Brake Sensor problems of the 2005 Toyota Prius

Seven problems related to brake sensor have been reported for the 2005 Toyota Prius. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2005 Toyota Prius based on all problems reported for the 2005 Prius.

1 Brake Sensor problem

Failure Date: 09/09/2014

While slowing our 2005 Prius to make a turn into a parking lot the brakes failed to respond normally. Warning lights came on to indicate the abs/vsc had a problem. Took it to a repair shop to have it diagnosed, driving it to the shop was hazardous, very touchy and scary to drive. They said it needed a computer assembly, skid control and stroke sensor assembly to repair the problem. Over $2000 in parts alone. Considering my options now. Sell and never buy Toyota again would be one option. If this had happened at highway speed and we needed to slow or stop quickly we may have had an accident! (issue not covered by warranty) issues like labels for tire loads covered, ridiculous!.

2 Brake Sensor problem

Failure Date: 05/17/2014

Tl- the contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while traveling an unspecified speed the brakes had been applied, failed and the contact crashed into the rear of another vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. The contact sustained injuries to the chest, a leg gash and a pulled muscle in the back. The passenger sustained whiplash. A police report was filed. The sensor indicated to put the vehicle on a flat surface intermittently which caused the contact to have to restart the vehicle multiple times. The key was stuck in the ignition multiple times. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000. Dyd.

3 Brake Sensor problem

Failure Date: 08/01/2011

Brakes on 2005 Toyota Prius started intermittently acting up about a year ago, after six years of no problems. Observed symptoms were extreme jerkiness of brake operation despite constant pressure on brake pedal. Symptoms observed at any speed, but especially noticeable at slow speeds (coming to a final stop, such as at a traffic light, or in reverse backing out of driveway). When applying brakes at highway speeds, jerkiness felt like alternate over braking / under braking. Symptoms were quite scary the first times it happened. Had personal mechanic check out brakes. Test drive confirmed problem, but he was unable to find anything wrong with hydraulic brake system. Since problem was intermittent, we decided to see what happened. Problem continued intermittently, gradually increasing in frequency to the point in the last month where it was happening much more often than not. Took car to Toyota dealer for diagnosis. Problem was not evident on day of service. They checked computer for stored error codes, and found none. Rear brake drums showed slight wear and were out of adjustment, so drums were cleaned and turned and brakes adjusted. No difference in observed behavior; by end of the next day, jerky behavior noted as bad as it had ever been. Took car back to dealer. They replaced the stroke sensor even though there was no stored error code. This appears to have fixed the problem, since there has been no recurrence of problem in a week or driving since repair. Brakes feel totally normal again, for the first time in a year. Note on diagnosis procedure: the dealer seemed to initially discount my detailed, written description of the problem, and reacted only to their observations. While understandable, it is frustrating to the owner and could lead to a serious problem not getting fixed. I feel that the symptoms as described to them pointed directly to the stroke sensor and it should have been replaced on that basis.

4 Brake Sensor problem

Failure Date: 07/09/2010

With less than 45,000 miles of easy driving (and all maintenance performed on a timely basis at the dealership) on a single-owner Toyota 2005 Prius, the warning lights on the car's dashboard suddenly illuminated, which an out-of-town dealership interpreted to mean failure of the "skid control ecu". This part controls all major braking functions, including conventional brake control, regenerative brake cooperative control, abs, enhanced vsc and handles sensor information eps ecu and hv ecu. If occurring on a major CA highway, like us highway 5 and the "grapevine", this warning and failure can be a very serious and unexpected driving hazard. Repairs costs nearly $2,000 and this part must be "ordered" by a dealership and take 4 -5 hours to repair once the part is delivered overnight or longer. Toyota already is recalling this "skid control ecu" part on all 2002 -2003 sequoia passenger vehicles. Toyota does not consider this a defect on the Prius, and offers no recall or help to any of its Prius customers; to them it is simply a "(bad) luck of the draw" situation, tough luck for the Prius driver-owner with this defect.

5 Brake Sensor problem

Failure Date: 01/15/2010

I just read about the 2010 Prius braking complaints. I have a 2005 Prius and constantly experience what is being described. Every time I hit a bump or a pot hole, the Prius lunges forward especially if I'm braking at the time. Also, when I brake on slick roads I often experience the Prius' brakes not engaging as they should. Once I tried to make a right hand turn, going a proper rate of speed, on a snow covered road. The Prius' brakes did not engage enough to slow the vehicle in order to make the turn. I was forced to go straight through the intersection in order to avoid a collision. This "problem" has been present since we purchased the vehicle in 2005. I knew it was the computer system causing the anomaly, but I figured that I just needed to get used to it. Now, after reading the media reports, I believe this is infact a problem with my vehicles sensors and software.

6 Brake Sensor problem

Failure Date: 01/13/2010

I would like to file an official report of my accident that involved my 2005 Toyota Prius on January 13 of this year. It was in the morning after I had dropped off my children to their school. I was driving down the hill and driving the normal 25- 30mph down the hill to go home. Upon coming to the stoplight, I noticed the cars in front of me stopped at the stoplight so I went to hit my brakes and did not feel any power from my brakes so I quickly stood on my brakes with both feet and realized I had absolutely no brake power. I subsequently crashed quite hard into the car in front of me and experienced severe pain to the right side of my neck. After initial shock, I was able to maneuver my car out of traffic to a parking lot and noticed it funny that my brakes were working at that point. After exchanging information with the man that I hit, my car was towed to an autobody shop. After going to kaiser to look into my injury (which was whiplash) I was told at the autobody shop that my car was totaled and could not be fixed. He also told me that my airbag did not deploy because I had hit a larger american car which was higher than my bumper. It never hit the airbag sensor on my car that was lower than the impact point. After the accident, I asked my insurance company, the interinsurance exchange of the automobile , to please look into the brake situation and they stated that they did not find anything wrong. I am not satisfied with this answer because I have read that the Toyota problems are not easy to diagnose. I have been driving for 27 years and have never been in an auto crash that was my fault. I also have never experienced such a scary feeling as having absolutely no control over my car.

7 Brake Sensor problem

Failure Date: 07/23/2009

The brakes began to noticeably grab then release at low speeds, but it was intermittent. My son was driving, slowed for a stop light and hit the car in front of him when the brakes released. I took the car to the dealer, they could not recreate the problem and told me no fault was detected. Three weeks later, driving back from washington, through oregon, we pulled into a gas station, the car slowed at first, then the breaks let go and my husband had the stomp on the pedal. He turned off the car, filled it with gas, and when he turned it back on all the warning lights went off, signaling brake failure. We had it towed to a dealer in roseburg, and the brake sensor had faulted. But they told us we could probably drive back to sacramento. We decided to have it replaced there and not risk driving it any further.




Safety Ratings of Prius Cars
Fuel Economy of Prius Vehicles
Prius Service Bulletins
Prius Safety Recalls
Prius Defect Investigations