10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 42 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 19 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 70,306 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.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
The brake actuator failed on our 2010 Prius III manufactured in October 2010. Toyota is covering problems with this same brake actuator for 2010 Prius manufactured between March 2009 and early October 2009. My VIN did not fall into that date range even though mine was manufactured in October 2009, so the brake defect should be extended to beyond the early October 2009 manufactured date. The symptoms to this problem were the brake, ABS and traction control warning lights came on, no regenerative braking and the braking distance increased.
- Mililani, HI, USA
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. While driving 20 mph, the braked pedal was depressed and failed to operate as intended. The contact stated that several warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the brake booster pump failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 13V235000 (service brakes). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
- Syosset, NY, USA
The brake booster pump assembly failed, which left me with no brakes and in a life-threatening situation. The vehicle was in motion and I narrowly avoided a bad accident on a city street.
- Syosset, NY, USA
ABS + breaks + tcs lights are on and my car's breaks are not working it was about to hit with next car but my speed was under 30 that's why I reached safely. I showed it to just break and they said it's required ECU update. It's a software problem in this model. I don't know how to update software. Is it possible if I get free update from Toyota dealership ?
- Houston, TX, USA
The contacts owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the brakes traveled to the floor when the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle did not decelerate normally. The dealer diagnosed that the actuator system needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 92,514.
- Thrall, TX, USA
My wife was driving on the highway when her brakes totally failed. She applied brake pressure as hard as she could, but it had not effect. Fortunately, since she was in the left lane of the interstate highway, she was able to coast to a stop in the left hand shoulder. Several red lights lit up on the dashboard, including the brake and ABS lights. I had the car towed to world Toyota dealership in atlanta. They said the brake master cylinder failed. I paid them to fix it. See attached work order from world Toyota.
- Atlanta, GA, USA
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the brake pedal was applied several times and there was an abnormal noise and vibration. The vehicle failed to come to a complete stop. The contact had to apply force to the brake pedal, but the failure continued. The dealer was notified several times, but was unable to replicate and diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was notified. The VIN and failure mileage were not available.
- Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA
I applied brake on a red light which is as usual for me and I noticed car didn't slow down and kept moving past the red light. It has happened before and the it happens on uneven and even on minor potholes. The brakes on the small bumps and minor uneven roads completely loose traction of the tires and car even faster with the brakes on when trying to stop over minor uneven roads. Mechanic said it's oversensitive anti locking brakes that cut off the brake power even when it detects minor disturbance in the sensors.
- College Point, NY, USA
I have a 2010 Toyota Prius. When trying to slow down, any time a bump is hit, (or a pothole) the braking power significant decreases. This greatly increases the stopping distance and is very scary in traffic and in winter driving. Is this a problem? I called Toyota earlier for the same issue and they told me that this is normal and this occurs because only one tire is hitting the pothole or bump' it is very scary and I have to leave a lot of space ahead of my car.
- Shelby Twp, MI, USA
Hello. I recently started to experience an issue with my vehicle. My brakes started to make some kind of unusual noises every time I press on them. I've never had that before and I service my car pretty often. I went to authorized Toyota dealership and they told me there was a computer issue and they fixed it for $110. It continued to make noises and all of the sudden it began showing ABS/brake/vsc lights on my car dashboard either while I was driving or being in the 'park' mode. At the same time my brakes stopped working well while driving when the ABS/brake/vsc lights were on. I checked the code of the error through the car computer and it showed me 'C1391'. I went to the dealership again and they did another check and this time they found that brake master cylinder/booster/ABS assembly needs to be replaced with $3,170 price. I attached here the paper that my Toyota prime dealership located here in saco, me gave me. I've been reading a lot about it online and people with the same type of hybrid vehicles have experienced it. I think Toyota needs to look into the issue and acknowledge that it is a common problem in their hybrid vehicles. I service my car all the time, I do oil change and check all the systems very thoroughly, so I don't understand why we, consumers, have to pay that big of a price for the car repair. I hope you can look into the issue and help me (and to all other car owners) to resolve this kind of issue. Thank you.
- Saco, ME, USA
I recently purchased a Toyota 2010 Prius and four dash warning lights appeared the day after I purchased it when I turned the car on in the morning. The lights stay on for hours to days and go off for similar amount of time. When the lights are on the brakes are much less responsive and the braking action does not charge the batteries as much, never more than 25% of charging potential. The problem was diagnosed as a problem with accumulator in the brake system. I performed a search online and found that there is a recall for such problem, but my vehicle was produced a month after the date of production that would qualify for this recall. I will a pdf copy of the recall I'm referring to.
- Gainesville, FL, USA
Complete brake failure when stopping for stoplight on hwy 53/midway road. Resulting in 3 car accident. This was the second brake failure. The first complete brake failure happened when backing out of parking space at work location. Brakes were pressed, car kept backing up hitting a parked car behind us. After the first failure the local Toyota dealership drove the car and also experienced total brake loss after driving it for a bit. The Toyota dealership replace the brake cylinder assembly.
- Pengilly, MN, USA
I went to start the Prius after work, after I pressed the start button, several alarms went off on the main panel. Alarms included the master alarm, ABS, brake, check engine, and an incessant beeping. There was also a repetitive sound coming from under the hood that sounded like the braking system was trying to build pressure, but was not successful. I towed the vehicle to the dealership and they diagnosed this as the master brake booster assembly. The quote was $2500 for the part, and $500 in labor. They started work on the vehicle, then called and said that they would have to replace the accumulator as well, even though it was already replaced during the original recall. They contacted Toyota corporate who paid for the accumulator, but would not cover the additional labor to install the accumulator. The total bill was $3900. This seems like a common problem with the Prius family. My car had approximately 92,000 miles.
- Lake Tapps, WA, USA
Brake system failure while driving on Suburban street. Master cylinder, assembly and booster replacement. All corresponding warning came on. Was able to drive to dealer. This is the exact problem that incited the recall for nitrogen leaking into the brake system in some Prius made in 2010 (82,000). Cost of $3200. Incidentally, brake fluid was flushed and changed at 60,000 and then again at 75,000. The reason, stated from the dealer is that maintenance was responsible for the failure. Priority Toyota of springfield was the only one during the maintenance and I followed their recommended advice for the 2 brake fluid flushes and replacement.
- Alexandria, VA, USA
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. When the brake pedal was depressed at 35 mph, the vehicle skipped, jerked, and hesitated to respond. Also, the ABS and traction warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the brake booster pump assembly accumulator was leaking and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 13V235000 (service brakes). The failure mileage was 141,000.
- Orlando, FL, USA
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.
- Austin, TX, USA
We came to the dealership at auburn blvd and they told us they don't have a parts for recal and it will take about a week to order them. They gave us a paper stating that the recal has been fixed for dmv purposes to renew the registration even though recal wasn't fixed. It has been more then 4 months and no one from dealership called us to inform us when they'll actually fix the recalled part. Every time I call them they say they don't have part in stock and they don't know when they'll receive it. Please help!
- North Highlands, CA, USA
Driving on a extremely rough street, my car jerked to the left. I tried braking, but unmovable objects (street sign and phone junction box) provided the stop. Airbags did not deploy, but force of car pushed me hard into the steering wheel. I had my safety belt on, plus back brace. Emts noted 60% O2, in icu on respirator for a week, hospital for 2 wks. Distinctly, I remember the steering wheel jerked to the left.
- Cedar Rapids, IA, USA
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the brake pedal required to be depressed several times in order for the vehicle to come to a stop. The ABS, the traction control, and the brake warning indicators illuminated. The failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the failure could not be duplicated. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 159,000.
- Little Rock, AR, USA
- Surfside Beach, SC, USA