Traction Control Light On problems of the 2008 Toyota Prius

When I brake and also go over a bump my 2008 Prius lurches forward. The traction control light illuminates. The brakes become ineffective. This caused me to have an accident last night. The cars before me came to a sudden stop. I was driving 15-20mph but unfortunately I hit the brakes while unknowningly simultaneously going over a bump. The faulty traction control system sent me into a 1-2 second lurch forward with zero brakes. When I finally was able to have brakes I had to maneuver the vehicle to the left of the car ahead scratching the aura and denting my front right panel. This is not the first time the brakes have failed but it is the first time I was involved in an accident because of it. Toyota drivers need to leave a 4 sec. Space between cars to make up for the 2 sec. Lapse in brakes.

2008 Toyota Prius. Consumer states problem with traction control the consumer stated she was driving in the rain at a speed of 40 mph when she noticed the traction control light was flickering on and off more than she previously experienced. She also smelled an odor similar to something burning. She opened the windows to let it clear. However, the smell seemed to linger in the vehicle for at least a mile. As she approached a town, the speed limit was reduced from 45 mph to 25 mph so she slowed down and continued to experience the flickering of the traction control warning light while driving on wet pavement. As the consumer approached a controlled intersection at a speed of approximately 20 mph and was applying the brakes to stop for the red light, the vehicle suddenly shut down as she was unable to steer and had no brakes or traction. As she was about to hit the vehicle in front of her, she slammed on the brakes one last time and was able to stop at the last second. When the light turned green she proceeded to drive in the rain at a maximum speed of 40 mph and the traction control warning light came on only one additional time until she reached her destination 20 minutes later.

When going downhill and approaching a right turn near my home I apply the brakes and often runover the same uneven surface on the road. That triggers my 2008 Toyota Prius' traction control light to blink on and off a few times and my brakes seem to stop applying pressure at that point while my car's speed increases for 1-2 seconds then the traction control light goes off and the brakes work fine. I am just worried about all the issues with Toyota cars and want to make sure my family is safe. Hence, telling my small story before it happens and I can't control it.

I own a 2008 Toyota Prius and it also has a problem when braking while driving over a rough surface or pot holes. The traction control light comes on and there is a 1-2 second delay before the real brakes kick in. I have learned to be aware of this issue and press the brakes harder until the brakes start to work.

I drive a black 2008 Toyota Prius and after reading the news reports, I think there might be similar braking issues with my vehicle. The condition definitely does not happen very often, but I would say at least 5-10 times over the 23 months (March 08 - present) that I have had the vehicle. With the brake pedal applied after going over a rough spot or pothole in the road, it felt like the car was skidding or sliding. The car would resume normal operating conditions within a few seconds. The car was never out of control, but the steering wheel and brake pedal definitely felt very loose which is different than under normal circumstances. Also, when this condition occurs, the low-traction indicator light on the dashboard illuminates for a few seconds. These incidents occurred when there was not other traffic around. Up to this point, I attributed the condition to driver error, but I would rather add my description and err on the side of being overly cautious.

We have a 2008 Prius which has a couple of dangerous things about it which the dealer says is the way its designed to work. 1. I believe they are recalling the 2010 Prius for this problem, but the 2008 has it also. The cars braking system completely releases all the brakes, so far I've just noticed it in the rear wheels, when going around a curve and the wheel hits a bump and looses traction. The traction control light goes on and all the brakes are gone for a short period of time. It feels as if the car is also accelerating during this period of time, but that could just be a result of loosing the braking system. 2. The engine completely shuts off when the front wheels spin. In snow on a grade which can easily be driven on with a vehicles slipping from time to time, the Prius motor shuts down when a driving wheel spins and all forward momentum is lost ie after spin, no engine, power, spin, no engine several times the car comes to a stop in the road. I also cant get up my neighbors driveway if it rains because of this. If crossing a lane of oncoming traffic from a stop sign and the wheel spins we are in mortal danger of being hit.

Reproducible lag in brake response when driving over bumpy conditions at low speeds (8-20mph) on dry road conditions. If I brake before a sharp bump (e. G. , pothole before stop sign), there is a delay in brake engagement on the order of second(s), and the traction control light flashes on the dashboard. The brakes will eventually engage. This is most noticeable and reproducible when I am driving on a university campus that is in the foothills of salt lake city on a declining and curvy road. However, I have encountered this brake issue periodically when hitting potholes or sharp bumps on slight declines at other venues. However, this has led to several episodes of the car stopping later than anticipated, and I worry that my scenario represents a "sentinel event" for future safety issues. I inquired about this at a dealership, and their response was that "you just have to adjust to the brake feel compared to your old non-hybrid car. ".

With the brake pedal engaged, the brakes shut off temporarily while the traction control light is on. This failure occurs daily when I approach the stop sign in my neighborhood. As a approach the stop sign (brakes engaged), the road dips slightly which turns on the traction control. At this point the brakes turn off (with my foot still on the pedal) until the traction control light goes out indicating that the traction control has disengaged. So far I have been lucky and have not hit anyone after rolling through the stop sign. This is not a new problem as it has happened basically every day since I bought the vehicle. I have been dealing with it until I saw the notice about the 2010 Prius with exactly the same problem. I would like to submit a formal complaint so that the 2010 Prius brake investigation can be expanded to include the 2008 Prius.

I have read news reports about the 2010 Prius braking issues. As an owner of a 2008 Prius, I have experienced near identical behavior. When braking, if the car hits a pothole or a bump, I momentarily (maybe 1/2 -1 second of time) lose all braking power before braking then resumes. After this 'hiccup' the abs/traction control light blinks 3-4 times. The issue has never resulted in an accident, however I have changed my driving habits to ensure I have extra room to stop as the issue is both recurring and quite frequent (there is one offramp on my way home from work with a small bump that causes this issue 35-50% of the time). I know that the current story is that the 2010 Prius has a 'redesigned' braking system, so prior models and generations are supposedly not affected by the problem the NHTSA is currently investigating. My experience, however, leads me to believe the problem is more widespread and does in fact impact earlier generation Prius cars, possibly in a portion of the braking control system common to both the older and newer Prius models.