Vsa Warning Light On problems of the 2008 Toyota Prius

On 20 may 2010 at 11,966 miles every brake/stability warning light came on (including the warning for the parking/emergency brake which was not engaged), regenerative braking appeared to have failed, and hydraulic/friction brakes behaved as if abs was acting at a very slow pulse rate, approximately a 5-second cycle. For about 2 seconds during the "off" portion of this cycle the brakes were effectively inoperative, with the parking/emergency brake the only source of braking. This behavior persisted after shutting down and restarting the car. The dealer's service department reported that three errors had been logged: c1247 - stroke sensor c1300 - abs ecu malfunction c2318 - low voltage error resetting the computers cleared the warning indications and restored normal brake system behavior. At my behest, the dealer worked with Toyota engineering to identify why a low voltage would cause a computer failure which could cause substantial loss of braking ability. They kept the car for 8 days but did not appear to complete any sort of root cause analysis of the failure. On 17 December 2012 at 27,324 miles the brakes again failed with the same set of warning lights illuminated. This time, abs does not appear to be active at all. For the first 2-5 cm of brake pedal travel, in the regime where regenerative braking would be active, no braking is evident. As the pedal is further depressed, the hydraulic/friction brakes abruptly engage. Pressing harder does result in increased braking though braking is rough. No pulsation as might be expected from abs was noticed. No attempt was made to brake hard enough to lock up the brakes. The vehicle is currently at the dealer.

I have a 2008 Prius. If I have my foot on the brake and the stability system light comes on, the brake seems to release for a split second. This has not caused an accident, but I wanted to report it since the 2010 Prius is being investigated.

Car seems to slip on uneven road surface. When driven over potholes or bumps in the road, the wheels seem to speed up before stabilizing back. The stability control light flashes on when this happens.

We bought the Prius on June 2008 and it has only 4023 miles but in last one month it broke down three times . First time the car stopped on highway a strong beep sound and then check engine light, vehicle stability control light and a big red alert triangle came up the car lost it's power completely and got stalled in the middle of hwy - pretty scary. Then on 6/2/2009 we noticed that we cannot open the hatch back door and the car is completely dead. Both times we towed the car to the dealer and first time they said they did not find any thing wrong and they have reset all the computer, second time they said the battery was drained out without really NY proper reason. Last night we drove the car may be about 15 miles or so and it's the same situation the beep sound and all the hazard lights came on in the middle of the road and the car is dead again and we had to tow to the dealer. Three times in one month and in the middle of the road with a $30,000 dollars car is unacceptable. Some one really can kill us from the back because it is so sudden that no way they could predict that we are going to be stalled within 5 seconds from 65 miles/hour speed. We have a child and she travels on the back seat all the time. What is the solution for it? Toyota needs to take the responsibility. It is a real safety issue for our family.

I have a 2008 Toyota Prius. From day one, I have had a problem with braking over uneven terrain. When the vehicle goes over the uneven terrain, and you are braking, the stability control light goes on the dash and the brakes stop working until the vehicle is past the uneven road. This also happens on icy roads when the vehicle starts to slip, the brakes fail. I did not think there was anything wrong until I heard of similar complaints. I am taking the vehicle in to the dealer this week for it's service and will be reporting the problem to them at that time.