My 2007 Fj cruiser's brakes fail occasionally while braking on a bumpy road surface. When this happens, the first instinct is to press the brake peddle harder to the floor but the vehicle continues moving forward at the same speed of travel prior to the application of the brake. I have tried pumping the brake when this happens but if the road surface continues to be uneven the problem persists. I have had a few close calls but luckily have not had an accident yet.

- Bronx, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Fj cruiser. While driving in snow or any wet, slippery road conditions, the antilock braking system would engage without driver intent. Immediately, there would be a 3 second loss of braking power as if he released his foot from the brake pedal. The manufacturer advised him that there were no recalls on the vehicle and the would not offer any assistance. The dealer performed a diagnostic test; however, the failure could not be duplicated. There were no repairs made to the vehicle. The failure and current mileages were approximately 79,000.

- Belcher Town, MA, USA

After reading that this department was "opening a formal investigation of the Toyota prius hybrid model year 2010 to look into allegations of momentary loss of braking capability while traveling over an uneven road surface, pothole or bump", I realized that this exactly describes my experience on several occasions with my 2007 Toyota Fj cruiser. I did not report this to the dealership. I thought it was my fault for my speed when hitting the uneven surface. I don't know really why I didn't ask about this but this definitely happened on more than one occasion.

- Irving, TX, USA

The first incidence occurred in December 2009. There were patches of icy snow along our street. I was approaching a stop sign (the speed limit is 25 mph) and applied the brakes. I applied the brakes sooner than what I would have normally due to the road conditions. As I applied the brakes, the front right wheel made contact with a patch of icy snow. Much to my surprise, it was as if I had not applied any brakes at all, and my Fj cruiser continued through the intersection which entered onto a main thoroughfare. There was no braking action and it was as if I had never put my foot on the brake. I really thought I was going to go through the intersection and be hit broadside and started to prepare for an accident. Fortunately, I released and reapplied brake pressure, and my Fj cruiser came to a stop. Since this was the first braking incident I passed it off due to the snowy conditions of the road. The second incident happened again in December 2009. I was on a street that was under heavy construction and there was a lot of loose gravel on the road. I was driving approximately 25 to 30 mph. This time when I applied the brakes, I experienced the opposite effect. The brakes locked up and actually skidded to a stop as if I had applied the brakes in a panic situation (like I was going to rear-end the car in front of me). The third braking incident happened in January 2010. While driving in our neighborhood (the speed limit is 25 mph), I approached the stop sign and applied the brakes. As I applied the brakes the front right wheel contacted a patch of icy snow. Again, it was as if I had not applied the brakes at all, and my Fj cruiser continued through the intersection as if I had never put my foot on the brake. Fortunately, there was not any traffic as I slid through the intersection. I released and reapplied brake pressure and my Fj cruiser came to a stop.

- Ogden, UT, USA

Unresponsive brakes when going over potholes. Overly sensitive brakes at low speed.

- Empire, MI, USA

I was involved in an accident yesterday, Thursday, 18feb10, at around 3:40 P.M. on the intersection of westheimer and beltway 8. I drive a 2007 Toyota Fj cruiser. There are 2 lights before I have to turn left on the beltway to head towards I-10. I stopped at the first light on the red light behind several cars as there was some traffic. Then the light ahead to turn left on the beltway turned green so all of the vehicles traveled to the next light and started going thru the green light until it turned yellow. The 1st car at the light stopped and each vehicle stopped behind them including me. The problem was that instead of my car stopping when I hit the brakes it felt like the breaks tried to grab but they didn't grab and my Fj cruiser kept on gliding until I hit the Camry in front of me. The Camry hit the Lexus in front of her and the Lexus hit a Buick in front of her. It was very scary as I expected my brakes to brake when I hit them but instead it felt like my brakes tried to brake but they couldn't. the cops came and gave me a ticket for "failure to control speed" even though I was only going very slow since there was so much traffic but it was my fault because I hit the car from behind. The fj, the Lexus and the Buick were minimally damaged but the Camry in front of me had the back-end smashed in. The police came and took our information and they checked out the owner of the Camry because her neck hurt. I reported the accident to my allstate insurance and told them about my brake problem. I told them that in the past the only thing I had noticed was my car had problems in 2 instances when I was going over bumps. It felt like the brakes had trouble grabbing. I took my car into a allstate authorized dealer close by "don mcgill Toyota" to have my car fixed but most of all to have my breaks checked. I won't feel comfortable driving my Fj cruiser any more until the dealer can sure me that the break problem is fixed! I am so scared!

- Pasadena, TX, USA

This just happened to me again today, I have an 07 Toyota Fj cruiser bought in mid 06, I was driving in pa (where yellow lights are shorter than my normal NJ ones), the light turned yellow right before I got to an intersection so I gave a little extra braking, just as I hit a series of small potholes, ABS kicked in, the normal ABS feeling happened in the pedal, but then even after the potholes where the road was fine, the ABS should have "disengaged", there was no longer the normal ABS "pulsing", instead I had a near dead pedal. I had to push down with all my might to slooooooowly bring the truck to a stop in the middle of the intersection (from 5mph to 0 in about 20 feet). Instinct says brake harder when you are not slowing down, but I don't think I could have pushed any harder. I am really glad this was just to avoid a yellow light and not to avoid a car crossing my path, I surely would have nailed it as the truck slowly rolled to a stop with maybe 10% braking despite me standing on the brakes. I have found from experience the only way to recover from the dead pedal is to let off it completely, and then you have a normal pedal again. This has only happened to me maybe 6-7 times in my 50,000 miles on the fj, but so far I have been lucky and most of the time it is simply stopping at a yellow and not because I need a real emergency stop. I was 100% stock for the first 5-6 times, and this last time I have slightly bigger tires and a lift. They will probably just blame it on the my lift and tires, but its happened multiple times while 100% stock. One day I am going to kill someone, or myself. The police will just write it up as "failure to stop, drivers fault", but some of you who have experienced this will know otherwise.

- Mount Holly, NJ, USA

When braking on an uneven road surface the brakes momentarily fail.

- Milford, MI, USA

There is a small pot hole on the off ramp that I use to come home from work. Every time I hit it, my brakes freak out and I have to pump them to recover and get my brakes back. I drive a 2007 Toyota Fj cruiser. (this is my second Fj cruiser. My first one did the same thing on this pot hole.) it happens every time I hit it. Didn't think much about it until I saw the recall investigation on the prius bakes. Sounds just like what my fj does.

- Cedar Hills, UT, USA

Momentary loss of braking capability while traveling over an uneven road surface, pothole or bump. I almost rear ended the car in front of me yesterday in the rain.

- West Covina, CA, USA

I was driving my model year 2007 Toyota Fj cruiser to work on the morning of 2/9/2010 at 0730. While braking for a red light the passenger side front tire went over a wet storm sewer drain grate. The slick surface of the drain grate caused the tire to skid. The ABS system activated and the brakes released, allowing the vehicle to proceed unimpeded toward the intersection. I pressed the brake pedal harder. The vehicle stopped just into the intersection. There was no collision. I do not know if pressing the brake pedal harder had any effect or if the system managed to apply the brakes itself after the tires were on pavement again. This is the first time I have experienced this situation. The consequence was that the vehicle proceeded about 10 feet into the intersection, e.g. beyond the "stop" line. If the brakes had not released the vehicle would have stopped behind the white "stop" line. According to the Toyota dealer there is nothing wrong with the vehicle.

- Webster, NY, USA

Brakes fail momentarily after riding over a bumpy road. This is similar to the recall on the Toyota prius.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

The 2007 Toyota Fj cruiser has a similar if not the same braking issue as the prius. If the vehicle hits a bump, pothole etc while actively braking the brakes stop working until the brake pedal is completely let off and reapplied. Almost caused several accidents in my case.

- Buford, GA, USA

2007 Fj cruiser: When braking over uneven surface the ABS kicks in and cause my brakes to go from 100% to 20%. I have talked to the dealership and read countless reports online and this is a real problem. I believe this is a similar issue to the ABS problem with the prius and is a software issue with the Fj cruisers ABS.

- Hoboken, NJ, USA

The brake pedal drops to the floor, and the brakes stop working over bumps while braking. Im assuming this is the anti lock brake system. But it feels very dangerous. The brakes completely give out and you continue to roll forward without stopping. Only way to make it go awhile when it occurs is to let your foot off the brake and re-apply. But you are at risk at rear ending someone since the vehicle stops many feet farther then your supossed to. This also happened on my 2007 Toyota Tacoma (which I sold) im assuming it had the same braking system as my current Toyota. I believe the anti lock brake is defective.

- Villa Park, CA, USA

When applying my brakes on several occasions my brakes would fail to engage and stop the car. It occurs when I come to a stop under normal braking and one tire hits a bump such as a man hole cover. No matter what I do the brakes do not engage and the car continues to roll forward. Anti lock does not engage when this occurs it is as if the brake pedal is dead. Also, the opposite extreme occurred yesterday when applied my brakes with normal pressure and the vehicle braked very quickly and unexpectedly hard. Everything flew forward in the vehicle. I believe these two issues are common to Toyota Fj cruiser owners and are dangerous life safety issues.

- Hillsboro Beach, FL, USA

1. the 'unresponsive' issue - this seems to happen when braking at low speeds (under 40mph) and one side of the vehicle hits a pothole, uneven pavement, or loose gravel. The result is that the brakes become momentarily unresponsive until you release and pump the brake pedal again. It definitely feels like the brake electronics/software are confused and get caught in a momentary glitch as it figures out what to do. 2. the 'overresponsive' issue - this seems to happen under very similar conditions to the other issue - I.e., low speed braking over uneven or broken pavement. The result is that the brakes become super sensitive to the point that normal braking flings you and your passengers hard into to your seatbelt restraints, as if you are slamming on your brakes. The brake pedal gets a little mushy and then wham... the brakes kick in big time. I am pretty sure that this condition is created by the brake assist function.

- Olathe, KS, USA

I own a 2007 Toyota Fj cruiser. My brakes do exactly what is described with the 2010 prius. On uneven road surfaces and on sharp curves, the brakes periodically and momentarily fail. But a quick pump on the brakes with the foot off of the accelerator usually restores them instantly. I have had the brakes checked and so far it has been reported that they are in good shape. The last time it happened is stated herein under the heading "approximate incident date:".

- Sacramento, CA, USA

I own an 07 Fj cruiser and my wife an 08, that has the exact same problem as the prius. When ever I go over a bump in the road at low speed and brake the brakes fail to work immediately when the car is on a bumpy or slippery surface, or when it drives over potholes I get that same thing. I have 26K on the vehicle and love it but now im confused about that brake problem or if there is one with this problem! help!!!!!!!!!!

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

While driving in a straight line at about 35 mph I experience sudden application of the right front brake and the skid indicator light came on. The application of the brake caused me the swerve to the right. Had I been at highway speed I suspect that the fj would have rolled.

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA