ABS brake warning on 2007 Prius leading to brake failure

[adk235]

My 2007 Prius with 5500 miles gave out on me in the middle of a drive. Out of nowhere the ABS warning light came on, and when I tried to brake it became very unstable and difficult to control. I was in the middle of a country road, so I drove to the nearest parking lot. Meanwhile the red triangle warning light came on, then the hybrid battery light. Once I pulled into the lot, the car shut itself down. After restarting it would run for a few minutes and then disengage the battery.

The dealer has it now, and they have no idea what has caused it. Apparently they ordered a new inventer assembly and that should fix it, though they admitted they've never order that part for any Prius, ever.

Has this ever happened to anyone on a car this new?? The dealer is very evasive when I ask questions about it, and my fear is that it may happen again, without warning. Having only owned this car for 3 months I am beyond frustrated with the whole experience. It happened on a Sunday, 2 hours from my home, and I had to pay $300 out of pocket to tow the vehicle 86 miles to the dealer.

[mhawkin1]

I have not heard of this happening before - I would be very frustrated. I assume Toyota will be reimbursing you for the $300 towing bill? If not I would be driving the car through the showroom!

[jk450]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(adk235 @ Sep 24 2007, 04:19 PM) [snapback]517037[/snapback]</div>

My 2007 Prius with 5500 miles gave out on me in the middle of a drive. Out of nowhere the ABS warning light came on, and when I tried to brake it became very unstable and difficult to control.
[/b]

Can you be more specific? Brakes, handling, steering?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(adk235 @ Sep 24 2007, 04:19 PM) [snapback]517037[/snapback]</div>

The dealer has it now, and they have no idea what has caused it. Apparently they ordered a new inventer assembly and that should fix it, though they admitted they've never order that part for any Prius, ever.
[/b]

If that's true, the dealer has little experience with hybrid repair. Most dealerships have replaced many inverters.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(adk235 @ Sep 24 2007, 04:19 PM) [snapback]517037[/snapback]</div>

Has this ever happened to anyone on a car this new?? The dealer is very evasive when I ask questions about it, and my fear is that it may happen again, without warning.
[/b]

Are they being evasive, or just saying that they don't know the root cause?

[richardGear]

Brake Failure, This happened to me today 8/5/08. I purchased this 2004 prius 2 weeks ago(90,00o miles), and ive only had problems up till now. I was driving at about 25 MPH, when all of the sudden the ABS warning light went off, and the brake light turned on(and a buzzer was heard). I pressed the pedal hard in order to get the car to break. It felt just like when a conventional car looses its breaks. Thanks God I was only 1 mile from the Toyota dealer. I had a sceduled evaporator replacement ($450)sceduled for tomorrow so I decided to leave the car at the dealer (this is what the manual says to do when both warnings go off).

Does anyone now what the dealer is charging to pertend to know what the problem is.

After reading all these post and I think back to what actually happened, I remember that a had just gone over a pot hole when this happened.

Please keep posting, we have to get the word out about this flaw as I understand that in 2016 all cars will be Hybrid.

Thanks

[Tchou]

Originally Posted by richardGear

I pressed the pedal hard in order to get the car to break. It felt just like when a conventional car looses its breaks.

That's because you didn't do the Breakdance prior to drive your prius that it lost it's breaks...