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.
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.
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!!
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.
- Peekskill, NY, USA
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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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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. It seems that others are having similar issues (priuschat.com/forums/gen-III-2010-Prius-care-maintenance-troubleshooting/72662-acceleration-problem-our-2010-Prius-gen-V-5.html#post1052091). This could be dangerous, especially on a wet road. And the roads are so terrible in los angeles, that I experience this problem more often than I would like. Hopefully enough people report this problem that Toyota takes action.
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.
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 me: 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.
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.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Port Washington, NY, USA