NHTSA Complaint #11061987 — 2009 TOYOTA PRIUS

I WAS DRIVING MY 2009 TOYOTA PRIUS ON A VERY COLD DAY (ROUGHLY 10 TO 20 DEGREES F). THE RED BRAKE WARNING LIGHT WAS ON, ALONG WITH THE ABS, VCS AND YELLOW "!" LIGHTS. THE BRAKES WERE EXTREMELY SOFT FOR ABOUT THE FIRST 5-10 MINUTES OF OPERATION. I WOULD PUSH THE BRAKE PEDAL AS FAR AS IT WOULD GO (IT WOULD NOT GO ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR) AND THE BRAKES WOULD SEEMS TO BE ENGAGING AT ABOUT 30%-50% OF THEIR NORMAL STOPPING POWER. AFTER THE VEHICLE WARMED UP, THE WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASH WENT AWAY AND THE BRAKES BEGAN OPERATING NORMALLY. THE FOLLOWING WEEK, MY WIFE WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE ON ANOTHER VERY COLD DAY (AGAIN PROBABLY ABOUT 10 DEGREES). SHE STATED THAT THE ABOVE MENTIONED LIGHTS STAYED ON FOR HER ENTIRE COMMUTE (LESS THAN 10 MINUTES) BUT THAT WHEN SHE ARRIVED TO WORK, HER BRAKES WERE NOT WORKING. SHE DESCRIBED THAT SHE PRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL AS FAR AS IT WOULD GO, BUT THE BRAKES DID NOT SEEM TO BE FULLY ENGAGING. SHE STATED THAT SHE NEARLY HIT A WALL AS SHE WAS PULLING INTO THE PARKING LOT AT HER WORK. I HAVE FOUND SIMILAR ISSUES LISTED ON PRIUS FORUMS ONLINE. PERHAPS IT IS A ELECTRICAL OR COMPUTER PROBLEM AS OPPOSED TO A PROBLEM WITH THE BRAKES. WE HAVE NEVER HAD THE PROBLEM WHEN THE TEMPERATURE WAS ABOVE 25 DEGREES.