Owner-reported complaints naming the brake system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming service brakes, the antilock braking system, brake hoses, master cylinders or the parking brake. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2023 Toyota Sienna Hybrid submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 25 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
The brakes on the hybrid system release during braking. Which send the van lurching forward, this typically happens a lower speeds, under 20mph. Which makes it unsafe as you do not stop when you are expecting.
while braking and coming to a stop the van surges forward (while brakes are being applied). This has nearly caused accidents on 2 occasions, and has happened 2 other times in the past few months
When braking, there is a sudden jerk and surge in power at low speeds. It feels like you are losing control of the car. It feels unsafe to drive the car.
2023 Toyota Sienna occasionally, without warning, "lurches" forward at low speeds when braking. While putting steady pressure on the brake when coming to a stop at a stop sign or traffic light etc. it feels as if the brakes stop applying pressure and if we wouldn't have quick reflexes to brake harder, we would roll out into the road or into the car in front of us. I believe it is something to do with the transition between regenerative braking (vehicle is a hybrid) and the hydraulic braking. I have spoken to Toyota, and they don't have any recall. People posting on online forums seem to believe there is a software update (T-SB-0047-24) that helps address the concern. Toyota charges to diagnose and apply software updates as the vehicle is out of warranty. I believe this to be a safety issue and something Toyota should cover. Based on my online search, there seems to be a lot of people with the same issue. This has been an ongoing issue the last couple of years and I'm thinking it should be reported. I have not brought this to a dealer to have diagnosed. These are largely family vehicles and my wife, and I don't feel very comfortable every time it happens.
Front brakes make a clicking noise that happens when accelerating and breaking, the brake pads may have some play or even the calipers may be malfunctioning. Vehicle is still under warranty and Toyota service center refuses to address the issue. They want me to spend $160+ to have them grease the brake pads, but they don't guarantee that this will fix the problem. On a fairly new hybrid van that has almost no wear on the brakes, this shouldn't happen, and when it does, Toyota should acknowledge and address the issue.
Brakes will intermittently lurch when coming to a stop with normal braking pressure. The lurch feels like the brakes have stopped working and the driver has to press harder on the brake to avoid rear ending the vehicle in front. Brake pedal feels normal the entire time. Dealership is unable to duplicate on a test drive since the issue is intermittent.
When I go to brake the brakes seem to malfunction and skip engagement. I’ve had acceleration happen in the vehicle when I brake. At one time this caused my speed to jump while braking, I went from 5 to 10 MPH. This now happens several times a week.
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Sienna Hybrid. The contact stated while driving and depressing the brake pedal to come to a stop, the vehicle jolted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the contact was informed that the vehicle was operating as designed. Additionally, the contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the messages "Parking Brake Malfunction", "Parking Brake Unavailable" and "Door Ajar" were displayed. The gear shift indicator light and the parking brake warning light were illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the main wiring harness underneath the gear shifter was corroded. The dealer informed the contact the wiring harness would be replaced at the contact's expense. The contact stated that the failure occurred because there was no protective shielding around the wiring harness. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 44,242.
multiple times this has been an issue. I stepped on the break and the car essentially leaps forward typically when going up down or straight. In November 2024 it happened while going up a hill slowly and I bumped into the vehicle ahead of me. My vehicle had no damage, but the car in front of me had to get a new skid plate and my insurance doubled because of it. Since the incident in November 2024, my car has unintentionally accelerated intermittently. finally, April 2025 this happened my car started shaking jolted forward, engine revving, and then my check engine light came on then immediately contacted my local dealership and scheduled an appointment to get my car in. They have had my vehicle since then and have said it is not safe to give it back to me so I am currently driving a loaner vehicle.
The brakes on my '23' Hybrid Toyota Sienna seem to have a sudden acceleration when braking at times. Typically, it happens when braking going down a hill or around a curve (at slower speeds) and sometimes when trying to come to a full stop. This has caused me to almost rear-end other vehicles on several occasions and has also caused me to go slightly beyond the stop sign, putting the nose of my car in the street. It is not reproducible at the dealership. It has happened since I drove it off the lot in July of 2023 and happens randomly and without warning. This is scary when you seem to be braking in plenty of time to keep safe distances and then you suddenly get propelled forward! It happens weekly and has happened weekly since purchase. In speaking with other owners, this sounds like a common issue.
intermittent brake issues, primarily characterized by a "brake release" sensation where the brakes momentarily disengage while slowing down, causing the vehicle to lurch forward unexpectedly, sometimes happening during turns or on uneven roads and downhills and even while stopping at any light or a normal road sometimes
Car lunges forward 10ft or so intermittently when braking is applied. This is very dangerous given situations. Toyota dealer is given new car models under 36k miles a free fix, but they would charge high mileage cars a lot of money. I wish NHTSA demand Toyota provide free fix for this issue.
When the vehicle hits a bump or you are turning while using the brakes, it feels like the brakes cut out for a moment and the vehicle surges further forward faster than you expect it to.
During braking, when almost stopped, the vehicle lunges forward so I have to press harder on the brake so I don’t hit the car in front of me. No potholes or irregularities in the pavement. It’s just a loss of brakes. It’s happened several times now.
When braking vehicle feels like it is being bumped from behind. Dealership says it is the vehicle switching from regenerative braking to normal breaking but it causes the car to lunge forward. It feels like the vehicle is going to lunge into oncoming traffic. I have to slam on the brakes to stop it. It’s very unsettling.
See attached document for complaint.
when approaching a red light (or any attempt to slow down) and I press on the brakes, some times the car starts to de-accelerate normally, and then a second or two later, de-acceleration stops for a brief moment. Eventually, the breaking system makes the car stop, but the distance it runs until total stop has definitely been compromised.... plus, the scare factor is concerning. This happens randomly.
While braking car will lunge forward regardless of speed. It happens several times a week since purchase of vehicle. I had a few near miss accidents where I almost collided with a vehicle in front of me. There is no warning lamp indicator for this event. Investigating on the internet gave me insight that this is a common problem not being addressed by Toyota.
When braking vehicle will accelerate for a brief 1-2 seconds then go back to braking, causing sudden jolts forward and increase distances needed to stop the vehicle, this was only noticed recently in the last 6 months and are at 20K miles as of July 2024, but is becoming more and more frequent, this happened twice on 7/8/2024
While slowing down to about 10mph to turn, brakes suddenly disengage and the car lurches forward. This happens every day, sometimes multiple times a day.
Problem with regenerative braking while braking. When coming to a stop the regenerative braking is engaged and sometimes the regenerative braking disengages before a complete stop causing a change in required braking force to stop the vehicle. This can cause a sudden jerk of the vehicle when having to press the brakes harder which can cause a whiplash movement.
I turned right to park behind another car on the driveway and my car suddenly accelerated hitting the car in front. The collision was strong enough that the car that was hit then hit a barrier at the home.
Approximately 4-5 times it has felt like the brakes have slipped or let go for a very brief moment. I have either been braking over bumps, or braking going downhill. It is a slipping feeling, like is felt when briefly sliding on a patch of ice, or hydroplaning. It occurs for only a second or two. It has happened when conditions were dry.
UNKNOWN. Randomly, while lightly braking, the vehicle will lunge forward. Does not always happen and unable to recreate it but has almost caused a few accidents. Van lunges forward for a second or so and then the brakes will re-catch or work again and the vehicle slows again. Scary. Have gone to toyota dealership but they insist nothing is wrong and they haven't heard of this issue. Forums with other Sienna hybrid owners state the same issue. Unsafe. Has happened multiple times, happened twice this last week.
While driving slowly into a parking slot, the brakes released and the vehicle surged over a parking block and into a sign. On a couple of time previously, I have encountered similar situations but never when parking at slow speed.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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