2009 TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID Complaints

THE HAND BRAKE LIGHT KEEPS COMING ON AND OFF WHILE DRIVING. THE CAR FEELS LIKE IT'S COASTING AND HAVE NO TRACTION CONTROL. ALL OF THE SUDDEN, ALL LIGHTS TURN ON DASHBOARD AND CHECK VSC SYSTEM COMES ON, BRAKES ARE HARD TO ENGAGE AND STEERING CONTROL IS DIFFICULT. CAR DRIVES LIKE THAT FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES AND THEN ALL GOES BACK TO NORMAL. FEW DAYS LATER IT STARTS UP AGAIN WITH THE BREAK LIGHTS COMING ON AND OFF. IT HAPPENS DURING DIFFERENT DRIVING CONDITIONS: STRAIGHT CITY STREET, WHILE TURNING, GOING DOWN A HILL OR ATTEMPTING TO COME TO A STOP. THIS MAKES IT REALLY SCARY AS I AM IN A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION WHEN I AM TRYING TO BREAK AND THE BREAK DO NOT ENGAGE AND STEERING CONTROL IS AFFECTED. I HAVE TAKEN IT TO MECHANIC AFTER THE INCIDENTS AND THEY CANNOT DIAGNOSE THE ISSUE AND THERE ARE NO FAILURE CODES. HOWEVER, THE ISSUE KEEPS GOING ON MAKING ME TERRIFIED TO DRIVE THE CAR.

MY VSC LIGHT IS ON ALONG WITH THE ABS AND THE BRAKE LIGHT. WHILE TAKING A 1 1/2 HOUR TRIPT THE LIGHT WENT OFF AND STAYED OFF FOR A FEW DAYS. WHILE TAKING ANOTHER HIGHWAY TRIP TRAVELING THE SPEED LIMIT, THE LIGHT WAS OFF UNTIL AFTER DRIVING FOR TWO HOURS I STOPPED AT A RESTAURANT. THE LIGHTS CAME BACK ON, AND HAVE BEEN ON EVER SINCE.

ON MY 2009 CAMRY HYBRID, AS I WAS GOING TO WORK, WHEN I TRIED TO SLOW DOWN THE CAR THE BRAKES WENT HARD AND CAN'T STOP THE CAR TOTALLY I SAW THE BRAKE LIGHT, TRACTION CONTROL, AND ABS LIGHTS TURNED ON, AND CHECK VSC SYSTEM DISPLAYED. I IMMEDIATELY SLOW DOWN THE CAR TOOK THE EXIT AND STOP THE CAR. I TURNED OFF THE CAR AND START THE CAR AGAIN WHICH FIXED ALL THE ABOVE ISSUES. IT HAPPENED APPROX TWO WEEKS AGO AND TOOK THE CAR TO TOYOTA OF GRAPEVINE TX 76051 AND THEY DID NOT FIND ANY ISSUE RELATED TO BRAKE OR ANY CODE. I AM SCARED TO DRIVE THE CAR AND TAKING THE CAR TO THE SAME DEALER TO CHECK AGAIN.

I WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE (395N INTO DC) AND THE CAR'S BRAKES FAILED. THE CAR IMMEDIATELY DISPLAYED VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM (VCS) FAILURE AND A NUMBER OF OTHER WARNINGS. I WAS FORCED TO SWERVE OUT OF TRAFFIC AND TO UTILIZE THE EMERGENCY BRAKE TO STOP THE CAR.

BRAKE COMES ON, ABS LIGHT COMES ON AND IT BECOMES DIFFICULT TO BRAKE (BRAKES ARE HARD). THEN AFTER AN HOUR OR SO THE LIGHTS GO OFF AND BRAKES RETURN TO NORMAL. I NOTICED THAT WHEN IT RETURNS TO NORMAL THERE IS A HEAVY BUMP, IT ACTUALLY FEELS LIKE SOMEONE BUMPED YOU FROM THE REAR. THIS HAS HAPPENED OFF AND ON FOR ABOUT 3 MONTHS NOW. I TOOK IT TO MY MECHANIC THINKING IT WAS SOMETHING MINOR, PADS ETC. AND IT WAS NOT THAT. ON 11/28/18 I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP. THEY FOUND NOTHING WRONG. NOT SURE WHAT ELSE CAN BE DONE. THIS IS VERY FRUSTRATING AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS. BECAUSE THIS PROBLEM CAN HAPPEN AT ANY TIME WITH NO WARNING, IT HAS HAPPENED WHILE DRIVING AND ALSO STARTING THE VEHICLE. MY PERSONAL MECHANIC DID FIND SOME INFORMATION THAT MAY PERTAIN TO THIS PROBLEM (WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM - ZE1 2007 - 2011 MODEL YEAR CAMRY HYBRID VEHICLES EXTENSION OF WARRANTY COVERAGE FOR BRAKE ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY AND SKID CONTROL ECU/BREAK PEDAL SENSOR) SERVICE CAMPAIGN BULLETIN REF# T-CP-ZE1, DATE OF ISSUE JULY 1, 2014.

WHEN I DRIVING BACK YESTERDAY JAN 1ST 2019 FROM FRIENDS HOUSE SUDDENLY THE CHECK VSC SYSTEM TURNED ON AND OTHER ICONS TURNED ON IN THE CAR DASHBOARD. I TRIED TO PRESS THE BRAKES AT A STOP SIGN AND THEY DO NOT ENGAGE OR THEY WOULD ENGAGE ON A DELAY, VEHICLE TOOK LONG TIME TO STOP. IT WAS HARD DRIVING BACK AND I WAS SCARED OF AN ACCIDENT HAPPENING EVEN AFTER TURNING ON EMERGENCY BLINKERS ON MY DRIVE BACK HOME. TOYOTA NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE IT AS IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATEY 10 MPH AND ATTEMPTING TO STOP, THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT STOP OR SLOW DOWN WHEN DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL. DURING THE FAILURE, SEVERAL WARNING MESSAGES AND INDICATORS DISPLAYED AND ILLUMINATED INCLUDING "CHECK VSC SYSTEM" (VEHICLE STABILITY CONTROL), ABS, MASTER WARNING, AND BRAKE FAILURE. WHEN THE CONTACT TURNED OFF AND RESTARTED THE VEHICLE, IT OPERATED NORMALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO PASSPORT TOYOTA (5001 AUTH WAY, SUITLAND, MD) TO BE DIAGNOSED, BUT THE FAILURE COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 106,571.

WHILE DRIVING STRAIGHT AT ABOUT 40 MPH (IN A 50 MPH ZONE ON A BACK ROAD) I STEPPED ON THE BRAKES WHEN APPROACHING A STOP SIGN. THE BRAKES FAILED TO ENGAGE. THE CHECK VBS SYSTEM WARNING CAME ON AS WELL AS ALL OF THE DASH BOARD WARNING LIGHTS. THE CAR WAS CHECKED AND THE BRAKE PADS WERE FINE, THE BRAKE FLUID LEVEL WAS NORMAL, AND NO COMPUTER CODES CAME UP WHEN THAT WAS CHECKED. THE BRAKE LIGHT KEEPS COMING ON AND OFF AND THE BRAKES WORK MOST OF THE TIME, BUT OUT OF NO WHERE THEY WON'T ENGAGE. IT WAS VERY SCARY, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE MY KIDS WERE IN THE CAR. THANK GOODNESS I WASN'T GOING FASTER THAN I WAS BECAUSE I DON'T THINK WE WOULD HAVE STOPPED IN TIME.

BRAKE, ABS AND WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON, CHECK VSC MESSAGE CAME ON AND MY BRAKES STOPPED WORKING. I WAS LEAVING MY PARKING LOT AND GOT HALFWAY DOWN THE BLOCK WHEN THIS OCCURRED. I COULD NOT BRAKE SO I LET THE CAR ROLL TO A STOP AND USED THE CURB TO MAKE A COMPLETE STOP. CAR I HAD NOT MOVED SINCE I DROVE IT REALLY SLOW TO HOUSE.

WHILE I WAS DRIVING AT ABOUT 65 MPH ON A FOUR LANE DIVIDED HIGHWAY, THE DRIVER'S VISOR SUDDENLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY ROTATED COMPLETELY DOWN, BLOCKING MY VIEW OUT OF THE WINDSHIELD SO THAT I COULD NOT SEE AHEAD. IT WAS A DANGEROUS AND FRIGHTENING SITUATION! I HAD TO KEEP CONTROL OF THE CAR WHILE HOLDING THE VISOR UP SO THAT I COULD GET HOME SAFELY AND THEN GET THE CAR TO THE REPAIR FACILITY. TOYOTA KNEW THAT THIS SAFETY HAZARD EXISTED AND WAS SERIOUS BECAUSE IT DID A "WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT NOTICE" FOR 2007 TO 2011 CAMRY HYBRID SUN VISOR BRACKETS, BUT THIS EXPIRED FOR MY CAR IN MAY OF 2016.