NHTSA Complaint #11001869 — 2011 TOYOTA TUNDRA

WHILE DRIVING TO WORK ONE MORNING, MY BRAKE PEDAL WENT DIRECTLY TO THE FLOOR WITH ALMOST NO STOPPING CAPABILITY. AFTER FINALLY GETTING THE VEHICLE TO STOP, THE PEDAL FELT NORMAL. THE NEXT DAY A SIMILAR SITUATION OCCURRED. SINCE THE OCCURRENCES WERE INCONSISTENT IN TIMING, SITUATION AND DRIVING CONDITIONS, IT WAS NOT EASY TO REPLICATE. UPON TAKING IT TO A LOCAL DEALERSHIP, THEY HAD THE SAME DIFFICULTY CAUSING IT TO HAPPEN. ALTHOUGH, ON THEIR "LAST" TRY, IT WENT TO THE FLOOR. LOCAL DEALERSHIP COULD NOT DIAGNOSE THE SPECIFIC ISSUE AND CALLED IN AN ENGINEER FROM TOYOTA. ULTIMATELY, SINCE THEY COULD NOT ISOLATE ONE SPECIFIC FAILURE, THEY DECIDED THAT THE *MAIN COMPONENTS OF BRAKE SYSTEM SHOULD BE REPLACED. *MAIN COMPONENTS INCLUDE MASTER CYLINDER, BRAKE BOOSTER AND ABS ACTUATOR. AS THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN INDICATED THAT THEY HAD SEEN SEVERAL OF THESE, I BEGAN A CASE WITH TOYOTA MOTORS USA TO TRY AND GET A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING WHETHER THEY THOUGHT THIS TO BE AN ISSUE. AFTER ALL, THIS VEHICLE IS MARKETED AS HAVING ONE OF THE MOST ROBUST BRAKE SYSTEMS IN ITS CLASS. TOYOTA MOTORS USA INDICATED IN EMAILS THAT THEY HAD NO INTEREST IN REVIEWING AND TOLD ME THAT AS THE CUSTOMER, I HAD EVERY RIGHT TO CHOOSE ANOTHER BRAND IF I DISAGREED WITH THEIR POSITION. SINCE BRAKES ARE AN ESSENTIAL SAFETY SYSTEM IN A VEHICLE, IT SHOULD BE A PRIMARY CONCERN TO THEM IN ORDER TO EVALUATE POTENTIAL FAILURES WHERE THE OUTCOME COULD BE FAR WORSE.