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.
When the car was being driven on a surface road, the ABS, Brake and Traction lights came on. The brakes became stiff and hard to press. Braking was also slow. Car was traveling at less than 30 mph at that time When taken to the mechanic shop, and running diagnosis, the code came back to be C1391. The car has 113000 miles and purchased in July 2013.
The contact owns a 2013 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at 35 MPH, when the contact's wife depressed the brake pedal, the brakes were inoperable and inadvertently all the warning lights illuminated on the control; however, the wife then let off the brake pedal and then depressed the brake pedal again and was able to stop the vehicle. The contact stated that the wife was able to safely drive the vehicle to their residence. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed as having an ABS control module failure and needed to be replaced; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure; a case was filed, but the manufacturer provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 93,000.
Back in May 2022, my Toyota Prius experienced issues with the braking system. I lost braking power while driving, the brake experienced a loss of power and felt very squishy to press. I had my car towed to a nearby auto shop who examined the vehicle but could not resolve the issue and recommended I take the car to Toyota. This third party auto shop reset the computer diagnostic system and cleared the error codes. When I towed the car to Toyota, the braking issue had miraculously resolved - but without the active error codes - Toyota refused to make the extended warranty repairs to the braking system that are a widespread and known issue. I continued driving the car without issue until 8/13/23 where the brake lights went on while driving and the same squishy brake issue occurred again. Toyota looked into it and determined it was related to the extended warranty braking issue, but my cars extended warranty ended on 6/29/23 - just over 6 weeks ago. Toyota refused to honor the extended warranty even though the issue first occurred in May 2022. They estimated the repair would cost $3000. I would like to have Toyota honor their agreement to extend the warranties of this braking issue.
Brake Booster Pump failed on August 5, 2023 in parking lot, as found by dealership in Marion, IL. ABS, Brake, and Traction lights were on. Vehicle has been properly maintained at dealership. Before that, the brake was making weird noises when depressed. When braking, it tends to lunge forward before slowing down. Dealer deemed vehicle not safe to drive. They showed me the primary and secondary warranty internal documents, up to 150K. My vehicle is at 150400. How could that 400 miles make any difference? But Toyota refused to cover the cost of repair at over $3000. It is clear Toyota and dealership know all along that there is an ongoing problem with their braking system. I am glad this did not happen on a highway. But other owners must be made aware of this ongoing safety issue. Something must be done to have this recalled. Many thanks for your inquiry and oversight of the issue.
Have an issue with the Prius having the error code C1391. The dealership refuses to fix the issue since it's unsafe to drive with the brake failing. Need to replace the Brake Power booster and ABS Pump/ Motor; the total cost to get all this is quoted by the dealer as $3300
- Tempe, AZ, USA
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Brakes are failing intermittently. There was a recall but they say we missed the deadline.Brake booster is obviously defective makes noises constantly.
The brakes on my 2013 Toyota Prius suddenly quit working normally, requiring significantly more force to stop. The car has been inspected by the dealer, who pointed it to what is apparently a common problem with the car -- failure of the brake booster/master cylinder assembly and the brake booster pump assembly. Half of the dashboard lit up when the problem occurred. No warning before.
I drove myself and two neighbors to a restaurant for dinner when my traction light came on momentarily but did not stay on. We had dinner and when I went to back out of the parking stall, I felt like I did not have brakes. Since it was approximately 9 pm and I was no where near a service station, I drove very slowly because I was unsure I could get the car to stop. The traction light, the brake and ABS lights were on, as well as a loud beeping alarm. I drove in the right hand lane so I could pull off the road if I could not get the car to stop. I managed to get us home and Toyota Dealer was called the next morning. They towed the car to Dealer who sold the car to us in 2015, and where it was serviced on a rigid schedule. We had an extended warranty even after it passed the 100,00 mile mark. We bought an extended warranty beyond the original warranty but were upset to find that it did not cover the brakes! It cost $2654 to replace the ABS booster and brake cylinder. When I asked the Dealer to adjust our costs as brake failure was the most reported complaint on the 2013 Prius, I was told there was a 10 year /or 150,00 mile rebate program that had expired that started in 2010, but since we had not had any reported problems during the time, there was nothing they could do to help. I asked why they had never sent us a letter knowing there was a possible brake program, and was told ALL 2013 Prius owners were felt to be affected. Our Prius now has 154,000 miles on it. I explained how I, and my neighbors, could have easily been rammed from behind, or not stop at stoplights causing ourselves and others to be harmed but they insisted there was nothing they could do.
Approaching a red light brake failed to stop the car. I lost pressure on the brake pedal. No body was hurt. Suddenly all brake, abs and traction control lights came on at once. Toyota dealer told me i needed to replace the brake booster pump and that it was common on those cars
While driving suddenly the traction control light, the ABS light, the Brake light, and the Master warning light went on. I was able to pull off the road and stop by exerting an abnormal amount of pressure on my brakes. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it showed code C1391. Toyota service bulletin T-SB-0024-19 addresses this saying it is caused by an internal brake fluid leak inside the brake booster assembly with master cylinder. Toyota is aware of the problem and has redesigned the parts. This is a dangerous problem with 2011-2015 Prius vehicles.
Previous models (2010) had a recall on the breaks system not this VIN number. ABS Actuator is malfunctioning, is the same system as 2010 that had a recall on it. I have two kids in the car when it stopped working without warning. A safety recall must take effect, my car only has 82000 miles on it.
The car entered into safe mode suddenly while driving on the freeway and caused me to lose the brake booster with no audible alert. The brake light, ABS light and Traction Control light showed up on the dashboard. The regenerative brake got deactivated too. I was able to stop the car to a safe place by pressing hard on the brakes. This is very concerning as no warning was issued and didn-??t expect to lose the break booster while driving at high speed on freeway. Toyota had issued a recall on this but only covering cars under 150,000 miles and mine has 189,000 miles. It is a 2013 Prius 3 model.
Symptom: Brake pedal felt spongy with multiple dash warning lights ON and booster pump cycling on/off. Safety Risk: yes, my Prius felt like it wasn-??t stopping properly. My family and vehicles around were put at risk. Problem Confirmation: the problem has reproduced and has been confirmed by a local Toyota dealer. DTC: C1391 Warning lamps: there is multiple lamps On: Brake, ABS, trac/vsc, -??!-?? There is a Toyota Customer Support Program(CSP) : Prius Brake Booster Pump and Brake Master Actuator CSP ZJB. I also reached out to Toyota and I was told the repair would not be covered due to mileage but was within the 10 year -??use of date-??. (10 year or 150,000 miles) My Toyota case number is: 230324001393
Brake accumulator may have a leak. Three brake warning lights came on while driving; the parking brake, traction control, and ABS. After the lights came on I noticed the brake accumulator coming on more often and needing to apply more pressure on brake pedal when stopping. I did some research and found that there was a recall for that same part on the 2010 Prius. I haven-€™t had the car looked at by a mechanic but I was able to see and confirm that it was the brake accumulator/ actuator. Vehicle only has 87k miles and has had regular maintainance.
On appx. 11/18/21 I was driving my vehicle on the commute home from work, appx. 15 miles, when 4 Brake Indication Lights displayed themselves showing that there was some level of issue, whether major or minor, with the braking system. 2 "Brake" warning lights were illuminated along with the ABS Light and the SLIP Indicator(traction control) Lights also. Not knowing the level of severity of the issue and the car "seeming" to sufficiently stop the motion of the car I proceeded to use the vehicle supposing it were a miniscule issue such as brake fluid level, brake pads, wheel sensor or etc. With the Toyota vehicle still having a lengthy life expectancy at that time I proceeded forward until more work was needed on the engine itself around late 2022. This also posed a situation for myself to look through papers and documents accumulated on the vehicle of which a paper was observed possibly linking to my current braking issues. On 2/4/23 I took the 2013 Prius by an authorized Toyota Dealer for diagnosis on this "Brake Light" matter as the lights were still turning on and off at random abnormal times. The brake booster component was confirmed failed in regards to the expired recall ZJB that Toyota initiated on certain Prius year models. At this point in 2023 no assistance was offered by Toyota to make this repair of my failing brake booster even though the car mileage currently sits around 218,000 miles. 10 years of use for this car have not even passed for this vehicle at the time of this writing and Toyota vehicles are regularly known for a life span beyond 150,000 miles that the secondary coverage window of the Brake recall offered. It seems that calculation method determined for the active recall concerning the braking system on this model/s Toyota Prius has been miscalculated and should be observed again to broaden the scope of assistance provided by Toyota given that most of the affected cars can be expected to have a life beyond the current recall window.
In April 2022, the brake booster pump activates every 20 seconds without applying brake. Brought the car to the dealer but service representative said since there is no trouble codes, Toyota will not cover brake booster pump replacement under Customer Support Program ZJB, and I'll have to pay for diagnostic fees. I took the car back without going through diagnostic test. Lately (Jan 2023, only 71800 miles driven), the booster pump would activate every 13 seconds, still not showing any trouble codes. Hissing sound can be heard inside the car and outside, especially on the driver side when parked, between each pumping cycle. Braking feel soft and insufficient towards the end of the 13-second cycle. It is a serious safety issue should the brake booster pump fail while driving. A recall should be issued instead of a customer support program, with limitations, which only address the issue only after trouble codes appear.
Traction Control Warning Light and ABS!! Warning Light and Brake Warning Light are remaining on in my dashboard when I am driving, then my Brake changes to hard to press that is abnormal. Mechanic told me my car-€™s error code relate with this issue is -€œC1391-Leakage in accumulator abnormal-€, so it is related with -€œABS Module-€ and -€œABS Accumulator Pump-€
I was parking my car inside the garage, when suddenly feel like it was skidding, and I thought it was going to hit the wall. Then I saw the ABS, brake skid control, and brakes lights. After that incident the car feels like loosing half of its breaking power, the regenerative breaking was not longer working. I could hear a noise related to the break pressure pump every 4 seconds when normally it was longer. I connected the computer to look for codes and found the C1391 "Break Accumulator leak". Having this abnormal frequent pump running will wear it more up to the point that it would not pump any more leading to a catastrophic failure with lack of braking. Investigating about this issue it looks not isolated with several people reporting the same issue, even there was a recall but just up to 2010 models, but the problem is more spread since I am also experiencing exactly the same issue.
I had taken the Prius in to my local Toyota dealer to get the brakes flushed and bled due to thinking there was air in the brake system. I thought this because I had noticed over the past few months that the brake actuator was pressurizing at a slowly increasing rate, which I had assumed meant there was air present. I had taken the Prius in to Toyota for multiple oil changes and was never informed of any stored ABS codes or even of the Technical Service Bulletin for the actuator and master cylinder malfunctioning in Prius-€™ of the same years. Had I had known about the TSB, or informed of the abnormal behavior of the brakes being more than just air in the system, the repairs would have been performed free of charge under the TSB guidelines. The Prius is now out of the mileage requirements of the TSB as I use my care for work but have been experiencing this since before the mileage was over the TSB limit. After the brake flush and bleed was performed, the ABS light, BRAKE light and traction control light all illuminated and I had lost power brakes while driving. I managed to park safely due to the roads not being busy and checked the brake fluid reservoir. It was grossly overfilled. I took the car back to Toyota thinking this was the issue. When the technician received the vehicle, the lights had gone but the code for the master cylinder malfunctioning was stored. The Service Assistant informed me there was a TSB for this exact issue and was the actual cause for the actuator behavior I had been experiencing. They completed another flush and bleed and sent me on my way. He told me if the lights come back on, to bring it back to carry out the $3300 repair. The problem is, I heavily rely on my vehicle for work and if the lights come on, I experience complete loss of power brakes and might not be lucky enough to be on an empty road. This is a massive safety concern for my family and me. I am appalled that this was the conclusion I was left with.
My traction control, ABS, and emergency brake lights have been on for two weeks. I took my car to a mechanic and learned the power brake booster and master power assembly are defective. It is available for inspection upon request. Due to this part malfunction, I am unsure whether I am able to drive my car safely due to multiple brake concerns. This problem has been reproduced/confirmed as there is a national backorder on this kind of part. Due to the national backorder, I must drive my car in an unsafe manner. I have only had my car inspected by an independent mechanic called Certified Automotive, who have impressive reviews and credentials when it comes to inspecting car braking systems. To my knowledge, this is not a part of normal wear and tear on a Prius vehicle. This will now put the onus on me to purchase an expensive new part due to the defectiveness on Toyota's part.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- San Jose, CA, USA