NHTSA Complaint #10641359 — 2007 TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID

BRAKE ALERT LIGHTS APPEARED ON DASH ON NIGHT OF 9/5/14 UPON STARTING THE VEHICLE. READ CODES IN OWNER'S MANUAL, AND DROVE FEW BLOCKS TO HOME AT SLOW SPEED (15 MPH). ON SATURDAY MORNING, 9/6/14, THE INCIDENT OCCURRED AGAIN WHEN I WAS DRIVING AT ABOUT 25-30 MILES PER HOUR. NOT ONLY DID THE ALERT LIGHTS APPEAR, BUT THE BRAKES "BLED" THROUGH TO THE FLOOR, AND IT FELT AS IF THE CAR ACCELERATED. BRAKES WORKED ONLY AFTER PUMPING THE BRAKE PEDAL. I HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO SERVICE CENTER. AFTER DIAGNOSTICS AND DRIVING FOR 90 MILES OVER 4 DAYS, THE INCIDENT COULD NOT BE REPLICATED, NOR DID ANY CODES APPEAR ON THE COMPUTER. VEHICLE WAS RELEASED AFTER PAYING DIAGNOSTIC FEES. THE INCIDENT OCCURRED AGAIN ON 10/2/14: BRAKE LIGHTS APPEARED ON DASH, THE CAR FELT IT WAS ACCELERATING, AND THE BRAKES FAILED TEMPORARILY. MY FOOT BLED THROUGH, I PUMPED THE PEDAL BEFORE BRAKES BEGAN TO WORK. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO DEALERSHIP. AGAIN, DIAGNOSTICS DID NOT REVEAL CODES NOR WAS THE INCIDENT ABLE TO BE REPLICATED. DEALERSHIP REPLACED THE BRAKE FLUID RESERVOIR ACCORDING TO TOYOTA CORPORATE DIRECTIONS. FOUND INFO ONLINE THAT NHTSA CITED 59 COMPLAINTS OF BRAKE FAILURE FOR 2007-08 CAMRY HYBRIDS. REPORTED THESE INCIDENTS TO TOYOTA CORPORATE, WHO ASSIGNED A CASE NO. HAVE NOT HEARD FROM CORPORATE CASE MGR. YET, BUT EXPECT TO BY MONDAY, 10/06/14. CORPORATE SAID THEY DO NOT OFFER A LOANER VEHICLE WHILE THIS IS BEING ADDRESSED, BUT TO ASK DEALERSHIP. DEALERSHIP SAID THEY COULD NOT PROVIDE A LOANER VEHICLE. *TR