2009 TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID Complaints

WHILE DRIVING ON SUNDAY, MARCH 30, 2013 I LOST THE POWER BRAKING. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME SINCE THAT THIS HAPPENED. THE FIRST TIME WAS SEPTEMBER 18, 2012. I WAS ABLE TO PULL THE CAR OVER SAFELY BUT IT WAS AN EXTREMELY SCARY SITUATION. HAD I BEEN ON A HIGHWAY AT 55-65 MPH I WOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO STOP THE CAR AND WOULD HAVE LIKELY CAUSED AN ACCIDENT. A MESSAGE APPEARED ON MY DASHBOARD INDICATING TO "CHECK VSC SYSTEM". SEVERAL OTHER LIGHTS WERE LIT UP AS WELL INCLUDING THE WORD "BRAKE". AFTER DOING SOME ONLINE RESEARCH AND FINDING OUT THAT THIS SAME THING WAS REPORTED BY OTHER CONSUMERS I THOUGHT IT BEST THAT I REACH OUT TO SEE IF A RECALL IS WARRANTED. *TR

WHILE PULLING INTO PARKING LOT THE WARNING LITE & DISPLAY SAID VSC WITH TWO BRAKE RELATED SYMBOLS TURNED ON & BRAKES LOST ITS POWER ASSIST. WAS ABLE DRIVE HOME WHILE DRIVING SLOWLY GIVING A LOT OF ROOM TO STOP, MADE A APPOINTMENT WITH TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. DROVE DOWN WAS CHARGED TO TROUBLESHOOT THEY FOUND THE BRAKE ACCUMULATOR HAD INTERNAL FAILURE, ALSO WAS INFORMED FOR THAT AREA OF THE CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY, SO IT WOULD COST $4200 FOR PARTS & LABOR. I DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF SPARE COIN SITTING AROUND. SO I BROUGHT IT HOME & PARKED IT, I HOPE WE CAN DRIVE TOYOTA TO MAKE A RECALL. BRAKE HYDRAULIC PARTS SHOULD LAST 100,000 MILES. *TR

MY 2009 CAMRY HYBRID WITH 79,000 MILES HAD A COMPLETE BRAKE FAILURE. THE CHECK VSC SYSTEM LIGHT AND THE CHECK ENGINE RED TRIANGLE WITH EXCLAMATION POINT LIGHT CAME ON AFTER THE BRAKES TOTALLY FAILED. THERE HAD BEEN A BUZZING/ HISSING SOUND THAT IS SIMILAR TO THE NORMAL HYBRID BATTERY RECHARGING SOUND BUT MUCH MORE OFTEN - ALMOST CONSTANT. CAR HAD TO BE TOWED TO THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP AS IT WAS UNSAFE TO OPERATE, NO BRAKING POWER WHATSOEVER. PEDAL WAS ROCK HARD. DEALER SAYS IT IS THE BRAKE ACTUATOR AND GAVE AN ESTIMATE OF $3000 TO REPAIR IT! THEY CLAIM TO HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF PROBLEMS WITH THIS, YET AN INVESTIGATION BY THE NHTSA WAS IMPLEMENTED IN JANUARY OF THIS YEAR DUE TO MANY COMPLAINTS. THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE SAFETY HAZARD, HAD I BEEN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS OR IN A CONGESTED AREA AN ACCIDENT WOULD HAVE OCCURRED. TOYOTA NEEDS TO RECALL THESE VEHICLES AND THIS MODEL YEAR - 2009 - NEEDS TO BE INCLUDED IN THE INVESTIGATION. *TR

BACKING OUT OF PARKING SPACE. CHECK VSC LIGHT CAME ON. CHECK ABS, PARKING BRAKE STAYED LIT, EXCLAMATION MARK, AND EXCLAMATION MARK INSIDE RED TRIANGLE. WAS ABLE TO DRIVE CAR HOME, BUT BRAKES SEEMED TO "GRAB" AND NOT BE AS RESPONSIVE. WILL TAKE CAR TO MECHANIC TOMORROW, BUT AM READING THAT THIS MAY BE A PROBLEM WITH 2007-2009 HYBRIDS AND WANTED TO REPORT. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE TRAVELING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE BRAKES FAILED TO RESPOND TO DECELERATION ATTEMPTS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS FOUND THAT THE ABS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED ABOUT THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 30,000.

ACCELERATED TO PASS CAR ON INTERSTATE. CAR LUNGED FORWARD FULL THROTTLE. TAPPED ON ACCELERATOR TO DISENGAGE, NO RESPONSE. BRAKING DID NOT SLOW CAR. PUT CAR INTO NEUTRAL, TURNED ON HAZARD LIGHTS. WENT ANOTHER 2-3 MILES UNTIL CAR SLOWED ENOUGH TO PULL OVER, OFF ROAD. TURNED CAR OFF, WAITED A MINUTE AND STATED CAR, IT WAS FULL THROTTLE. WAITED ANOTHER MINUTE OR TWO, STARTED CAR WITH SAME RESULT. THIRD TIME I STARTED VEHICLE, IT REACTED IN NORMAL FASHION. DROVE TO NEXT EXIT AND CALLED TOYOTA DEALER. VEHICLE TOWED TO DEALERSHIP; GIVEN A LOANER. 5 DAYS LATER NOTIFIED TO PICK UP VEHICLE. INFORMED BY DEALER "THE FLOOR MAT TICKING CAUSED THE PEDAL TO STICK". SAME FLOOR MATS HAVE BEEN IN VEHICLE SINCE DATE OF PURCHASE 5 YEARS AGO. *TR

FIRST INCIDENT: TEMPERATURE WAS EXTREMELY COLD OVERNIGHT. PARKING BRAKE LIGHT CAME ON WHEN I STARTED CAR AND REMAINED ON THROUGHOUT MY 10-MINUTE TRIP. BRAKES WORKED FINE FOR 10 MINUTES THOUGH STOP SIGNS AND RED LIGHTS. I DIDN'T DRIVE OVER 35 MPH THE ENTIRE TRIP. WHEN I ARRIVED AT WORK, I TAPPED THE BRAKES TO TURN INTO THE DRIVEWAY. "CHECK VSC SYSTEM" MESSAGE APPEARED, PARKING BRAKE LIGHT REMAINED ON, ABS LIGHT CAME ON, EXCLAMATION POINT LIGHT CAME ON, ONE OTHER WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. I THOUGHT CAR HAD STALLED BECAUSE MY BRAKES DIDN'T SEEM TO WORK SO I COASTED PAST THE DRIVEWAY. I STEPPED ON THE ACCELERATOR AND NOTICED THE CAR WAS STILL ON SO I SLOWLY DROVE TO THE NEXT DRIVEWAY. I TURNED OFF THE CAR, RESTARTED IT, AND ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS CAME BACK ON. I SLOWLY DROVE BACK TO WORK AND NOTICED THE BRAKES WORKED ALBEIT NOT VERY WELL. WHEN I STOPPED THE CAR IN THE PARKING LOT, ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS DISAPPEARED. SECOND INCIDENT: TEMPERATURE WAS EXTREMELY COLD OVERNIGHT. PARKING BRAKE LIGHT CAME ON WHEN I STARTED CAR AND REMAINED ON THROUGHOUT MY 10-MINUTE TRIP. BRAKES WORKED FINE FOR 10 MINUTES THROUGH STOP SIGNS AND RED LIGHTS. I DIDN'T DRIVE OVER 45 MPH THE ENTIRE TRIP. I CAME TO A RED LIGHT AND TAPPED THE BRAKES. "CHECK VSC SYSTEM" MESSAGE APPEARED, PARKING BRAKE LIGHT REMAINED ON, ABS LIGHT CAME ON, EXCLAMATION POINT LIGHT CAME ON, ONE OTHER WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. ALTHOUGH THE BRAKES WORKED IN REDUCED CAPACITY, I STOPPED IN TIME BUT I WAS DRIVING 25 MPH. I WAS NEAR A TOYOTA DEALER SO I SLOWLY MADE MY WAY THERE WITH ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED AND REDUCED BRAKE CAPACITY. ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS DISAPPEARED SHORTLY AFTER I STOPPED THE CAR IN THE DEALER'S MAINTENANCE SHOP. DEALER COULD FIND NO HISTORY OF EITHER INCIDENT IN THE COMPUTER LOG. *TR

WHILE DRIVING "CHECK VSC SYSTEM" WARNING DISPLAYED ALONG WITH SEVERAL WARNING LIGHTS. AT THAT TIME THE BRAKES ON THE VEHICLE FELT SQUISHY AND MUCH LESS RESPONSIVE. *TR

WHILE DRIVING AT SAFE SPEEDS, SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER-BRAKE ASSIST. VEHICLE COULD BE STOPPED BUT REQUIRED EXTRA BRAKE PEDAL FORCE AND DISTANCE. "CHECK BRAKES" AND "VSC" WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THIS OCCURRED A COUPLE OF TIMES SO VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. THEY COULD NOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM BUT DETERMINED THAT MOST LIKELY PROBLEM WAS THE HYBRID BRAKE REGENERATING SYSTEM AND REPLACED THE "BRAKE STROKE SENSOR". NOTE THAT OUR CAMRY IS A 2009 MODEL--I RECENTLY READ ABOUT THIS PROBLEM OCCURRING IN 2007 AND 2008 MODEL YEARS. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED THE TRUNK HANDLE MELTED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A TOYOTA DEALER WHERE THE MECHANIC DIAGNOSED THAT THE TRUNK HANDLE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 65,000.