2022 Toyota Redundant Sienna

When I step on the brakes it slows initially and then it feels like the brake just lets go of its grip and the car keeps going or even accelerates and you have to slam on the brake to get it to stop. The last time this happened, it resulted in a crash with my daughter in the car. Toyota is telling me the brakes are fine but I do not feel safe driving it. There have been no lights or warning lamps and Toyota says they inspected the issue and found nothing but it has happened multiple times.

When applying the brakes the vehicle doesn’t seem to want to stop and almost feels as if it’s trying to accelerate before finally catching and stopping. Typically it’s a pretty fast occurrence but now it’s taking longer to stop. It is available for inspection. It caused me to run a stop sign today and go into a persons yard before the van finally came to a stop. No service dept has looked at it yet. The problem doesn’t seem to be able to be reproduced on command and only happens at random. The vehicle has had no inspection and has no warning lights on during the time I’ve had the vehicle.

The brakes randomly give out for a second even while applying constant pressure on the brake pedal. It feels like the car lurches forward when the brake loss occurs. Even though it only lasts a second, it is terrifying and there have been a couple incidents when I was coming to a stop at a red light and I almost hit the car in front of me. This has also occurred in my 2021 Highlander Hybrid. It luckily has never happened during high speeds, but it’s scary enough going 30 MPH.

My vehicle occasionally exhibits a behavior during low speed braking (such as approaching a stop sign or red light) where the deceleration will briefly cease in spite of constant brake pedal pressure. This lasts for less than a second before brake behavior returns to normal. To the driver, it feels like a sudden acceleration (but I believe it is a momentary loss of deceleration). -- This behavior is intermittent and difficult to reproduce on demand. It seems to happen more frequently: - At low speeds, when gradually slowing to a stop. - Un uneven pavement (such as a street with speed bumps or potholes). - On downward slopes. -- I strongly believe the problem is related to transitions between regenerative, engine and friction brakes in this vehicle. I believe Toyota has a systemic issue related to the design and/or implementation of the hybrid braking system on this and similar models. -- This is not a case of "you just need to get used to how hybrids work", it is a case of "I press the brake, I expect the vehicle to decelerate". If you review Toyota online forums for the current Sienna, Highlander and similar Toyota hybrids, this issue is extremely common and many owners are complaining, so far Toyota is ignoring the issue.

Our 2022 Hybrid Toyota Sienna will randomly have a loss of brakes for several seconds while in the middle of a stopping situation. The vehicle seems to lurch forward with the brake pedal going soft. After cramming my foot as hard as possible into the brake pedal I have been able to get it to stop so far, however my stop distance is much longer than anticipated. It seems to be getting worse in the past week with 2 of these episodes occurring. In the past year it has happened approximately 5 times. Each time is highly distressing. We have taken it to one Toyota dealership so far that could not find anything wrong with the brakes and have another appt in July with a second Toyota dealership. I find similar experiences described online from other 2022 Hybrid Toyota Sienna owners. I feel an obligation to report this because it is life threatening to be without brakes for even a few seconds while driving. There are no warning messages that appear when this brake failure occurs and it has not been reproducible.

Brakes release briefly when slowing to a stop. While slowing to a stop with steady pressure on the brake pedal, the braking action will momentarily give out, resulting in the vehicle lurching forward beyond the anticipated stopping/slowing distance before the braking action re-engages. This has resulted in near collisions with cars, bikes, and pedestrians as the vehicle suddenly stops slowing without warning and unexpectedly increases stopping distance. The problem is intermittent and difficult to reproduce, but has occurred repeatedly over at least 6 months of ownership. Going over any kind of bump, crack, pothole, etc seems to increase the likelihood of occurrence, but it also happens on dry, flat pavement. No warning lamps, error messages, or other related symptoms from the vehicle either before or after occurrences of the problem.

Over the past 18 months, this vehicle has exhibited the following actions approximately 30-40 times. When slowing the vehicle, with brake pressure applied, the vehicle reacts appropriately until, at the slow speed( approximately 5-10 mph) it suddenly accelerates or surges ahead for approximately 1-2 seconds. The has occurred while in the process of turning as well as moving straight ahead. I have taken the vehicle to the dealer of the original sale, Shepard's Toyota, Thomaston Maine, and they have attempted to replicate this action. They were unable to do so. The reported to me that they contacted Toyota engineering and was told, I paraphrase, that when the drive battery is fully charged and the dynamic braking system is still creating a charge, the current is directed to the drive motors, despite the fact that the brake is applied to slow and stop the vehicle. These events have occurred inn the middle of turns, when attempting to stop at crosswalks, and stopping prior to entering a traffic stream. If I had not continued to apply the brake, the vehicle would have, in several case, collided with objects.