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Dear Toyota,

I know you'd like to hear some good news for a change, but here's a news flash of a decidedly unfriendly kind.  The problem with the Prius brakes isn't confined to the 2010 Prius.  I have a 2006 and it, too, is afflicted with the "soft stopping" problem.  And since nobody seems to have notified the engineers in Japan of my visit to my dealer last year, maybe a little public outcry will help get the message through.

I bought my pre-owned 2006 Prius in early 2009 with about 24,000 miles on it.  About a month after taking posession I noticed a problem with the ABS brakes.  It was the weirdest thing.  They actually failed to work when I hit a bump or pothole.  Go figure.  ABS Brakes that don't work.

So I went to my friendly neighborhood Toyota dealer for service.  I got a very interesting response.  "Don't worry about it.  That's how they're supposed to work."  Nice answer.  ABS brakes really aren't supposed to stop a car. They are really there more for appearance than performance.  When the ABS brakes fail to actually stop the car, "... that's [just] how they're supposed to work."

Last night, when it was made official - that Toyota decided to recall 400,000+ 2010 Prius' worldwide - I turned to my wife and informed her, "That's not the last one."  I know, and I suspect you know, too, that every Prius since 2004 is plagued with the same "software" glitch that is causing the 2010 Prius ABS brake problem.

So before it's too late, before you wind up looking like you are covering up yet again, I would strongly suggest that you take my car for a spin.  Drive it over a pothole and hit the brakes.  Drive it over a small bump, hit the brakes, and watch what happens.  It happened again to me last night in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven convenience store.  I drove over a rippled, snow-covered area of the lot and the ABS brakes once-again decided to take a vacation to a much, much warmer climate.

The good news is that I now expect my brakes to fail.  So I know that if I hit the brakes when I drive over a bump I'm going to wait a moment for the brakes to kick in.  It's just a moment, but it's a terrifying moment.

The other shoe is about to drop.  Are you ready?