2014 Toyota Prius

BRAKE BOASTER FAILURE. Dashboard lights illuminated: Brake, ABS and Traction. Brakes themselves felt spongy. Car felt very unsafe. I did find out that Toyota has a hidden Customer Support Program ZJB. However, the dealer found my diagnostic code to be c1202 and the Customer Support Program ZJB only supports repairs for codes c1391, c1252, c1256 or c1253. However, the exact same symptoms and safety issues were experienced and all the exact same warning lights also came on. The dealer’s diagnostics resulted in a $2,087 replacement of the brake booster.  The dealer did contact the Toyota district manager along the way.  He denied coverage based on the diagnostic codes reported BUT again I am arguing that my crazy expensive repair had the EXACT same symptoms, safety issues, and repair (e.g, brake booster replacement). The car clearly could not be driven. Note my Prius only has 92K miles.  Attached is a picture of the dashboard warning lights that came on and the dealer invoice for the repair. 

ON AUGUST 28,2020 WE WERE DRIVING IN HEAVY RAIN FOR 1 1/2 HRS TO FAYETTEVILLE. OUR BRAKE ABS AND ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. WE ASSUMED THE LIGHTS WOULD GO OFF, WHEN WE DID NOT DRIVE IT DOING THE NIGHT, BUT NEXT MORNING IT CAME BACK ON. WE CARRIED TO MECHANIC SHOP TODAY SEPT. 1, 2020. THEY COULD NOT READ ANY ERRORS AND SAID NEED TO CARRY IN TO A TOYOTA DEALER. WE HAVE NOT SET UP APT. JUST LEFT VM. HOPEFULLY THEY WILL CALL US BACK TODAY

THE PRIUS VEHICLES COVERED ONLY BY WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT ZJB ARE SUFFERING THE SAME DANGERS FROM BRAKE BOOSTER PUMP FAILURES AS THOSE TOYOTA COVERED SAFETY RECALLS D0H AND K0L. BY EXCLUDING PRIUS WITH DEFECTIVE BRAKES FROM D0H AND K0L, TOYOTA HAS LEFT THE OWNERS TO HELPLESSLY EXPERIENCE LIFE-THREATENING BRAKE FAILURES OR MALFUNCTIONS BEFORE TOYOTA WILL PROVIDE THE REPLACEMENT BRAKE COMPONENTS NEEDED TO MAKE THE CAR SAFE. THE LAW REQUIRES TOYOTA TO PREVENT THE LIFE-THREATENING DANGERS OF THIS DEFECT BEFORE BRAKE FAILURE OCCURS. TOYOTA'S COST-CUTTING STRATEGY IS CAUSING CRASHES. INJURIES AND CRASHES CAUSED BY THE BRAKE DEFECT EXPLAINED HEREIN HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO NHTSA. TOYOTA'S DECISION TO PROVIDE POST-FAILURE REPAIR REIMBURSEMENT - INSTEAD OF A PREVENTATIVE SAFETY RECALL REMEDY - EXPLAINS MANY OF THE CRASHES AND INJURIES REPORTED TO NHTSA. HERE IS A LIST OF RELEVANT COMPLAINTS FROM SAFERCAR.GOV: 10794873,10875685,10876015,10927047,11231660,11219354,11014878,11151142,10680404,10627821,11154835,10983408,10704553,10734278,11173353,11064519,10971881,11186947,10923921,10573591,11243249,10819439,10592400,10919990, 10851950,10855586,11240240,11197067,11193820,11173721,11156466,11144698, 11235210,10550179,11253950,11102264,11044156,11253725,10616134,10875625, 11231596,10584723,11207636,10749388,11014797,11203834,11203591,11193354, 11182610,11155778,11130742,11129946,11164336,10498096,11219901,11154783, 10598545,11228248,10547701,11110691,11164990,11222966,11207630,11192342, 11184751,11183661,11183178,11173804,11173173,11173044,11162242,11144888, 11139660,11121916,11088447,11080403,11061959,10984549,11073636, 11034572, 10870866,10929397,11104163 WHEN THE BRAKE BOOSTER PUMP ASSEMBLY FAILS IN A PRIUS VEHICLE EXCLUDED FROM D0H, C1256, C1253, C1252, C1391, U0293, AND OTHER DTCS INDICATING DANGERS AND FMVSS NONCOMPLIANCE ARE BEING STORED. *TR

WHEN I START THE CAR AND IT BECOMES IDLE THE BRAKE PEDAL BECOMES STIFF AND GETS STUCK. I HAVE TO PUT THE CAR BACK IN PARK AND RESTART IT FOR THE BRAKE TO WORK PROPERLY. THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN ALL THE TIME BUT HAPPENS ENOUGH FOR ME TO BE CONCERNED. I TOOK IT TO TWO TOYOTA DEALERS AND THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE IT AND COULDN'T FIND A PROBLEM BUT IT IS STILL HAPPENING. THIS ONLY HAPPENS WHEN I START CAR NOT WHILE DRIVING.

THE EDR REPORT CLEARLY SHOWED THAT THE BRAKE OIL PRESSURE CHANGES DID NOT CORRELATE WITH THE PROGRESSIVELY INCREASING VEHICLE DECELERATION. THE ISSUE IS OCCASIONAL, RARE AND CANNOT BE REPRODUCED EVERY SINGLE TIME. THIS LEADS TO DISPARITY IN ASSUMED BRAKING DISTANCE FROM ROUTINE EXPERIENCE BY DRIVING THE VEHICLE AND ACTUAL BRAKING DISTANCE AT THE TIME OF FAILED BRAKING WHICH SUPPOSEDLY MAY BE AS A RESULT OF INVERTER ISSUES THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EXCLUSIVELY REGENERATIVE BRAKING AT LOW (<50 MPH) SPEEDS.

THE CAR BRAKES FAILED AT LOW SPEEDS (10-15 MPH) AND BUMPED INTO THE CAR IN FRONT IN A STOP-AND-GO TRAFFIC ON THE WET FREEWAY AFTER A RECENT RAIN. THE BRAKE PEDAL WENT ALL THE WAY DOWN TO TOUCH THE FLOOR, AS IF THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DISENGAGED FROM THE BRAKING SYSTEM AND THE ABS LIGHT DID NOT TURN ON AT THE TIME OF BRAKING. THE CAR WAS DRIVING IN THE STRAIGHT LINE AND IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THIS I WAS ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY BRAKE THE CAR ON THE VERY SAME TRIP. SO THE PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME WITH THIS CAR, AS MY SPOUSE ALSO EXPERIENCED THE SIMILAR BRAKE FAILURE AT EVEN LOWER SPEEDS (<10 MPH) RESULTING IN TOUCHING THE CAR IN FRONT AND MINOR SCRATCH ON THE BUMPER. IT WAS A DRY DAY THEN AND ALMOST SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES. ASSOCIATED GEICO CLAIM NUMBER IS 0423477190101054. WE OPENED A CASE WITH TOYOTA TO CHECK THE DATA RECORDER. ASSOCIATED TOYOTA CASE NUMBER IS 181112370.

IN NOV 22 2017 I PARKED MY CAR AT 1719 BRADER PL. SOUTH IN SEATTLE, WASHINGTON IN A CITY STREET. APPROXIMATELY AT 1500 PM, I PULED THE CAR FROM THE STREET PARKING I-ORDER TO PICK A PASSENGER ABOUT 4 FEET AND THE CAR ACCELERATED BY ITSELF TOWARD RIGHT INTO THE BUILDING COMPLEX ON RIGHT AND FLIPPED ON THE SIDE OF THE DRIVER SIDE. THE CAR WAS ON DRIVE BUT I WAS TRYING TO STOP TO PICK UP A PASSENGER, BUT FAILED TO STOP AND ACCELERATED AND TURNED AND FOUND MYSELF FLIPPED ON THE SIDE AS YOU CAN SEE ON PICTURE.