2010 Toyota Prius: shudder or vibration when accelerating

Filed Sep 1, 2020 · Brakes · 92,600 miles · CA

I was comfortably driving my 2010 toyota prius down a city street on a thursday afternoon--about 25 MPH, light traffic--when suddenly--without any trigger or warning--I lightly pressed down the brake pedal to slow down for a speed bump, and the brakes shuddered, the brake pedal seemed to twitch, and the car started making a loud shrieking and grinding noise every 3-5 seconds. For the record, my 2010 toyota prius has been regularly serviced at my local toyota dealership since I purchased it in 2018. The loud shrieking felt like it was coming from below my feet and from the drive shaft. I pulled over--the shrieking and grinding continued. I stopped the car--the shrieking and grinding continued. I got out of the car--the shrieking and grinding slowed after a few minutes. When I turned the car on again, the shrieking and grinding started and the car was beeping in a way I'd never heard before. Fortunately, I was about 4 blocks from my local toyota dealership. I asked them if I was safe to drive the four blocks or if I should get the car towed, and they said I should be safe to drive. I drove to the dealership with the car shrieking and beeping. The brakes felt squishy and unreliable, but the dealership has said I should be fine. I dropped off the car. The next day, I got a call from the dealership saying that my brake booster pump and brake cylinder assembly had totally failed. When I asked the technician if there was something I could have done to prevent this, he said, 'no, this is just something that happens to these cars.' the brake failure occurred on thursday, august 27, 2020. The phone call from the dealership occurred on friday, august 28, 2020.

Filed Sep 6, 2017 · Electrical, Engine · 163,500 miles · CA

Water leaking from engine cowel getting into ignition coils which is causing engine to shudder and stop sometimes too. Seems to be a known toyota issue yet not being rectified by manufacturer. Seals seem to allow water to get into the ignition coils hence the issue. Vehicle is stationary when first observed then shuddering and misfiring occurring as vehicle is being driven also leading to loss of power as its being driven which is quite dangerous on highways.

Filed Apr 11, 2013 · Brakes · 65,800 miles · VA

I was driving to work this morning and a man stepped off the curb right in front of me (not in a crosswalk). I hit my brakes, and hit a pothole in the road at the same time. The car accelerated and felt as if it was shuddering, it was not braking at all even though I mashed the pedal to the floor. I was forced to swerve to miss the man, which I thankfully did. After that I got moving again I applied the brakes and they worked fine. When I arrived at work I tried it again by finding some potholes in the parking lot. @ 15 MPH the problem occurred again only when I was hitting the potholes while applying the brakes. I went to toyota.com and found this has been an issue since feb 2010. I purchased my car in nov 2010; I then called my service dealer and talked to the service manager who claimed to have never heard of that problem even though I told him I found the info at the pressroom.toyota.com website. He then proceeded to let me know I should not believe everything I read in the internet and offered to let me bring it in and he will look at it. I am leaving work early today to have it looked at.

Filed Feb 6, 2010 · Brakes · 500 miles · TX

I purchased a 2010 prius (which was in stock) on january 8. After hearing about the brake delay problem, I realized that I had had a similar problem. I was traveling at medium speed when I felt the car dip, then shudder. I felt that I had lost control of the car. It felt like it was sliding (as though on ice). Now I realize that I must have put on my brakes, but the car continued to proceed. I had not noticed any problem in the road, and no reason to explain the shuddering. It was all very brief. I have an appointment to see the maintenance people at toyota grapevine, texas, on monday, february 9.

Filed Feb 4, 2010 · Brakes · 5,000 miles · NJ · crash

I have a 2010 prius, 3d gen, basic pkg. Five days ago, I rear-ended a car stopped on an entrance ramp to rt. 15 in nj. I hit the brakes -- and the car shuddered forward as if its wheels had seized up. This prius has had intermittent braking probs since I bought it last august. Usually, this happens on a rough road or during a sudden deceleration. The brakes feel as tho they've locked, and the car almost bounces to a stop, rather than braking quickly and smoothly. I told the dealer -- and they told me nothing was wrong (inferring it was my problem -- that I'm a lousy driver.) I reported the brake problem again after this accident, and was told again there was no problem. News reports now suggest - there is a problem. (btw - my car has also done some brief spurts of acceleration, which is odd in any hybrid. They usually have no real pick-up.) I had never before driven a prius, so I figured that was how the car ran. Please let me know how to deal with this? The dealer says they'll check the brakes - but they don't know what they're looking for. Also - my car insurance rates will go up because of this accident, and it cost me the $500 deductible. I'm disgusted, to say the least. I thought I'd bought the holy grail of design excellence & fuel economy -- new and improved 3d-generation. I bought an expensive headache.

Filed Feb 4, 2010 · Brakes · 1,500 miles · WA

2010 prius brake problem--I too have had a few occurrences of the brakes on my 2010 prius briefly failing. It happens if I brake while going over a pothole while braking. Most, but not all of the time this happens on a wet road. The brake pedal feels "mushy" and then in less than a second the regular brakes take over. I have never had the ABS system kick in--at least I have never felt the characteristic "shudder" of the brake pedal. So far, not even a close call, but it is very disconcerting. Date below is approximate first date. There have been 8-10 episodes. The car has about 9500 miles on it.