It's not just Toyota with Hybrid Brake Problems..

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

Hybridcars.com is reporting the same thing.
What the heck?

We have discussed situations like this at our hybrid car club meetings and noone seemed overly concerned about it. People in our hybrid car club framed it more about it's negative affect on mpg's than they are about it actually being any sort of safety issues.

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

Amazing, its the exact same problem. I almost thought I was reading a fake web page. Watch the spin!!

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

if anything that seems like bigger issue than Prius, seems like brake lose it completly unlike Prius which gets back in less than a second.

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

Ford to fix brake problem with 17,600 Mercury Milan, Ford Fusion hybrids - latimes.com


Now lets see how media covers that... Ford decided to issue service campaign (not an recall) only after CR reported it and 3.5 months after issue was fixed in production. I dont think Ford did anything bad, i just dont like double standards here.

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

And here is CR article that started it all:
Consumer Reports Cars Blog: Ford issues prompt fix for Fusion Hybrid brakes

apperantly their test driver "thought" he experienced completle loss of brakes until he restarted the vehicle. You need to push pedal much further than usual, or you will think brakes do not work... all the lights on dash light up, and brakes are in failsafe mode.

;-)

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

Kudos to Ford for implementing a fix so "early" (in October).
Plus, the article from MSNBC says there were only a "small" number of complaints by customers and only 1 complaint to NHTSA. So, either Ford responded quickly to a small number of complaints, or their internal evaluations quickly revealed the issue to them.

I don't like the fact that they waited over three months before offering the software fix to their pre-October cars and customers, though. What do they gain by waiting or not offering the software update?

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

With the small number of units compared to the Prius the small number of complaints makes sense. The Prius has sold many times the combined total of both Ford hybrids.

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

Prius sold probably 10x less units world wide... and of course, here we have car that goes into failsafe mode, pedals that drop and warning lights on the dash that light up.

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

How do you know this?
.

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

because he's a troll, they know everything.

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

Isn't it Ford of Toyota's competitors who is offering money and discounts for people who want to trade their Toyota for a safer (Ford) car?

How about that?

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

Maybe they thought now was a good time to issue the update to existing customers while everyone was looking at Toyota.

The news report was certainly low key and not designed to whip up hysteria.
:rockon:

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

so apperantly Prius has serious braking failure while Ford had minor issue that they will fix but not recall.

i might be crazy one, but did Prius owners get brakes to go to fail safe mode and lose the brake pedal feel completly until you restart the car?

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

From my experience in the 2010 Prius and what I have read about the Ford problem, I'd say it's the opposite as to which is more dangerous!

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

Both problems are similar. Both cars 'overreact' to a wheel slip and loose breaking ability. Both cars if you apply more pressure to the brakes they both work. Both problems will add a small amount of distance to low speed braking and disconcert the driver.

On the Ford the car warns more, but from what I understand it does not happen as easily. Regardless of the details, both problems should be fixed because they could slightly increase the chance of a low speed collision. Both problems can be fixed by software/firmware upgrades.

Also, both companies fixed the problem quietly without warning customers until the problems were uncovered by users and the media. They should have warned about the problem and offered the fix as soon as they knew.

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

big difference is that with Ford, you have to restart the car to get it to properly behave... it is not "split second feeling", when it happens your brake drops and it does not behave normally anymore, at all, until you turn off and then on the car. Brakes literally go to the failsafe mode.

I am not picking on Ford, just pointing out huge difference on how is media handling both companies... and difference is so big that you cant express it in words easily.

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

Yep, yet others are slamming Toyota for making changes to firmware at some point in January 2010 and not notifying people about it until the issue surfaced in the press/Japanese govt ordered an investigation.

I also found Ford's Q&A on this at http://www.at.ford.com/news/cn/Page...bridCustomerSatisfactionProgramAnnounced.aspx.

 

Re: It's not just Toyotoa with Hybrid Brake Problems..

Windows has detected that you are trying to slow your car
down. Are you sure you want to do this? (requires reboot)
.
_H*

 

What I found puzzling was . . .
Since Ford sold a smaller number of cars and (proportionately), a smaller number of complaints were made, wouldn't that make it hard to determine if the problem actually exists? But they did get the software update into their factories in October vs. January for Toyota and its larger Prius sales and larger number of complaints. Ford in the last 3 years has made large strides toward improving their automobiles, so some credit needs to be given to them for that. There may be truth that Toyota's growth has adversely affected their quality control.

I agree that Toyota, being a foreign company, is getting more than its share of bad domestic press (though the huge number of recalls across 8 different cars in their lineup isn't helping any). All sorts of products (and parts for products) are made in China, but the press only picks up on the negative news from there, too.