I have a 2008 toyota prius; it has the same problem with braking as what you describe in the 2010 models. When approaching a stop, if you hit a bump, or pothole, the brakes kind of 'release' momentarily. They do grab again within a half-second, or so. But it is very unnerving. I could see how it could lead to a crash under certain circumstances.
2008 Toyota Prius brakes complaints
Page 13 of 14: complaints 341 to 370 of 391, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 toyota prius. While driving 35 MPH it became difficult to engage the brake pedal and the vehicle felt as if it were gliding. The failure has occurred since the vehicle was purchased and only occurred whenever she drove over a pothole. The contact has not taken the vehicle to a dealer. The failure mileage was 2.
I was driving approximately 25mph. A fire engine entered the intersection ahead of me without warning. I applied the brakes immediately, but they locked up and I slid on ice. I could not stop and hit the fire engine. My vehicle was totaled and I was found at fault for the accident.
2008 toyota prius - the car had strange acceleration issues and would act like it was going over potholes when the road was smooth. The ABS would engage when the roads were dry, even at slow speeds. I was driving approximately 15 MPH, looking for a parking space. I saw one, applied pressure to the brake pedal, and my car lurched sideways, to the right. I thought my axle had broken. I got out and saw that I had hit the car that was parked along the street, but had not caused any damage to it. My tire rods and axle were broken and damage to my steering column was found. I thought this should have been covered by my warranty, but the dealership said it was caused by hitting the car next to me. My car should not have gone sideways when I braked. The dealership hooked the car up to the computer and said that there was no record of any failures.
I have a 2008 toyota prius. I have experienced a change in deceleration as you are braking and the vehicle speed is 10-15 MPH when the vehicle switches from regenerative braking to mechanical braking there is a lag and the sensation that the vehicle is speeding up.
Prius brake problems - on 4-24-08 I brought my pruis into toyota to replace a brake actuator. At the time of the incident my dash board lit up like a christmas tree. It took toyota about 4 weeks to fix the problem. Is this related to the brake problems released recently or a new problem. There was no accident involved.
2008 toyota prius. Brakes fail/inoperative when driving over bumpy roads and/or potholes. It seems as though the ABS or the electronic stability control engages when there is no need. This is the same type of incident that is being reported in newer prius models as well.
2008 prius brake acceleration. I pulled slowly into my regular parking spot at work . My prius all of a sudden sped up and I couldn't stop it before the car hit the utility box on the side of our office. I have pictures and a witness. I informed my insurance "allstate" when the problem was brought to public attention but because I had moved and no longer have allstate, they were not concerned. I have notified toyota and as of this date, they have not commented. I was told at the time that it was my fault, therefore I assumed it must have been. I want you to know that I experienced this problem and now realize I was not at fault. The accident is on my record for three years and my prius had to have a new bumper which causes it to no longer have full resale value.
When trying to brake at slow speeds for very bumpy, rough or pot holed road, the brake pedal goes dead for a very short instant. It feels like there is no brake pedal at all. Your not sure if you lost your brakes or what. It is like it skips a beat or something. It must be when the car is in the traditional braking mode versus re-gen mode. This has happened about 10 times over 2 years. No accident. It just makes you stop slower/longer.
2008 prius on very slushy roads can momentarily "lose" its brakes when transitioning from regenerative braking to the wet and ineffective friction brakes at about 6 MPH. The friction brakes then dry quickly and work. Consider requiring automatic intermittent light friction brake application during regenerative braking so that the friction brakes are ready to take over when they are supposed to. There is no single incident date; it's an ongoing problem.
2008 prius ABS takes much longer to resume braking after losing traction over railroad tracks or other bumps than did my three previous ABS-equipped cars (from 1987 and 2001 with bosch ABS). Car travels tens of feet at 30 MPH with no apparent braking before braking returns. Don't believe regenerative braking forces bad ABS performance -- there's an ample source of accumulated high pressure fluid available for the friction brakes that is quite instantaneous if ever you stamp on the pedal enough to trigger "brake assist". If toyota can't make regen compatible with good ABS, ask them to revert to the hydraulics. Please update fmvss no. 135 to disallow this kind of ABS performance. It's an ongoing problem. There is no single incident date.
Whenever I drive my 2008 prius over an uneven road surface, the brake ABS light goes on and the brakes appear momentarily unresponsive. This happens on a regular basis. It has not caused an accident, in part because I am a very conservative driver. But, I worry that in an emergency situation I would not be able to stop in time.
When going downhill and approaching a right turn near my home I apply the brakes and often runover the same uneven surface on the road. That triggers my 2008 toyota prius' traction control light to blink on and off a few times and my brakes seem to stop applying pressure at that point while my car's speed increases for 1-2 seconds then the traction control light goes off and the brakes work fine. I am just worried about all the issues with toyota cars and want to make sure my family is safe. Hence, telling my small story before it happens and I can't control it.
When braking, if a pothole or bump in the road is hit, the car seemingly jerks forward/accelerates for a split second.
I own a 2008 toyota prius. Given the already many complaints, I would like to add my comments on this prius. First this car is very unsafe due to poor visibility. You can not see out of this car. Second, I had the headlight failures that these cars have. I have had both headlights replaced in this car. The headlights would go out while driving in the dark. Many times I had to turn the switch off and back on while driving in the dark to get the headlights to come back on. This is not safe and many, many prius's have this problem. The dealer replaced the headlights but not without a struggle on my part. Last point I would like to make is that this 2008 prius has the same exact issues with brakes and stopping that the 2010 does according the accounts I have read. For example, I went over a railroad track recently which when it hits an uneven surface it is very hard to stop! I almost hit a car that was turning just past these tracks because it feels like the car does not have a good "grip" to the road. It happens also with even a small cluster of small pot holes. This car is not safe in my opinion. I do not understand how the headlights alone did not make a recall. It is an ongoing unsafe situation. The car not stopping however is something that needs to be recalled and not just limited to the 2010 prius.
About once a month the brakes partially fail then I press the brakes harder and they reengage fully. This happens after I've had my foot on the brakes for 5-10 seconds when I am trying to come to a complete stop. This has never LED to an accident. I'm planning to take the car into the dealer to have it inspected.
Headlights on toyota prius 2008 started dimming and going out intermittently at 50,000 miles. Lights will go back on when turned off and then back on again. I have been stopped 3 times by the police for a headlight out and been let go with a warning. In addition, the ABS system activates for no reason on dry roads and brakes are slow to engage.
I have a 2008 toyota prius and have experienced several instances where the brakes appear to stop working over the last 2 years. This has happened while braking while hitting a pot hole in the road. It lasts for only a split second.
I would like to report a brake problem on my 2008 toyota prius. This is an apparent momentary loss of braking when hitting a rough spot in the road. The same problem was apparent on an earlier 2002 prius. It has not caused any accidents, but it is worrisome. It happens consistently and reproducibly.
On september 1, 2008 I had an accident involving my 2008 prius. While driving south on 295 near richmond, va, traffic came to a total stop near the virginia beach exit. I was unable to stop and hit the SUV in front of me. After seeing the traffic stopping, I applied my brakes as hard as I could but the car did not stop. I also did not feel the ABS engage. Naturally, I was charged with causing the accident. When the prius was repaired (~$12,000), I requested toyota to check for a failure of the ABS. They reported that the computer did not register any malfunction. I am submitting this now after hearing through the media that the prius has had reported brake problems. I have always believed that my accident was caused by the prius' brakes failing to stop in a reasonable distance. I was driving in the right-hand lane, not exceeding the speed limit, but the car just would not stop when I braked very hard. I had no visible or tactile indication that the ABS had engaged. Thank you for considering my issue.
I have a 2008 prius and have noticed that the car regularly loses braking ability and surges forward after hitting potholes. This has been occurring since I bought the car. I didn't realize until reading the news that other people were experiencing the same problem.
Brake failure on my toyota prius is something that happens every so often, so far about 20-30 times since I have owned the car (june 08). I will begin braking with the car and all of a sudden the brakes will lose pressure and it does not brake, only to regain the braking ability about 2 seconds later. This mostly occurs in wet weather and I have narrowly avoided a few crashes because of the failure. It is not a function of sliding on the wet pavement but the brake failing momentarily. I contacted toyota who told me that they had not heard of my problem but that I could take them for a drive and hope that the failure happened while they were in the car. I did not pursue this since it does not happen regularly and they told me there were no other fixes.
I have a 2008 toyota prius which I bought new from a dealership in riverhead, ny. The car's braking system seems to temporarily stop working when I try to stop on a slippery or bumpy surface. If I depress the brake pedal forcefully, the car will eventually stop, but the stopping distance is at least 2 to 3 times what it is under other (normal) road conditions. I am a certified nys driver education instructor in my mid 60's and have never run into this situation in any other car model I have ever driven. Please have toyota investigate this issue as I have narrowly avoided several accidents. I have not had the car checked since I thought I was perhaps just skidding, but today I have read about other drivers experiencing the same braking problem with the 2009 prius. I believe the problem exists on the 2008 model as well. Please keep me informed of any action I should be taking to ensure the safety of my family and myself.
I was driving a 2008 toyota prius on the highway at around 50 MPH when traffic came to a stop, and when I depressed on the brake pedal, the car kept going, and it wasn't until I jammed on the brake pedal all the way to the floor that the brakes seem to engage, but by that time, I had already collided with the car in front of me. On a separate instance, one year ago, the car failed to stop when I pressed on the brake and instead accelerated into my parking space, over the concrete block in front of my parking space and into the wall.
Brakes fail if the car is driven over even a very small bump in the road. Brake failure is very sporadic.
I have a 2008 toyota prius, and it seems to have an extremely over-aggressive anti-lock brake system. When driving over ice, bumpy roads or even potholes and pressing the brakes, the ABS system disengages the brakes on all wheels if even one of them momentarily slips. This is most egregious when the cause is a bump in the road, as traction is not in question for any of the tires (as it might be on ice). The effect is that the brakes temporarily cease operating, which can lead to dangerous conditions (but no crashes yet).
2008 toyota prius - brakes slip when trying to stop at low speeds, especially on wet roads or on roads with bumps (including manhole covers). This has occurred repeatedly since I bought the vehicle. The dealer, on three separate occasions, said that they ran diagnostics and found no anomalies. I read today that this problem has also been reported on new (2009-2010) toyota prius models, and that the japanese government had ordered toyota to investigate. However the article said that toyota was unaware of any problems with older vehicles. I am filing this complaint in the hope that toyota will extend its investigation to series 2 prius models (2004-2008) as well.
Toyota prius 2008 driving over potholes or wet pavement, it's harder to steer or brake than I've ever experienced in another car. This has happened approximately 15 times since I bought the car in july 2008.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota prius purchased new. He stated while braking at speeds less than 10 MPH, the vehicle would violently jerk forward. This incident was described as, the brakes momentarily failing and attempting to accelerate but then would catch itself.the contact stated the failure occurred over 15-20 times within a year and a half. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer nor were there any recalls for his vehicle. The failure and current mileages were under 10,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota prius. Whenever the contact drives the vehicle during wet conditions and applies the brakes the rear tires will lock and then release without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where the contact had the rear brake drums cleaned. The failure is still occuring. The contact has noticed the failure since the day the vehicle was purchased. The current mileage is 46000, failure mileage was 27000. Updated 03/10/10 *bf upadted 08/24/10
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