2013 Toyota Prius V

As my wife was driving my children to school All the lights on my 2013 Prius V dash came on as I was driving on December 2, 2022. All braking power became stiff and it was hard for me to stop. I pulled over turned off my car called AAA. When the AAA driver came to check out the vehicle she was surprised he told me “oh ya this is a common problem. He told me is most likely was the ABS master cylinder and brake boosters needing to be replaced. I would take it to Lithia Toyota of Missoula. A representative from BOSCH came to look at the vehicle made a special appointment for this person to meet me and my wife at my local Toyota dealership. They checked the car and told me there wasn’t a problem with my brakes. The Bosch representative said the car was fine. My wife and I would then leave and exactly one week my wife called me at work to say all the lights on the dash would came on again as she was driving. We would then take it back to Lithia Toyota for them to tell me it was the ABS braking system and I would need to spend $5000 to get the car repaired. Parts and labor. Her car is only worth 11500. They wanted me to spend more then half of what the car was worth. I would research and learn so many people are having this issue. There was a “customer support program that ended at the end of August 2022. This would be there way of weaseling themselves out of the issue. I am reporting this to help me and other drivers. Please don’t ignore. There are TOO MANY COMPLAINTS FOR YOU TO IGNORE. People have HAD MAJOR ACCIDENTS my wife and Children’s lives were at jeopardy due to your incompetence of over looking this issue.

Completely unexpected, I started my Prius V and the ABS warning light, Traction control and parking brake lights were on. I had been hearing a high pitched thumping sound when stopped at street light or other times when brakes were engaged, but my mechanic was unable to locate the source. After the warning lights came on, The brakes still worked in a limited fashion requiring several seconds to engage. Had I not been an experienced driver using longer distance between myself and other drivers, I am sure I would have wrecked. Took the car to my mechanic. He ran the codes and found C 1391. After researching the chat groups, I found this to be a long term known defect. Disappointed that consumers reports did not mention. Called dealership and they required their machines run diagnostic codes. I decided to call Toyota customer service and talked to several levels of associates and I am stone walled. By the way: I feel for those people in their jobs. The supervisor I talked with kept mentioning the distressing lights. My concern is the wrecks I, and other drivers, could cause. I do see people stating in chat groups that thry have wrecked. And someone mentioned that if the dealership runs the code, the receipt will say “ do not drive” and “Toyota is not liable” if car is driven and a wreck occurs. ( my summary may not be exact.) I now have a fabulous non-functioning car.

The contact owns a 2013 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving with the brake pedal applied, the vehicle hesitated and was slow to respond. The brake warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the brake module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 125,000.

PRIUS DISPLAYED ALL BRAKE WARNING LIGHTS WHEN CAR WAS RUNNING. TOYOTA DEALERSHIP CONFIRMED THAT BRAKE BOOSTER AND PUMP ASSEMBLY NEED TO BE REPLACED, BUT WOULD NOT REPLACE THEM UNDER CUSTOMER SUPPORT PROGRAM 20TE07 BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT PULL THE SPECIFIED DIAGNOSTIC CODE. DEALER ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE BATTERY DYING TWO WEEKS PRIOR COULD HAVE ERASED THE NECESSARY CODES, BUT STILL REFUSED TO FIX THE CAR. AFTER CALLING THE CORPORATE CUSTOMER SERVICE LINE AND SPEAKING TO SOMEONE FOR 30 MINUTES, THEY STATED THAT TOYOTA COULD FIX THE PROBLEM, BUT MADE A BUSINESS DECISION NOT TO.

MY BRAKES FAILED ON A TWO-LANE DIVIDED STREET IN LUTZ. WE WERE DRIVING STRAIGHT, AND WHEN MY HUSBAND PUT HIS FOOT ON THE BRAKE, THEY FAILED. WE DROVE TO THE NEAREST TOYOTA GARAGE AND THE AGENT SAID THAT IT WAS A MASTER CYLINDER PROBLEM BUT THE PRIUS WOULD BE COVERED UNDER A RECALL - PRIUS' LESS THAN 10 YEARS OLD AND LESS THAN 150,000 MILES ON THE CLOCK WERE COVERED. MY CAR FIT BOTH CRITERIA. ON RETURNING TO COLLECT THE CAR, NONE OF THE V CLASS PRIUS' WERE INCLUDED. THE PART NUMBER WAS C1391. WE HAD TO PAY $3886.09. OUR MANUFACTURER NUMBER WAS NOT COVERED. IT WAS ONE NUMBER DIFFERENT. I SPOKE TO THE MOST SENIOR EXECUTIVE I COULD CONTACT AT TOYOTA. (DANNY CASTRO). DANNY HAD NO ANSWERS THAT I FOUND SATISFACTORY. HIS BASIC REPLY WAS: 'YOUR MANUFACTURERS NUMBER IS NOT INCLUDED.' THESE ARE MY CONCERNS AND REASONS: 1. THERE IS A KNOWN FAULT WITH THE MASTER CYLINDER WITH ALL PRIUS CARS, BUT THE COMPANY SAYS THAT IT IS ONLY RESPONSIBLE FOR CERTAIN MANUFACTURER PART NUMBERS, WHICH DOESN'T INCLUDE THE V'S. I THINK IT'S A DESIGN FAULT AND BY GIVING THE PART A DIFFERENT NUMBER TO AVOID THE RECALL ON V'S, SEEMS UNDERHANDED. 2. THERE IS NOTHING I HAVE DONE TO INSTIGATE OR AGGRAVATE THIS PROBLEM. 3. MY CAR HAS BEEN PERFECTLY SERVICED AND I HAVE NOT MISSED ANY MILEAGE DATES. 4. WE WERE LUCKY. WITH THE BRAKES FAILING ABRUPTLY AND WITHOUT WARNING, WE WERE AT RISK AND I BELIEVE THAT MY COMPLAINT MAY SAVE OTHERS THAT AREN'T SO FORTUNATE AS US. ALL PRIUS CARS SHOULD BE COVERED UNDER THE RECALL PROGRAM.THE INTERNET DOCUMENTS MASTER CYLINDER FAILURES ON ALL PRIUS MODELS, THE TOP ONE BEING A LEAK; MY PROBLEM. 1.5 MILLION CARS ARE BEING RECALLED - WHY NOT MINE!!!!

THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S HAPPENING OCCASIONALLY, I'M DRIVING AND ALL OF THE SUDDEN, THE TRACTION CONTROL, ABS AND BRAKE LIGHTS, TURN ON AND THE BRAKE PEDAL FEELS SLUGGISH AND STARTS TO APPLY AT A DANGEROUS LOW LEVEL, THE PEDAL ALMOST HITS THE FLOOR, THEN A DAY MAY PASS, THEN IT STARTS NORMAL AGAIN, FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS, THEN, THE LIGHTS COME ON AGAIN, AND THE PEDAL STARTS WITH THE PROBLEM AGAIN, IT'S GETTING VERY DANGEROUS FOR ME TO DRIVE THE CAR. THAT HAPPENED WITH MY YOUNGEST SON AND MY GRANDSON, THIS STARTED AT APRIL, AND IT STILL DOING IT 'TILL THIS DAY, PLEASE HELP.

WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE A SEQUENCE OF 4 LIGHTS APPEARS ON THE DASH- 1. BRAKE LIGHT 2. MASTER WARNING LIGHT 3. SLIP INDICATOR LIGHT AND 4. ABS (ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM INDICATOR LIGHT). WHEN THIS HAPPENS THE VEHICLE'S POWER BRAKING SYSTEM GOES INTO WHAT SEEMS TO BE A MANUAL MODE MAKING THE PEDAL HARD TO PRESS AND BRAKES TO MALFUNCTION, IT IS SO DANGEROUS. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER AND THEY CONFIRMED FAULT CODE C1391 (ABNORMAL LEAK IN THE ACCUMULATOR) AND THE "BRAKE CYLINDER ASSY. ABS PUMP, PART # 47050-47110 IS DEFECTIVE. THE ESTIMATE GIVEN BY THE DEALER FOR MY REPAIR WAS $3040.00. AFTER DOING MY RESEARCH ON THE CONDITION, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT TOYOTA HAS ISSUED A WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT LETTER CODED "ZJB" FOR SIMILAR PRIUS VEHICLES OF THE SAME YEAR SPAN AS MY VEHICLE. AFTER CONTACTING TOYOTA, THEY STATED THE ENHANCEMENT IS VIN-SPECIFIC AND THE PRIUS V MODEL DOES NOT FALL WITHIN THE "ZJB" ENHANCEMENT. THE ENHANCEMENT CURRENTLY APPLIES TO 2012-2015 PRIUS AND PRIUS PHV VEHICLES, BUT NOT THE PRIUS V. THE PROGRAM OFFERS COMPLETE REPAIR, AT ZERO COST TO THE CUSTOMER. IT IS MY POSITION THAT THE PRIUS V SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THIS REWORK AS IT AFFECTS THE SAME COMPONENTS, SAME FAULT CODES, AND SAME SYMPTOMS AFFECTED ON THE COVERED MODELS. TOYOTA IS WELL AWARE OF THE ISSUE WITH THESE ABS BRAKE PUMPS GOING BACK TO THEIR 2010 CARS. IT IS ALSO MY POSITION THAT SINCE THERE ARE LESS PRIUS V MODELS ON THE ROAD, THERE JUST HASN'T BEEN ENOUGH COMPLAINTS TO MAKE IT RELEVANT. I CURRENTLY HAVE AN OPEN FILE WITH TOYOTA, THE FILE NUMBER IS 2005133097. AT THIS TIME THEY HAVE AGREED TO MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS ON THE REPAIR COSTS, HOWEVER, TOYOTA SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO ADD THE PRIUS V MODEL TO THE "ZJB" WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT REWORK LETTER. THERE ARE MANY OTHER PRIUS V MODEL OWNERS THAT THIS ISSUE IS AFFECTING AND NOT BEING TREATED FAIRLY BY TOYOTA. PLEASE DO WHAT YOU CAN TO HELP? *DT*JB

2013 PRIUS, MILEAGE 100,590 CAR IN MOTION DRIVING ON CITY STREETS. WHILE BREAKING ON UNEVEN ROADS/POTHOLES, THE CAR SKIDS AND FRONT WHEELS LOCK UP AND TRACTION CONTROL/BREAK ASSIST LIGHT APPEARS ON THE DASHBOARD. WHEN THIS OCCURS THE CAR IS DANGEROUSLY SLOW TO BREAK AND TAKES FAR TOO LONG TO STOP. THIS HAPPENS ALMOST DAILY ON MY COMMUTE TO WORK IN BOTH DRY AND WET CONDITIONS. THIS SEEMS TO BE AN ISSUE WITH THE BREAKING/STABILITY SYSTEM.