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Japanese government wants Toyota to investigate Prius brake complaints

okyo, Japan (CNN) — The Japanese government has warned Toyota to take seriously mounting complaints of brake problems with its 2010 Prius hybrid.

Toyota Vice President Shinichi Sasaki met with Japan’s transport minister on Wednesday, when he was urged to take notice of the mounting complaints against one of the automaker’s most popular models.

In Japan, 14 complaints about brakes in the Prius have been lodged since July. Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has asked Toyota to investigate, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.

“The complaints received via our dealers center around when drivers are on a bumpy road or frozen surface,” said Paul Nolasco, a Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman in Japan. “The driver steps on the brake, and they do not get as full of a braking feel as expected.”

In the United States, more than 100 complaints alleging poor brake performance have been lodged with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration against the 2010 Prius, a newly designed version of the car that was introduced last summer.

“NHTSA has received a number of complaints about a potential defect affecting the brake system in Toyota’s Prius hybrid and is conducting field work to examine the issue,” the agency said Wednesday.

A search of NHTSA’s complaint database turned up many similar-sounding complaints in the United States.

“I have been driving my 2010 Prius for 6 months and have experienced the following nearly 10 times,” one owner wrote. “When braking, if a pothole or bump in the road is hit, the car seemingly jerks forward/accelerates for a split second.”

Full coverage of Toyota recall

The Prius is Toyota’s third best-selling model in the United States, ranking behind the Camry mid-size sedan and the Corolla compact car.

Toyota’s public image, and its sales, have been hit by recent recalls involving unintended acceleration.

The automaker recalled 2.3 million vehicles on January 21 because of problems with sticking gas pedals and later halted the sale of the eight models involved in the recall.

Toyota’s U.S. sales plunged 16 percent in January as a result, even as sales of other automakers rose.

Toyota announced third-quarter results Thursday, posting a 10.2 percent rise in net revenue from the year before. The quarter ended December 31, three weeks before Toyota stopped selling the recalled models.

In a separate recall, about 4.2 million vehicles were called back in November for a problem in which the cars’ gas pedals could get stuck in some floor mats. The last-generation version of the Prius was included in that recall, which was expanded to include an additional 1.1 million cars last week.

Brakes in hybrid cars such as the Prius operate differently from brakes in most cars. In addition to standard brakes, which use friction from pads pressed against drums or rotors, hybrid cars use their electric motors to help slow the car, a process that generates electricity to recharge the batteries.

Confusion and fear at Toyota dealerships

by Peter Valdes-Dapena, senior write

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Toyota drivers are feeling mounting confusion and frustration as they attempt to fix their recalled cars. And Toyota dealers are under the gun as they face sometimes angry customers.

“It’s just getting crazy,” said Andy Phillips who heads the service department at Sandy Springs Toyota in Georgia. “Well, you know. I’m tired, the phones are exploding and, basically, I’ve had enough.”

Toyota said that owners of vehicles involved in the most recent recall could safely continue to drive them since the problem develops gradually over time and, even in the worst case, is easy to bring under control by simply applying the brakes. In an extreme case drivers may need to shift the car into neutral.

But that advice has already failed to calm many owners who now fear their cars may run out of control.

“I got this beautiful car, now I’m afraid to drive it,” said Maria Ciresi of Smithtown, New York. Ciresi owns a Toyota Corolla she bought in November.

After the recall Ciresi spoke to a Toyota Motor Corp. customer service agent who told her it was still safe to drive the car.

“I told her, ‘Alright I’ll drive the car, and I’ll get killed and my children will own Toyota and you’ll be first the first one to lose your job,’” she said.

Not every customer is as agitated as Ciresi. Laurie Roberts, a customer at Bay Ridge Toyota in Brooklyn, N.Y., described himself as a “Toyota guy.”

Roberts owns a Highlander now and he said he plans to continue driving it until it gets fixed. He’s owned seven Toyotas in the past.

Rick Doran, general manager at Arlington Toyota in Jacksonville, Florida, said his customers are mostly taking it all in stride.

“I would have expected it to be completely different than what it is,” he said. “We’ve had people who are concerned, but once we explain what the repairs are going to be and let them know it’s a voluntary recall they calm down.”

Still, there are some worriers, he said.

“I had a lady yesterday that called me on the phone and just blasted me,” he said. “She said she had a scratch on her car but didn’t want to drive to the dealer because she didn’t want the pedal to stick.”

Her car, it turned out, wasn’t even part of the recall.

Doran’s dealership will be ready to start making recall repairs as early as Wednesday night, he said.

Michael Ianelli, general manager of Bay Ridge Toyota in Brooklyn, N.Y., said his telephones are ringing constantly with customer calls. He sent a letter to his customers, a copy of which is posted at the dealership’s Web site.

“Please know that this current news, however troubling, will be handled with the swiftness, precision and care that you have become accustomed to as a Toyota owner,” the letter reads.

Toyota dealers are going to extremes to take care of customers.

Bob Carter, Toyota’s sales administration manager, sent a letter to dealers on Tuesday thanking them for their efforts and urging more.

Dealers are extending their hours, he wrote, opening additional repair stations and offering car washes. In return, Toyota is paying dealers as much as $75,000, depending on their sales volume, to cover additional expenses caused by the recalls.

“Bottom line – Toyota dealers ‘Get It,’” Carter wrote. “Toyota dealers already know the first and most critical step of rebuilding the confidence and trust of Toyota owners is the interaction and service they receive in your dealership.”

Ciresi said the manager of her local Toyota dealer arranged for a dinner meeting at the dealership with customers.

“He’s going to have to have earplugs in his ears,” she sad, “because we’re going to tell him what to do.”

CNNMoney.com’s Poppy Harlow, Aaron Smith and Blake Ellis and CNN’s Debra Krajnak contributed to this report.