Toyota Prius could face recall over braking issue

By Matt Brogan | February 05th, 2010

Toyota could be facing another recall with reports that some customers have experienced inconsistent brake pedal feel when the vehicle is driven over potholes, bumps or slippery road surfaces.

The issue, which affects current generation Prius vehicles, is under investigation by Toyota who are in the process of confirming the issue.

Toyota Australia released a statement yesterday confirming that it has acknowledged customer reports and is investigating the issue. The Japanese giant said it will notify customers if further action is required and that at this stage it is premature to comment until the investigation has been completed.

More importantly, this issue is completely unrelated to the recent accelerator pedal recall in North America, Europe and China. All Toyota and Lexus Vehicles sold or built in Australia are not affected by that recall.

MisterTwo

Anyone considered it may be the ABS kicking in?
Callous Aussie

On the news they suggested it was accelerating on its own too.
sam

I Think Toyota is not what it used to be, I say that because I worked there and they are about profits and quality is second. The Team members work very hard but they are not given a chance to work with “LOVE” because they have no time to waste but get to the next task. Toyota should go back to its roots and bring back the Quality that it was known for,back in the day.
Stumpy

As the shine of the bullet proof reliability fades, people who haven’t bothered to complain in the past will now get on board and complain about everything this is just the start.

It could become like an avalanche I don’t know if Toyota can stop it the harder they try the worse it may look to the general public.
JEKYL & HYDE

maybe the brakes could set the floormats on fire….
Ray

There have been reports there’s about one second delay in braking when the car travels less than 20km/hr. It might be one of those computer problems which decides when to use regenerative brakes or conventional brakes. Apparently Ford has similar problem with their hybrid as well.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/sto…..810824.htm
Ken

If I was stupid enough to buy a Prius and accidently hit someone from behind, I’d try and blame the car saying “I put the brakes on officer, but the electronics were to busy deciding what it should do and then it was too late”.

I can’t believe people will still buy this hatch thinking they are doing the right thing for the environment. The energy consumed in manufacturing this computerised nerd mobile is no better than an equivelent sized hatch, and that’s not taking into consideration the manufactre and disposal of those batteries. If anything, this hatch is actually doing the reverse to the environment as their are cheaper alternatives with other manufactures achieving similar fuel consumption without the need for batteries.

People are so stupid believing everything Toyota says these days.

Darren

Ken, you may be aware that a horde of Toyota’s competitors are now trying to produce exactly the same thing, a hybrid.

I haven’t got any brakes problem with my Prius after 5000km and my floor mats haven’t been burn yet.

Ken

Yeh Darren, Their’s always a market for dummies and other makes should cash in as well.

I still can’t believe people would spend so much on a basic 4 cylinder hatch. You could have bought a basic Corolla (Same size, build, badge etc) and had loads of money spare to cover the cost of fuel. Toyota wouldn’t need to dispose of those lovely batteries and the the world will be a better place.

I recently heard of an advertisement for a Prius with reasonably low kms although, out of warranty for $8000. The only catch was it needed it’s energisers replaced. The cost of the batteries from Toyota would bring the cost of the car closer to $15,000 – $16,000. Therefore, if you choose to keep your car for the long haul, be prepared for a nice cost for the batteries.

HyundaiSmoke

Toyota, Honda, Nissan is done, the era of Korean, America, and Germany will now reign.
HyundaiSmoke

Ford is a smart company. Think about this, why are they all of a sudden breaking Mazda ties? Well becuase they knew that Japanese cars were about to get hammered for quality concerns.

Its not over here.

MazMagic

My Mazda has ‘FoMoCo’ on various parts – so perhaps Mazda hopefully won’t suffer all the problems that Toyota have been suffering from what you are saying. Plus Ford has a 13% share still so not all ties have been broken.

Even VW has faith in Japanese car makers by investing into Suzuki.

Putting it simply – Toyota is making all the other Japanese car makers look bad, especially when they brag they are the most reliable car. The bigger the company, the more problems will occur.

I predict companies such as Mazda, Suzuki, Hyundai, Mistu etc are going to come up while Toyota are going to lose customers.

john

Just sell your toyota now while it is still worth something and buy something else. ANYTHING.
Matt

The issue here is the switch between regenerative braking and conventional braking. Ford are doing a check for a similar thing on the Fusion hybrid in the States… supposedly doesn’t really affect braking performance (ie distance to stop), driver just needs to keep their foot on the pedal

Andrew M

Yeah I thought it would have to be booster related

Stumpy

while watching Sky News today a lawyer was asked what advice he would give people driving any of the recalled/suspect vehicles.

His advice was to pull over to the side of the road and park it and get Toyota to come pick the vehicle up as in its current state if you had an accident in a vehicle known to be suspect/un-roadworthy you would be subject/at fault as you would be knowingly driving an unsafe vehicle.

This is going to get very ugly.
Save it for the track

“This is going to get very ugly”

Just like the driving dynamics of the average Toyota…
john

I wonder if the police can book you for unroadworthy vechicle if your driving a car that has a recall notice for it. Would be intereasting to find out.