We have a Toyota Prius that has a problem with the break booster assembly that results in catastrophic failure of the breaks. They can literally stop working while you are driving. After class action lawsuits last year, they created a customer support program that will repair the issue at no cost to the owner.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10181800-9999.pdf
I took my car to a dealership and they have confirmed that the brake booster and pump assembly need to be replaced, but they are refusing to fix it under the program because the diagnostic codes are not coming up. The dealership even acknowledged that my battery dying two weeks ago may have wiped the necessary codes out. Again, the dealership has stated that the parts covered under the customer support program are indeed the parts that need to be replaced on my vehicle.
What do I do now? It’s a $3k repair and times are tough. I don’t feel safe continuing to drive this vehicle, especially with two small children. When I called corporate the rep just said “we could fix it, but we’ve made a business decision not to unless you have the code.”
research the codes, and see if there's a way to trigger them (safely)
The codes will eventually return if they were erased. Just have it rechecked in a couple months.
But I wouldn't worry much. People often claim their brakes failed 'after' getting in an accident.
Toyota would not risk their reputation hiding a real brake failure.
