2009 Toyota Venza

1) Brakes consistently 'softer' than normal. Sometimes require pumping the pedal to stop at all. Can be difficult to start car, brake pedal may not move at all to get starter button to light up. **Every time after sitting over night, when the car starts the pedal 'mushes' to the floor. It must be pumped to get any resistance. 2) Lack of reliable brakes poses real safety risk for everyone. I just had incident where I had difficulty stopping, nearly in accident. 3) One mechanic experienced lack of brakes when driving it, had to pump pedal to stop. 4) Multiple independent auto repair shops as well as local Toyota Dealer service have charged me thousands to repair, without success. 5) 6/27/23 warning light, 'check ABS', sensor unplugged by mechanic. Once master cylinder replaced, sensor reconnected. 6) I just called Toyota Corporate, was told they couldn't help, I'd have to pay to have it looked at again.

I PUT MY VEHICLE IN REVERSE AND THE BRAKES SEEMED TO LOCK, WHEN I PUT IT IN DRIVE IT CONTINUED TO BACK UP. NO MATTER WHAT GEAR I PUT IT IN IT STAYED IN REVERSE. I WAS BLOCKING A LANE AT THE MALL ,U MY HUSBAND TRIED TO PUSH IT WHILE IN NEUTRAL BUT HE COULDN'T BUDGE IT, IT WAS STILL IN REVERSE. I THINK IT HAS A DEFECTIVE TRANSMISSION, AND IT ONLY HAS 40,000 MILES ON IT. SCARY AND VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.

ABS, ESC, AND BRAKE INDICATOR LIGHTS RANDOMLY DISPLAY UPON DRIVING THE VEHICLE. THEY DISPLAY INTERMITTENTLY, SOMETIMES AFTER 1/4 MILE OF DRIVING, OTHER TIMES AFTER 25 MILES OF DRIVING. THEY DISPLAY ON SMOOTH OR ROUGH ROADS, WITH NO APPARENT CAUSE. WHILE I HAVE NOT YET HAD AN ACCIDENT OR SYSTEM FAIL, IT IS OF CONCERN BECAUSE I TRANSPORT MY DAUGHTER IN THIS VEHICLE. ON A VEHICLE THAT HAS 50,000 MILES ON IT AND OTHER DOCUMENTED CASES OF THIS AS WELL, I BELIEVE THIS IS A CAUSE FOR CONCERN. I AM NOT SURE OF THE CAUSE OR THE SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM AS OF YET. THE VEHICLE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE IN MOTION WHEN THE LIGHTS APPEAR EITHER. THEY APPEAR AT STOP SIGNS OR LIGHTS, WHEN DRIVING SLOWLY, OR AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. I AM UNAWARE IF THE SYSTEMS THEMSELVES STOP WORKING UPON THE INDICATORS ACTIVATION OR NOT. I BELIEVE THAT THIS WARRANTS MORE INVESTIGATION AND POSSIBLY A SAFETY RECALL AS ABS AND ESC ARE SAFETY FEATURES AND BRAKES ARE (FROM MY CIVILIAN PERSPECTIVE) A NECESSARY FUNCTION FOR THE VEHICLES SAFE OPERATION.

INTERMITTANT PROBLEM COMMON TO MANY THOUSANDS OR MORE OF TOYOTA VEHICLES. >THIS PROBLEM IS OF MOST URGENCY BECAUSE WE DO NOT KNOW IF WE CAN SAFELY DRIVE THE CAR. BRAKES>#1 SAFETY CONCERN. >THE EXACT PROBLEM IS THAT 3 "INSTRUMENT PANEL INDICATOR SYMBOLS" LIGHT, ALL 3 AT THE SAME TIME. >THE INDICATOR SYMBOLS ARE 1.) THE "BRAKE" (EMERGENCY BRAKE LIGHT), 2.) THE "ABS" (ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM WARNING LIGHT) AND 3.) THE "SLIP INDICATOR" (ICON LIGHT). >WE HAVE FOUND NO ACTION OF TURNING ON THE CAR, CHANGING GEARS, BRAKING, TEMPERATURE, EMERGENCY BRAKE DISENGAGED OR ENGAGED, LIGHTS, HILL BRAKING...IN OTHER WORDS...NOTHING THAT SHOWS ANY CAUSE AND EFFECT OF THESE 3 LIGHTS COMING ON TOGETHER. >THE 3 LIGHTS COME ON INTERMITTANTLY, TIMING IS RANDOM. MOST OF THE TIME THEY ARE ALL ON. >THE CAR "SEEMS" TO DRIVE AS NORMAL BUT WE DO NOT KNOW IF THE ABS OR ANTI SKID ARE WORKING OR DISABLED. >THIS PROBLEM STARTED A SHORT TIME AFTER THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP 355 TOYOTA ON ROCKVILLE PIKE IN ROCKVILLE MARYLAND OVERFILLED THE MASTER CYLINDER BRAKE FLUID WELL ABOVE THE "MAX" LINE ALL THE WAY UP TO THE CAP SO THAT YOU COULD NOT SEE ANY AIR. >MECHANICS AT ROCKVILLE TIRE AND AUTO REMOVED THE EXCESS BRAKE FLUID TO THE CORRECT MAX LINE USING A POLYETHYLENE (NON MELTING) SYRINGE THAT I SUPPLIED. THE SYRINGE WAS CLEAN AND NEVER USED. >THE LIGHTS ALWAYS COME ON TOGETHER. >THE BRAKE LIGHT STILL STAYS ON WHEN THE EMERGENCY BRAKE IS MECHANICALLY RELEASED. (AND ALL 3 LIGHTS ARE ON OR LIT TO BE EXACT) >WHEN ROCKVILLE TIRE AND AUTO CHECKED THE PCM? FOR CODES THERE WERE NO CODES EVEN REMOTELY RELATED TO BRAKES OR WARNING LIGHTS, NOTHING. HE GAVE ME A PRINTOUT OF THE CONTENTS OF THE PCM CODES WHICH WAS ABSOLUTELY ABSENT OF ERROR CODES. HE ALSO CHECKED THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FOR ANYTHING RELATED TO ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS AND FOUND IT TO BE PERFECT. >STATIONARY, IN MOTION, TURNING OR STRAIGHT AHEAD.

WHILE DRIVING IN CITY ABS VSC BRAKE WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON WITH MESSAGE TO IMMEDIATELY TAKE TO DEALER. TURNED OUT TO BE SPEED SENSOR ON RIGHT REAR WHEEL. I HAVE REMOVED SENSOR AND WHILE THERE IS NO PHYSICAL DAMAGE IT APPEARS TO BE AN OPEN CIRCUIT. CLEARLY A DEFECT IN PRODUCT SINCE THE CAR IS GARAGED AND I LIVE IN A HIGH DESERT ENVIRONMENT. EFFECTIVELY THE ABS AND VSC SYSTEMS ARE DISABLED.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2009 TOYOTA VENZA. WHILE DRIVING 50 MPH AND DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE BRAKES FAILED TO FUNCTION PROPERLY. AS A RESULT, THE CONTACT CRASHED INTO THE REAR OF ANOTHER VEHICLE. THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. THE VEHICLE WAS DESTROYED AND TOWED. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THREE OCCUPANTS SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES THAT REQUIRED MEDICAL ATTENTION. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 100,000.

TOYOTA 2009 VENZA SYSTEMIC SPEED SENSOR FAILURES: RIGHT REAR SPEED SENSOR 1/17/2015: LEFT REAR SPEED SENSOR MAY 2013: LEFT FRONT SPEED SENSOR APRIL 2012 IN EACH CASE, THE ANTILOCK BRAKE SYSTEM (ABS) AND THE VEHICLE STABILITY CONTROL (VSC) SYSTEMS WERE DISABLED, CREATING HAZARDOUS VEHICLE OPERATION, ESPECIALLY IN SNOW/ICE. RESEARCHING, I DETERMINED THAT NO RECALL HAD BEEN ISSUED, BUT THAT KNOWLEDGE OF THE DEFECTIVE SPEED SENSORS AND THAT THEIR FAILURE DISABLED THE ABS AND TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEMS WERE COMMON KNOWLEDGE. I NOTIFIED TOYOTA CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CENTER OF MY CONCERN, ON JANUARY 22, 2015 (TOYOTA CASE # [XXX]), AND MADE FORMAL REQUEST FOR FULL REIMBURSEMENT OF THE CHARGES FOR THE THIRD REPAIR ON THE BASIS THAT VENZA SPEED SENSOR FAILURES ARE A SYSTEMIC, RECOGNIZED ISSUE CAUSING HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS, AND CLEARLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE SUBJECT OF A RECALL LONG PAST. I NOTIFIED TOYOTA THAT THE CRITERIA FOR NOTIFICATION OF THE ISSUE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION (NHTSA) WERE CLEARLY MET. PER UNITED STATES CODE FOR MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY (TITLE 49, CHAPTER 301), MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY IS DEFINED AS 'THE PERFORMANCE OF A MOTOR VEHICLE OR MOTOR VEHICLE EQUIPMENT IN A WAY THAT PROTECTS THE PUBLIC AGAINST UNREASONABLE RISK OF ACCIDENTS OCCURRING BECAUSE OF THE DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, OR PERFORMANCE OF A MOTOR VEHICLE, AND AGAINST UNREASONABLE RISK OF DEATH OR INJURY IN AN ACCIDENT, AND INCLUDES NONOPERATIONAL SAFETY OF A MOTOR VEHICLE.' TOYOTA REJECTED MY REQUEST 3/10/15 ON THE BASIS THAT IT DID NOT MEET THE CRITERIA OF THEIR NEW VEHICLE LIMITED WARRANTY, COMPLETELY DISREGARDING THE STATED CONCERN. GIVEN THAT TOYOTA HAS WILLFULLY CHOSEN TO NOT ADDRESS THE RECALL AND HAZARD ISSUES RAISED, THIS COMPLAINT IS SUBMITTED. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR