Possible brake failure?

Did airbags deploy? If so, then the crash would have been recorded on the event data recorder / black box, which should show the brake pedal position and lack of deceleration. Even if airbags didn't deploy, it still might have been recorded. Please have this data read out.

There have been scattered reports of transient brake failure in the Liftbacks, but no critical mass has developed. (Search in the GenIII and GenII forums, you should find several threads. I don't recall others in the 'c' forums yet. Don't limit searches to any particular model year, possible incidents are too scarce for that.) If your incident led to a recorded crash, then that recording is likely the best set of evidence and clues yet to what might be happening.

Did you wife apply her fully body weight to the brake pedal? Or at least 112 pounds? If so, then that would be prima facie evidence of a failure to meet NHTSA passenger car brakes regulations, which set minimum performance standards even when the power assist has completely failed. Go directly to the NHTSA defect reporting site: Report Your Safety Complaint

If she used just normal braking force (or something similar) and didn't apply a lot extra once the pedal felt like it hit the floor, then she erred, and the brake failure issue becomes murky. But it may still be worth reporting. Any transient assist failures, even if they still meet the letter of the law, still should be wrung out of the system, because the surprise factor will lead to more crashes.

Please follow up on this, don't let it drop.

 

i'd say you have enough anecdotal evidence to have the dealer take a look at it. personally, if i hit the brakes at slow speed and wound up in the middle of an intersection? it would have been towed to the dealer from there, not chalked up to quirkiness. but that's just me. glad your wife is okay!

 

I totally agree!

 

Please don't involve just the dealer. If the wife's description is accurate, then this incident is much more important than that, and needs to go all the way to corporate and to NHTSA.

Please make sure the data recorder gets preserved. There have been persistent nagging hints of a problem, but not enough evidence to separate system failure from operator error. The recorder could potentially provide that evidence.

 

he said he filed with nhitsa in post #3. i wouldn't waste my time with corporate unless the dealer balks. i'm not even sure nhtsa is necessary until discovery process is complete, but it doesn't hurt i suppose.

 

Please post as soon as you find out... don't delay as you might have to sign a non-disclosure agreement if you go through Toyota Corporate and they do find something. If you have already given us the info, they can't do anything about it.

 

I can't think of any legal way for them to use this to hide safety defects, such as a systematic braking failure mechanism that would violate NHTSA passenger car braking requirements.

Non-disclosure agreements are generally voluntary civil agreements, where the party agreeing to not make the disclosure gets something useful in return, e.g. useful business information, a paycheck, or a legal settlement. It is not unilaterally forced.

Think of it as a golden handcuff -- without some gold, there is no handcuff. Though some people may get themselves into situations of being caught by the short hairs.

 

First, you should have gotten to the dealer immediately, if not quicker. Any time brakes act 'funny' do not drive that vehicle !
Your car had all the indications of air in the brake lines or a leak. That is a situation that is more likely poor maintenance because the owner or dealer (if he very recently performed an inspection) let the brake fluid get too low in the reservoir and lt air into the lines. Did your brake light come on? If not, probably, but not conclusively, there was enough fluid and the line or lines had air in them for some other cause..
Unless the lines had a leak and thus the responsibilty of the dealer or toyota there is no liability to Toyota or the dealer. If you can get to the car now check the level of brake fluid in the reservoir; if its low then you may have a case against the dealer or toyota; even then you may not have a case because you failed to address a critical problem promptly. Owners do have a responsibility for maintaining vehicles; such cases include tire pressures, brake fluid level, gasoline level as well as others you will find in your owners manual.
I can vouch for Toyota's brake deign. Few drivers use their brakes as hard as I do on track braking repeatedly from 100 mph and my Prissy has no problem and with Hawk pads which have a bit more friction than the OEM ones against the rotor for stopping sooner. I doubt the brake designs are at fault; unless there is a leak in the brake lines I don't see a prblem with the brakes design.
Sorry to lose your Prius, hope you get another without much hassle.

 

Again, your car had all the indications of air in the lines. You were negligent in not addressing a serious prblem immrediately; brakes are not ever to be regarded as 'just something'.
The least you should have done was inspecting the brake fluid level and calling your dealer.
Owners of vehicles do have resposnsibilitiy for maintaing their vehicles.
Filing a report with NHTSA was a bit premature.

 

Ask their inspector if you can check the car and check the brake fluid level; ask them if they will check the brakes lines for air.
If your Prius had very recently been in the hands of someone else, such as the dealer, you probably cannot assign blame elsewhere.

 

How does this follow? Does lack of a leak absolve them of all possible design defects?

 

I never said that the OP wouldn't get anything in return... I was just saying that we wouldn't know the result.

 

The car was brand new with only 15 miles on it. I am very good at taking care of my vehicles and checking fluids regularly, but if I bought a brand new car I would probably assume it was in perfect working order and all the fluid levels were fine until at least the first fill-up. OP has only had the car five weeks. I don't think it's unreasonable for him to have expected everything was in order and not been under the hood already.

 

That's really unfortunate...I know with my car mine was delivered from 150 miles out of state so any weird issues (i.e. brakes) would've been noticed and adjusted at my trusted dealership. New brakes are supposed to be pretty stiff...

 

I was just about to post something similar about my 2014 Prius C! I was going along with traffic today at about 40mph (on a bridge) and a truck stopped in front of me. I hit the brakes, but, they went almost to the floor never stopping just sliding. I was standing on them when I slid into the back of the truck. Not sure if the car is totaled yet. I’m ok, but, I keep replaying it and the brakes never completely engaged at all! I was wondering if there had been previous issues too??