Table 1 shows one common electronic stability control related problems of the 2010 Toyota Prius.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Electronic Stability Control problems |
Just purchased the car from a used car dealer 8/26/2020 and was driving down a two lane road approximately 45 mph coming up to a stop sign and the brakes went crazy with a continuous buzzing sound from the brakes and the dash abs, traction control, brake system warning lights all came on, would not stop causing me to run the stop sign and make a turn to slow down and finally come to a stop. Had the trouble code read and the store read the diagnostic trouble code as c1391 and reset so I could drive the vehicle slowly home. I checked for recalls on this dtc 1391 but my 2010 VIN was not included in the recall. They need to recall all of the 2010 Prius.
Prius has less than 100k miles and has been running perfectly. Today while driving, the brake, abs and traction control lights came on simultaneously and began alarming, while suddenly my brake locked up. This could cause accident and injury if it occurred under the right circumstances. Apparently there was a previous brake booster recall that I was never notified of and which has since expired. This recall should be reissued to include the many 2010 Priuses affected by this problem.
I brought my Toyota Prius to Toyota dealer as abs alert was on and I lost controlling the brake. Toyota dealer gave me an estimate for repair at $2,850. 00 ( p1391 abnormal leak in accumulator pump rec master cylinder with brake booster and brake booster pimp assembly) due warranty enhancement expired 05. 09. 2020 or 150,000,miles. I've got abs alert in the beginning of may'20, however, due to covid-19 stay-home order, I had to stay home and wan't able to bring my car until end of may, . 2020. I was advised by Toyota dealership to contact Toyota customer relation as they may consider to extend the warranty, so I contacted Toyota customer relation( actually I was transferred to financial department) and they denied to extend the warranty, and they repeated as " warranty is warranty" . I was very disappointed with Toyota's unkind decision and service under covid-19 situation. I read toyoya 2010 has problems of brake issues, so I want Toyota take a responsibility to fix my brake problem.
Warning lights for abs, brake and symbol indicating traction control is operating all lit simultaneously with a corresponding change in brake pedal feel. Toyota dealer diagnosed brake booster failure and initially quoted $1,915 to repair then called back to revise this to $2,915. There have been recalls on this part just not covering my VIN.
Code c-1391 leak in brake accumulator. These should be a recall with Toyota putting a bad brake accumulator in Prius model. I notice it was a secondary recall with this part. Toyota know this is a safety problem when this happen the car goes to manual breaking and you can lose control of the car. Please look into this problem.
Brakes and vdc system constantly engage during u-turns, tight turning circles, causing the car to brake unexpectedly. While not accident has happened, it has caused a few near misses as my window to turn shrinks because the car is braking.
Defect within the brake booster pump assembly. If this defect occurs, various warning lamps on the instrument panel made illuminate, I experience increased stopping distance, reduced hydraulic pressure within your brake system, the deactivation of brake assist, and/or the deactivation of vehicle stability control. Toyota has previously issued at least two safety recalls � d0h and k0l � designed to prevent similar dangerous occurrences. However, hundreds of thousands of generation iii Prius vehicles (2010-2015 model years) were excluded from those safety recalls.
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the brakes warning light, abs warning light and several other warning lights illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to Toyota of santa barbara located at 5611 hollister Ave, goleta, CA 93117, (833) 779-4500) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the brake booster assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 116,000.
The car I have have 3 dash lights we pull the code through computer it was c13 91. That means the car have an actuator it's not working so the brake system is not working properly and the abs light traction light the brake light are on all the time . Sometime they go off and sometimes they turn back on usually it's more on time than off time. I did research and find out very common with 2010 2015 Prius model went to Toyota dealership at riverdale west springfield massachusetts no help. It's a known problem they agree but my car is 10 years old or 150000 miles over so no warranty please help I am a poor uber driver 4 daughter and wife I am the only bird feeder 4132850462 is my cell and adeeloraclecertified@gmail. Com or live. Com.
My abs system started showing signs of problems, and I started getting codes for all sorts of brake-related issues. My brakes ended up locking up and not working, and my battery in my car died because it was the brake system was not able to recharge my battery. Even though I started having issues with it in February, apparently Toyota said that because I had a 2010 Prius, that since November 31, 2019 had passed, the recall/extended warranty "ran out" on it. Even though this is a problem that obviously wasn't fixed in the first place. So when I took it to the dealership to get a diagnostics ran on it, they said that they needed $3,200 to fix the vehicle. This included both the purchasing and installation of a new brake booster/master cylinder assem and an abs pump motor assem. I obviously do not have the money for the repair and they are telling me to go kick rocks. This is not right and because of the brake issue not being fixed in the first place, it then allowed my battery (which runs around $1,500) to get completely drained and prevented it from being properly recharged by the brake system.
Brake/abs and stability system failure. Possible actuator or accumulator. Touota knows there is a fault and hides behind a software update. System fails and causes unreliable braking with increased force to apply the brakes. Brakes apply so hard at times the rear passengers heads hit the rear seat.
The cars starts does not stay on if I try to drive it will turn off and die out .
Even though the breaks seem fine, the electric break system does work at all. All lights are on and the breaks pedals feels loose. When I push the breaks the vehicle keeps going. The abs warning light is on as well as all the other lights regarding to breaks and stability mechanisms.
Brakes went completely out and emergency noise was beeping loudly in car. Talk to mechanic and he said brake actuator is bad and there was a recall but Toyota won't acknowledge and repair.
VIN # : (xxxx) on February 26, 2019, I asked autonation tyota buena park ( auto nation) to update the software and replace the invert assembly as per the recall notice letter from autonation. Also, I explained that my car's inverter and engine coolant were replaced on November 19, 2015 with showing the invoice of dch Toyota of simi valley and I had same overheating problem as before in summer 2018. On February 27, 2019, autonation emailed me as per the attached copy here that the Toyota representative came to autonation and did not approve repair or replacement due to high mileage (218,542) of my car. On februry 28, I picked my car but I will drive after receipt of Toyota's confirmation that vehicle is safe I believe that the inverter assembly should be replaced regardless of mileage for motor vehicle safety if my car has experienced inverter failure. Also, I filed my complain with national traffic and motor vehicle safety department. Regards (xxxx) parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
After changed all the 12v battery and 201v battery pack brand new. All the fluid; oil, cooling water, transmission also been changed new, even clean out the exhaust co2 deposit in the pipe, basically the engine been clean out like new. The problems now is not start or put into ready mode. Due to the inverter and icu u1 circuit board now sending the signal to the dash board. Dash board only show flashing engine light, push button show amber not green. I heard Toyota is recal the software on the inverter, this is not going to help, due to reprogram the key and the imobolizer cause the infor on the dash to shut down, the obdii cant even read or function. Now my 2010 hybrid is dead. I don't know what to do. Please help.
Brake actuator keeps activating every 10 seconds. The cars abs, traction control, and brakes error lights have all come on. Brakes are compromised in some manner which can pose serious safety issues while driving.
Abs, brake and traction control lights on. Code c1391 abnormal leak in accumulator.
Abs light on / traction light on / brake light on !!!!!!!! code c1391abnormal leak in accunulator !!!!!!! $3,000 estimate fix !!!!!!!!!!! comon Toyota proble!!!!!!!! recall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
The other day my brake light, traction, and abs light came on. Took it to the mechanic and they said it's code c1391 - abnormal leak in the accumilator, electrical issue, and I must go to the dealer. I've seen others complain about this. Shouldn't this be a recall?.
My wife had a �near-death� experience on 22-Mar-18 while driving her Prius (2010) back home. She was driving on a high speed interstate freeway (I-10) in houston and suddenly her abs brake system failed and she can she all warning lights in the dashboard (abs warning light, brake system warning light, slip indicator) were lit. As soon as she saw these warning, she tried to slow down the vehicle safely by applying brakes, but brakes were barely responsive. At this time, she was driving at a speed around 65 mph. She kept pressing the brake pedals and slowly moved towards the shoulder area. After traveling for some distance, the vehicle stopped eventually. She called tow truck and took the car to Toyota dealership nearby. We are waiting for the response from the Toyota service center about the fault.
My car completely shut down in traffic, engine, steering, transmission all quit and I was almost in a horrific accident as I could not control the car or get out of anyone's way. The check hybrid warning light was also on. It was towed and the garage said it was a software update that I was not made aware of that caused complete failure.
Airbag light started turning on every so often. After recall work at dealer, it went away, but again now holds constant.
Because of,as dealership said,the car was stalled at the highway. I don't have any sticker about recall, but most Prius 2010 owners said that owners receiving notification about inverter problem. I'm heading to the dealership, who offered me to fix the car for $3,500. Could you please take a look, do I have any warranty or recalls on this particular vehicle please. Thank you.
Driving down highway at posted speed limit (75mph), I tried to slow down due to traffic and noticed my cars ability to brake was severely compromised. I then noticed my cars brakes, abs, master warning and vsc lights had came on. Given that my car has 103k miles on it, I figured it is time for a brake pad service. With the limited braking ability, I decided to make the short drive to the Toyota dealer for brake service. After the dealer inspected my car, a representative told me that it is not the brake pads that are causing the lights in your dash to go on but rather the brake booster. They advised me that it is not recommended that I drive the car anymore until the issue is remedied by replacing the brake booster at a cost of over 2k. I had to also incur the cost of a rental since the booster was not in stock and would take over the weekend to receive. I was taken aback by the total cost of the service but had no choice and proceed to get it repaired. Upon receiving my car a few days later, I drove to work and upon my return home, the issue repeated itself with all the lights on the dash lighting up and the cars braking ability was again compromised. Extremely irate, I drove directly to the dealer and upon inspecting the car they told me that it is now the accumulator that needs to be replaced. This time the dealer absorbed the cost of over 3k to replace it. I researched the internet for any known recalls and found the issue was being addressed by Toyota with a recall however my cars VIN was not part of it. It is my hopes that you make Toyota aware of the safety issue and initiate a recall on all 2010 Prius models and not just some. I would also like to get the cost I incurred with this safety issue reimbursed at some point.
Brake booster pump assembly vehicle in motion when on highway when loss of breaking and steering took place. Vehicle lighted icons appeared on dash along with alarm sound. (abs) (!) (brake) (ss). This unsafe condition could have been avoided if NHTSA would have forced Toyota to recall this defective part in 2013 when Toyota notified NHTSA of the defective braking system. Or Toyota mailed notice to customers as stated back in 2013, which prevention could prevent loss of life or harm. Or class action. . Read more...
Car would not drive, or reverse it shifts to neutral since first week I bought the car in Aug 2010. I bought a Toyota Prius iii 2010 (from the dealership Toyota of kearney mesa in san diego) in 2010. The car from the beginning would shift back to neutral when I set it to drive or reverse. I bought the car and am the only owner). After I encounter this, within the week I took it to the dealership where I bought it (san diego kearny mesa) and they told me that it was not a problem. Yes, it was a problem and they refused to fix it. This has happen to my car from week 1. Now 5 years later, today, the car would not engage in "d" or reverse. I tried at least for 10 minutes. I called a dealership now in seattle (since I take my car here for service) and I was told that they never heard about it. I searched online and I found that this problem/bug does happen. Today I could not set my car to drive or reverse for about 10-15 minutes. It's a safety issue. My steps: 1. Depress power button (to turn on) 1. 1. Wait about 5-10 seconds 2. Depress the break + engage in d (drive) or (r) reverse. 3. The car goes to "n" neutral and cannot be put in gear drive or reverse. 4. Turn car off. Go back to step 1 until your car engages.
All the lights on the dash associated with antilock brakes, traction control, brake are on. The braking has changed and does not slow the car as fast as it used to, almost hit the car in front the first time I drove it with the lights on that morning. Car has 50,394 miles on it, noticed all the lights on when started car in morning, brakes appeared to work normally when backed out of driveway, but at higher speed stops the car travels a lot farther and takes a lot more effort to stop.
My brakes has always had a weak feel and it would lose stopping power when braking on a bumpy road. Its almost like, the brakes releases when you hit a bump. There are currently two recalls for the 2010 Prius but for some reason, my VIN number is not included in it. Is there any way we can get the dealer to perform the recall? its just a software computer update, but I have a feeling they will not do it since my VIN is not included in the recall. Even though I experience the symptoms of the 2 brake recalls for the 2010 Prius. Thank you.
Was traveling about 65 mph on route 11 in CT when red lights come on and car slows to 20 mph. Pulle to side of road and called aaa/towed to hartford Toyota in hartford CT. First told it was a hybrid battery then told it was the inverter which they said is on back order. Now I,m getting the run around from the main office in California. . Brought car in for a recall on software update in Feb 2014 and from what I read this may cause the invert to fail thanks for your attention in this matter.
If the vehicle hits a pot hole while slowing down, there's a sudden loss of braking power and the vehicle moves a few feet forward. The vsc light comes on at the same time. I'd noticed this a few times in the past but with the roads deteriorating after a bad winter, the pot holes are bigger and this is very prominent and scary. Going to take to the dealer for inspection. I feel it's definitely an issue with the braking system.
Ever since acquiring this vehicle earlier this year, I have been experiencing loss of breaking for a second every time I hit a pothole and bumpy spot. It happens every other time. Upon goggling this problem, I learned that the problem was first reported to NHTSA way back in 2009. But I do not see any recalls related to this problem. Your website says you have received about 33 complains. Unless I missed something, is there any status report from Toyota or the recall that specifically addresses this problem? also, I live in the east coast, specifically in NJ. We had a brutal winter this year. In one incident, I was driving up a slightly elevated road (barely 2--5% incline) in a 25mph residential road with slightly slippery road (not really black ice per se). I loss control and traction control lite up and started beeping. While trying to bring the car in control, my car ended up on the other side (thankfully there were no vehicles parked on the other side or any oncoming vehicles) and then shifted to the right but finally managed to bring it back in control. Other misc information: I learned about a recall earlier this year related to ecu board programming update from the news media (since I was a new owner, Toyota probably didn't have my information so never got recall notice) and I went to the dealer for update. I was hoping software update might also address pothole/loss of break problem but it has not helped.
When hitting larger size potholes or bumps in the road I lose control of what feels like the rear end, its as if the vehicle breaks gives way when the rear tires hit the object, car shimmies slightly, the breaks stop working for at least 3 seconds as the car lurches forward. The break also depresses further to the floor while it happens. There's a particular spot on my way to work that continues to cause the problem. Its heading down a small declining hill before a turn to the left. If I were to tailgate someone and have that happen I would surely hit them because there's no control of the vehicle for a few seconds after hitting the object. This object goes straight across the 2 lanes as if the concrete paving was poured too high in a long horizontal line. I think it has to be above a 4-5 inches or so because I'll hit smaller ones and I'm fine and I've tested it on different objects, its higher raised items causing the behavior. It happens when its dry, wet or icy out, but you have to be applying the break to really feel it as far as I can tell. My passenger also felt the loss in control each time this has happened and its been numerous since owning the vehicle.
On Tuesday October 02, 2012 at approximately 0510 the vehicle brakes went out and the brake, abs, and stabilization lights came on along with alarm. Vehicle was towed to Toyota dealership for repair - told it was the master cylinder. Vehicle picked up on morning of October 4, 2012 from dealership drove approximately 20 miles and the exact same thing occured. Brakes, abs, stabilization alarms came on. Toyota delership was called and said that the vehicle should be fine - system had cleared with part replacement - "maybe it was a bad part or there could be air in the lines. " vehicle is presently at the delearship awaiting inspection. Fortunately, no accidents or injuries occured on these dates. However because of the loss of brakes and near accidents this vehicle is now a threat to my safety. So far I have been lucky - I do not want to take a chance with the third being the time that I am in a serious accident.
I was entering a parking space. Turned right into space. The vehicle accelerated, steering wheel locked, and brakes did not respond!. The car sped over the curbing and hit the left front fender of the truck in the next space.
I gently drive my 2010 Toyota Prius in eco mode to maximize fuel economy. Every weekday, since January 2011, I slow on a certain road to make a right turn. The road has a manhole cover recessed about 1 inch into the road along the path of my passenger side tires. Every time I drive over this manhole cover the Prius completely loses ability to brake for about 1/2 second, then braking is reestablished. There are other small bumps I drive over at other places which have the same results to the Prius braking system. Yesterday (26 oct 2011) something different but possibly associated happened while driving over a bump. This time I was accelerating after having made a right turn from a complete stop. While still accelerating after the turn I signaled left and proceeded to merge into the left hand lane. As the Prius right front tire drove over the reflective lane marker imbedded in the road surface (the marker sticks out about 1/2 inch from road surface) the Prius went out of control. The car suddenly and severely pulled hard to the left and rapidly slowed, I struggled against the cars actions to avoid hitting the raised center median. My first though was that I must have had a complete and instantanious blow out on the front left tire. My reaction was to immediately remove my foot from the accelerator. Then as I was further assessing my options and the surrounding traffic the Prius regained control and I was able to continue driving down the road as if nothing had ever happened. As the Prius reinstated control I heard a beep come from the dashboard, however I was not quick enough to notice if any warning lights had engaged during the incident. When I looked at the displays everything appeared normal. I also check the car externally and everything appeared normal. All incidents are on high quality road surfaces with dry pavement. Dealer indicates no recalls.
My 2010 Toyota Prius comes equipped with an intrusive traction control system that can't be turned off manually. Due to the restrictive system, the car had been stuck on small inclines in several occasions. If I carry too little speed, the traction control would slow the car to a crawl and prevents me from going up since it doesn't allow itself to spin any tires and therefore all forward momentums are lost. On the other hand if I carry too much speed, it becomes too dangerous as I can't steer the car in snow or ice. Could NHTSA please get Toyota to retrofit a system that would disable the traction cotrol and therefore we can actually get up hills in the winter by maintaining momentum using limited amount of wheelspin. My car is equipped with a set of brand new snow tires in case you are wodering. I have recorded videos of the car getting stuck on small inclines due to the traction control, I can provid it to nhtsb if needed. Thanks tom.
On 2010 Prius, brakes seem to release, generally for a moment, at low speeds when going over a bump on passenger side of the car. Car seems to accelerate momentarily, until brakes are hit again. This has happened a number of times but is sometimes hard to recreate. Car has 3000 miles. Dealer says brakes operating as designed and recall adjustment has been made.
Vehicle surges when brakes are applied while traveling over railroad tracks or rough pavement. Surge lasts for 1 to 2 seconds until braking resumes. Vehicle behavior can be easily replicated.
Was driving Prius 2010 model ii with brake software applied by dealer about 1. 5 months ago. Today (7/27/2010) I exited highway and began gentle braking on offramp, as suggested by manual to maximize regeneration. About half-way down offramp, I realized car in front of me was completely stopped and that I had to stop much more quickly than I was planning to. I don't recall being particularly distracted, but I can't rule out I noticed the stopped vehicle later than I should have. In any event, I'm not sure how hard I pressed the brakes, but I recall distinctly thinking "OH, my god. Nothing is happening" and 1-2 secs later I plowed into the car in front of me. The collision was hard enough to cause temporary pain to the driver in front of me, but no air bags were deployed and the Prius appears to not have major frontal damage - hood is bent back and maybe slight frame distortion => the impact clearly was not at the ~40-50 mph I was going when just exiting the highway, so some braking clearly did occur -- but I have the distinct feeling that my previous car (Subaru outbook) would have easily stopped in time. After accident, I tested brakes by going 15-20 mph in parking lot and braking hard. Always stopped quickly, I'm guessing w/100% friction braking. So brakes are probably not "defective" in sense of lost hydraulic fluid, etc. . . But I have never before experienced the feeling "I'm not stopping" except once when losing traction on icy road with a non-hybrid. The fact had time to think this thought at all probably means maybe 0. 5-1. 5 sec passed while braking ineffective. Checked for tire/skid marks on road or evidence of strong tire wear and found none, while I have on other cars when I have had to brake hard => Prius not braking hard despite emergency. Seem to have been caught in transition between regen & friction mode? this is still discussed in Prius forums -- software fix not good enough!? this is potentially very dangerous. Btw,car was in "eco" mode.
While braking at low speeds (15 mph or less), especially under wet road conditions and after hitting a bump (pot hole, rough road, etc. ), the brakes temporarily fail and the car skids, with loss of power steering it seems as well. I have had the recall work performed on my car, but it still occurs. The Toyota solution to "step on the brake harder" is not always a solution, especially as the problem sometimes occurs not coming to a full stop, but breaking during turning. This has happened at least 6 times since the so-called recall "fix" for the braking software was installed.
My prior Prius was repurchased by Toyota 09/09 with severe electrical issues which only escalated. I believe the man in CA because that happened to us on the highway, and our car behaved as if it were 'possessed'. Now my 2010 is having intermittent issues, including an anti-skid/ braking light that we'd thought was remedied by resetting an abs actuator Friday-it was on since test driving the car-but I was told many excuses, and eventually they were aware but did not know how to correct this. (?) I'm concerned about driving this vehicle as my 2007 trapped us in the car twice-911 called in a panic-plus my small daughter's safety was at risk just by owning that crazy car. Please see if you can locate that car and inspect it-you will see this is not some chance situation-and now I am extremely concerned about our new car 'performing as designed' when brake warning light comes on when applied! feel free contacting me on this!!.
I have a 2010 Prius, and when I apply the brakes at any intensity and my vehicle hits a defect in the road surface, the abs system seems to release brake pressure to all 4 wheels completely for about half a second. This makes me question the effectiveness of the brakes in an emergency situation, especially on houston's notoriously neglected roadways. I was told that this was normal by both Toyota motor CO. At 1-800-331-4331 and also by the dealer. Tmc informed me that this is the way that the abs system was designed. Please launch an inquisition and/or investigation into this matter, for the safety of the owners of all Toyota Prius vehicles.
At 8:00 am this morning, I was driving through a street at a speed of 20 miles to 30 miles per hour. Suddenly, the car jumped a little probably hit a small potholes or bumps. I felt like the car surged forward or may be the brake didn't respond immediately. Fortunately, no other car right in front of me and the car speed is not very fast. I was able to brake it and slow down. I have called the dealer and the service representative doesn't think it is a problem. Later, I also sent a fax to Toyota us headquarter asking for help.
I have a 2010 Prius. When I am braking and hit some bumps in the road, my car lurches forward with brief spurts of acceleration. This has nothing to do with the gas pedal. . Read more...
Dear, NHTSA I was driving my Prius in November of 2010 and noticed that the braking system was not braking well. I recently was involved on Jan 29, 2010 in an incident driving out of the parking lot from work were the brakes failed on the vehicle when I went to stop the vehicle and the car skidded and struck some ice/snow (one the edge of the parking lot) causing damage to my front passenger side bumper. I am not as concerned about the damage as I am about my overall safety in the vehicle. I have reported the problem to Toyota and they have responded and I have told them that there is an issue with the braking. I want to take this time to formalize my complaint. I am not checking crash and property damage due to the fact that it is not well defined on this page although I had property damage to the car itself and I crashed into snow/ice on the side of the road.
This is an update to an earlier complaint (#10304111). We had an accident with our 2010 Toyota Prius which we firmly believe was caused by brake failure. My wife was driving the car on a slippery road, it was lightly snowing, at about 10-15 mph and came to a stop sign. She applied the brakes and said nothing happened. As a car was at the stop sign she turned to avoid the car and hit a raised and sharp curb, which pierced the tire and bent the tie-rod. Our car was towed to a body shop. After about 10 days, state farm inspected the car, but by this time the recall for the Prius had been announced. The body shop then refused to fix the car and we had to take it to a Toyota dealer. State farm has since decided not pursue this incident as they feel the snow caused the accident and that the temporary loss of brakes is not what the recall is about. From our reading of numerous articles (NY times) and the recall information itself, plus what happened, we are strongly stating that there was in fact a temporary or momentary loss of the brakes which directly caused this accident. From our reading of the recall and other complaints, slippery conditions are one of the factors which cause this problem. In our case, this problem was exacerbated as not only was there slippery conditions, but the car was on a hill as well. We have also experienced prior to this accident a skipping or momentary brake problem when going over bumpy roads. When asking about this we were always told it had to do with the abs system and that it was normal. Well the recall proves this was not normal and now we've experienced the problem on slick roads as well -- which has now cost us money.
On Thursday, January 28th my wife drove our 2010 Toyota Prius to work. The was a slight coating of snow on the ground. Less that one block from our house, driving at no more than 10-15 mph she applied the brakes to stop at a stop sign. She reported that the brakes seemed to lock (not the normal abs feel) and she lost control of the car, which then slid/skidded into a curb which punctured the front passenger tire. The car appeared to have only a punctured tire which was changed by a aaa service truck. After the tire was changed and the service truck left, I attempted to drive the vehicle to a nearby tire dealer. As I tried to drive the car, I heard and felt a loud scraping noise that sound and felt like the brakes were still engaged. Even though I was now on clear pavement if I at all tried to apply the brakes,the abs went on, but in an aggressive manner. The abs also went on a couple of times even without me putting my foot on the brakes. The tire dealer said he thought we might have been the frame and told us not to drive the car. The car was towed to a nearby body shop to be inspected by our insurance company, state farm. As of February 2, 2010 no inspection has taken place. It is our contention that something malfunctioned with the brakes which caused the accident.
I own a 2010 Toyota Prius. Since purchasing it in August, I have been aware of odd, completely reproducible braking behavior. I have not reported the complaint until now because I assumed it was something normal within the operation of the Prius, but with the report in the new york times that japan is investigating the Prius braking system, I thought I should file a report. I live near train tracks that have a grade crossing in the middle of a block. The crossing itself is in ann arbor, mi, on w. William st. Between s. Ashley st and s. 1st st. When driving westbound on william st, one travels downhill and encounters the grade crossing near the bottom of the hill, about 20-30 feet before an intersection. Every time I cross the train tracks at this grade crossing--regardless of weather conditions--I notice an alarming loss of braking power that occurs exclusively when crossing the train tracks. At first I thought this was normal, that perhaps the car was just slipping, but now it seems as if this represents the conditions that are under investigation in japan. The problem is 100% reproducible. Typical travel speeds are 15-30 miles per hour. The braking action is only interrupted while traveling over the bumpy surface of the rail tracks, and then braking action is restored. However, if there are cars queued up at the bottom of the hill at the intersection, it often leads to short braking times and has caused concern regarding the effectiveness of the brakes. I have not spoken to my dealership regarding the problem, nor had any service performed on the vehicle regarding the problem. Again, I believed this to be more of a design issue than a performance problem, but it is alarming, nonetheless. Thank you for your hard work keeping America's cars safe.
Toyota Prius 2010- when we go into a pothole and apply the brake, the brake doesn't work. Instead, it accelerates. Once, it hit a curb and damaged the bumper.
When I am braking/slowing and turning and hit a curb or chunk of ice, or driving straight and hit a chunk of ice, my 2010 Prius brakes will completely go away. This has happened 4 times during the past 3 weeks of winter weather.
Upon braking approaching a stoplight, my 2010 Toyota Prius hit a pothole and suddenly jerked forward, then returned to slowing. I kept my foot on the brake and the car stopped normally.
Unexpected total loss of propulsion after driving on wet road conditions at approx 35 mph. . 2010 Toyota Prius with enhanced stability control. No response from gas pedal. Needed to come to a complete stop and restart vehicle to obtain power. Lights and dash display remained on but vehicle had no power to move. Had to coast several hundred feet avoiding traffic to come to a complete stop and "restarting" vehicle. Esc/trac squiggly symbol appeared on dash momentarily. On other occasions I have noticed when stopping on loose surface materials or stopping when driving over uneven pavement that the vehicle unexpectedly lurches forward in a most unpredictable and unnatural way almost as if there were no brakes and the vehicle momentarily attempts to accelerate. The first condition could easily cause an accident in heavy traffic or on a busy freeway since control of the vehicle was not returned to the operator until the vehicle was totally stopped and then shut down and restarted. My sense is that the enhanced stability control and trac system is overly responsive to road conditions and is slow or inhibits the return of control of the vehicle to the operator. I took the vehicle to a Toyota service center. They report no error codes or technical service bulletins on the issue. No corrective action taken. My confidence in this vehicle has been severely damaged. I can't imagine the danger of loss of propulsion when driving at a high speed on a high traffic/speed highway.
The roads were covered with snow and were quite slippery. I was coming down a hill to a stop sign at about 10 mph. I hit the brakes lightly, the abs engaged (I could hear/feel the brakes pulse), but the car didn't slow down much. I jammed on the brakes, the abs was still engaged and the car finally stopped in the middle of the intersection, again slowing down very slowly. If it had not been a four-way stop, somebody would have hit me! I kept driving and the same thing kept happening to I hit the brakes, the abs engaged and the car stopped very slowly. In some cases, it felt like the car even accelerated a little bit before finally (and slowly) coming to a stop. I am a mechanical engineer and used to work for general motors - I have driven lots of cars - and this has never happened to me before. I immediately drove home and drove my 2002 Honda civic (which does not have anti-lock brakes) down the same road. While the car did slide in the snow, it stopped in about one-third the distance of my Prius. There is definitely something the matter with the braking system and/or the traction control system when the abs engages.
2010 Toyota Prius - driving on alabama state highway closer to nashville, TN we hit a deer. This was on oct 12, 2009 around 8:30 am in the morning. The road was very empty and clear visibility. The deer came in from the left side of the road from the oncoming traffic and jumped into our lane. I had clear visibility of the deer and applied sudden brakes. . . We hit the deer and had extensive damage on the car. We never thought it might be an issue with the car. . . But now with so much of scrutiny going on with this new Prius, we do want to bring to the attention of your organization that from day 1 of purchasing the car the brakes are really funky. We had an SUV before and compared to that this car is very very sensitive on the brakes. If we are going in at high speed and brake suddenly it does not come to an abrupt halt and we always thought that is way these cars were. I never had a new car and never could imagine something like a break issue. So coming to the deer hit I feel now in hind sight that we had enough time and distance to avoid hiitting the animal and could not stop on time. The car took an extensive damage and we got it repaired at a Toyota dealer ship in nashville and took a rental car home. The car looks great like a new one but the brake is still the same. On low speeds if I break it feels like I have placed really hard/slammed on the brakes and on high speed the car definetly needs lot of time to stop.
Just wanted to add my two cents worth that the brakes on my 2010 Prius aren't right. When I hit a pothole while braking, the car lurches forward a few more feet. It has almost put me into oncoming traffic a couple of times. This has happened numerous times. I purchased my car on August 28, 2009. Please let me know when repairs and adjustments will be available to the public.
Pressing brakes while turning and hitting a pothole causes car to surge forward.