I checked up on that a few days ago investigating, if the emergency brake auto adjust up the rears. It does not, they are manually adjusted smaller drum brakes. The drum brakes are about 6" in diameter and are connected by cable to the emergency brake. They are called dual rear brakes.

With the engine off the car can be stopped but it takes lots of peddle pressure to do so. The reason being when the engine is off the power booster is also off.

click picture for large view

 

come on, guys....this has always been a friendly forum, we often disagree, but let's keep it friendly

 

GMAN has some kinda problem which I hope he solves soon.

Keep in mind I drive a Prius (and I am not a lawyer, but a retired biology teacher). But here is a possible course of action:

After my Wisconsin run-a-way, I considered taking Toyota to the mat. That is, I was going to go into arbitration on the matter because at the time my insurance was not going to cover the cost of replacing the burned out front brakes.

In Calif., if one looses in arbitration one can request a trial.

As it happened my insurance paid for the brakes, the car rental, and my motels. So, I dropped the idea.

That's it. I'm clueless as to what could have possibly caused your problem or mine, but good luck.

 

Upon appeal, the thread is open. Keep it professional and everything will be OK.

Now if you think someone is being abusive (besides the moderator in whom we all live in fear,) use the triangle-bang "" to report the problem. There is no need to go down that hole ... that is our job.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

Thanks everyone for the possible insight into my unique problem. My 2007 TCH was one of the first of the production line, so maybe it's limited to a small batch. There's also not that much time or mileage to perhaps pickup a trend. I'm filing with Transport Canada
my safety concerns with this possible defect. If there will be enough cases, they'll talk to Toyota about a recall, and I would join a class-action lawsuit to recover cost of damages.
In the meantime, I'm keeping my hand on the transmission, when parking and slowing down, to try to quickly shift into Neutral should there be a sudden acceleration.
If it happens again, the car goes back to Toyota. I'll buy the newest Prius coming out in the spring. I'm also thinking of picking up an electric motorcycle with a 40 mile range. Just perfect for day trips around town. There are currently 3 manufacturers selling in North America. There's one, TTX01 that has a top speed of 125mph.
Some of the others: EVT-4000, Brammo Enertia, Zero-X dirt bike,
Motorsport GPR-S, UNO, Vectrix, Aptera, with Honda and Yamaha about 12 months away from producing their own lineup.

thanks,
Lubo

p.s. sorry, got carried away with electric bikes there

 

So, you're Canadian. Good for you. I get up to Toronto about every other year as I have friends in Windsor & Tor.

Nice exchange of ideas.

 

I have experienced pulling into a garage in electric mode and the ICE kicks on just as you are creeping up to the last 6 inches of your stop, it "sounds" like it is accelerating and you do get a slight surge, which causes you to step hard on the brake, but I would not call this unintended acceleration. Remember, I am a Toyota Service Manager and I have seen zero cases of "unintended acceleration" that were not related to driver error (double floor mats, snow boots hitting both pedals, etc). If there were truly an unintended acceleration, there would be some data (codes, etc) in the computer to show a faulty sensor and lights would light up the dash like a christmas tree. Once again, zero cases reported in our local area (Northeast).

 

P.S. it does "wake you up" when it happens. You are not expecting it, but if the engine is required to charge battery, cats are cold, etc., then it is normal operation of the vehicle. Does it surprise you when it happens? Of course it does. I still would not trade ours for the world.

 

OK on your in the EV Mode when you enter the headed into the garage. The only thing that would kick on the engine is if you lightly touched the accelerator. Perhaps the car rolls over a concrete rain strip to keep any rain water out of the garage. The ones I have seen are only a half inch high.

The only other reason the engine may start is if the traction battery is at a minimum charge.

 

Actually in cold weather, the heater can drop the temp of the ICE below the threshold needed for EV operation, and cause the ICE to start.