10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 16 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 4 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 55,453 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
Dear Mr; I own a 2011 Toyota Prius, and this week my brakes failed while driving down the highway. The ABS and Break lights and the ESP warning light on the instrument panel come on. The brake pedal is hard and has an intermittent hum in the engine area. The scanner gave the code C1391 / ACC PRESS abnormal leak error. I want to file a formal claim against Toyota for the failure of my car's brake system and request repair/replacement of my car's brake system. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request" BRAK SISTEMS / YES, IS AVAILABLE FOR INSPECTION. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? IT WAS DIFFICULT TO BRAKE / THE CAR WAS DEVIATED WHEN APPLYING THE BRAKE / I LEFT THE ROAD DUE TO THE RISK OF A COLLISION BY NOT HAVING THE ACTIVE BRAKING SYSTEM. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? YES / INDEPENDENT SERVICE. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? NO. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear"
- Cutler Bay, FL, USA
All of a sudden, a few weeks ago, the ABS, TRAC, BRAKE, and brake warning lights all illuminated on my 2011 Toyota Prius, and the brakes became hard to press. Turns out, this is a known issue with this model of the Prius. DTC C1391 stored in the ECU. There is a defect with the brake booster/brake booster pump, and Toyota issued a Customer Support Program to extend the warranty on these two parts, but the program ended in 2021 and I am just now having this issue, although my Prius only has 115k miles. This should be a recall. I should not have to pay more than $3500 at the Toyota dealership to get this replaced when it is a defect with the parts that Toyota made (I should not have to pay ANYTHING). No dealership in the area wants to honor it either. Instead, they want to charge me $3500. And when I called Toyota Corporate, they brushed it off and told me "the program expired a whole 2 years ago" without even trying to work with me on the cost of the repair or anything. Complete let down from Toyota.
- Glen Allen, VA, USA
Brake actuator failed. Noise when applying brake but no code or dashlight. Looks like a common problem across prius 2011 model cars
- Flowermound, TX, USA
The brake actuator on my 2011 Prius failed. Toyota issued an extended warranty of 10yrs/150k miles because they knew there was a problem with the product. I have less than 80k miles on my car and the actuator failed. I feel like I am being penalized because I don't drive my car as often. I contacted Toyota and was dismissed by them because I was outside of the 10yr window. The repair was $1737.98 in parts and $780 in labor by a Toyota certified technician.
- Decatur, GA, USA
The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the check engine, service brakes, ABS, and the traction control system warning lights were illuminated. The contact parked the vehicle on the side of the road for approximately 3 minutes before continuing to drive to her residence. The contact stated on March 17, 2023, while her husband was approaching a traffic light, the brake pedal was depressed but failed to stop the vehicle properly. The contact stated that several warning lights were illuminated. The driver stated that the vehicle cruised to a stop independently. The driver decided to drive at a slow speed to the residence. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the brake master cylinder, the brake pump assembly, and the brake booster needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 159,000.
- Farmingville, NY, USA
Three lights appeared on the dashboard-??code C1391. This has affected the braking system, and the traction control-??and the brakes no longer regenerate the battery. The mechanic said -??YOU MUST NOT DRIVE THIS CAR-?? until a $2,700 repair is made. There was, apparently, a service bulletin sent out in 2019, and was then extended until 2022-??which we did not receive, although we-??ve been at the same address since we bought the car. But our car did not develop this common issue until now-??2023, and Toyota says it was not a safety recall, so they don-??t need to fix it, or help us get it fixed. We believe it IS obviously a safety issue-??.since my brakes can go out at any moment.
- Franklin, TN, USA
On April 25, 2023 I started my Prius and as soon as I braked I knew something was not right. I noted that warning light were on. When I pushed on brake pedal, the resistance was very soft for about 2 inches of pedal travel. At that point the brakes grabbed very quickly. I drove to the Toyota dealership (Huntington Beach Toyota) and was informed later that day that the master and pump master cylinder needed to be replaced. The dealer said that Toyota did have a program to replace these assemblies, but had not issued a recall, which (in my opinion) it should have. I've had quite a few cars, most of which lasted for more than 200,000 miles. I've never had such a failure nor have I heard of one. Clearly there was a manufacturing defect that should have required a recall.
- Huntington Beach, CA, USA
Brake actuator failed while driving down the road on Friday, 04/14/2023. The car became hard to slow down/brake. Brake light, traction control light, ABS warning lamp came on, and tire pressure lamp came on. Next day lights went out. Then again all lights as above came on while driving down the highway. That was Wednesday 04/18/2033. Took to Toyota dealership who confirmed brake actuator had failed. Car has 133,000 miles on it. Prius was in the repair shop at Norton Toyota of Tulsa, OK, from Thursday 04/27/2023 until Saturday 04/29/2023.
- Muskogee, OK, USA
on 4/12/2023, I was driving near an intersection and the e-brake and abs light both came on and the brakes on my car were suddenly twice as hard to apply, with a "soft" feeling to them. I was able to pull into a nearby brakes plus location. My younger sister and friend were in the car at the time. The problem has been reported by a Toyota dealership in California. The component was inspected by a repair associate at Brakes Plus and he confirmed that the electric brake booster on my prius was shot. There were zero warning signs of the problem prior to the incident.
- Gunbarrel, CO, USA
Brake booster and brake booster pump failure
- St Louis, MO, USA
It is very unfortunate that the brake booster extended warranty was declined by Tustin of Toyota specially after having my vehicle in their hands for another recall when the warranty was active. This is something I can not wrap my head around. I would like to speak to someone in regards to this dealer. Who can I speak with?
- Santa Ana, CA, USA
Reporting an issue related to Toyota's CUSTOMER SUPPORT PROGRAM BULLETIN (ZJB): REPAIR COVERAGE FOR BRAKE BOOSTER AND BRAKE BOOSTER PUMP ASSEMBLIES ON CERTAIN 2010 MY PRIUS AND CERTAIN 2010 MY PRIUS PHV VEHICLES. Finally got a C1391 error with the respective dash lights. Increased hissing/pumping was occuring from the brake assembly for about a year before hand until the code/lights happened. Customer Support Program Bulletin is closed but hoping it reopens.
- Baltimore, MD, USA
After approximately 6 1/2 years of owning this 2011 Toyota Prius Hybrid (purchased in 2012), the brake pedal went completely to the floor and there was no braking. The brake fluid was completely FULL. Intermittently, this would occur, but brakes would come back operational in a few minutes. In 2022, the brake lights on dashboard started lighting up intermittently and go off. I had the complete brake pads, etc. replaced in June 2022. Last 1/2 of 2022 the entire brake dash lit up. I got into Toyota dealership 1/12/2023. They said the complete brake Master Cyclinder and Brake Pump replacement was required. They got the dash lights off. This car has only 133,023 miles. I finally checked the internet to see this is a TOYOTA issue! A recall on this brake assembly should be issued! I was unaware of this 5 years ago. This could cause a serious accident and should be fixed at Toyota's expense!
- Conway, AR, USA
As I'm sure you have heard from the numerous complaints on the internet the ABS on this vehicle is having issues. The repair is over 3,000 dollars. Toyota needs to recall this brake pump. I can't pay 3,000$ to stay safe in my vehicle. They made a defective part and were somehow allowed to extend the warranty instead of recall it. My vehicle is under the mileage but over the years so I was pretty much told too bad. This needs to be addressed at a actual road safety level which is why I am writing you. Thank you for your time.
- Ellenton , FL, USA
ABS actuator and pump failing, which requires much harder pushing on the brake pedal to come to a complete stop. This part is supposed to last for the lifetime of the car and is now failing roughly 11 years after purchase. I took it to the Toyota dealership and was quoted $2,500 to repair it.
- Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
The ABS Actuator and Booster failed with diagnostic error code C1391
- Cary, NC, USA
I have reported this once and numerous times to Toyota. I even paid to "fix" the problem. My daughter was driving and all the dashboard lights came on and the brakes do not work. It's doing it again after they supposedly "fixed" it. My family is at risk! If anything happens, I will seek legal action. I can't believe a company as big as Toyota wont take responsibility. And that a recall wont be done. I've seen numerous people report the same issue. PLEASE do something.
- Wayne, NJ, USA
ABS warning light came on, followed soon by a beeping warning sound. Brakes felt odd. A few minutes later, complete loss of brakes.
- Oyster Bay Cove, NY, USA
brakes in the car failed due to loss of hydraulic pressure/ brake acuator system. toyota issued a service bulleton for this problem approx 2017-2021 and the dealer and corporate would not honor the repair to my vehicle each time i brought the car in for inspection after experiencing constant issues with my brakes. the brakes finally failed and i could not stop the car while driving at interstate speeds. the vehicle was inspected by a private mechanic and confirmed the failure that toyota refused to honor. no warning lamps or messages in the car until the brakes actually went out while the car was in motion at interstate speeds. symptoms first appeared in 2017, but the dealer insisted nothing was wrong even though i demonstrated the symptoms to their mechanics in person. i reported the dealerships behavior to corporate and they did not help. they claimed the brakes were ok because the car's computer did not give an error code "yet".
- Sheboygan, FL, USA
- Berea, KY, USA