near complete brake failure on my way home from Coachella

Pretty scary thing.. long time ago I had a battery die at 60MPH due to alternator failure. Not much brake power assist when engine shuts off. Luckily car had manual transmission and engine braking still worked.

Agree, call Toyota, and if they do not cooperate, call news/TV station. It would be very surprising if they don't act, bad PR would cost them way more then replacing Master cylinder on a couple hundred cars. Brake issue already cost them billions, do they wanna go through another round??

BTW was you Prius firmware updated under recent recall?

 

I believe what you've stated is true and thanks for pointing the above out. What happens if there's a leak in the brake line to the pedal, is that not common to both systems? I don't have a diagram so I'm not sure.

 

Really people?

A car is past warranty, showed signs of impending failure and you want the Government and media involved?

What the hell has happened to this country?

 

Leaking hydraulics and/or a failed master cylinder is a failure mode common to standard hydraulic brakes and the Prius brakes. With both, the risk is minimized by dividing the brake system into two separate systems, each operating on only two wheels. A single failure will take out half of the brakes.

Once again, this is true with all standard automotive brakes, not just the Prius.

Tom

 

To gain 1st hand experience:

- Find a parking lot
- Put car in READY
- Accelerate to speed
- Press and Hold power button for > 3 seconds until car shuts off completely
- Press and apply brake pedal
- Find that car does indeed stop when brake pedal is applied and power is lost
- Point and laugh at tpfun**

** Last step is optional but highly recommended.

 

if the brakes almost failed on my car and it was only 2 years old with 43,000 miles, i would push push for warranty and if they would refuse, i would go to the media and then an attorney. toyota does not need or want this publicity. (even if there is no such thing as bad publicity.) what's happened to the country? manufacturers not standing behind their products and scammers and lawyers trying to get millions making false claims. trying to get the mfg. to cover a brake failure when you're just past warranty isn't unamerican.

 

It may not be unamerican but it is immoral. Threats by blackmail to force them to cover something that they do not have to cover is not exactly a moral pillar one should ever want to stand on. This sort of behaviour is what irks the rest of the world. When you go to a nice quiet restaurant outside of the US, it's not hard to tell what nationality the family yelling for the waiter to help them NOW is.

If your warranty expired at X miles and you are at X.00001 miles, they have 0 obligation to help you. It never hurts to ask, and the age-old adage of you "catch more flies with honey than vinegar" holds true.

 

Glad you are okay, glad nobody was hurt.

But given your description of what happened before the freeway incident I think you should of never driven it on the freeway. Before the freeway incident you admit to having a loud constant squeak, and the next morning you say every dashboard light came on along with constant beeping and 5 minutes of the brake pedal having zero resistance. At that point, it should of been a tow truck to your dealership. You got lucky.

But now you're unlucky. Your Prius is so new, I'd hope Toyota would assist in the repair. Good Luck. An 09 with only 43,000 miles seems awfully young to have that level of failure, without my thinking the component itself was not up to par...

Hindsight is always 20/20, but a dashboard lit up like a Christmas Tree, 5 minutes of beeping, and Zero Resistance...should be clues to NOT drive it on the freeway. Or drive it at all.

 

i know what you're saying, but i disagree. yes, i would ask nicely first. brakes are too important to ignore. not sure how the 'ugly american' comes into the picture. i have met people from all over the world, we're basically all the same.

 

Freedom of speech? 1st amendment? basic human right? are those alien concepts?

First, it is Toyota's choice not to cover it if they think it is outside the warranty and it should not be covered. It would be surprising if they don't but it is their choice.

However it is well within his moral and constitutional rights to tell his story to anyone. As owner of Toyota he did not signed any paper prohibiting him from disclosing his experience as Prius owner, and how could telling truth become immoral or "blackmail" is beyond me.. perhaps if you live in some 1984 totalitarian monarchy where it is outlawed to tell truth. Besides to be "blackmail" he should have demanded monetary compensation, and would have to not discloses this on this forum.

As an owner of Prius I am concerned that there is a possible design flaw or mfg defect in critical vehicle system, which could potentially affect others, specifically safety of my family, my wife and kids. It wouldn't be on the same page if it were some plastic parts falling off.

Bill: your argument of "showed signs of impending failure" does not hold the water, b/c avg US car owner would not have had a clue. It is like saying the happy Explorer/Firestone owner "look pal you should have checked your tires before you got behind the steering wheel. The VOM on p.476 tells you so". Even technically savvy people would not make connection btw some strange noise and imminent failure, or had diagnosed it as imminent brake failure, would you?

Moreover if Toyota does not cover or at least investigate this, their moral integrity, dedication to quality of their product would be questioned at very least.

 

Toyota should pay. I think they will.

 

I think op has a valid concern. It's not something you can actively induce wear and tear on to cause failure. By analogy for instance, you can't actively cause a short-circuit to happen sooner or later -- either it happens or it doesn't. It's not unreasonable to expect the system to last the life of the vehicle. I know the failure rate can not be 0%; the op seems to be 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 100,000. The failure rate ought to follow a bathtub curve.

I think it would be fair for Toyota to cover this repair.

It's not like worn out pads, warped rotors, a messed up alignment, or failing (12V) battery. We all know these are common maintenance items.

 

i will guarantee that the op will have no luck w/ Toyota in covering the cost. call it pestimistic if you want, but he is one individual they will swept under the rug. i know it's only 45k, but it is out of warranty period. this is the classic example of "david vs goliath"

 

Not sure.. I had a Toyota truck back in early 90s and they replaced windshield pump which on plastic disintegrated. There weren't any official recall but it was obvious mfg defect.

Unlike many western companies Japanese do care about their company, esp if they put their family name on it! Now the Toyota US could be a different story.

 

The important thing is that you are okay, and the whole unfolding didn't result in anything worse than it did.

And yes, Hindsight is 20/20. But if I got into my Non-Hybrid car, had codes, and squeaking, AND 5 minutes of pressing on my brakes and feeling no resistance, I think that would be enough to tell me not to drive it.

 

Toyota is actually very unusual in that they do either replace at their cost, or heavily discount a repair outside of warranty if you ask. If you are a loyal yota then more chance. But it is chance, as there is no obligation once that tenth of a mile ticks past due.

 

I am curious; what lights on the dash actually lit up? "All of them"?? That seems a little exaggerated. I can't imagine, for example, the seatbelt indicator coming on.

My intention isn't to cast doubt, but rather to try to understand how the Prius relays important info to the driver. If it was a braking issue, somehow lighting up every light and making an awful racket doesn't seem to be an intuitive way to tell the driver, "hey... your brakes aren't working right".