

Aug 212020

Prius

  • 103,775 miles
I experienced a significant loss of brake performance accompanied by many warning lights on the dashboard, including one that indicated a problem with the ABS brake system in my 2010 Prius. Upon immediately taking the car to the dealership, I was told that Toyota extended a warranty program (zjb & zkk) for the source of the problem ABS brake actuator/master cylinder failure, but that I was not eligible for the warranty coverage because the deadline had expired. My car was under 150,000 miles, as required by the warranty, and displayed the correct failure code as required by the warranty. But, since my car did not experience the problem or display an error code before the end of February 2020, I was told that I was ineligible. I was informed that I would have to pay over $4100 for a repair through the dealership, buy a new car or take my chances and drive the car 'as is' until I could find a cheaper solution. The cheaper solution would be to find another ABS unit at a salvage yard, and have a non-Toyota certified mechanic install it. There is nothing to indicate a salvage yard unit will not simply fail again. I was well within the 150,000 mile limit of the warranty. So, I am to accept responsibility for the repair of a part that Toyota admits is faulty, and would have replaced if the problem would have surfaced a mere six months earlier? I believe Toyota's warranty extension to be a meager attempt at appeasing the NHTSA and other authorities so they do not have to launch a full scale recall. They are endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who depend on these cars on a daily basis, as they should not ask their customers to experience a major brake failure before the manufacturer will agree to fix a known problem (or not fix it, rather, as the time limit has expired). Toyota is putting profits ahead of safety, during a pandemic. I the NHTSA to help us.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #350

Aug 112020

Prius

  • 163,866 miles
The red brakes light, ABS light and the 'yellow skidding car' icon lights all come on together, but intermittently. The brakes often feel difficult to press down upon starting the car. Ofter when the lights are on, the brakes feel spongy, or as though they may not stop the car. I took the car to the Toyota dealership and they concluded that the master cylinder and other parts needed replacing. I found out that Toyota has had lots of problems with these brake cylinders.

- Nacogdoches, TX, USA

problem #349

Aug 072020

Prius

  • 144,000 miles
Brakes system warning indicators light up. Brakes feel weak, need to step harder than normal to start slowing down. I looked this up on the internet and this a known defect that Toyota covers under 'customer support program zjb' for a certain period only. Of course it happens right after that coverage period. This should be a recall as it affects a known safety issue.

- Montebello, CA, USA

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