NHTSA Complaint #10979002 — 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS

DRIVING DOWN HIGHWAY AT POSTED SPEED LIMIT (75MPH), I TRIED TO SLOW DOWN DUE TO TRAFFIC AND NOTICED MY CARS ABILITY TO BRAKE WAS SEVERELY COMPROMISED. I THEN NOTICED MY CARS BRAKES, ABS, MASTER WARNING AND VSC LIGHTS HAD CAME ON. GIVEN THAT MY CAR HAS 103K MILES ON IT, I FIGURED IT IS TIME FOR A BRAKE PAD SERVICE. WITH THE LIMITED BRAKING ABILITY, I DECIDED TO MAKE THE SHORT DRIVE TO THE TOYOTA DEALER FOR BRAKE SERVICE. AFTER THE DEALER INSPECTED MY CAR, A REPRESENTATIVE TOLD ME THAT IT IS NOT THE BRAKE PADS THAT ARE CAUSING THE LIGHTS IN YOUR DASH TO GO ON BUT RATHER THE BRAKE BOOSTER. THEY ADVISED ME THAT IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED THAT I DRIVE THE CAR ANYMORE UNTIL THE ISSUE IS REMEDIED BY REPLACING THE BRAKE BOOSTER AT A COST OF OVER 2K. I HAD TO ALSO INCUR THE COST OF A RENTAL SINCE THE BOOSTER WAS NOT IN STOCK AND WOULD TAKE OVER THE WEEKEND TO RECEIVE. I WAS TAKEN ABACK BY THE TOTAL COST OF THE SERVICE BUT HAD NO CHOICE AND PROCEED TO GET IT REPAIRED. UPON RECEIVING MY CAR A FEW DAYS LATER, I DROVE TO WORK AND UPON MY RETURN HOME, THE ISSUE REPEATED ITSELF WITH ALL THE LIGHTS ON THE DASH LIGHTING UP AND THE CARS BRAKING ABILITY WAS AGAIN COMPROMISED. EXTREMELY IRATE, I DROVE DIRECTLY TO THE DEALER AND UPON INSPECTING THE CAR THEY TOLD ME THAT IT IS NOW THE ACCUMULATOR THAT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. THIS TIME THE DEALER ABSORBED THE COST OF OVER 3K TO REPLACE IT. I RESEARCHED THE INTERNET FOR ANY KNOWN RECALLS AND FOUND THE ISSUE WAS BEING ADDRESSED BY TOYOTA WITH A RECALL HOWEVER MY CARS VIN WAS NOT PART OF IT. IT IS MY HOPES THAT YOU MAKE TOYOTA AWARE OF THE SAFETY ISSUE AND INITIATE A RECALL ON ALL 2010 PRIUS MODELS AND NOT JUST SOME. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO GET THE COST I INCURRED WITH THIS SAFETY ISSUE REIMBURSED AT SOME POINT.