Updated: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

Re: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

wow,,how do they determine that those sold jan 2 dont have the problem and mine i purchased dec 27th does..hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

Re: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

Wow, this is getting much, much worse for Toyota. I wonder if they will survive all of this in the long run.

 

Re: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

Produced in the factory in January. Those vehicles aren't even here yet. It'll all be governed by VIN.

 

Re: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

I'm 60+ yrs old and have been in business for 40+ yrs. This is nothing. I worked for a large European steel company for almost my entire working life. In the 80's and 90's the US steel mills sicc'd the Federal Gov't on us and nearly put us out of business in the US.

It took some years but we prevailed. Now my former company is the largest steel company in the world by a factor of 50%. It's twice as large as US Steel. Nearly all the rest of the US mills were killed off by Nucor and Steel Dynamics, they don't exist any longer.

The Exploder / Firestorm fiasco was different orders of magnitude greater than these recalls. Ford is now the darling of the media and public.

Last year one of the greatest icons of the American Century went bankrupt in abject poverty. GM now has no debt and will likey explode out of this year in an IPO printing money as fast as it can.

The one thing I've learned in 40+ yrs of working in business is the long view prevails. Fix the mess, keep the current customers happy and content, wait out the storm, move on.

Financially Toyota can weather these issues easily. If the current customers are kept content then it'll be less than 2 yrs....

 

Re: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

Having recall or basically service campaign (meaning it is not an safety issue but all cars will be fixed) is THE CORRECT way to do it, REGARDLESS if it is safety issue or not and what we think about it.

Even though they could just issue TSB and people with complaint would get a fix, it is much better to actually fix it for everyone because this will otherwise get dragged to the mud by american media. Just like CNN reported 90 ft longer distances.

It does not matter how Toyota handles it in PR, and if they call it improvement, fix, media will overblow it anyway and many will cite hundreds of accidents, deaths, steve wozniak not being listened to, etc.

My national, well respected (the most in the region) TV station, which caters to 25 million market, just showed quick news:" Toyota now has problems with Prius brakes. THOUSANDS of owners complained about big braking issue with the Prius. Sales of ALL Toyota models around the world have grinded to the stop".

 

Re: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

I purchased my Gen3 on December 24 (Merry Christmas) and have tried, unsuccessfully, to unmask the mystery brake problem. I have tried braking gently, aggressively, and moderately on bumpy roads, train tracks and gravel. Am I doing something wrong, ... I mean ... right,... ah ... differently, that prevents the brake problem in my Gen3? Perhaps I should trade my new Prius for a defective one, so I won't feel left out. On second thought, maybe mine was the prototype Prius for the brake fix.

 

Re: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

Me too! I have been looking for the roughest stops I can find to no avail! Mine was built 5/09. We need to start a club or something.

 

Re: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

We drove both Gen2 and Gen3 total more than 40k miles, but I and my wife never encountered the brake problem.
People are saying the problem exists on any Toyota hybrid, however it is most significant (but still rare occasion) on the Gen3 Prius among Toyota hybrids.

Anyway, following is copy of my post.
-----
Japanese Nikkei Net reports this.
Toyota to recall Prius about brake problem fix (Japanese only)

Toyota's intension was the fix will be done as SSC, but the US government pushes to be considered it as more serious problems.
Then, it looks Toyota decided to do a recall for the Gen3 brake problem fix.

Toyota is also investigating brake problems on other hybrid models.
Maybe, other hybrid models will be listed on the recall at the same time as Gen3 Prius or sometime later.

Ken@Japan

 

Re: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

Following is copy of my post.
-----
FYI,
The ECU software of following VIN Prius had been modified since late January production.

0124257 or later (Toyota Tsutsumi #1 production line)
1157314 or later (Toyota Tsutsumi #2 production line)
5118118 or later (Toyota Auto Body Fujimatsu production line)

Ken@Japan

 

Re: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

News update by Japanese press.
Prius brake fix in 60 countries - recall in US and JP (Japanese only)

It looks Toyota is going to issue the recall in both US and JP.
For other countries, it will be SSC for free.

Ken@Japan

 

Re: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...99-poll-prius-brakes-problem.html#post1031776 is one place where people were posting locations that are known to repro the "issue". I later added the Google Street View link. Too bad you're in So Cal. Maybe someone in So Cal will post up a location.

On that thought, I've been on many bad roads the last time I was down there. If you ever go over anything that causes the skid light to blink, go back over it again while braking lightly. It should repro.

 

Consumer Reports Cars Blog: Toyota adds 2010 Prius braking problem to the list, recall possible has a few sample NHTSA complaints. Not surprisingly, there are some that assert the car "accelerates" or "surges" when braking over such bumps.

 

Re: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

I too have been trying to reproduce the problem following all the instructions posted in various threads. I have a lovely bumpy road outside and I just can't get the problem to happen. There must be some other magic ingredient I am missing.

 

There is no recall.

Toyota CEO apologizes, but announces no new recall - Feb. 5, 2010

 

At least as of Friday morning.

Tom

 

If Ford come up with a recall real quick then he should resign at once.

 

Re: Toyota Recalling 270,000 2010 Prius Hybrids in Japan & US for Brake Issue

Try finding a wet metal drain cover (or similar) and brake at a speed of 20-25 mph, with a medium pressure and you should get the problem to occur. If you brake too hard then the brake friction pads will already be on. Obviously make sure you will not hit anything or onebody when you try this!!!!

The problem is the regen braking switching off when it hits a slippy patch but the friction brakes arn't on strong enough to take over slowing the car. Apparantly the software update will smooth this out to avoid the lurch.

However, the latest news reports here in the UK indicate that Toyota UK are in denial that the problem occurs over here!