New Brake actuator failed in 15 months-toyota won't help-2008 Prius

We replaced the actuator on my son's 2008 Prius(120k miles) end of April 2022. He haas only put 12K miles on it in 16 months. Close to $3K for the repair. Our Toyota dealer, who performed the repair, said it had a 12 month warranty but that we should appeal to corporate Toyota. We did and were denied any help. My wife tried everything, including letting them know we have two Toyotas and a Lexus, to no avail. It seem like a short life on a part that should last 10 years at least. I am shocked it failed so soon and somewhat shocked we didn't get some kind of relief from Toyota. We bought the car used in 2017 from an independent dealer and took it to our local Toyota dealer and paid for an inspection. Now I find out there was a semi-recall on the actuator at that time. The dealer didn't mention that as an issue. I am not sure if there is something about the Gen 2 that causes the issue with the actuator or if it is just the part. I am not willing to repair it again at that expense. The car may only be worth 4-5K now. It is in pretty good other than a good many paint flecks off of it. The dealer has a 2011 gen 3 with 100K miles on it. I may be interested in seeing if they will give us something in the way of a discount on the price of that car because of the issue. Then again, I am a little Prius nervous now. I never heard of a brake actuator before this car. Then to get the shock of the cost of that repair the first time. Maybe I switch car models. What is anyone's thoughts on the upgrade to gen 3 difference and should I be nervous about getting another Prius at that mileage? It is for my son who is just out of college.

 

yeah, like I said, 3 of our 4 family vehicles are Toyota/Lexus. No probs with the '16 Camry or 350 Lexus w 150K on it. I would have bought a 4 runner except it was 7K more for a '15 w similar mileage than my Honda Pilot. Second Pilot. Sold my '04 w 275k and got the '15 w 60K on it. I just can't believe that part failed w 12K miles and is that expensive. I face the exact same thing happening again and that is unacceptable for my idea of a Toyota. Maybe getting a deal on the '11 they have would be the only way I get any $$ return on my loss. I guess I could sell my CAT for more than the car is worth now.

 

Wow! Thanks! Good detailed info. Appreciate it!

 

Thanks for that tip! Think I am going full petro. Just thought it may be the only simpathy I get from Toyota.

 

I don’t know. I am working out of town. My wife got the bad news from the service tech and then called Toyota corporate herself. Would it help to know the codes. I am sure I could get them.

 

I spoke with my service tech at the dealership late sat and he didn’t know about Toyotas decision to deny applying the warranty beyond 12 months. He said he would talk to mgmt there and see what they could do for us, if anything, since they performed the replacement. He said he could pull up the order and give me the codes when we speak again mon or Tues. so we will see. The question I have for myself is whether to sell or not should we repair it. It is an ‘08 with about 125 miles with the original battery. I assume that will be next and could be soon.

 

finally got the code. Only threw one code and it was C1256

 

Toyota dealership that put the last one on, that failed, said they would replace this one for $2500, out the door, and gave us a free rental car for a couple of days. We decided to go ahead with it. Then we will decide whether to sell it and probably only make a couple of thousand before getting something else, or keep it and see how it goes. Only 125K on a 2008 gen 2. Maybe the battery will last a while. I think Toyota did a nice job on interior space design with these cars. Sucks to have bad luck with it. We have had zero trouble with our '16 camry or '11 Lexus 350.