This morning, as my mom was maneuvering out of our backyard, she hit our neighbor's garage. I was still sleeping when my brother told me she got into an accident. Turns out, our '01 Toyota Highlander would not brake. She had put it in reverse and suddenly, it wouldn't stop. The previous day, the check engine light went on. Today, she was taking it to the mechanics. We did notify insurance. I google-ed any recalls that could've taken place and I found this.
Can anyone provide any feedback? I'm not even sure if this is the right place to post this thread. Just wanted to know if anyone has any idea of what went wrong. Thank you!

 

Sorry to hear what happened...is your mom and anyone else OK?

The recall is brake related as they say it can allow air into the master cylinder, which is the heart of the brake system.

I honestly dont know what the insurance will do. I don't think it would be possible to blame Toyota, because that recall was introduced in 2001 and should have been done a long time ago.

Are you guys the original owners? If so, did you receive a letter to inform you about the recall?

If you are not the original owners, I would ask Toyota to find out if that car had the recall done or not..

I would still have the car inspected by Toyota, and let the insurance handle it. Probably might have to pay the deductible for your insurance though....

 

bring it to dealership to have it checked out, i think that's the best. but i agree with rollin, the recall was back in 01, it's been 7 yrs (if it's the master cylinder related)

 

Awww Iris i'm sorry this happened to you How's your mom? Is she okay? I Hope all gets fixed!!

 

You might want to get it independently checked out as the Toyota dealer might 'side' with Toyota against you to avoid a claim or lawsuit.

Sorry to hear about your Mom's accident and hope she's doing ok.

 

Even if master-cylinder related, it would still be difficult to lose ALL braking power. Since the 1960's (the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 made it Federal law), all new vehicles covered by the Act, including the Highlander, have had a split master cylinder, with two separate brake fluid compartments.
Each fluid compartment works two of the four wheels....either the left front/right rear or the right front/left rear. That way, if there is a defect in the master cylinder or brake lines that allows air in or brake fluid to leak out, you still have two working brakes on two wheels in an emergency. The X-shaped crossed-system allows the two remaining brakes on opposite wheels, front and back, to keep the car from swerving, which is what would happen if both brakes were out on one side.

From what you describe, it sounds to me like more of a defect or failure in the power-brake booster. Even then, upon loss of vaccum for power assist, an emergency rod activates that allows direct but unboosted activation of the master cylinder. But, with some vehicles, when this happens, the effort required will be much higher than with normal power assist. Depending on your mother's size and the physical strength of her legs, perhaps the braking effort required under those circumstances might have been more than she could muster, making the car appear to be totally without brakes but not really so.


All this, of course, refers to normal, conventional, hydraulic power-assisted brakes......the notorious, failure-prone Mercedes electro-hydraulic braking system is a whole different ball game.