WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday joined Japan's Ministry of Transport in opening a formal defect investigation into brake problems on the 2010 Toyota Prius.
The U.S. investigation, to be conducted by DOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, was announced shortly after Toyota startled media and industry watchers early Thursday with the acknowledgement that it had been aware of Prius brake issues for months and that it had already implemented a fix to some cars, without notifying Prius owners or the general public.
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) said it has received 124 reports from Prius owners "alleging a momentary reduction in braking performance while traveling over an uneven road surface, a pothole or a bump."
ODI already has been conducting preliminary fieldwork and said four of the complaints involve crashes, with injuries in two instances.
From its Torrance, California, headquarters Toyota Motor said it would cooperate with the NHTSA investigation and will keep the agency informed of the progress of its own work.
A company statement said: "Some customers have complained of inconsistent brake feel during slow and steady application of brakes on rough or slick road surfaces when the antilock brake system (ABS) is activated in an effort to maintain tire traction. The system, in normal operation, engages and disengages rapidly (many times per second) as the control system senses and reacts to tire slippage. A running production change was introduced last month, improving the ABS system's response time, as well as the system's overall sensitivity to tire slippage. This preliminary evaluation addresses owner complaints specific to the 2010 Prius. This condition is not related to either the floor mat entrapment recall or the sticky pedal recall currently in action."
Japan's Transport Ministry elected to open its own defect investigation on Prius brakes earlier this week, saying it had received 14 complaints from Prius owners, including a report of one collision with two injuries.
Inside Line says: Toyota needs to be more proactive in getting out ahead of this news. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent
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zoomzoomn says:
04:16 AM, 02/09/2010
Yada-yada-yada...anybody see that new Toyota ad? The one where they are begging your forgiveness? The one where they are telling all of their faithful that they "suspended production so that we can concentrate on repairing your vehicles"? What a load of syrupy...anyway. The sad part is there will be those that buy that. Like suspending production has any direct affect on anything except meaning there are a bunch of Toyota employees now laid off pending Toyota's resolution of this whole mess! Whatever.
atenza94546 says:
05:00 PM, 02/04/2010
ABS, what is ABS????
I don't need ABS !!!!
ABS doesn't sound safe!!!!
It feels like I am losing my brake !!!!
driverjoe2 says:
03:45 PM, 02/04/2010
What would happen if Rear Cradel Bushings fail in a KIA Sportage 2006??
icecubefosho says:
03:08 PM, 02/04/2010
Uhh...
This sounds like how ABS normally works...
When I take my Xterra pre-running, the brakes feel like they're breaking (Like coming apart) and doing hardly anything at all every time they're depressed because its ABS working its magic.