Blog

Toyota Admits 2010 Prius has Brake Problems but No Recall Announced

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has received 171 reports of problems with 2010 Toyota Pruis vehicles.  So far five of the complaints are about the 2010 Prius have been because of brake problems.  One complaint read "When I run over a bump or a pothole on the road the car seems to accelerate or jolt forward. It happens when I stop at a stop sign or run over a bump or a pothole". 

So far Toyota and the NHTSA hava been informed of two injuries associated with the braking problem that the 2010 Pruis has.  According to reports the two people who were injured due to the defective car's brake problem suffered minor injuries to themselves but the vehicle suffered moderate damage. 

So why hasn't this car been recalled yet? Toyota admitted to the 2010 Prius having a braking problem but so far there has been no recall issued by Toyota.  Toyota said that they are aware of an issue with the braking problem and that it was due to a software issue in the Pruis.  Toyota also announced that they are currently working on a fix to the braking glitch which will only require a software fix to update but still no recall!  When Hiroyuki Yokoyama, Managing officer of Toyota Motor Corporation, was asked about what drivers of 2010 Pruis should do if they find their car having braking problems such as described above that they should just press on the brake harder. 

There has also been a report that an owner of the 2010 Toyota Prius has experienced accelerator problems with the vehicle that he believes are unrelated to the ABS braking system.  The owner of that Prius is the co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak, who says that his 2010 Toyota Prius has an accelerating problem and that he can replicate the problem at will.  He believes the issue he is having has to do with the control interface for the Cruise Control System that Toyota's hybrids use. 

Toyota says they are still further investigating the problems that have been reported to the NHTSA by the Prius owners.