NHTSA Complaint #11045555 — 2008 TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID

FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, THE CRUISE CONTROL HAD ONLY BEEN WORKING INTERMITTENTLY AND MY BRAKES SEEMED ROUGH. THE NIGHT BEFORE I BROUGHT MY CAR IN, ALL THE LIGHTS ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL CAME ON. ON AUG 1, 2017, I GOT A DIAGNOSTIC AND IT WAS THE ABS ACTUATOR, BUT I WAS TOLD I ALSO NEEDED A BRAKE JOB AND AN ALIGNMENT SO I WENT AHEAD WITH THAT $1,000 JOB. THEY COULD NOT DIAGNOSE THE CRUISE CONTROL SINCE IT WAS "FUNCTIONING" AT THE TIME. I HAD ALREADY REPLACED THE ABS SYSTEM IN 2013 AND WAS TOLD THAT I MAY APPLY FOR A REIMBURSEMENT FOR THAT $3,600 JOB, BUT I AM NOW OUT OF THE EXTENDED WARRANTY/SERVICE CAMPAIGN SO I COULD NOT GET REIMBURSED FOR THE CURRENT ABS FAILURE REPLACEMENT. AFTER MY BRAKE JOB AND ALIGNMENT, THE ROUGHNESS DID NOT SEEM TO IMPROVE AND THE CRUISE CONTROL CONTINUED TO MALFUNCTION. FOOLISHLY, I RATIONALIZED THAT THE BRAKES NEEDED TO BE WORN IN, BUT SOON MY CAR STARTED WITH A HIGH PITCHED NOISE AS I GOT IN AND OUT OF THE VEHICLE. THE BRAKES ALSO SEEMED TO "SLIP" SOMETIMES WHEN INITIALLY STARTING THE CAR. (FOOT ON BRAKE, START CAR, PUT INTO DRIVE, AND CAR WOULD START TO ROLL UNTIL I TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE BRAKE THEN REAPPLIED IT.) I WENT BACK TO TOYOTA HOPING FOR A MIRACLE AND THEY AGAIN SAID YOU HAVE TO REPLACE THE ABS, BUT THE SERVICE CAMPAIGN HAD NOT BEEN RE-EXTENDED AND I WAS UNABLE TO AFFORD ANOTHER $3,600. SO I CONTINUED TO DRIVE MY FAULTY VEHICLE OUT OF NECESSITY. ON OCTOBER 12, 2017, THE CAR BEGAN THE HIGH PITCHED NOISE AND THIS TIME IT DIDN'T STOP. I BEGAN DRIVING IN THE PARKING LOT SLOWLY (20 MPH) AND THEN THE BRAKES FAILED. WAS ABLE TO STOP BY PRESSING VERY HARD ON THE BRAKES. SINCE THAT DAY MY CAR HAS BEEN SITTING AT MY WORKPLACE UNUSED. OBVIOUSLY, THE ABS SYSTEM THAT WAS REPLACED IN 2013 (STILL AWAITING REIMBURSEMENT) WAS REPLACED WITH ANOTHER BAD SYSTEM. WE NEED A RECALL!