Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES | |||
| 11/30/2011 | 55000 | ||
| This is in follow up to incident odi id 10453342. after four separate brake failures and subsequent deliveries of the vehicle to the dealership, the problem was diagnosed as a faulty valve in the brake actuator. symptoms: accumulator pump running every 10 to 15 seconds when it should run only occasionally. dealership states that diagnostics revealed that no braking was available to the rear wheels at point of failure. the actuator was replaced under warranty at 55,218 miles. two weeks subsequent to the warranty repair, a fifth braking failure occurred (october 30, 2012). this time with a warning tone (not heard on previous failures). the vehicle was returned to the dealership again. dealership states the new actuator had failed due to a faulty voltage regulator. the actuator was replaced again under warranty. 23 days have passed since the last failure and the brakes are working normally. it seems that the brake actuator (the square aluminum module under the hood on the left hand side with many hydraulic lines coming out of it) is a weak component in the toyota 2007 camry hv. | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRIC | |||
| 12/15/2010 | 143000 | ||
| Tl. the contact owns a 2007 camry hybrid. the contact stated while driving 35 mph the check vsc, brake and abs light came on and the vehicle became difficult to brake. the contact got the vehicle to stopped by using the brakes and shut the vehicle off. the contact has not taken the vehicle to the dealer or the manufacturer regarding the braking system. the contact a crash could have occurred due to the brakes malfunctioning. the failure mileage was 143,000. jo | |||
| 05/18/2010 | 45000 | ||
| At about 45,000 miles my 2007 toyota camry hybrid developed an intermittent unsettling feeling of brief brake failure at low speeds. this typically occurs on level dry pavement with light application of the brakes and without engaging the abs. in the 5/18/10 issue of the chicago sun-times, click & clack theorized that it may have something to do with when the hybrid switches from regenerative braking to traditional friction braking. | |||
| 02/02/2010 | 35527 | ||
| I own a 2007 toyota camry hybrid, after ownership of the vehicle for approximately 8-10 months the cars brakes would momentarily release while braking. this occured at low speed 20-25 mph, slowing down gradually and crossing uneven pavement. it occured once and i thought it was a fluke incident and gave it no thought, however, it was unusual. i now have over 35,000 miles on the car and this has occured at least four times over the last 12 months. it is during gradual stops with low braking pressure and going over a small bump. i travel the same route to work and my 2005 dodge ram and 2006 toyota 4runner have not had any similiar problems or occurences in this area. the condition occurs when going over a small undulation in the pavement and lightly apply the brakes to begin slowing the vehicle, the brakes release for a fraction of a second even with consitent brake pedal pressure. i took my car to our local toyota dealership yesterday, 3-25-2010 and i advised them of this condition, they advised it was a tire leaving contact with the pavement and it was the anti lock brake system. i advised them the speed and pavement condition did not warrant that and something else was occuring, the antlock brake indicator does not come on during this occurence. the documentation from the dealership shows under comments 16toz brakes, than deleted operations. i noticed a second sheet and i requested a copy, it has the notes from the service tech who checked pad thickness, brake rotors and fluid, however nothing about checking the anti-lock braking system. the dealership did not document my complaint, nor did they evaluate the potential area of problem, the anti lock braking system. i believe this is an attempt by the dealership to avoid having to report this type of incident to the department of transportation, due to the recent circumstances of toyota. if this happened to me, what about the hundreds of other dealerships across the nation if they do the same. | |||
| 02/02/2010 | 82000 | 1 | |
| When i turned the car on at 7:30 am the check vsc warning light immediately came on. i planned to take my daughter to school and then drop the car off to be checked at my local toyota dealer. after about 2-3 miles, the warning light turned off. after about 3-4 miles further, i applied the brakes and got no braking action. the brakes felt as though they had completely lost their power assist and they did not respond at all. i put the car in neutral and coasted until i slowed down enough to be able to pull off the road. i had the car towed to the dealer. as of this morning, they have not been able to duplicate the problem and the check vsc light is still off. no indication was left on the cars computer that any maintenance light had come on or that there were any issues. *tr | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | |||
| 03/05/2012 | 57000 | ||
| On four occasions when braking in city traffic, the brake system in the vehicle failed and braking was lost. on two of the occasions i had to swerve off the road onto the shoulder to avoid collision with the motorist in front of me and apply very heavy pressure to the brakes to halt the vehicle over a much longer stopping distance than normal. conditions were: dry road, no bumps or debris on the road, stop and go city traffic, gentle braking pressure on peddle when initially trying to stop. vehicle is well maintained by the dealership. indicators: big red brakes indicator lit up, abs light came on, check vsc system light came on, anti skid light came on, triangle with (!) light came on, orange circle with (!) light came on. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who updated the computer and returned the vehicle to me. within three days of receiving the vehicle back, the brakes failed again with the same above conditions and indicators. the vehicle was returned to the dealership and remains there presently. the dealership asserts that they are unable to find any fault codes or reproduce the problem and are unauthorized by the extended warranty to make any repairs without proving a problem exists. i contacted toyota usa and reported the problem to them and awaiting a response. the dealership has a record of the several times the vehicle was brought to them with this brake failure. i am terrified of and will not drive the vehicle now unless a problem is found and corrected. can you provide assistance or advise on what can be done to force toyota to replace the brake system in the vehicle? i note i am not the only person who has reported this failure. i am stuck with a vehicle still under warranty that is a death trap and under good conscience can not be sold to another person. | |||
| 11/24/2011 | 125000 | ||
| On 11/24/11 i was out of town with five people in the car (including me). as i approached a stop sign, it felt like the brakes went out entirely and i wound up in the middle of the intersection (thankfully nobody was coming on the cross street or i could very easily have been broadsided). check vsc system was displayed on the dashboard along with the red brake light, red triangle with exclamation light, orange indicator light (exclamation with circle ((!))), anti skid light and abs light. i checked the owners manual and it basically said this was related to the abs system and that i could still drive the car, but to be cautious. the brakes were very limited while the lights were on, but i was careful and made it to my destination. when we left that night the lights were off, but i did experience same issue sporadically the rest of the weekend. the following week i took the car to grapevine toyota service department and left it for three days. they were not able to reproduce the problem and told me there was nothing they could do. i didn't drive the car for several days, but the next time i did i had the same issue again and then later it went off again and operated fine. i did get a call to rate my service a few days after i took it in and i told them the truth, that i was unhappy because they could not find a problem with a very dangerous issue. the service manager called me after that and said he would research with toyota tech support to try and find the cause. i didn't get any possible fixes back from him, but i read somewhere a bad battery might be the cause so i took it back to dealership to have it checked on 2/21/12. they said battery was good, but the issue did occur while they had it and still could not determine problem. it is now 2/26/12 and i have had this happen many times, several in dangerous situations and still no resolution. | |||
| 01/12/2012 | 41700 | ||
| I have owned my 2007 camry hybrid for 1 year 6 months. in snowy and slick conditions, the brakes stopped functioning normally. abs stopped functioning. the regenerative brakes stopped functioning. hydrolic brakes functioned, but the pedal had to be depressed to the floor before they engaged and then the brakes engaged very sharply and uncontrollably (i have read this is the fail-safe behavior when a communication issue occurs in the system). at the same time, the check vsc system notificaiton came on. the red brake light, abs indicator light, skid indicator light, tire pressure light, orange circle with exclamation light (brake failure indicator, it looks like ((!)) ) all lit. all warning lights remained lit and the brakes continued to behave badly for the following week under a variety of weather and temperature conditions. brakes were difficult to control and stopping was unsafe (a lot like a new driver struggling to learn to drive a stick shift...except the car is an automatic and the unpredictable jolting was due to the brake behavior, as opposed to a driver unfamiliar with using the clutch). when the car was taken for service, the technician found many failure/error codes had been recorded in the computer as a result of the incident. so many errors that the recommendation was to clear them and recalibrate the computer to see if the failure recurred. the computer was 'recalibrated' and the car was extensively driven by the technician. nothing recoded. the brakes now behaved normally. effectively the brakes failed because the computer went haywire. recalibrating the computer seems to have resolved the issue. so there was a major brake issue that happened suddenly, was not related to a component failure, that apparently can recur at any time. | |||
| 12/14/2011 | 73118 | ||
| Minutes after leaving home while traveling 10mph in the neighborhood, all of the warning lights on the dash illuminated - brake, vsc, tire, etc. the car lost acceleration, the steering became gummy, and the brakes became mushy. it took constant, complete depression of the brake pedal to stop the car over a length of about 25 feet. i took the car to 355 toyota in rockville, md where it was hooked to a computer, but no problem was detected. the problem occurred a second and third time, once minutes after startup and once while traveling at 30 mph not far from my destination, thankfully. after parking the car for 2 hours, the car drove normally. the fourth time this problem occurred, i had just left the capital beltway and was in the process of braking in order to safely round a cloverleaf onto river road. the brakes were barely responsive, and i narrowly missed crashing into the cars in front of me. i took the car back to 355 toyota on december 27. the car was kept for 24 hours. the mechanics could find nothing wrong with it. i was told this was the very first time a problem such as mine has been reported to 355 toyota. a google query proved that this problem is more pervasive than the dealership knows or is willing to admit knowing. | |||
| 03/04/2011 | 25000 | ||
| Driver reported unintended acceleration, causing car to mount curb, strike and knock over lamppost, striking masonry steps and a concrete post. after striking concrete post, car rebounded approx. 6 feet. airbags did not deploy. drivers floor mat was secured to it's retaining pegs, not impinging the accelerator in any way. | |||
| 02/02/2010 | 35527 | ||
| I own a 2007 toyota camry hybrid, after ownership of the vehicle for approximately 8-10 months the cars brakes would momentarily release while braking. this occured at low speed 20-25 mph, slowing down gradually and crossing uneven pavement. it occured once and i thought it was a fluke incident and gave it no thought, however, it was unusual. i now have over 35,000 miles on the car and this has occured at least four times over the last 12 months. it is during gradual stops with low braking pressure and going over a small bump. i travel the same route to work and my 2005 dodge ram and 2006 toyota 4runner have not had any similiar problems or occurences in this area. the condition occurs when going over a small undulation in the pavement and lightly apply the brakes to begin slowing the vehicle, the brakes release for a fraction of a second even with consitent brake pedal pressure. i took my car to our local toyota dealership yesterday, 3-25-2010 and i advised them of this condition, they advised it was a tire leaving contact with the pavement and it was the anti lock brake system. i advised them the speed and pavement condition did not warrant that and something else was occuring, the antlock brake indicator does not come on during this occurence. the documentation from the dealership shows under comments 16toz brakes, than deleted operations. i noticed a second sheet and i requested a copy, it has the notes from the service tech who checked pad thickness, brake rotors and fluid, however nothing about checking the anti-lock braking system. the dealership did not document my complaint, nor did they evaluate the potential area of problem, the anti lock braking system. i believe this is an attempt by the dealership to avoid having to report this type of incident to the department of transportation, due to the recent circumstances of toyota. if this happened to me, what about the hundreds of other dealerships across the nation if they do the same. | |||
| 03/19/2009 | 29000 | 1 | |
| On march 19th, 2009 i was driving my 2007 toyota camry hybrid and it would not stop. i went through a four way stop and crashed into a ditch. the car was damaged and i ended up going to the hospital and having the car towed. it caused a lot of pain and suffering and expense. *tr | |||
| 02/25/2010 | 29724 | 1 | |
| I called toyota's customer assistance line. i was hung up on twice because according to the recorded message they had too many calls so i would have to call back. . i then called again and got put on hold for 2 hours and 8 minutes. i was calling because i had just come from the dealership for the accelerator pedal and floor mat recall. they told me that my 2007 camry with just 29,700 mile on it had bad break pads and rotors and i need to spend over $900 to have the breaks repaired. i told the dealership i need to talk with someone at toyota. they gave me the customer assistance number to call. after i reached a representative i was told they would look into it and get back to me tomorrow. because i did not receive a call back i went on the web and found a toyota technical service bulletin saying that the 2007 camry had bad break pads that would cause premature wear. it said do not tell the customers about this unless they complain. i called toyota again; this time waited 1 hr for someone to answer. they said that the customer service bulletin t-br007-07 was not for me but for the dealerships. i said well is says that the break pads installed in my car we defective and should be replaced, she said, that is only if you complain. i said, well i am complaining. then i asked to talk with a supervisor. she said that was impossible today i would have to wait till monday. i said, i have a car that is dangerous to drive, and i want to resolve the issue today. she said that is impossible. i said i will call back and ask to speak to a supervisor, she said no one will let you talk to a supervisor. to say i am upset is an understatement. the car company has an internal document stating that my break pads are defective, but never tells me. i was just lucky that the service technician looked at the breaks when rotating my tires and discovered the problem. i and i and my family could have been injured or killed. we could have killed. *tr | |||
| 08/19/2007 | 1 | 1 | |
| I have experienced sudden lack of braking effort when traveling over uneven road surface or striking a hole with my 2007 toyota camry hybrid. very much like the current 2010 prius issue. *tr | |||
| 01/11/2010 | 57595 | 1 | |
| I live in tempe, arizona and own a 2007 toyota camry hybrid. in jan 2010, i was driving at about 45 mph in fair weather when there was an apparent brake malfunction. alarm chimes went off and warning lights came on for the brake system and vsc system and possibly others (it happened rather quickly). the brakes had almost no effect when pressed so i downshifted and pulled to the side of the road. after pumping the brakes for several seconds, they appeared to be functioning again. i took the car into a toyota dealer who checked it out, including an extensive test drive, but could not reproduce the problem. *tr | |||
| 12/19/2008 | 1 | ||
| I was driving my 2007 toyota camry hybrid home in a light snow storm. at slight inclines where there were stoplights, the car's traction control system will kill all power and i was unable to move the vehicle more than 1 mph, a scary situation since i was sitting in the middle of a very busy, truck-filled intersection with no way to get out. this situation repeated itself 6 - 7 times over a 3 hour period. finally, i had a friend with a tow truck come and plow directly ahead of me and spread sand so i could get to my driveway. i reread the owner's manual to be sure that there wasn't an override button for the vtc but no there is not one, at least on this model. i called my toyota service center who said that they could not help me. i contacted toyota's consumer aid group and they said my dealer should check it out. i had the car looked at a week earlier with no issue. there appears to be a lot of similar complaints about this issue .....see http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/prius_winter.html i am a professional sales engineer driving in all weather types for many many years. i don't get scared. i was terrified with the lack of control i had on this car. in normal weather, this vehicle is a dream-come-true. but, i won't drive it again if there is a chance of snow in the forecast. someone has probably already died because there is no way to override this traction control system. *tr | |||