2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid: grinding or squealing brakes

Filed Oct 16, 2017 · Brakes · 95,000 miles · FL

For several weeks prior to 10/12/2017, I had been noticing a squeaking noise when depressing the brake to start the car and sometimes when the car was stopped at a light. I brought the car to the venice toyota dealer on 10/05/2017, and was told that the ABS actuator was failing. On 10/12/2017, all of the brake warning lights came on on my dashboard: ABS, traction control, etc., as well as the words "check vsc system." on 10/13/2017, I had the actuator assembly replaced by venice toyota, at a cost of $1990.00. Three years prior, in january 2014, I had already had the actuator assembly replaced due to the very same failure.there were many reports to the federal safety agency at that time for the same make vehicles and year range. Several months later toyota issued a vehicle warranty enhancement for the actuator system, and I was eventually reimbursed by toyota for that repair. But now it has happened again three years later. Clearly there is still a weakness in the actuator system, and I even wonder if my system was replaced by the exact same unimproved parts. Toyota is unwilling to accept any responsibility for this failure or for its repair. My car has low mileage for its age, currently at 95,000. Also, I only put on 26,700 additional miles since the actuator system first failed 3 years ago.

Filed Aug 25, 2017 · Brakes, Driver assistance · FL

Brakes went soft, loud squealing noise all lights on dashboard and check vsc system

Filed Apr 27, 2016 · Brakes · 117,000 miles · AZ

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota camry hybrid. While driving 25 MPH, the ABS warning light illuminated. The contact had to apply extreme pressure to the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. The vehicle made a squeaking sound. The dealer diagnosed that the brake actuator was failing. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 117,000.

Filed Mar 2, 2016 · Brakes · 278,000 miles · NJ · fire

On february 24, 2016, car brakes on my 2007 toyota camry hybrid locked up when we tried to stop and about 4 lights came up on the dashboard, ABS,vsc,warning light and another one. We barely managed to get out of harm's way but after the grinding noise had lost all effective power to the brakes. The car actually caught fire due to the intense heat of the grinding of the pads on the rotors but was safely put out. After replacing the pads, rotor and callipers we still wound up taking the car to a dealer because the brake actuator or something related was still not letting the brakes work. The dealer has given us a lame excuse of why this has happened and is blaming it on something else and wants to charge us a lot of money to repair it. Upon research, we are finding out about the ze1 campaign where they had acknowledged this defect. And were repairing all the cars that came in with the defect. This is very dangerous and something should be done about it. Contacting toyota has not helped at all. We asked for an email address but were told that these are handled by mail only. We are in the process of sending them a letter anyway.

Filed Jul 11, 2014 · Acceleration, Brakes · 103,000 miles · NV

On 12/11/12 I was on the highway and the check vsc system light came on with the ABS lights, master warning, brake lights, and others. The brakes were hard to depress. Luckily there was no traffic that morning or else I would have caused an accident. I pulled off the road and shut the car down. I restarted the car and the lights were off and it was drivable again. I immediately called the dealership and brought the car in. They told me they were not able to retrieve a trouble code except for battery voltage. They replace a battery that cost me $511. That did not fix the problem. On 12/22/12 the problem occurred again and I rolled into an intersection because I was not able to depress the brakes all the way. Once again, luckily there were no cars in the intersection. Brought it to the dealership and was told once again they were not able to retrieve a trouble code. From that time on I tried replacing tires because the master mechanic told me it my be the different ware on my tires, still no relief. From 2012 to yesterday the warnings appeared. There was the same ticking and squeaking sound that was originally reported. The light were on constantly and the breaking system was still difficult to depress. I had to make sure I rented a when driving long distances and to leave plenty of room while driving to ensure safe distance for my faulty braking system. So, it was fixed with $2000 to replace the brake actuator system by a different dealership. Now my car sounds normal and drives normal again. I believe that if so many people are having the same safety problem there should be a recall. Luckily I was never involved in a collision or fatality but I could definitely see it happening.

Filed Jun 11, 2014 · Acceleration, Brakes · 130,000 miles · TX

I was only driving my vehicle about a mile when it first happened. I was approaching a stop light and attempted to apply the brakes. Nothing happened. The steering went out and the brakes felt like they weren't catching. Thankfully, I was only going about 25-30 MPH, and had enough space to stop before hitting another car that was stopped at the light. I looked at the dashboard display and noticed something that read, "check vsc system". There was also a warning triangle. The camry manual instructed us to bring it to the dealership - but I can't afford that. The next day, it worked fine. A few weeks later, the incident happened again while I was exiting the highway and coming to a red light. I was decelerating from about 65 MPH to a full stop and felt the brakes give again and the steering was difficult. I was able to pull over, turn off the car, and restart and it was fine again. I had the brake pads changed, but don't understand what is happening. We didn't have the problem for several months. But now it feels like the brakes want to give when I am idling in traffic. While my foot is on the brake, the car will squeak and subtly jerk forward like the brakes are about to give up the ghost. It's really scary, but I can't afford another car at this time. I've looked into the vsc system and don't understand why that would intermittently affect my braking and steering ability.

Filed Mar 6, 2014 · Brakes · CA

In 2012, there was some noise coming from the rear brakes. In april 2013, the brake lights turned on. When we pressed on the brakes, brakes were not stopping. We heard abnormal grinding metallic noise from rear brakes. We took the 2007 camry hybrid to the dealer. They said that the rear brake pads had worn out abnormally fast. They couldn't pinpoint the problem. After 9 months, the brakes were not stopping again, the abnormal metallic noise came back, the rear brake pads wore out prematurely fast again. The dealer told us the brake actuator needs to be replaced, which would cost $3300 to repair the defect. There are already 118 complaints regarding this brake failure. Toyota needs to take responsibility before there are more serious accidents. Please recall these brake part failures for everyone's safety.

Filed Apr 14, 2013 · Brakes · 64,242 miles · FL

About 2 months ago I noticed a notice when I depressed my brakes, even what the car was stopped, that there was a squeaking or thumping noise coming from the front of the car. I took to the toyota service center last month for a 5000 mile service and they couldn't get it to happen. It became more frequent and so I took it in last week and they were able to recreate the problem. They bled the brake lines which did not fix it and so they told me there is an internal leak in the ABS actuator and the part was $2700 and total with labor would be $3100. I was looking at other options and today when driving the car would hesitate when starting to accelerate from a stop and then the vsc system check and hybrid system check warnings came on and I heard a loud hissing/fan-like noise from behind the rear seat where the hybrid battery is located. After looking online I found that this issue is very common and many complaints have been filed by owners of the 2007 model year and later camry hybrid with mileage levels in the 50k to 80k range. In addition, there is a squishiness in the brakes and at one point when I applied the brakes the car continued to move forward. I have read online about others with this problem where their brakes failed while driving and had to pull over to the side of the road to prevent having an accident. This needs to be looked into.

Filed Nov 30, 2012 · Brakes · 70,000 miles · LA

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota camry hybrid. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, there was a thumping and squeaking sound emitted from the vehicle. In addition, the ABS light would intermittently illuminate. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis and the contact was informed that the entire ABS system would need to be replaced. The manufacturer had not been notified. The failure mileage was 70,000 and the current mileage was 140,000.

Filed Oct 13, 2010 · Acceleration, Suspension · 30,000 miles · CA · crash · 2 injuries

Tl*the contact owned a 2007 toyota camry hybrid. While driving 25 MPH and coming to a stop light there was sudden acceleration. While depressing the brakes which went all the way to the floor the vehicle would not stop. As she made a left turn the vehicle crashed into the light pole and was destroyed. There were two injuries but no one was transported to the hospital. The seat belts were worn at the time of impact. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who contacted the insurance company. The insurance company inspected the vehicle and confirmed that the vehicle was a total lost. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 30,000. Updated 01/31/11 *bf the consumer stated prior to the accident, she previously complained about a squeaking sound when she applied the brake and some irregularity when accelerating. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to have the brakes checked and eventually replaced. Also, the passenger front strut bearing, tower support and lower control arm were replaced. Updated evoq 03/15/11