2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid

BRAKES PERIODICALLY GRAB SEVERELY WHEN FIRST DRIVING THE CAR. USUAL OCCURRENCE IS WHEN FIRST BACKING FROM GARAGE OR PARKING SPACE AND TRYING TO EASE THE BRAKE PEDAL. BRAKES GRAB AND PREVENT SLOWING THE CAR SMOOTHLY. AFTER DRIVING FOR A DOZEN OR SO YARDS, PROBLEM DOESN'T REOCCUR--UNTIL IS AGAIN PARKED FOR SOME TIME. THIS PROBLEM DOESN'T SEEM TO BE RELATED TO OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE/HUMIDITY BUT HAS EXISTED OVER THE PAST YEAR SINCE CAR WAS NEW. NOW HAS 5000 MILES. RETURNED TO DEALER TWICE BUT ALL TESTS REPORTED OK AND "COULD NOT DUPLICATE" PROBLEM.

WHEN I COME TO A FULL STOP AND ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE SORT OF "STALLS" THEN EVENTUALLY THE GEARS CATCH AND IT STARTS TO DRIVE. THIS CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS WHEN TRYING TO PICK UP SPEED IN A HIGHWAY OR SOMETHING. THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED I WAS AT A STOP SIGN. UPON DEPRESSING THE BRAKE, THE VEHICLE DID NOT PICK UP SPEED, IT SLOWLY ROLLED FORWARD. AFTER ABOUT 5-10 SECONDS, THE VEHICLE THEN SEEMED TO "CATCH GEARS" AND PICKED UP SPEED. I ALSO NOTICED THE HYBRID BATTERY WASN'T CHARGING VERY WELL AND SEEMED TO BE HOT AS THE BATTERY FANS WERE CONSTANTLY ON.

THE BRAKES ARE VERY GRABBY AT LOW SPEED (SUCH AS MANEUVERING IN A PARKING SPACE ON A SLIGHT INCLINE). THE BRAKES SUDDENLY BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE (WITH THE SAME PEDAL PRESSURE) AT CITY-STREET SPEEDS AS WELL AS HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THIS HAS OCCASIONALLY CAUSED THE ABS TO ENGAGE, WITH THE CAR LOSING TRACTION BRIEFLY IN A STRAIGHT LINE ON A DRY ROAD WHEN THE BRAKES SUDDENLY BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE. THIS IS A CONTINUING PROBLEM SINCE HE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED IN OCTOBER 2017, WHICH THE DEALER HAS REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE TWICE, SAYING THIS IS A NEW REGENERATIVE BRAKING SYSTEM (SPECIFICALLY DIFFERENT FROM THE PRIUS, WHICH I CITED AS NOT HAVING THIS PROBLEM).

BOTH SIDE WINDOWS IN THE FRONT HAVE VISIBLE DARK AND LIGHT SPOTS, AND PATTERNS. REAR WINDOWS HAVE A LOT OF RIPPLING DARK PATTERNS. PATTERNS CAN BE SEEN WHEN WE LOOK THROUGH POLARIZED SUNGLASSES. IT IS ALSO VISIBLE WITH BARE EYES FROM AN ANGLE. WHAT IS THE STANDARD OF THE TEMPERED GLASS ON A VEHICLE ? WE THINK THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENED WHETHER OR NOT POLARIZED SUNGLASSES ARE USED WHEN DRIVING. WE ARE NOT SURE IF OUR WINDOWS ARE CONSIDERED AS ABNORMAL OR DEFECT AT THIS LEVEL (SEE PICTURES), THE PATTERNS ON BOTH SIDES (FRONT) WINDOWS ARE DISTRACTING WHEN IT TURNS DARK UNDER THE BRIGHT SUN. WINDOWS IN THE MIDDLE ARE FINE. BESIDES, WE DON'T HAVE THIS PROBLEM WITH OUR OTHER 3 CARS AT HOME (2 ARE DIFFERENT BRAND) WHEN WE USED OUR POLARIZED SUNGLASSES IN THE PAST YEARS.

SINCE THE CAR WAS DELIVERED FROM THE DEALER, THE BRAKES HAVE CONTINUED TO SEVERELY GRAB AT LOW SPEEDS AS IF A CHILD IS JAMMING DOWN ON THE BRAKE PEDDLE. IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO EASE THE CAR INTO A PARKING SPACE WITHOUT THE BRAKES BUCKING SEVERAL TIMES. BACKING UP CAUSES THE SAME BUCKING PROBLEM. THE BUCKING IS SOMEWHAT INTERMITTENT AND THE SLOWER ONE IS MOVING THE WORSE IT SEEMS TO BE. THE CAR HAS 8500 MILES AND THE PROBLEM CONTINUES.

BRAKES ARE VERY 'GRABBY'. AT SLOW SPEEDS IN TRAFFIC (<5MPH) WHEN YOU APPLY YOUR FOOT TO THE BREAK YOU COME TO AN IMMEDIATE STOP (SIMILAR TO SLAMMING ON THE BRAKE). AT HIGH SPEEDS ON THE HIGHWAY (>60MPH) WHEN YOU APPLY THE BREAK THE CAR WILL ALSO SLOW DOWN AS IF YOU ARE PUSHING DOWN HARD ON THE BREAK PEDAL. DRIVING IN THE SNOW / ICE THIS WINTER WAS DANGEROUS AS THE BREAKS LOCKED UP ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS RESULTING IN SKIDDING/SLIDING. THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND, LIGHTLY APPLYING THE BREAKS, OR 'SLOW BREAKING'. YOU LIGHTLY APPLY THE BREAK AND THE CAR IS SLOWING DOWN IMMEDIATELY AS IF YOUR TRYING TO AVOID A COLLISION.