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Toyota Prius Brake Problems

368 messages,  Last post on Jun 19, 2013 at 10:46 AM

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What is this discussion about? Toyota Prius, Brakes, Hatchback, Sedan

    
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Messages Page 36 of 37

#350 of 368 Re: 2010 Prius Breaking/Acceleration Problems [ks2010prius] by bioman

Jun 24, 2012 (9:45 am)

Replying to: ks2010prius (Jun 23, 2012 9:09 pm)
I too own a 2010 Prius 4 and I too went through a similar process of learning to live with the switchover from regenerative barking to ABS. It is not a "flaw" it is the way the systems are designed, to date. Toyota is not the only manufacturer using a similar regenerative-ABS barking system. The other manufacturer's hybrids are experiencing a similar barking response during the switchover. So I've taught myself and my wife how to respond when barking systems causes that moment of "anxiety". We still have faith in the car and we are still happy we made the move over to the Prius. We have over 42K miles of low maintenance costs and no problems except for adjusting to driving a hybrid vehicle.

#351 of 368 2010 Prius unintended acceleration accident by lily2012

Jul 31, 2012 (6:07 pm)

I have a 2010 Prius, about 26500 miles. Just two weeks ago, I experienced very bad accident by unintended acceleration. I was backing this Prius slowly towards the left direction ( I needed to go to right direction) in a flat and dry surface, my foot was on brake--like we all do when we are backing. All the sudden, it started accelerating, in a few seconds, it turned >360 degree clockwise. I then passed out because of the fast turning and because I was so scared. The car kept going wild, passed two curbs and hit a truck backward and bounced back, then stopped by itself—because two tires on driver side got exploded when the car passed two curbs.
 
Fortunately, no one was in the truck. Since the tires go flat before it hit the truck, I guess it was not as fast as it began accelerating, so I didn’t get injured.
 
The local Toyota collision center checked the car and told me there was no problem with brake and gas paddle. They didn’t believe me and said they never heard of Prius unintended acceleration problem.
 
Insurance said it’s my fault.
 
I claimed the problem to Toyota. They said we can inspect your car, but it will take up to 3 months. And I need to pay the parking fee in the collision center. Is this crazy? Anyone has a suggestion as what I need to do? Thanks a lot!

#353 of 368 Re: 2010 Prius unintended acceleration accident [whitey9] by imidazol97

Aug 04, 2012 (4:59 pm)

>hen I need to stop my car, i just push DOWN on the brake pedal. I do not ride around in circles tying to see how much damage I can inflict.
 
Your statement that the poster tried to see how much damage he/she could do as a result of the quick movement of the car sounds like you are saying the poster intentionally did this? I disagree.
 
You weren't there.
 
>When I need to stop my car, i just push DOWN on the brake pedal.
 
That didn't work for several people who claim their toyota products had runaway acceleration in the forward mode. Despite the floormats, sticky accelerator pedal sensor unit, and the use of NASA to supposedly rule out ALL electronic malfunctions of the drive-by-wire of the nonhybrid toyotas, I don't believe it is all solved.
 
I read that this poster had something unexpected happen in reverse and that caused the driver to lose control. It seems as if the spinning or surprise caused them to faint or become uncapable of trying further to control the car. I accept that. Our concern is did the car do something unexpected, not was the poster trying to do as much damage as possible.

#354 of 368 Re: 2010 Prius unintended acceleration accident [lily2012] by ks2010prius

Aug 06, 2012 (4:07 pm)

Replying to: lily2012 (Jul 31, 2012 6:07 pm)
I have to agree with the other post questioning the validity of your incident. It sounds like you were high, or low, on something. I doubt that a Prius turning circles, frontwards or backwards, can turn enough Gs to make one pass out. Why didn't you turn of the car off, try placing it in park or forward, or press on the parking brake. Since you didn't mention this I have to think you are not telling the whole story. If you are telling the truth then turn your car over to Toyota and have them extract the data from the on-board computer to see what really happened. I'm sure insurance claims agents have heard it all.
 
I've had my 2010 Prius for 45,000 miles and it's been a superb car, saving me a LOT on gas. It's one of the few cars that delivers the MPG they advertise.

#355 of 368 Re: 2010 Prius unintended acceleration accident [ks2010prius] by lily2012

Aug 07, 2012 (6:17 pm)

Replying to: ks2010prius (Aug 06, 2012 4:07 pm)
I was trying to stop the prius when i saw a car coming on my way. My foot was on brake. But the car itself suddenly accelrated, and turning >360 degree backward in a few seconds. I can't control the car when the car was going crazy like this. I was very scared that I passed out. I am a female, never had experienced such a terrible situation.
 
I found a website describing the unintended accelration in two situations: low speed and high speed. "low speed" refers to when we are parking or or backing up or trying to change a parking position when the car accelerates by itself; "high speed" means when we are driving it froward in relatively high speed. My case is the "low speed" one.
 
I contacted Toyota. They will take the EDR (Event Data Recorder) to analyse--it will tak up to 3 months for them to do it! But I am afraid they will conclude that I stepped on both Brake and Gas paddle at the same time, like some posters said.
 
I was pround of my Prius before the accident. I told a lot of coworkers how fuel efficient it iwas. Some of them brought Prius recently, some of them were planning to buy. But now I am much more concerned of safety than saving gas. When they heard of this accident (some of them saw it), a lot of them don't want to go with Prius.

#356 of 368 Re: 2004-2009 Prius Brake Failure Rate is High [jpeters1970] by markgreen

Oct 01, 2012 (11:31 am)

Replying to: jpeters1970 (Jun 27, 2009 9:06 pm)
Apparently those "extraordinary set of circumstances" happened to a large enough number of people that the manufacturer decided that a fix was needed.
 
http://www.edmunds.com/car-news/toyota-prius-recall.html
 
From the article:
A Toyota spokesman said the Prius braking problem is caused by a computer glitch which creates a lag in response between the regenerative braking system (which captures energy during braking to improve fuel economy) and the antilock brakes (which help the car continue to steer under emergency braking situations). The problem occurs when the brakes are applied while the car is traveling over bumpy surfaces or in wet conditions.

#357 of 368 Re: Prius Brake issue [625k_inc] by bigteej

Oct 01, 2012 (6:29 pm)

Replying to: 625k_inc (Feb 27, 2011 10:38 pm)
I bought a 2011 Prius in March 2012. I thought all the issues with the brakes were taken care of back in 2009 and honestly thought it was all just people trying to get rich. My car has the brake hesitation problem, dealer can find nothing wrong and the dealer said that I was the first person to bring up this complaint. I believed them and thought I had a lemon or that maybe I was just a little jumpy about my brakes. The problem has been happening more and more. I decided to do a little research and I was immediately outraged to learn that this has been an issues with these cars for years and 1000's are reporting it. Dealership doesn't know whats wrong still and that car has developed other electronic issues such as the smart key system malfunctioning and the security system not letting me lock the car. I have a 6 month old car with 10K miles on it and its the first new car I have ever bought but I'm scared to drive it.

#358 of 368 Sudden acceleration, Prius 2011 by glenda7

Oct 14, 2012 (11:45 am)

I have this car for a year now and still experiencing sudden acceleration at times when I slightly press the brakes and the car hits a small bump or pot hole, it accelerates. I almost hit a pedestrian in two incidences, and many times almost rear ended other cars. I complained to my dealer but they said they did not find anything wrong with my car. They have emailed an engineer from California about it. It's been a month and I did not hear from them yet. Does anyone have a solution about this matter? I do not want to get into a car accident or hit a pedestrian....

#359 of 368 Re: Prius Brake issue [bigteej] by wwest

Oct 15, 2012 (10:41 am)

Replying to: bigteej (Oct 01, 2012 6:29 pm)
What you are experiencing is the "delay" in the transition from regenerative, FRONT wheel ONLY, braking, to frictional braking ONLY, braking on all 4 wheels. Not that the addition of rear braking makes much difference in most cases.
 
Obviously the car "wants" to use regen braking, especially so if the HV battery charge is close to being marginal. regen braking only occurs on the front wheels...you know, the one's you constantly rely on for directional control.
 
So any, even the smallest, indication of front wheel slip during braking will be, MUST BE, reacted to instantly. So, would you like to have, with definity, a sudded increase in braking rate, or a "slow" transition into a less pronounced braking mode...?
 
There is a serious level of MG mass inertia to be ovecome inside the PSD/CVT in switching from "brake" to "neutral". The multiphase rotating electric field(s) inside the MGs cannot "lead" the rotor by too great a margin without the possibly of becoming unlocked.
 
And you DO NOT want the frictional braking to come online until most of the regen braking has been abated.
 
Drive the new RWD Infinity to get an idea of the overall driving dynamics of a RWD hybrid vs a FWD.
 
Hard call for the design engineers.
 
An ideal solution overall would be ofr the Prius to become a RWD hybrid.

Messages Page 36 of 37

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