Anyone have problems braking?

At about 22,000 miles I ran into a brake problem. As I started out, the brakes seem to have lost their power assist. It took more pedal pressure to stop and a couple of times it stopped hard and the front tires squeeled.

I took it to the dealer. After three days, they decided that the ABS actuator is bad and wouldn't you know it... there is no replacement part anywhere in North America. So I'm driving a replacement car and waiting.

 

I've only had to brake hard once in my 04, and the power braking assist really showed itself nicely. If the car senses a "hard stop", it will automatically add extra pressure to the brakes to make sure you stop! From what I understand, the system is designed to automatically increase your braking force in emergency stop situations.

As another poster noted, using the parking brake for emergency stops is NOT a good idea. The whole point of ABS is that it provides control (and more friction) than a "locked brakes" stop (which is what would happen using the parking brake).

Once the car starts to slide on a locked wheel, you actually have less friction to stop the car than with wheels that are automatically rolling/releasing as with ABS.

So if you need to stop fast, feel absolutely free to just stamp on the brakes - HARD! The car is designed to take care of the rest for you!

Dave

 

My only brake complaint is that tapping the brake pedal to disengage the cruise control sometimes makes them grab. It's an old habit I haven't quite replaced by pulling on the cruise switch, and I think an even split of pedal and switch to stop cruising might make the switch last longer anyway...

 

The 2004 Prius uses a typical pedal actuated cable pull to mechanically apply the rear drum brakes for the parking brake function.

 

Why would the cruise switch wear out? Even on my crap crap crappy old Dodge Neon, the cruise controls never gave out after 130,000 miles, and I almost always pressed the "cancel" button to disengage CC.

 

The multi-purpose headlight switch on my long-gone Geo Metro broke and would have cost me $450 to replace. Lucky for me, the headlights were on while the car was running and all I needed to use was the running lights position. No high-beams, however.

Since then, I've dreaded another expensive switch breaking on me, even if it's rated for 1,000,000 pulls...

 

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We recently had the brake switch replaced. Less than 2 weeks after this, we had a similar experience of the brakes not holding despite adequate time for braking. I also ended up hitting the back of another vehicle.