Brake fix didn't work!!!!

I was under the impression that this was a voluntary recall. What you are describing is a mandatory recall.

Tom

 

Mitch,

Thanks for the advice. I plan to unload it as soon as all this hysteria settles down and prices stabalize. It really is cheaply made, and as we now know, is backed by a company that has proven to be less than honest and forthcoming.

 

Based on the posts I've read over the last few months on this site, I'd say many Prius owners are way below average when it comes to knowing anything about their car, how it works, or even how to handle it. This is definitley true when I compare to owners I know of several European makes.

 

As a good example, one of my old coworkers bought a used VW many years ago. The model he bought had been recalled due to a defect in the steering wheel key interlock. The previous owner, unfortunately, had never taken the car in for the recall. My coworker friend was exiting a highway going around a cloverleaf when the steering wheel locked. He continued the forced turn and ended up in the grass inside the cloverleaf. It could have been a lot worse.

Tom

 

A couple of reports that I read said the "recall was optional". Maybe they meant to say, "voluntary"? Don't know?

 

We have not experienced this phenomenon in our G3 Prius. It's the wife's commuter and I rarely drive it, she's a light-footed cautious driver. I'm going to try to find a spot to see if I can replicate it safely.

Some Lexus RX400h owners have reported similar situations, but it seems they're only reporting it after all the media hype.

I believe Ford is also doing a recall or TSB of their hybrid vehicles to upgrade their ABS software.

As a couple of other posters mentioned, when I'm driving in slippery situations I always hit the brakes and make the ABS kick in (safely, no other cars around) to test the road conditions. I also get on it to make traction control kick in as another test. My wife hates it when I do this, I've tried to convince her she needs to do it so she can understand just how bad the conditions are.

I will have them perform the recall on the Prius at its first oil change.

 

I agree with the OP who wrote in post #14 (?) that it wouldn't have been too much trouble for the dealer to simply say "bring the car back and we'll look at it again."

I think the person who deserves some slack is the customer who paid $22K+ for a car and then is told to call Toyota instead.

I used to have Earthlink as my ISP. When I had trouble with their DSL service, they told me to call AT&T. AT&T agreed to come out and check the lines, but they explained that the proper procedure was for Earthlink to contact AT&T and be the middleman / contact between me (the customer) and AT&T.

Putting aside the question of whether the software update failed or the car is acting properly now, I think the true issue is the lack of customer service from the dealership. Any chance you can take the car to another dealership for them to check the software update?

BTW, after string of different problems (all in someway related to bad customer service), I switched ISPs and am much happier with the service now.

 

You realize you're part of this hysteria and contributing to it?

 

If you can't get them to stop lowering your tire pressures how in the world do you expect to stop them from flashing the update?

And how much do you want to bet that if they didn't do the update, even if not requested, and someone rear ended someone else at least one of, if not both of the persons involved in the accident would sue the dealership for failing to do the update while it was in the shop.

I would fully expect that if you have your car in for any service this flash will be done, even if not specifically requested and maybe even if specifically refused.

 

George,

While there may be different levels of "aggressiveness" with respect to stability control in order to provide a different "feel" to the vehicle, there are no varying levels of "aggressiveness" with respect to anti-lock brake actuation.

While some systems have the ability to pulse the brakes at different rates of speed, a locking wheel is a locking wheel. When the system detects a wheel locking, it moves to mitigate the locking of the wheel in order to restore rotation.

Having said that, whether a wheel begins to lock or not has nothing to do with ABS and everything to do with available traction. So, the reason you may feel more frequent ABS intervention in the Prius vs. the Ford is most likely due to tire compound. The Prius is fitted with LRR (Low Rolling Resistance) tires which are more slick by sheer nature of their compound (one reason why I installed snow tires on mine). Changing to a "stickier" tire will increase the coefficient of friction between the tire and the road, lower ABS intervention and have a slight detrimental effect on fuel economy.

 

I know this is a day late from the original post but to the OP I'd say cooler heads just need to prevail.

I'm not blindly defending Toyota or their respective dealership support network. But there are a few things to consider.

First of all, when you criticize all of Toyota, the entire brand and company keep in mind your experience was dealing with 1 person, not all of Toyota. You called with reasonable expectation but expecting a certain reply. The feedback you got from "Tom" was probably not text book customer service...it infact was bad.

Most often with communication you have to strive to try to hear what the other person is hearing. It's not an excuse, whomever "Tom" is, should probably not be handling customer phone calls and/or be given some pointers on how to deal with disgruntled customers. But nobody is perfect.

To strive to hear what Tom was hearing you have to try and put yourself in his place. Here's a service person (Tech, Manager, I don't know) but a service person, saddled with probably an overloaded docket of work due to the recalls. You call and announce that you feel your brakes are still "failing" or not working properly. From his P.O.V., he's thinking you have an almost brand new car, with the latest downloaded software upgrade. So honestly, he's probably thinking there isn't anything he can do for you. Yes, he could double check, and make sure the download took, and he probably should do so, if only to make you happier but from his P.O.V. he probably has ton's of automobiles coming in that need attention for first time recall issues in accelerator pedals and now Prius Software updates. The idea of stopping and going back to check a new automobile that has the update, and then potentially have to deal with a disgruntled customer in the flesh when he has to come back and tell you that's it, that's all he can do, because the software update is in place and your brakes are behaving to the capabilities inwhich they behave, probably doesn't much appeal to him. So he's thinking, disgruntled customer inwhich I'm never going to be able to make happy, refer his complaint to Toyota HQ's.

Since it seems the tone on both sides of this conversation was never "good", you rightly feel you are getting the brush off. In light of recent comments in the media by Toyota executives, you are upset because your experience with 1 person (Tom) doesn't match the reported goals of Toyota as a huge company striving to improve image and customer service.

In short, while not defending Toyota, and not even defending "Tom", I think it unfair to label all of Toyota based on your immediate dealings with 1 person. Ultimately recall or no recall, "normal" times for a Toyota service department or Abnormal times, you have a right to be upset and a right to make choices concerning your automobile. If you really feel you were acutely let down, barred from seeking remedy, then by all means report your feeling to Toyota USA. It is supposedly the feedback they want in an effort to improve.

But leave open the possibility that this is NOT indicative of anything more than 2 people having a bad day at the same time. If you continue to be unhappy with the service you are receiving? You also always can "vote" by switching dealerships.

Here's hoping Toyota, The Prius, and your local service department can all meet your expectations. Good Luck.

 

what F do you expect him to do??? hire a programmer?

**edit**

let me tell why he told you what he told you.

1) in all corporate situations, DIRECT customer feedback hold 1o times the weight of feedback from representative of the company. he told you that because he knew, your feedback would get instant response. for him to relay your feedback, it would most likely take several days for the info to LEAVE THE DEALERSHIP...

sucks, but that is reality. that is why direct customer feedback is available.


on this "maybe the mechanic made a mistake" responses.

no no no... software installed, software install verified. nothing else he can do. what do you expect him to do??

take the car out, test it. bring it back and adjust the code???

we are not talking about a brake job. friction brakes can be adjusted on feel.

from what it appears, the OP's situation is on extreme hills etc. he is simply is a typical consumer with expectations that are simply way out of line. sorry if that is harsh, but just becaseu you paid for something does not mean you can just wave your hand and it gets fixed.

you are on the phone with basically a peon. he has a channel of communication he must follow and all info he submits will be scrutinized each step of the way up the ladder and will most likely be rejected due to incomplete information since it will simply be a generalized recap of the customer complaint.

there is no form, no precedence, etc.... that is why it is paramount to get the info directly from the consumer to corporate.

 

Yep, I am. Let the word go forth.

Toyota lost me a few weeks ago. I guess i should have listened to those on here - from weeks/months ago - that were saying the Prius wasn't as good as they thought, and that Toyota was covering up, or ignoring some major problems. Turns out, they were dead on.

 

Does it really matter? From the guy that started this thread, even if they do the fix/update, it sounds like the "fix" didn't fix anything?! LOL. it would not surprise me one bit if this "fix" didn't turn out to be a placebo. Now that would be classic.

Way to go Toyota!.

 

With the Prius, there is also the issue of regenerative braking. Regenerative braking occurs through the front wheels only, and without any sort of modulation. This means that a wheel slip is more likely than with a normal car. Once the Prius transitions out of regeneration it's business as usual with respect to ABS.

Tom

 

Who sold you struts for your Prius at 89k miles?!? The factory struts should last MUCH longer than that...

What do you want for your Prius? I'm serious...if its the right deal I'll buy it.

 

Actually it is called "managing user expectations." But this is a difficult problem because often enough, the customer 'hears what they want to hear' and doesn't really think about what is being offered. I'm not faulting 'hockeydad' because he might not have known what his expectations were before buying the car. Prius ownership may have given him 'a clue.'

In similar fashion, Toyota wants more market presence and that means learning and adapting to what is needed. They fully meet my expectations but I started out with a used, 2003 Prius to try and understand what is going on and my requirements.

As an engineer, I would prefer to see the missing data from the owner's manual:

• MPG vs mph - a chart that shows the steady-state performance on a standard day or possibly parameter curves from 10F to 100F in 20F increments.
• temp vs MPG - a chart showing what happens to fuel economy at say 60 mph as the temperature changes.
• warm-up curve - how long it takes for the car to warm-up from any given starting temperature.
• 8% grade MPG vs mph - showing how to best climb hills and mountains.

Instead, I made my own and use them to plan trips and driving.

Bob Wilson

 

After reading the numerous posts about the braking issue including this post I can only come to one possible conclusion which explains this nonsense. Most Prius owners must also be drug users...