2011 TOYOTA PRIUS Complaints

ON UNEVEN ROAD SURFACES (WASHBOARD ROAD, MANY SMALL POTHOLES, GRAVEL ROADS, ROUGH ROAD SHOULDERS) BRAKES WOULD GIVE OUT IF BRAKING HARD. IF FELT LIKE ONCE ABS KICKED IN THE BRAKES WOULD GET ALMOST COMPLETELY RELEASED. THE CAR WOULD BRAKE JUST FINE ON FLAT SURFACES, WET OR DRY. I HAVE MULTIPLE VEHICLES AND KNOW HOW ABS BRAKES WORK BUT THOUGHT THE PRIUS BRAKES WERE JUST A BIT MORE SENSITIVE AND I HAVE TO WATCH MY DISTANCES MORE CAREFULLY AND AVOID HARD STOPS. THEN ON APRIL 23, 2018 THE CAR STARTED TO MAKE SOME STRANGE NOISE BUT NO DASHBOARD LIGHTS CAME ON. I CONTINUED DRIVING AND NOTICED THE BRAKES WERE WORKING ONLY INTERMITTENTLY. AFTER I ALMOST CRASHED WHEN ATTEMPTING TO BREAK IN TRAFFIC I LIMPED BACK HOME AND TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP. THE REPAIRS TO REPLACE BRAKE PUMP AND CYLINDER ASSEMBLIES COST $4,193.31 BUT THE CAR WAS DRIVEABLE AGAIN. HOWEVER, I NOTICED THAT THE REPAIRS ALSO CORRECTED THE ABS PROBLEM THAT WAS PRESENT SINCE THE CAR WAS NEW. I THINK ANYONE WHO DRIVES A 2011+ PRIUS SHOULD GET THEIR BRAKES CHECKED FOR EMERGENCY BRAKING WHERE BRAKES STOP WORKING THUS ALLOWING THE CAR PLOW AHEAD EVEN IF THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DOWN TO THE FLOOR.

THE BRAKES TEMPORARILY DISENGAGED SOMETIMES WHEN BRAKING. AT AROUND 100,000 MILES, THE BRAKE ACCUMULATOR WOULD CONSTANTLY MAKE NOISES WHILE DRIVING AND AFTER SHUTTING THE CAR OFF. EVENTUALLY THE BRAKE ACCUMULATOR AND BRAKE BOOSTER FAILED COMPLETELY AT 117,000 MILES, COSTING AROUND $4,000 TO REPAIR.

THE ABS/BRAKE/SKID/WARNING TRIANGLE ON. MY 2011 PRIUS III IS 121K MILE. THIS WENT ON/OFF FOR A FEW DAYS THEN IT WAS ON THE WHOLE TIME. THE BRAKE SEEMS TO LOOSE THE HYDRAULIC POWER BRAKE. I FEEL LIKE THE BRAKES FEEL WEIRD WHENEVER HIT SMALL BUMP, BRAKE JUST FAILED FOR A SECOND. I WENT TO TOYOTA DEALERSHIP THEY SAID IT'S THE ACTUATOR THAT NEED TO BE REPLACED AND IT'S EXPENSIVE $2-3K. THEY SAID IT NEED TO BE FIX SOON BECAUSE BRAKE MIGHT FAIL AT ANY TIME. THERE SEEMS TO BE A WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT FOR THE 2010 AND OLDER BUT NOT 2011 AND NEWER. SEEMS LIKE TOYOTA STILL HAVE THE SAME ISSUE WITH NEWER MODEL, NOT FIXED YET. PLEASE BRING THIS ISSUE UP FOR SAFETY REASON.

AFTER HEAVY RAINS, WATER GETS INTO THE SPARE TIRE STORAGE WELL, CAUSING A SHORT IN THE TPMS MONITOR FOR THE SPARE TIRE. ALL TIRES HAVE APPROPRIATE AIR PRESSURE BUT THE TELL-TALE SHOWS UNTIL THE SPARE TIRE STORAGE AREA DRIES OUT - SEVERAL DAYS. THIS IS A NEW PHENOMENON BUT THERE ARE NO TEARS OR DINGS IN THE GASKET AROUND THE HATCHBACK. NOT SURE WHERE THE WATER GETS IN.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 TOYOTA PRIUS. WHILE EXITING HIGHWAY TRAFFIC, THE ENGINE STALLED AND ALL THE INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTING ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO COAST THE VEHICLE TO A SAFE AREA. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO HENDRICK TOYOTA CONCORD (7670 BRUTON SMITH BOULEVARD, CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA 28026, 704-467-8287) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE COMPUTER INVERTER FAILED. THE INVERTER WAS REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 93,500.

UNKNOWN CAUSE. THE BREAKS TEMPORARILY DISENGAGE (FOR ANYWHERE BETWEEN 1-3 SECONDS) WHEN THE CAR ENCOUNTERS A SMALL BUMP OR POT-HOLE IN THE ROAD, WHILE BREAKING DOWNHILL. USUALLY HAPPENS WHEN BREAKING HARD ON A DECLINED FREEWAY OFF-RAMP. THIS HAS ALMOST CAUSED ME TO REAR-END ANOTHER VEHICLE ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS.

HORN DOES NOT WORK WHEN WHEELS ARE STRAIGHT. HORN WORKS WHEN WHEELS ARE TURNED COMPLETELY LEFT ONLY. I BELIEVE IT IS THE SPIRAL CABLE ASSEMBLY. TOYOTA WANTS $1,093.00 TO REPAIR THIS PROBLEM. OTHER TOYOTA VEHICLES HAVE PLACED A RECALL ON THIS ISSUE. THIS ISSUE SHOULD BE RECALLED ON THIS VEHICLE. HAVE RESEARCHED THIS SAFETY PROBLEM ON OTHER PRIUS VEHICLES AND MANY OTHERS HAVE HAD THE SAME HORN PROBLEMS. AFFECTED MODELS: 2009-2010 COROLLA 2009-2010 COROLLA MATRIX 2008-2010 HIGHLANDER 2009-2010 TACOMA 2006-2008 RAV4 2006-2010 YARIS

THE BRAKES ARE PUMPING SLOW SPEEDS AND THE VEHICLE MAKES MUCH MORE NOISE. THE CAR MAKES BUZZING SOUND EVERY 30 SECONDS OR SOONER. A REPAIR PERSON SAID IT IS THE ABS ACTUATOR THAT IS ABOUT TO FAIL.

WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY, WITHOUT WARNING, I LOST POWER ASSISTED BREAKING ABILITY - ACCOMPANIED BY A NUMBER OF DASHBOARD WARNING LIGHTS. I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY STOP THE VEHICLE USING MANUAL BREAKING. I HAD THE CODE CHECKED AND HAVE LEARNED THAT THE (CODE 1391) BRAKE ACCUMULATOR FAILURE IS A COMMON ISSUE IN THE PRIUS AND HAS BEEN SUBJECT TO A RECALL/REPLACEMENT FOR THE YEARS PRIOR TO MY MAKE (I BELIEVE 2008-2010). CLEARLY THIS IS STILL AN ISSUE AND THE SUDDEN/NO-WARNING FAILURE OF THE SYSTEM CAUSES AN ALARMING AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS LOSS OF BREAKING CONTROL DURING HIGH SPEED DRIVING. LUCKILY, I WAS NOT USING THE BREAKS AT THE TIME OF THE FAILURE AND WAS ABLE TO DETERMINE THAT THE MANUAL BREAK PADS WERE SERVICEABLE BUT I NEEDED TO RAPIDLY INCREASE THE PRESSURE ON MY BREAKS TO SLOW DOWN SUFFICIENTLY TO AVOID AN ACCIDENT.

I NOTICED AROUND 90,000 MILES THAT MY CAR BEGAN CONSUMING OIL AT ANY ACCELERATED RATE, SO I DIDN'T THINK TOO MUCH ABOUT IT. THEN I NOTICED THAT I MY OIL GAUGE WAS TURNING ON EVERY 1,000-1,200 MILES, MY CAR WAS COMPLETELY OUT OF OIL. I WENT ONLINE TO TOYOTA PRIUS FORUMS AND STARTED DOING MORE RESEARCH AND THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM FOR 2010-2011 PRIUS'S. BOB SMITH TOYOTA, IN LA CRESCENTA, WHO SOLD ME THE CAR, RAN AN OIL CONSUMPTION STUDY AND CONCLUDED THAT THERE IS A MAJOR ISSUE AND THEY CONTACTED TOYOTA DID NOT WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THERE IS AN PROBLEM FOR THE SAKE THAT THIS COULD RESULT IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT BASED ON NEGLIGENCE.