2005 Toyota Prius: jerking or lurching

Filed Feb 27, 2023 · Brakes · OH

We purchased our 2005 Prius in 2014, and after 7 years of learning to drive with the bizarre behavior of this Gen 3 Prius, and reporting it to the dealer (who said that's just how they are designed), I just read dozens of reports on the federal safety agency, all from Gen3 Prius owners, all reporting identical issues with the antilock braking and traction control systems. It is as if Toyota intentionally designed them to operate exactly the opposite of how they should. With traction control, anytime the front drive wheels loose traction - gravel, railroad tracks, even as simple as painted road stripes or damp surfaces - traction control kicks in; however, on this car, traction control immediately cuts all motive power to the drive wheels, leaving the driver vulnerable to getting hit from behind; it cuts in and out until the car decides it has enough traction to proceed. It's dangerous and idiotic. The anti-lock brakes do much the same; if one encounters a situation requiring emergency braking, when the anti-lock system initiates, the brakes simply cut out, and the car jumps ahead, until they grab, then loose again immediately, with multiple lurches, and sometimes just no brakes at all available. It is dangerous and, from the Toyota dealer where we get it serviced regularly, a constant complaint from owners. And, Toyota does nothing. There needs to be a class action addressing both of these dangerous propensities. It's an awful design. Just awful.

Filed Aug 27, 2018 · Brakes · 132,000 miles · FL

The brake pressure decreased and brake suddenly lost power while coming to a stop. The vehicle stopped suddenly with a hard jerk and the ABS light and red brake warning light turned on afterwards.

Filed Jan 26, 2017 · Steering · 96,000 miles · FL

Steering is sticky on turning while driving. Kind of jerky. Toyota dealer in ft. Myers, fl. Said they did all recalls. I don't think they did. Is there proof of recalls on my car? Thanks, [xxx]*dt information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Filed May 23, 2015 · Brakes · 133,000 miles · WI

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. While driving approximately 15 MPH during inclement weather, the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle jerked intermittently without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the brake pads needed to be realigned. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 133,000.

Filed Jun 11, 2013 · Brakes · 199,542 miles · FL

I was driving with my three children coming from school and slowing down us 301 towards traffic light when t tried to apply the brakes, the car did not stop. I had to reapply the brakes and the pedal went down very deep before the car jerked and slowly stopped. Thank god there was no car in front, otherwise would have been a collision. Went to the toyota car dealer and they said that the failure code was dtc c1247 and told us to replace the skid control unit. Basically, the ecu of the brakes malfunctioned and the car did not have brakes on it. Please do a recall before anyone gets hurt on this.

Filed Apr 4, 2013 · Acceleration, Body · 138,000 miles · CT · crash

I was pressing the brake, but instead of stopping my prius accelerated,and jerked under the stopped vehicle in front of me.the brakes acted like accelerated pedal. Prius occasionally had the accelerating jerks without pedal input, but after fixing all the recalls, I thought the car is fine. But this time, it was not a jerk, it was a full leap, that destroyed the whole front of the car. It was towed from the accident and it is beyond the repair. I had it only for 9 months.

Filed Jan 9, 2013 · Brakes · 3,000 miles · FL

This complaint related to the brake system. Ever since the car was taken of the dealer ship, the brakes act in a sudden, jerky manner approaching a stop. The brakes function normally at normal speeds, but as I approach a stop, it feels like (for comparison purposes)as if you where pulling the emergency brake on a normal car while the car is moving slow. Along with this, when I press the brake pedal hard a noise is generated from the engine compartment. The above description has been exhibited ever since I bought the car brand new at triangle dealer at kennedy ave (carr#2) in san juan, puerto rico. I took the car to the dealership approximately on jan 28, 2005 (I bought it october 16, 2004) to have the breaks checked and the service employee told me that because it was a hybrid car, that was normal behavior. For the time being the car always exhibited the brake strange behaviors and recently a brake light lit on for the ABS and brake warning light. My car is now 130,000miles and over 8 years. I took it to the dealership and they indicated that the brake actuator assembly was damaged and needed to be replaced at a cost of $2500. Im sure this is a design issue that toyota has not claimed responsibility for. Im sure that due to the expense of it. I just want my experience to be accounted for. Thanks!

Filed Aug 7, 2011 · Brakes · 85,300 miles · OR

Brakes on 2005 toyota prius started intermittently acting up about a year ago, after six years of no problems. Observed symptoms were extreme jerkiness of brake operation despite constant pressure on brake pedal. Symptoms observed at any speed, but especially noticeable at slow speeds (coming to a final stop, such as at a traffic light, or in reverse backing out of driveway). When applying brakes at highway speeds, jerkiness felt like alternate over braking / under braking. Symptoms were quite scary the first times it happened. Had personal mechanic check out brakes. Test drive confirmed problem, but he was unable to find anything wrong with hydraulic brake system. Since problem was intermittent, we decided to see what happened. Problem continued intermittently, gradually increasing in frequency to the point in the last month where it was happening much more often than not. Took car to toyota dealer for diagnosis. Problem was not evident on day of service. They checked computer for stored error codes, and found none. Rear brake drums showed slight wear and were out of adjustment, so drums were cleaned and turned and brakes adjusted. No difference in observed behavior; by end of the next day, jerky behavior noted as bad as it had ever been. Took car back to dealer. They replaced the stroke sensor even though there was no stored error code. This appears to have fixed the problem, since there has been no recurrence of problem in a week or driving since repair. Brakes feel totally normal again, for the first time in a year. Note on diagnosis procedure: the dealer seemed to initially discount my detailed, written description of the problem, and reacted only to their observations. While understandable, it is frustrating to the owner and could lead to a serious problem not getting fixed. I feel that the symptoms as described to them pointed directly to the stroke sensor and it should have been replaced on that basis.

Filed Aug 5, 2010 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 62,794 miles · FL

August 4, 2010 around 8:36pm I was on i4 heading eastbound about 13 miles from my house going around 66mph. The driving conditions were hot with no rain. When my emergency light, explanation mark light and the vsc light all came on at the same time and my car experience a jerking liking motion. I called my father immediately told him what's happening, he told me to turn around and get the car home. I turned around and as I was on my way home after exiting i4 on sand lake rd my brake light came on with a loud continuous beeping noise that lasted about 20 seconds every 2 minutes. When this loud beeping noise occurred the brakes would stop working for about 10 seconds than start again. I made it home at 8:52pm and parked the car in the garage.

Filed Jul 9, 2010 · Brakes · 60,000 miles · IL

2005 prius: when I brake as I drive over any kind of variation in the road (which is quite often), my vehicle lurches forward and I am unable to come to a stop right away. I have to depress the brake quite hard to make it stop and it is very dangerous. I have taken my vehicle to the dealership for this issue twice and they have not been able to duplicate the issue. I have also called toyota and opened a case with them which they closed without inspecting my vehicle.

Filed Apr 13, 2010 · Acceleration, Brakes · 89,000 miles · GA

2005 toyota prius--experiences braking and handling failures when braking on uneven or wet surfaces. When we are braking and hit a pothole, gravel, railroad tracks or wet surfaces, the car feels as if we are losing control of it, and braking seems to temporarily stop. The "skid danger" light comes on, even at very low speeds. This happens nearly every time we brake under these conditions. Also, at idle (ie. Stoplights), the car will frequently lurch forward slightly, even with the brake pedal fully depressed, especially when engine transfers from electric to gas. We were told early in our ownership that this is normal "dieseling". These have been on-going problems, since we purchased the car in 2005 (new), that we thought we were "imagining" until hearing all of the reports of similar problems.toyota claims that the prius braking issues only affect the 2010 prius, but we see it firsthand on an on-going basis.

Filed Mar 7, 2010 · Brakes · 35,000 miles · CT

Although I have never had an accident because of it, my prius (2005) has a habit of lurching forward when I hit the brake the stop at a light, for example. Rather than decelerating the car suddenly speeds up before coming to a stop. This happens about once a week. Sometimes it does not happen for a couple of weeks and other times it happens a couple of days in a row.