Brakes went out!!! 2010 Owners beware!!!

Did the brakes go completely out? Or just lose the power assist?

If completely out, that could violate NHTSA's passenger car braking requirements, so she should consider filing a defect report:

NHTSA: File a Vehicle Safety Complaint

If just the power assist / boost failed, then the car still has old-fashioned manual (no power assist) brakes, which will still stop the car. It just takes a lot more pedal pressure, up to 112 pounds (after conversion from metric specs), to stop the car in a much longer allowed distance that we are normally accustomed to.

Don't assume that the car has no brakes just because the normal power assist feel and effectiveness is gone. The driver must know to put their full body weight into the pedal to get the basic manual braking, which by law is supposed to still be there when the power assist system fails. Don't just coast.

 

Did they say what it was contaminated with? And can they show you the contamination?

 

That's too bad.

What's the ZJB Program?

I don't know, if you're trying to get "Toyota" to cover the cost, then you need the support of the dealership.
I don't know if you should be disgruntled with Toyota or your independently owned and operated Toyota dealership.

It's a 9 year old vehicle, but if all maintenance has always been done at the dealership, and it's been kept up, I'd be upset to have that type of total failure, be told it was going to be covered under "some" program, then have the rug pulled out from under me.

My question would be what caused the contamination? How bad is the contamination?
On a 9 year old vehicle I might not expect the brake fluid to be pristine, BUT also I wouldn't expect total failure of the Brake Booster and Master Cylinder.

I know from some experience, that with Toyota Customer Care? If that is whom you are dealing with, that once a determination is made that something is NOT covered by warranty....good luck getting Toyota to reverse that stance.
But I'd be most unhappy with the dealership that first told you that it was going to be covered, and now has done a 180 and say's it is not.
Now that they are on record as saying that?
It would be a battle to get that determination reversed.

At the least, the dealership should of never told you it was a covered repair, until they had confirmed that as the case.
To tell you that, then call you up and give you a $4000 dollar estimate. That would be frustrating.

If you have kept up with maintenance, and always used the Toyota dealership, I'd think you'd have a case, even with some contamination.
I know with both my Prius and now my Honda Fit, any maintenance done at the dealership comes with a probably worthless but impressive looking printout that shows all the things they supposedly "checked", and I believe brake fluid and brake fluid levels are one of them.
So if they have always been responsible with maintenance...even if there is contamination today, I would argue that at least part of that responsibility would be on the service department that has been servicing it all along.

But, if you've skipped maintenance intervals and services? And even if you haven't that's a tough argument to win.

Good Luck.

 

As stated above, you're facing a fairly heavy lift in getting your dealership to pony up for this repair.
I'd get it to a brake place for a second opinion and then become the dealership's social media nightmare.

It's VERY likely that the brake system can be repaired at a franchise place for a little less than $4K, and besides.....if the dealership were completely responsible for the care and maintenance of your car, then they have failed you, and they would be the last people I would want to coerce into fixing stuff like........car brakes.
Of course they're NOT completely responsible for the care and maintenance of your car- but that's a side issue.

I'm thinking that the NHTSA report will be a waste of time, since it's very unlikely that the brakes failed completely, but hey....it's a data point.

You can DO it.
Just don't expect lab coats and crime scene tape from dot.gov.

1. Brake shop.
2. Ditch the car. In your case, 9 years is enough.
3. Consider another make/model or at a minimum....another dealer.

Good Luck!

 

Has the brake fluid ever been replaced? Do you know what was used?

FYI ours has been making a noise, off-and-on, just as you come to a stop. I'm aware of the "warranty enhancement", have been in touch with the Service Manager to confirm deadlines.

I actually booked an appointment recently, to get them to test drive, but cancelled, because (wouldn't you know...) the sounds quit, soon after I made the appointment.

 

It would seem as though Phase-1 of that document clearly covers your car. Odd that they're backing off from that.

 

That implies a failure/leak in the hydraulics themselves. These sorts of things happen to cars, going back to since cars have existed. It is much rarer today, but still happens.

When you took it to the dealer they got fluid to sample for contamination. That doesn't seem to jive with no fluid for manual hydraulic braking.

 

Here are some web links:

Toyota: https://toyotatalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/ZJB-BrakeBoosterWarrantyEnhancement-.pdf

PriusChat: 2010 Prius ABS Brake Booster & Pump Assembly Warranty ZJB | PriusChat

Customer Support Program Notification ZJB (anyone else?) | PriusChat

 

That doesn't answer the question. Other cases of power assist failure have given similar reports, but the almost-floored pedal still worked in backup non-assist mode.

The question: did she still stomp on the brake pedal REALLY HARD, and hold it down? As in her full body weight, or at least 112 pounds-force (metric 500 newtons)? Power assist systems are known to fail, and NHTSA regulations govern how the underlying manual hydraulic (or other) system must operate in fail-safe backup mode during such boost failures.

Too many drivers, especially those who haven't experienced non-power-assisted brakes, simply don't press hard enough. They freeze up, or assume the brakes have completely failed, and never try again or apply the needed muscle. Driver error.

If your wife DID apply this required muscle, and the brakes still didn't function at all (absent additional failures to the basic non-boost system, such as major hydraulic fluid loss), then this is prima facie evidence of the car model failing this NHTSA regulation. For the future benefit of everyone driving similar vehicles, and the general motoring public, she should file a Vehicle Safety Complaint at the above linked NHTSA site. This user feedback is necessary for the process of weeding out such design defects.

If your wife did NOT apply this required muscle, then some driving refresher is called for.

But this driver response issue is separate from the car maker still needing to address the root cause of this failure. Even if it fully meets that NHTSA requirement, improvements are still needed to make these events more rare.

 

Some guy came in here back while ago said he was the passenger and his wife was driver of the car. In a parking lot, the brakes weren’t responding and their prius plowed through things. He clearly eye balled that the Mrs. had the brakes fully engaged.

The court rewarded them with a Tesla.

 

2k1Toaster, I had total hydraulic brake failures on 1960s autos as they were single-loop systems, but I know all my autos from the 1980s and later had two independent Systems, most commonly separate loops for the front and rear wheel brakes with separate chambers in the master cylinder. I thought the Prius would certainly have the equivalent of a 2-loop system in that master cylinder and booster system. If that is correct, how is it possible to have simultaneous failure in both braking loops? I’m not seeing how this is possible on a modern automobile.

 

Do these codes exist on your vehicle?

Ask for (firmly, or even demand) a copy of the results. But, even if they share the results with you, there is no guarantee that they fluid came from your car. There is no chain of custody for the fluid from your reservoir to the lab.

Local TV investigative reporters love this stuff, particularly when there is near death (failed brakes). Can be very sensational. Cue the dramatic music and the TV reporter with really nice hair speaking seriously. If interviewed, make sure your wife is suitably frantic and upset about the experience.

 

The usual, most common, and expected way to discover you have an accumulator or actuator problem developing in a Prius is over time, with the pump perhaps running increasingly often, eventually warning lights, and an end stage (if not repaired in time) of a loss of ABS and pressure assist, leaving a brake pedal that is high and hard, and will still slow the car down, but have to be stood on pretty forcefully.

The very different, floored-pedal-no-stoppie kind of failure is not reported nearly so often, but this is not the first report, either. I haven't seen much by way of explanation; my own attempt (keep in mind, this is speculative), is over here.

 

Have cute puppies near by also and get them on camera when being interviewed

 

And because these cases are scarce, and apparently remain undiagnosed, it is important that they get reported to NHTSA in order to collect a critical mass of cases and evidence for investigation.

NHTSA: File a Vehicle Safety Complaint

 

There are scenarios that would make it possible, however none of them are even remotely probable. The most likely scenario that would result in that failure would be human sabotage that was smart enough to have a time delayed failure. That way you don't just run into your garage door, but get out on the highway and do a 1980's style cliff-dive and burst into flames inexplicably while airborne.

What I was getting at, it is very unlikely that the brakes actually failed and more likely that the human in control of them wasn't capable or aware of the force required for manual non-powered non-assisted braking.

Small distinction between possible and probable.

Anytime I drive one of my cars without power assist features I have to remind myself to re-calibrate distances. The Prius may panic stop in a few car lengths. The DeLorean will just leave nice tire marks and keep on sliding to death.