Problems · by component

2009 Toyota Prius service brakes, electric problems

44 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2009 Toyota Prius cite service brakes, electric, 9% of all 502 complaints for this model year.

Complaints
44
9% of all complaints
Crashes
7
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the service brakes, electric

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“GOING OVER POT HOLES IT FEELS LIKE THE BRAKES SKIP. IT OCCURS ALMOST EVERY TIME I GO OVER A HOLE OF SOME SORT AND APPLY THE BRAKE. I ASKED TOYOTA TO DOUBLE CHECK THAT THE ABS BRAKES WERE WORKING CORRECTLY. TOYOTA SAYS ITS NORMAL AND THAT THE ABS SYSTEM WORKS BY MOMENTARILY INTERRUPTING THE BRAKING FORCE TO PREVENT A SKIT AND THE RESULTING LOSS OF CONTROL. *TR”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled May 23, 2010Service brakes, electricODI 10331814
“I OWN AND DRIVE A 2009 TOYOTA PRIUS, AND I HAVE NOTICED A LAPSE IN BRAKING WHILE BRAKING ON ROUGH ROADS. THIS GOES BACK TO DEC. 2009, SHORTLY AFTER I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE. ON MY CURRENT COMMUTE, I'M NOTICING THIS LAPSE IN BRAKING ALMOST DAILY. *TR”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled May 18, 2010Service brakes, electricODI 10331105
“ON 4/05/2010 AS I WAS DRIVING WEST ON GALBRAITH ROAD I WAS HEADED DOWNHILL TO A RED LIGHT AND APPLYING MY BRAKE TO SLOW DOWN FOR THE LIGHT. AS I WAS SLOWING THE ROAD BECAME EXTREMELY BUMPY AND MY BRAKES ALL OF A SUDDEN FELT LIKE I WAS SLIDING OR FLOATING EVEN THOUGH I HAD THE PEDAL DEPRESSED. WITH MY STOMACH IN MY THROAT I LIFTED MY FOOT OFF THE PEDAL AND REAPPLIED. IT THEN BEGAN TO SLOW AGAIN. I THOUGHT I WAS MISTAKEN. ON 4/12 AT 9:30 AM AS I WAS LEAVING MY HOUSE I WAS HEADED DOWN THE HILL. I WAS BRAKING TO MAINTAIN MY SPEED. I HIT SOME BUMPS IN THE ROAD AND ALL OF A SUDDEN IT FELT LIKE CAR WAS NOT SLOWING ALTHOUGH I HAD THE BRAKE DEPRESSED. WITH MY STOMACH IN MY THROAT, I REMOVED MY FOOT AND RE DEPRESSED THE BRAKE AND IT WAS FINE. I DECIDED I NEEDED TO CALL TOYOTA. HOWEVER WHEN I GOT TO THE BOTTOM OF MY CONDO COMPLEX AND WAS MAKING THE RIGHT TURN OUT I HAD MY FOOT ON MY BRAKE TO CONTROL MY TURN, THE SAME THING HAPPENED WHEN I HIT THE BUMP OUT OF HERE AND I OVER CORRECTED MY TURN WITH MY HEART IN MY THROAT AND I HIT A SMALL RETAINING WALL GASHING THE PASSENGER SIDE OF MY CAR AND RIPPING OPEN MY REAR TIRE. MY CAR IS CURRENTLY ON A TOYOTA LOT AWAITING MY…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Apr 14, 2010Service brakes, electricCrash reportedODI 10325756
“I KEEP HEARING ABOUT PRIUS BRAKE PROBLEMS ON 2010 MODELS BUT MY 2009 HAS THE SAME PROBLEM. I READ THIS IN AN ARTICLE ONLINE AND REALIZED THAT MY 2009 MODEL HAS THE BRAKING PROBLEM AS THE 2010 MODEL. ARTICLE: "GOING DOWNHILL AND APPROACHING A STOP SIGN. MY FOOT IS STEADY ON THE BRAKE AND I AM GRADUALLY COMING TO A STOP. THEN, I INADVERTENTLY GO OVER A BUMP IN THE ROAD AND THE PRIUS LUNGES FORWARD. I HAD TO IMMEDIATELY SLAM HARD ON THE BRAKES IN ORDER TO KEEP THE CAR FROM GOING INTO THE INTERSECTION. FORTUNATELY, THERE WAS NO CAR OR PERSON IN FRONT OF ME AS I WAS STOPPING." *TR”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 25, 2010Service brakes, electricODI 10314126
“TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 TOYOTA PRIUS. WHILE DRIVING 5 MPH TOWARD A STOP SIGN AND APPLYING THE BRAKES, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO STOP. THE TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT ILLUMINATED AS SOON AS SHE REMOVED HER FOOT FROM THE BRAKE PEDAL. WHEN THE LIGHT WAS NOT ILLUMINATED, THE BRAKES FUNCTIONED NORMALLY. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 50. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 33,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 24, 2010Service brakes, electricODI 10313768
“BRAKING ISSUES WITH A 2009 TOYOTA PRIUS MODEL. UNDER ROUGH ROAD CONDITION THE BRAKE SYSTEM DOES NOT SEEM TO ENGAGE IMMEDIATELY CAUSING A OVERRUN OF THE DISTANCE NEEDED FOR THE VEHICLE TO STOP. *TR”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 22, 2010Service brakes, electricODI 10312738

Showing 6 of 44 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 4, 2026NHTSA vehicle page

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.