Here is an article on the Prius claiming they’ve known about the Prius problem for some time…Prius owners from the previous generation are piping in at the bottom of the article saying they’ve had this problem for years…will Toyota be forced to expand the recall?
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Toyota has known about brake problems in its popular Prius cars for some time, going so far as to fix it in new production vehicles, but has kept Prius drivers in the dark about the problem until the Japanese government called for an investigation.
In the U.S., the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Thursday that it is launching a formal investigation into the Prius brake problems, the first step on the road to a possible recall..
Prius hybrid cars coming off Toyota’s assembly line in Japan have had an improved version of the software used to control the cars’ brakes since January.
That’s little consolation to those driving Priuses made before then which seem to be the source of mounting complaints about brake performance and have been linked to four crashes.
Prior to the revelation on Tuesday that the Japanese government was pushing Toyota to do something about mounting complaints about Prius brakes, Toyota had said nothing publicly about the problems.
As of Wednesday, 124 Prius owners in the United States had lodged formal complaints with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about brake problems with their cars. Prius owners in Japan, where the hybrid car is the nation’s most popular model, have also lodged complaints about the problem.
A total of four crashes, two involving injuries, have been attributed to poor brake performance in 2010 model year Priuses.
Toyota issued an announcement Thursday saying it was cooperating with NHTSA’s investigation.
The complaints have been very consistent. As described by NHTSA’s Office of Defect Investigations “Consumers allege a momentary loss in braking during brake applications while traveling over an uneven road surface, pothole or bump in the roadway.”
