November 2, 2026 approximately 1:37pm I was coming to a stop intending to take a left turn onto a Highway. As I applied the brake the car suddenly lunged forward almost throwing me into oncoming traffic at very high speeds. I was far too close to colliding or being thrown in front of a car that was traveling in the nearest lane. They took a lane change that was thankfully clear for them to do. This specific part of the highway had a fatality crash just 3 days prior. Suddenly, lights show up on the dashboard including ABS, brake, traction control and the warning light. The brake actuator assembly failed. From what I’ve seen this is a known issue that Toyota has acknowledged with a specialized warranty that my vehicle has aged out of. However the most crucial is I am well under the mileage for the part to have failed due to ware and tear. This was a manufactures fault. Tomorrow I will have the car inspected and confirmed that the failure occurred.
2013 Toyota Prius C brakes problems
18 complaints (31% of all complaints for this car). 2 crashes reported.
- owner complaints
- 18
- of this car's complaints
- 31%
- crashes
- 2
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
Owners did not name a specific part.
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Toyota Prius C brakes problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2013 Toyota Prius C brakes
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
What 2013 Toyota Prius C owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Brake master cylinder failure.
Car suddenly needed a jump start and again after a day or two of non-use. On the third day Brakes, ABS and traction control warnings were lighted up and remains. Brakes are mostly ineffective. My own scan returns the code C1252 and C1256 that says brake booster system failing. Took it to the dealer who charged $290 again to scan and came up with failed brake booster and pump assembly. The dealers is quoting total $4000 to fix. Toyota Customer Support Program Bulletin dated 8/2018 and revised on 8/2019 extends the warranty on for this issue (for Toyota Prius C 2013) for 10 years or 150000 miles. I was never informed by Toyota or the seller (Stevens Creek Toyota, San Jose CA) about this defect under warranty that I could have gotten repaired well before the dead line of 10 years. Now Both Toyota or the dealer's service department refuse to bear the repair cost.
Warning lamps for ABS and others and the chiming dings came on while pulling away from the bank drive through and parking for a second. I shut the engine off and turned back on with no success. I was barely able to park in a spot because of difficulties braking. My car had been making an electric noise every 15 seconds or so previously, at different times when parked, but I thought it was the hybrid engine. Now I think it was the brake pump trying to build up pressure due to a faulty, leaking brake actuator.
Recently the dash board lights started intermittently coming on. When they are on, the brakes do not work until pressed all the way to the floor and even then the car takes a long time to stop. The lights will randomly turn off and suddenly the car brakes work normally again. It is happening intermittently with no rhyme or reason as to when it will happen. It's scary to drive because I dont know if the brakes will work or not and I almost ran into another car when trying to stop at a stop light. I took the car to be inspected at the Toyota service center for $190 and after inspection they said the brake booster and master cylinder assembly need to be replaced and it will cost $2300.
Require replacement of brake booster pump, decreased braking ability
the vehicle exhibits several warning lights on the dash including ABS, VSC brake and handbrake. Diagnosed code as C1391 which toyota had released a bulletin to admit this issue, but they don’t make a recall instead of only repair it when occurred within their limited time line. now my vehicle falls in their bulletin scope but out of their “warranty “ scope. and quoted for thousands of repair. as a matter of fact, this put me at a great risk in driving it. and toyota didn’t make a public recall to solve this problem.
Driving on the highway at 70mph my warning lights for my ABS, traction control, and other brake related warning lights came on. My brakes became soft and hard to stop the car. Immediately brought to dealer who said that my booster accumulator was leaking and needed to replace both the accumulator and pump for over $3,500. This is a know. Issue with Toyota because they have a service bulletin that they wouldn’t honor because my car is more than 10 years old. This is a serious issue and someone is going to get badly hurt.
Immobilized failure due to combination of brake hose failure preventing hybrid control/shift actuator. Hybrid steering lock became disengaged and could not communicate with the certification ecu due constant power being disabled due to complete main body failure. Hybrid system cannot go back into park however ecm side did. Ecm was not receiving power as dealer coded main body as a plug in hybrid effectively disabling fuel systems (including emissions/fuel safety) causing full misclassification in the smart key certification process. Car starts, goes into ready and disables LIN comms alongside cutting main relay due to tailgate and fuel constant powers being cut while driving.
The contact owns a 2013 Toyota Prius C. The contact stated while driving approximately 5 MPH and pulling out of the driveway, while attempting to depress the brake pedal, excessive amount of force was needed to depress the brake pedal. The contact stated that the braking distance was extended, and the vehicle was jerking while stopping. The contact stated that the ABS, Brakes, and traction control warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the hydraulic brake booster pump actuator and accumulator had failed and needed to be replaced. The dealer confirmed related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program under the federal safety agency ID Number: 10181735 (Equipment Adaptive/Mobility, Equipment, Service Brakes) however the vehicle was no longer covered for the repair. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the vehicle was not included in the Customer Service Program. The manufacturer referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline to report. The failure mileage was 133,000.
Questions about the 2013 Toyota Prius C brakes
Does the 2013 Toyota Prius C have brakes problems?
Owners have filed 18 complaints about the brakes of the 2013 Toyota Prius C, 31% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2013 Toyota Prius C brakes problems start?
Not enough complaints include the mileage to tell.
Was there a recall on the 2013 Toyota Prius C brakes?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Toyota Prius C have bad brakes?
The Toyota Prius C model years with the most brakes complaints are 2012 (26 complaints) and 2013 (18 complaints).
Other 2013 Toyota Prius C problems
Electrical 23Fuel system 10Engine 7Acceleration 4Airbags 4Driver assistance 4Lights 4Transmission 4Body 3Steering 3Visibility 1Wheels 1
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