This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact depressed the brake pedal which failed to stop the vehicle in a reasonable amount of time. The contact attempted to drive the vehicle until the vehicle came to a complete stop. The vehicle was towed to folsom lake Toyota (200 plaza dr, folsom, ca 95630, (916)355-1500) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the brake actuator failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle was unsafe to drive. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.
Hi I have a 2004-2009 Prius that experienced a brake actuator failure. Come to find out this is a recalled part, I would love to speak to someone about getting this remedied as it is a $3,000 fix.
I was traveling at about 35-40 mph on a 4 lane city road & a truck pulled in front of me from a shopping center on opposite side of road from which I was traveling without stopping in center median crossover. I hit brakes but I had no time to stop. I'm not sure the brakes even worked as there were no skid marks from braking. The front driver side of my car hit hard & also damaged drivers side wheel well, fender panel. My airbag did not deploy and my head collided with the steering wheel. It resulted in my having a concussion, whiplash, a fracture in my neck, shoulder pain & nerve issues in my arms & hands, back & hip pain. I know if the airbag had deployed I wouldn't have suffered all the physical issues. This all happened Jan. 11 & I still have pain. The car is a total loss.
On August 31, 2020 drove into town with wife in our 2008 Toyota Prius. Highway speed. No problems. Drove around town-no problem. Stopped at friend's house.when leaving his house, went to start car as always and the following warning lights went on: Brake, vsc, ABS and also, brake pedal went down to floor when engine started. Other than warning lights being on and with brake pedal feel coming back to normal, we drove home. I put a code reader on to see what the problem was/is and clear codes. None were found. Decided to take car to autozone for them to put their code reader on. Once again no problem codes were found. Went back home and called local Toyota dealership and left message for service guy I use if necessary. No response from him. Later, I looked up reported Prius problems on internet and came across your web site where I noticed this Prius problem has been reported to you many times before.called Toyota usa (888-270-9371) and obtained a inquiry reference number. Someone was suppose to get back with me but never did so today I called back in and ended up speaking to a higher Toyota advocate.basically was told the brake part which is not functioning, they had a self imposed recall on it in 2015 and it lasted till end of 2017. If you had a failure during that time they replaced it at no charge..if they knew it was bad part in 2015 or probably before that, they needed to replace all or replace them as the problem presented itself. Per the research I have done, it costs now with them several thousand dollars to fix.the car is not drivable as the brakes can go out at any time. Bottom line is that they knew the part problem existed and limited their liability to a short time period and only on cars that actually had the issue in the time frame allowed. Working brakes on a vehicle is extremelly critical.
The manager w/ american transmission told me when the hybrid system starting to go bad ( the inverter water pumper had to be replaced) messed up the ABS pump and module. My mechanic told me it's a bad design. I put 0 mph the sytem is messed right when the start button is pressed this didn't cause an accident this still caused a delay due the pandemic and I need to be refunded and american transmission from Toyota. Please open attachment
- Jackosnville, FM, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced brake failure and was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the ABS module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 173,600.
My 2008 Toyota Prius brake system is very dangarous, on the hi way speed of 55 I push the brake softly, out of sadden car started acting like a wild horse slipping to the left and right and I am an experienced driver on ice, I lived in M ichigan for a long time, so I survived, and all drivers around me stopped and there was no accident, I am afraid driving that car, I have called Toyota dealer, seems like use to be a recall but they have some hesitions to accept the faulty, dangarous brake system, I am going to complain to the CEO of the company.god help me, I was lucky my family and I survived, my message to the Toyota Prius owners is please double check your VIN number and recalls, and insist to fix this common defect on Toyota Prius, by the dealer with no charges.very very unsfe brake system. And my instrument lights are on and off I can not see the speed and the odometer and the gas indicator, I heard it was a recall but the dealership did not accept it. If I want to fix these faulty defective parts would cost me over 4000 dollars, Toyota is responsible, I beleive should and must fix it for free valuntarly,
I was having trouble with my brakes, lost control of my car going 30-35 mph on a city street, hit telephone pole, airbag deployed, injured. Mva 06/12/20
Brakes went out. Hydrauli control assembly antilock brakes modulator valve. Toyota wants $3,806 to repair it. There was a warranty extension program that ended December 2017. This should be on recall, tons of problems. I am the second owner of the vehicle, purchased April 2017, but was not notified by Toyota of the warranty extension, or that it was ending. I was driving the vehicle, all brake lights came on, Toyota says not to drive due to risk of complete loss of braking system. Case number 10664 has been filed with Toyota.
I bought a used 2008 Prius for my daughter at a dealership in may, 2020. Soon after the ABS, brake and traction control lights on the dash came on. I took it to the Toyota dealer and was told it's the ABS actuator that is leaking. The leaking can cause your brakes to lock up and not stop the car when pushing them. After further research, there are many complaints about this issue for the 2008 Prius. This seems like a very serious safety issue and is documented on many owner forums as a common problem for the Prius. After further research, Toyota did offer a limited warranty on this issue, however, many people are now getting this issue after the warranty has already expired. Toyota has bulletin GZ1 with over 171 complaints and there are hundreds of complaints about this throughout the internet. I could understand a warranty being issued for a problem that is common but not deadly, however, the failure of the ABS actuator has already caused deaths and should be an issued recall and not a temporary warranty..
My brake, ABS, vsc, and (!) lights are on. The brakes work at roughly 10% stopping power. Makes an awful buzzing noise when the brakes are applied and the warning chime is on constantly the high pitch ring is unbearable. I called my local Toyota service dealer and was told the champagne ended Nov 30th 2017.
When turning the car on, while in park, the car lunges forward with the brake pedal fully depressed. The ABS actuator/modulator is constantly whirring. Several dash lights are illuminated simultaneously (ABS vsc, E-brake, !). my dealer says that this is a common Prius problem that can result in complete failure of braking capability and that the repair is $3,500. According to my service advisor, another customer of central Florida Toyota was scheduled for this repair when his brakes failed and his car was totaled. This seems like a very serious safety issue, and is documented on owner forums as a common problem for Prius'. my car has been doing this for a couple weeks now, and realizing how serious is it has prompted me to schedule the repair at my local dealership. I am a nursing home administrator and I rely on this car for my 100 mile commutes.
2008 Prius ABS and brake lights came on, front passenger tire locked up suddenly almost causing daughter to run off the highway. I drove the vehicle and could not duplicate the issue. 9 months later the ABS and brake lights came on again, Toyota cleared codes could not find anything wrong and released the vehicle back. Lights returned the next day. Toyota now states needs a new brake actuator for $2700. Toyota has bulletin GZ1 with over 171 complaints on your site with not counting all the vehicles repaired under this bulletin. They will not fix the vehicle without payment of almost half of the vehicle's worth. Contacted Toyota customer service and they were not willing to assist with a known issue. With the risk of accidents when brakes lock up or fail, why was this not a safety recall instead of a "silent recall" warranty extension
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed but failed to immediately stop the vehicle. The contact stated that the braking distance was extended. An audible chime was heard while the ABS, vsc, brakes, and battery warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the brake actuator and the ABS brake sensors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The local dealer (unknown) was notified of the failure. The manufacture was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 70,000.
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at about 35 mph, the brake light illuminated and the braking power was reduced. The vehicle was taken to the Toyota of hollywood dealer, located at 6000 hollywood blvd, los angeles, ca 90028) and was told that the vehicle was out of warranty. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the warranty expired. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 151,000.
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the brake warning light illuminated and the braking power was reduced. The failure recurred and the brake ceased. The contact stated that the failure recurred intermittently. The contact called the panama city Toyota dealer, located in panama city, Florida, and was told there was no recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that there was no recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 167,000.
The break actuator is broken and now causing problems to the cars break system. This is a well documented issue and should be looked into. This happened while I was driving the car and needs to be replaced. Toyota did have a extended warrenty for the part but now it is over. I think they should have a recall on the part and have it fixed.
I had some brake work done on my car at meineke on January 6, and when they did the brake bleed they were unable to bleed the left rear brake. They did some investigating and said it was going to take several hours of labor to diagnose. I decided to take it to the dealership, which I did on Jan 7. they got error code C1253, and diagnosed the problem as an internal leak in the actuator. This is both a dangerous and expensive problem. Looking around online I saw that this was a known problem in priuses (both gen 2 and gen 3), and has been the subject of warranty enhancement program zg-1. unfortunately, that wep expired at the end of 2017. Given the dangerousness of the issue (I.e. this is not an optional repair if you want to keep driving your car safely) and the number of people who continue to experience this known problem, it seems like Toyota should issue a recall (ideal; would prevent people from discovering the problem by losing brake function while driving) or at least continue to cover the full cost of replacements. I'm just "lucky" I discovered the issue while having other brake work done.
Driving through the rocky mountains, my brake actuator failed causing the front caliper to seize. I was unable to brake safely. The vehicle swerved during braking and failed to respond in time to prevent collisions. Had I been in a high-traffic area, injury or fatality would have been likely. This is a known issue and Toyota extended the warranty on this part. Unfortunately, though I am still within the mileage limit, the warranty period expired weeks before the problem was diagnosed. I stress that this is a known issue which presents an imminent danger to drivers, passengers, and the public at large.
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. When the contact attempted to stop the vehicle, excessive pressure had to be applied to the brake pedal and a loud sound was heard from the rear of the vehicle. The noise sounded as if the brakes were releasing from the rear of the vehicle. In addition, the brake, ABS, vsc, and the explanation mark with a circle icon warning indicators illuminated. When using the brakes, the contact would need to activate the vehicle's B mode to assist with slowing down the vehicle. The contact also noticed that the vehicle's tires would seize without warning. The vehicle was not taken to a certified mechanic or dealer. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 121,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Rancho Cordova, CA, USA