2008 Prius DEFINITELY has a brake problem

Regardless of how anyone feels about Prius brakes - there are 7 other non-obvious-angry-owner threads....7. Enough already.

:closed_2:

 

I've been upgraded by a factor of 1.5 (roughly)!

There are many of us that can tell you what goes on with the ECUs. We have beaten to death the causes of this braking issue, both with the Gen II and Gen III Prius. For details, please refer to the many other threads on this topic.

In short, when your Prius loses traction during regenerative braking, the control system transitions the braking from regeneration to ABS friction braking. During gentle braking, the ABS may not exert as much braking as before the transition. This requires the driver to press harder to get the same amount of braking. This is not an issue with a panic stop, as friction braking is immediately used.

Toyota also explains this on their websites. While most of the information will address the Gen III, the issue is the same with the Gen II, only much less pronounced.

The solution is a recall on the Gen III to load new and improved software. At present there is no recall on the Gen II. If you feel that you have a real problem, you should contact Toyota and perhaps file a complaint on the NHTSA website. Several of the other threads have links to the NHTSA site.

Tom

 

Here is the link to NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (where you file the actual report): Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), File A Safety Complaint

 

qbee I'm with you, I think the mods should merge all the threads in one.

 

I've stated this in a few other messages but I'll say it again briefly. I had a 2002 Subaru WRX and it exhibited many of the same brake characteristics of my 2004 Prius. I have NEVER had any problems but I did notice (same in Subie) that bumps do momentarily illuminate the traction light. This is solely a function of the software working properly. I also definitely noticed that momentary lag when the brakes appear as if they're not doing their job. My Subie had done that as well. Only reason I never had it checked out was because I had eventually traded it in for an Audi. As for my Prius, well I know the car very well as I've owned it since new. I merely press firmly on the pedal in poor traction (gravel etc) and I've never had a situation where I had thought braking was not working properly. YES there is an issue but not by design and a software update appears to remedy it. This is solely my opinion. I think Toyota should have acted sooner.

 

I think all is fine with the brakes. My feeling is that when the traction control comes on, it is as though the car seems to bite harder and only gives the impression that its slipping. In fact, I have one particular curvy washboard area where I can make the traction control come on and actually had the wheels chirp as I came out of the curve.

 

That would be cruel and unusual punishment for the Mods.

 

Threads are free. Big deal if there are 7 closely related threads. Sew away. If these were 7 "pro toyota" threads, this wouldnt be a big deal. The prius is a great car and toyota is an ok company but they screwed up and keep screwing up with the slow reaction and coverup.

Lucky for us, we live in a great country with great lawyers and can keep companies in check if they dont do it on their own.

 

what will it take to get it off your hands $.

 

Exactly why I pretty much stopped utilizing this site.
I have returned of late to read about Prius issues, sad to see the regulars are still doing their thing.
I was bombarded by pompous snobs on this site.
I belong to a similar site for my Mercedes SLK, one would think it would be full of these types, not so.
Looks like I will need to find news about my Prius elsewhere.
Good Luck Chasels !! :cheer2:

 

I was going to stay out of these discussions, but some of this is getting just plain silly.

I've been driving since 1972, and I can categorically state here and now that the Gen II Prius overall behavior is no worse than most other cars in it's size and weight. In fact, I found that it's performance in snow and ice is better (by a fair bit) than my 2004 Chevy Cavalier, or my 2005 Corolla. Regardless of whatever car one drives, it is the responsibility of the owner to learn the car's strengths and limitations.

What appears to be happening here is a lot of people are convincing themselves that the Prius behavior is somehow less safe than other cars, and that is simply nonsense.

I cannot tell you how many times I've seen cars (and especially pickup/SUV) in bad weather spin out, crash, etc. In almost all cases, the drivers were not driving defensively. Just because a vehicle has 4 wheel drive does not mean it is immune from spinning out or skidding in bad weather.

Every car that I've ever owned with ABS has a different set of behavior characteristics in slippery/bad weather conditions. One simply needs to understand them and drive accordingly.

When the police first shifted over from rear wheel drive to front wheel drive cars, there was a large spike in accidents with them. The police had to re-learn how to drive to adjust to the different behavior of the cars.

There are a LOT of bad drivers up here in the North (especially in NJ, which has the highest insurance rates in the country). I think a lot of people are jumping on this brake issue out of context, and perhaps need to look at their driving habits vice blaming the car.


So, I do not believe that the Gen II is bad in adverse weather conditions. I've owned a Prius since 2006, driving up here in New England winters, and it is a better car in bad weather than my Chevy or my old Corolla.

My only issue with the Prius is the OEM tyres are not so good, so I switched them out with the Nokians, which helped out immensely.

 

When did the police switch over to FWD cars? Every P.D. (City P.D., County Sheriff and CHP) in my neck of the woods drives Police Interceptors, which are RWD.

The rest of your post is an expression of your opinion. Thank you for sharing.

 

Here are some facts regarding FWD Police cars:

Police Magazine

 

Thank you for the link. Some comments:

Completely true. Especially the part about slowing down at the sight of a Crown Vic.

As far as turning radius advantage, unless you are driving a Prius, or other small FWD car, there doesn't seem to be a huge advantage over the Crown Vic in an apples-to-apples comparison.

Ground clearance is definitely a problem for the FWD cars.

And then there is the 'real' as opposed to claimed fuel mileage.

Frankly, for police use, I can't find a compelling value proposition in the article for FWD cars.

Which might explain why the locals haven't made the switch.

 

I have an '08 with 30k never had a problem. I live in KC where you see all seasons and all weather and I've even driven all the way to Vail, CO for 5 days and it snowed 4 of those 5 days. If the brakes in a prius scare you then cars scare you. If you've ever been on a washboard like road in a full size pickup truck and slammed on the brakes or tried to corner too fast it does the same thing except the braking distance is substanially longer. And btw, having 4wd causes your braking distance to INCREASE because it's more rotating mass, so you won't be able to stop at that light you are barreling through. Learn how to drive defensively.

 

Another opinion. Thank you for sharing.

 

Yep.

I was not suporting FWD cars for police. The point I was making is that the police have had issues with FWD, due to behaivor delats.

 

Until you had posted, I was not aware that P.D.s were even considering using FWD cars. The last FWD cars the CHP used were the K-cars that were referenced in the article you cited. The CHP absolutely HATED the K-cars. Too many speeders simply ran away from them. When they converted to the 5.0 liter Mustangs, they couldn't get rid of the K-cars quick enough.