NHTSA Complaint #11243156 — 2008 TOYOTA PRIUS

SECOND GENERATION TOYOTA PRIUS (MODEL YEARS 04-09, AN ESTIMATED 669,700 VEHICLES, TOYOTA HIGHLANDER 06 ~66,200 VEHICLES (AND LEXUS MODELS~196,000 VEHICLES) HAVE A KNOWN DEFECTIVE BRAKE POWER BOOSTER KNOWN AS BRAKE ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY. TOYOTA PUBLISHED TSB 0032-16. THE BRAKES FAIL. TOYOTA DENIED TO REMOVE THE KNOWN FAULTY PART IN 2016 BECAUSE THE PART HAD NOT ESTABLISHED SYMPTOMS YET AND VEHICLE WAS OVER 175,000 MILES. 5/24/2019 WHILE IN MOTION ON INTERSTATE 77, THE YELLOW ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM ABS, THE ELECTRONIC VARIABLE SPEED CONTROL VSC (TRACTION) , THE ELECTRONIC CONTROLLED BRAKE ALERT LAMPS ILLUMINATE. THE HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM FAILS BECAUSE THE POWER BRAKES DO NOT REGENERATE ELECTRICITY TO CHARGE THE HYBRID BATTERY FUEL CELLS. TURNING THE HYBRID VEHICLE INTO A PLAIN GAS POWERED VEHICLE WITH FAULTY BRAKES. THE POWER BRAKE SYSTEM CREATES A THUMPING VIBRATION SOUND DUE TO THE PRESSURE INSIDE THE ACTUATOR IS NOT RETAINING/HOLDING PRESSURE. I ASKED LOCAL O'REILY'S TO SCAN VEHICLE, READING CODES BRAKE ACTUATOR FAILURE. REPORTED TO TOYOTA DEALERSHIP 5/30/2019 WITH YELLOW WARNING LAMPS ENGAGED AND WITH KNOWLEDGE OF CODES. CHARGED $150.09 TO VERIFY CODES THAT I RETRIEVED IN 3 MINUTES AND ESTIMATE $2938.47 TO REPLACE KNOWN FAULTY PART. I CONTACTED TOYOTA NATIONAL -1906030924.TOYOTA NEEDS TO OWN THIS RECALL. RECALL THE FAULTY PART KNOWN TO FAIL IN 2016. TOYOTA AWARE OF PART FAILURE, TO SUCH EXTENT, TOYOTA DISCONTINUED THIS BRAKE ACTUATOR AND REDESIGNED FOR GENERATION 3 2010-. TOYOTA HAS UPDATED THE REPLACEMENT PART WITH NEW PART #S. HOW MANY VEHICLES ARE CURRENTLY ON HIGHWAYS WITH THIS KNOWN FAULTY SYSTEM, ENDANGERING ALL VEHICLES IN PROXIMITY? THIS IS A NATIONAL ISSUE. A SAFETY ISSUE. NEEDS IMMEDIATE ATTENTION, PLEASE. I PURCHASED NEW UPDATED PART, DROVE TO TAMPA, FLORIDA TO HAVE INSTALLED BY PROFESSIONAL INSTALLER.