general problems of the 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser

On the home my wife went to apply the brakes and she had no brake pressure. The pedal went all the way to the floor. Then several lights and a buzzer sound started, and she could not stop the car. She was able to pull up on the e-brake just before she drove completely into the intersection, where several cars were driving in both directions. The front end of car ended partially in the north bound lane of us MD-5. There was also a home at the end of the road that she could have also driven into. I researched on several forums where other owners have had the same issue and the dealership has been unable to diagnose the issue. No TSB or recall has been made, but the number of people that have had this issue, something should have been done. My 4-year-old daughter was in the car, and I could have lost both of them. People need to aware of this. I had no idea that a total brake failure was possible with these vehicles.

The brakes are constantly binding up due to rust and need replaced, recently abs brake lines rusted off causing me to miss a stop sign, very dangerous, upper rear control arm mount rusted and cracked completely off causing steering and braking problems and had to be replaced to even use this vehicle, , the front rack has been replaced due to excessive rust of lines and fittings, same with transmission cooler lines-rotted off. . . Brake backing plates rotted off. . Even though I have had this undercoated and rust treated, the frame is rusting inside-out. . . Frame braces, everything on the frame is rusted much more than one would expect, even in a salt state like ohio. . . . My safety was put at risk by faulty brakes, the frame is not safe under hard braking and may cause an accident, the dealer has seen this vehicle, a local independent says "get rid of it". . . No warning lamps, just wild things happen with brakes, pulls left, pulls right, front, then back and this past time . . . None!. . . Only 111,000 miles.

Upon hard braking, if vehicle hits a bump, pothole, uneven road surface, etc, the abs kicks in making it almost impossible to stop unless I completely release the brakes thus requiring me to slam on it hard to prevent rear ending another object.

2008 Toyota Fj Cruiser frame rotting from inside and out. All suspension components have been replaced due parts failing because of corrosion that bled over from the frame to include both front steering knuckles, two parts that only ever get replaced in the event of an accident. Several frame supports have corroded from the inside out and are flaking off. Brake components that run along the frame have corroded from the frame to the bracket that holds them to the lines themselves. Cause a slow brake leak over time that eventually resulted in a dangerous near accident situation that was caused by complete immediate lack of brake pressure. Evasive driving and a sound mind avoided a legitimate accident, had to tow the truck to a shop. Unsafe to drive. Frame will not hold up in an accident. 12 year old frame should not be anywhere near this condition. Due to oversights at the manufacturer this frame is now corroding from the inside out.

Sever rusting of frame, break and suspension components and brackets. This 2008 Toyota Fj Cruiser is quickly becoming a safety hazard on the roads. I have a 92 sabb and a 93 vw that don't have have the rust issues this Toyota has. Toyota should have recalled the Fj Cruisers for faulty frames and undercarriage long ago.

Frame, suspension, and brakes have extreme damage from rust. Rear brakes are non-functional because of rust.

Loss of brakes, tried to stop. Both feet applied to brakes and nothing. This was a t stop with a 20' drop on the other side of the road . This was on a road driven constantly in our neighborhood. Turned the car to the right went over the curb through a yard hit a fire hydrant took it across the street jumped the other curb and stopped in brush. There were no skid marks in the grass or road where the breaks had been applied. Drivers side air bag ripped or shredded at bottom did not inflate fully, passengers did inflate correctly. No one was hurt seriously or taken by ems.

Brakes in certain situations become unresponsive. Happened twice when my wife was driving. Once when the streets were wet, she put on the brakes and went sliding all the way through the intersection. Abs did not work. The next time coming out of the parking garage, she went over some loose gravel and applied the brakes and the vehicle did not stop. She rear ended the vehicle ahead of her. Luckily there was no damage and the other driver was not a jerk. She said both times the brakes were unresponsive. . Read more...

While coming to a stop, if my 2008 Toyota Fj Cruiser hits a bump the abs brake system activates kicking back on the brake pedal. Then, the brakes grab as if they are going to lock up and skid. The only way to stop the brake system from continuing to do this is to release the pedal completely then, reapply the brakes. Obviously this isn't what you want to do in order to stop. There are numerous cases like this documented on this website. How much more documentation does Toyota need before they take this seriously?.

Firmly applying brakes to slow for traffic, abs stopped vehicle very quickly, then acted as if abs was working but with minimal braking power. Incident happened on smooth, dry pavement. Vehicle moving in a straight line.

2008 Toyota Fj Cruiser, build date:10/07. Have had unnerving experiences with the brake system on my fj. (1) when braking over a non smooth road the brake pedal pulsates for a long period and does not stop the vehicle. (2) had to panic stop and hit the brakes hard, they locked up, there was no braking just the abs took over and locked up the brakes hard to the point that I was glad I was wearing my seat belt, because I would've been lying in the street. (3) the pedal will be hard one time and mushy the next when applying the brakes. When the pedal is mushy the brakes do not work appropriately, nearly rear ending people or locking up the brakes to stop. (4) when at a stop the pedal was mushy and I tried to "pump"up the pedal by pumping the brake pedal, all the warning lights came on (related to the braking system) the dash and an annoying alarm sounded, has happened 3 times now. (5) when the pedal is mushy I can push it down all the way to the stopping point/floor with no resistance. Called the dealer they said they have never had any "issues".

When braking suddenly over uneven road the Toyota fj fails to stop in a safe and constant manner.

I own a 2008 Fj Cruiser and have had brake issues. As I approach a stop light and try to stop, the brake pedal goes soft and nothing happens. I pump the brakes 3-4 times before the brakes suddenly engage and stop abruptly. This has happened 4 times since December 2009 and my dealer tells me that there is nothing wrong. This scares the [xxx] out of me and I almost ended up in the back seat of a benz this last time. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

I have a 2008 Fj Cruiser manual transmission. This is the 2nd time this has happened to me since I've owned the truck. On may 10th, I was driving down the highway at about 70-80 mph. The truck to the right of me seemed like he wanted to change lanes in to my lane. I hit the breaks to let him in but the braking power being applied to the rotors was a lot harder then what I needed. In other words, it seemed like the computer thought my brake pedal was all the way down to the floor when in reality, I just needed a quick brake. Anyway, the wheels locked up to and released. It scared me how hard the truck stopped-- almost caused an accident behind me. The brakes then released and I kept going, but could smell the burnt rubber for another mile. This was a cement highway road that may have had some cracks in it but I don't remember if being particularly uneven. Just seemed like the computer misunderstood how much actual pressure I applied to the pedal and over braked. The first time this ever happened was probably a year ago when I was going around 20mph. Again, don't remember the condition of the road being overly terrible.

My Toyota Fj Cruiser has an issue involving the anti-lock braking system. If I hit a bump while decelerating, the abs pulses in such a way that it is impossible to stop safely at my original planned stopping point. If, for example, I am decelerating and plan on stopping within 100 yards at a stop sign, and I hit a pot hole, the abs will pulse (engage brakes briefly, disengage them, then engage again repeatedly) in such a fashion that I will stop several yards beyond the stop sign. The pulse pattern of the abs on the Fj Cruiser is dangerously long, and has caused several near misses on my part in a variety of situations (missing stop signs / lights, almost rear-ending someone due to hitting a bump/engaging abs while stopping,etc. ).

2008 Toyota Fj Cruiser. When coming to stop going down a hill, went over a pot hole while applying the brakes the vehicle did not stop and started to jerk forward. The brake pedal hit the floor had to release foot so that the pedal will come up vehicle almost went through intersection. No brakes power for several seconds. Dealer states that nothing is wrong, typical behavior for this vehicle.

I purchased new a 2008 Toyota Fj Cruiser 2 wheel drive with automatic transmission. Since ownership from March 2009 to date, I have been experiencing a lurching forward of the vehicle while the brakes are applied and at a full stop. This lurching forward occurs when the air conditioner is on and at the time that the air conditioner clutch engages. Most of the time, when the air conditioner clutch engages, the engine rpm only increases about 100 rpm, but frequently, when the a/c clutch engages the engine rpm increases 300 to 400 rpm with normal brake pressure while stopped, 100 rpm engine increases cause no problem, but with 300 to 400 rpm engine increases, normal brake pressures while stopped are not adequate and the vehicle lurches forward. I took the vehicle to the bill penny Toyota service department (huntsville, alabama) on 02/23/2010 and the service report stated that they could not duplicate the problem. The problem has been ongoing since my ownership began.

I drive a 2008 Toyota Fj Cruiser. This evening while coming to a stop at a busy intersection, I hit a small but hard bump in the road and completely lost my brakes momentarily. About a second later the braking was restored, but not before I went through the stop and entered a busy four lane highway narrowly escaping a crash as an on-coming car swerved. This brake problem sounds eerily similar to the already recalled prius, and since Toyota has not been very proactive in its recalls I believe this is the same problem on yet another vehicle model. What should I do about this problem?.

Momentary loss of braking capability while traveling over an uneven road surface, pothole or bump. This has been going on for the past 2 years. Complained to dealer last September. They looked at vehicle and said there was nothing wrong. I can duplicate the issue on our road which is uneven and has bumps. Happened this morning as I came to work. SUV speeds up while pressing brake over bumps then brakes catch and it if were not for a seat belt I would go through the windshield!.

When approaching a stop sign on a residential street at approximately 30mph, went to apply brakes, abs kicked in and lost most if not all braking ability resulting in rolling the stop and ending up in the middle of a busy 4 lane divided road. The section of the street approaching the stop sign has quite a few filled pot holes and is bumpy. This is probably the 4th or 5th time this has occurred at the same intersection or in similar road/driving conditions.

When rolling to a stop sign my 2008 Fj Cruiser ran over uneven pavement and the brakes went haywire. I almost ran the stop sign with no control over the vehicle.

On more than one occasion I have had the brakes go to 100% force when applying minimal force to the pedal. This behavior has occurred at street speeds of 35-40 and when coming off of a freeway. The force is strong enough that everyone in the car is launched forward to the point that the seatbelt lock engages. I have tried removing my foot from the pedal and reapplying pressure but the brakes immediately engage at 100%. Only after the vehicle has come to a complete stop do the brakes begin to work normally again.

Brake issue: unresponsive at first. . . The pedal stutters a bit and doesn't seem to engage the brake. Then I release and re-apply and then it become over-responsive. This issue has happened to me approximately 3 times since I purchased in 12/2008. All incidents occurred as I was coming to a stop at an intersection.

Brakes do not work properly when the car hits any kind of rough patch in the road while brakes are being applied. Extremely dangerous condition because it is very difficult to stop the car when this occurs. Occurs repeatedly and not limited to an isolated incident. Took car to dealer and dealer will not acknowledge issue instead claiming that I do not understand how anti-lock brakes work. This is an absurd excuse.

2008 Toyota fj have experience momentary loss of braking capability while traveling over an uneven road surface, pothole or bump similar as to what has been reported with prius. Vehicle continues forward without slowing down even though brakes are depressed after hitting a pothole. Release and reapplication of brakes often results in emergency hard braking. No accident occured but vehicle traveled well into interchange.

Antilock brakes activated after hitting ripple in exit ramp surface. Vehicle would not stop despite pressing down harder on the brake pedal. Required releasing brake pedal completely and then reapplying brakes to cause vehicle to stop. Came very close to shooting out into four-way intersection. Has happened on several occasions under similar circumstances (very minor bump on road causes antilocks to active upon breaking though this doesn't actually stop the vehicle).

I have had an issue more than once where when applying my brakes if I hit a bump the abs will take over, the brake pedal pulses and I will lose the ability to stop on my original mark. When this happens it feels as though the vehicle is barely attempting to make a stop at all. I have tried to apply more pressure to the brake pedal with no success. I have also tried removing pressure from the pedal and reapplying pressure but that does not seem to stop the vehicle any faster. I have had the problem when cruising between 35 and 45 mph.

The brake system on my 2008 Toyota Fj Cruiser is faulty. When going over any bumps and braking the pedal feels like a master cyl, failure. The pedal goes to the floor and breaking becomes non existent. It's been to the dealer but they can't find the problem and even though it's under warranty they keep charging me labor. I'm a mechanical person and I know when there's a problem. In light of Toyota's recent problems and propensity to evade, I want my concerns on record. I would be happy to let a 3rd party examine the vehicle. Hopefully something will be done before more people die at the hands of a faulty car. I'm looking at the date box below, this is a recurring problem that I first noticed in the winter of 2008-2009.