[PghCT200h]

I have had my CT for three weeks now. During week two, with 306 miles, I experienced a lurch forward while braking. I was traveling at about 20mph. Since then, the brake pedal clicks when actuated and the brakes engage further down in the pedal stroke. Seems to work fine still, but the feel of the brake is sloppy and not in line with a performance oriented car.

Dealer is choosing to ignore it.

Has anyone else had any similar experiences? When pressing the brake pedal, anyone hear a clicking sound? Not real sure about the clicking, but the sloppy pedal is annoying. Otherwise, best car ever...

 

[YuDanJa]

I think I know what you are talking about, and probably experiencing the same. It's not quite like a 'normal' car we're used to where we slow to stop, ease up on the brake to get that smooth-as-possible stop at a red light... instead we feel and hear all kinds of buzzing noises, clicks, and slight 'jerks'. Being the first hybrid I've ever owned, I always assumed it was a normal thing. A neighbor of mine has a 2008 Prius I test drove a few months ago...I can't quite recall the "nature of the brakes", though.
Anyway, had my CT for about 4 months now...used to it and it seems normal. But, yes...there is a definite difference of a feel when I drive my minivan. I do need to adapt.

 

[Bigleftyinaz]

You have two brake systems,mechanical -pads and rotors and electric motor. You are not used to the electric motor part,I'm guessing. I find it to feel grabby at times. Other then that it feels and works fine on my end.

Now, you mention performance oriented car.This isn't that.This is a hybrid a fuel economy car but with a performance appearance

 

[kalo925]

I have had my CT for three weeks now. During week two, with 306 miles, I experienced a lurch forward while braking. I was traveling at about 20mph. Since then, the brake pedal clicks when actuated and the brakes engage further down in the pedal stroke. Seems to work fine still, but the feel of the brake is sloppy and not in line with a performance oriented car.

Dealer is choosing to ignore it.

Has anyone else had any similar experiences? When pressing the brake pedal, anyone hear a clicking sound? Not real sure about the clicking, but the sloppy pedal is annoying. Otherwise, best car ever...

Ask the dealer to allow you to test drive another CT if (when) there is one available. If there is an obvious difference you can push harder for a fix.

 

[PghCT200h]

You have two brake systems,mechanical -pads and rotors and electric motor. You are not used to the electric motor part,I'm guessing. I find it to feel grabby at times. Other then that it feels and works fine on my end.

Now, you mention performance oriented car.This isn't that.This is a hybrid a fuel economy car but with a performance appearance

I am aware of the nuances of a hybrid system. The experience I am having is a CHANGE in brake feel.

Also, thanks for the helpful correction. I am not an experienced race car driver like you may be. Recently, I have only driven turbo diesels and a prius. The CT out performs them on every level.

I am an idiot for thinking the CT should brake like it did for the first 300 miles. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[PghCT200h]

Ask the dealer to allow you to test drive another CT if (when) there is one available. If there is an obvious difference you can push harder for a fix.

The dealer mentioned the same problem Lexus has had with a car in california that needed an actuator. But, they're not offering me any repairs at this time.

Your idea is good. I will drive a ct at the dealer and get a feel of how different my car is from the dealers. Thank you.

 

[Bigleftyinaz]

I don't feel it's an issue with the car.If you are at a red light and the car does lunge forward,you might have relaxed on the pressure on the pedal which would have started the electric motor.

I've noticed I have to apply more pressure to pedal at red light then I have on normal systems.

Pay attention to that and see if it was that?

 

[Bob259]

With the Toyota/Lexus Hybrid system your first part of braking is regen (coupling of the generator/elec motor) for charging the battery. What you may be feeling and is common with this system is when the battery hits its full charge, per the program, the regen portion stops and the hydraulic portion takes over. At that point it is common for you to feel like you have to push the pedal further to make the car stop, it is also common to feel like you’re going faster or lunging as at the point of transition you are not fully engaged in the hydraulic system. Just a different feel and you’ll get used to it. My Highlander Hybrid was worse due to the weight of the vehicle.

 

[ecoCT]

Has anyone had a brake failure before?

 

[midcow3]

.... I have only driven turbo diesels and a prius. The CT out performs them on every level.
....

So since YOU SAY the CT out performs the Prius on every level, and every is an "ABSOLUTE" then that means you are saying the CT gets better mileage than the Prius ??? And has more space than the Prius ??

 

[ecoCT]

As I have asked around, I guess no one has faced brake failure except me. Has anyone had an accident with their ct due to the brakes? or anything? (RIP to my two month old ct)

 

[midcow3]

As I have asked around, I guess no one has faced brake failure except me. Has anyone had an accident with their ct due to the brakes? or anything? (RIP to my two month old ct)

Sorry about your wreck; you didn't say but I hope no one was hurt.
I saw the pictures you posted on another thread.

So your wreck was caused by brake failure ...did it just not stop and what cause the horrendous fire ?

I have not noticed any issues which my CT200h brakes. I also have a Prius which has similar brakes and they worked very well , including pre-collision when the tractor trailer I was following had the trailer come unhitched and skid to an abrupt stop directly in front of me.

 

[jettie1767]

With the Toyota/Lexus Hybrid system your first part of braking is regen (coupling of the generator/elec motor) for charging the battery. What you may be feeling and is common with this system is when the battery hits its full charge, per the program, the regen portion stops and the hydraulic portion takes over. At that point it is common for you to feel like you have to push the pedal further to make the car stop, it is also common to feel like you’re going faster or lunging as at the point of transition you are not fully engaged in the hydraulic system. Just a different feel and you’ll get used to it. My Highlander Hybrid was worse due to the weight of the vehicle.

+1. This is what I have read about Toyota's hybrid implementation. People coming from conventional cars will notice this behaviour.

 

[Kristi]

As I have asked around, I guess no one has faced brake failure except me. Has anyone had an accident with their ct due to the brakes? or anything? (RIP to my two month old ct)

ME!!! Just started to rain lightly on the freeway, going about 40mph, the guy in front of me slams on his brakes. I did the same, with plenty of room. My brakes locked up, I got sideways, and I slid into the back of him. No traction warnings, nothing. I know how traction control works and it worked like a charm on my 2008 IS250. It used to come on all the time on a certain road near my house when it rained because the road would get really muddy, but my CT's never comes on.

Also, I know what you're talking about with the jumping forward thing (I think). Mine does it as I'm slowing down, not at a complete stop. It feels as though it skips or something. Does that describe what you're talking about?

 

[Kristi]

ME!!! Just started to rain lightly on the freeway, going about 40mph, the guy in front of me slams on his brakes. I did the same, with plenty of room. My brakes locked up, I got sideways, and I slid into the back of him. No traction warnings, nothing. I know how traction control works and it worked like a charm on my 2008 IS250. It used to come on all the time on a certain road near my house when it rained because the road would get really muddy, but my CT's never comes on.

Also, I know what you're talking about with the jumping forward thing (I think). Mine does it as I'm slowing down, not at a complete stop. It feels as though it skips or something. Does that describe what you're talking about?

I just realized you were not the one talking about the brake jump thingy, sorry. That part was for PghCT200h....

 

[rehabmax]

I have had my CT for three weeks now. During week two, with 306 miles, I experienced a lurch forward while braking. I was traveling at about 20mph. Since then, the brake pedal clicks when actuated and the brakes engage further down in the pedal stroke. Seems to work fine still, but the feel of the brake is sloppy and not in line with a performance oriented car.

Dealer is choosing to ignore it.

Has anyone else had any similar experiences? When pressing the brake pedal, anyone hear a clicking sound? Not real sure about the clicking, but the sloppy pedal is annoying. Otherwise, best car ever...

I thought it was just me but now I know it isn't. This usually occurs when I first back out of the garage and apply the brakes. The car lurches even with light application on the pedal. It never happens when braking from a regular driving speed of 25 mph or faster. I guess it is a hybrid thing.

 

[Sleepypete]

Think there's three separate things here and I'm mostly guessing on two of them

Brake lurch - there's a handover between electric brake and mechanical brake that happens at about 7-8mph. Above that and the electric will try and harvest as much energy as it can. Below that and the mechanical brakes take over (I'm wondering if there's a bit of hunting between the two systems there).

Clicky sound - I suspect this is nothing more than the switch for the brake lights as it happens right at the top of the pedal travel. I have it on my CT as well. I bet we just have a Very High Quality (and noisy!) switch

Motor/engine handover - this is complete speculation ! There's actually two motor generators in the power train, one is used to moderate the speed of the engine. Could be a bit of confused software there too at the handover between motor/motor and engine. There's an excellent 15 minute video that shows the interactions between the parts of the powertrain.

I wonder if it's possible to send back feedback on the hybrid powertrain so we see improvements on our next cars (if it can't be loaded on current cars). I'd like to see the charge to 80% at 70mph highway speed become a charge to 60%, to leave room for energy harvesting when we slow down from highway speed. (Charge to 80-85 at 30/40mph is just fine )

 

[jimmyc13]

I've experienced this lurching forward several times while braking as well. I only happens on one particular road near me and it's at a signalized intersection. There are some bad potholes where you come to a stop, and if you hit them (there's no way to avoid them) while slowing down, the car lurches forward. Very alarming when it first happened to me, I don't get it either.

 

[Kristi]

I've experienced this lurching forward several times while braking as well. I only happens on one particular road near me and it's at a signalized intersection. There are some bad potholes where you come to a stop, and if you hit them (there's no way to avoid them) while slowing down, the car lurches forward. Very alarming when it first happened to me, I don't get it either.

This is exactly how mine is doing. It's at the same spot every time as I am slowing to go over railroad tracks. The road dips a little just before the tracks, and this happens. It's like it is gliding on ice or something. It's happened a couple of other places as well, but here it never fails. I'm going to ask my dealer about it.

 

[KKM]

This is exactly how mine is doing. It's at the same spot every time as I am slowing to go over railroad tracks. The road dips a little just before the tracks, and this happens. It's like it is gliding on ice or something. It's happened a couple of other places as well, but here it never fails. I'm going to ask my dealer about it.

That could happen if there are loose gravel??