A new brake issue after the firmware update

I just got the firmware update to correct braking issues, drove somewhere, parked (on a hill, rear end facing down), and when I started the car again, I did some sequence I can't quite remember. I think I put the car in Drive with the emergency brake on, then shifted to reverse or vice versa.

After this, the normal brake pedal seemed to be locked: it could not be depressed at all. There was no way to push it down even a fraction of an inch. Luckily, the emergency brake was still on. I was unable to shift the car, so I power cycled it, and then everything operated normally.

Has anyone else seen this -- where the brake pedal becomes locked and can't be depressed? It was quite freaky and makes me wonder about this update.

I have not reported this to Toyota yet, but now that I think of it I will call the dealer and see what they say.

 

I just spoke with the dealer and they said I could bring my car in and they could 'check it out', but that they'd never heard of this problem before.

I told them that I didn't think they'd be able to find anything if they didn't know about the problem, and requested that they contact Toyota to report it and get advice, and that they call me back.

We'll see what they say. In the meantime, anyone else experience this?

I'm starting to feel that it might be better to get a car which is less reliant on hard-to-debug complex software.

 

I haven't been able to replicate it.

I found the same thing with the issue that was corrected by the update -- it happened to me 3-4 times, but when I tried to make it happen, I couldn't.

I know some people here were able to consistently replicate the loss of braking issue, but I wasn't one of them.

I had another odd issue with the car when I first got it, involving the back door being opened, the car shifted into drive or reverse while the door was opened, and then put into park. Some warning lights went on and wouldn't shut off until I power cycled. Could never replicate that either.

This is one reason software like this is so hard to debug -- bugs can exist which are only found in rare situations.

 

No, the warning lights stayed on after the doors were closed and the passenger had left from the back seat. There was no way to turn the light off without power cycling.

But let's not get sidetracked from the braking issue.

 

No, I use that all the time and it never keeps the brake from being depressed. In fact, you have to keep the brake depressed to use it.

 

That. I'm sorry I brought it up. It should be for another thread.

The dealer just called me back and said that they won't be able to contact Toyota til tomorrow and will get back to me then. He suggested it could be some kind of vacuum issue which may temporarily keep the brakes from working on initial engine start. If so, that sounds like a problem to fix too.

 

I've already stated that it wasn't hill assist.

To clarify:

- I always use Hill Assist, and am very familiar with it.

- Hill Assist requires that you fully depress the brake pedal and keep it depressed

- What happened to me was that there was no way to depress the brake pedal at all, not even 1mm, starting with my foot off the brake pedal.

- This never happens with Hill Assist because, among other reasons, once you remove your foot from the brake pedal Hill Assist turns off in 2.5 seconds. There is never a time or cause with this feature which prevents you from depressing the brake pedal again.

 

The pedal was fully up, that is: high.

I was not able to move it at all using a very strong amount of foot pressure. It would not move.

And for reference, I am burly martial arts practitioner.