Skip to main content

Parking brake flaw prompts Toyota to recall 340,000 Priuses worldwide

2017 Toyota Prius Prime
2017 Toyota Prius Prime Miles Branman/Digital Trends
Toyota is recalling 340,000 Priuses worldwide due to a parking brake issue that could potentially cause accidents. The flaw can cause the brake to fail, increasing the risk of rollaways, but Toyota has not reported any incidents thus far. The recall pertains to 2016 and 2017 Prius models produced between August 2015 and October 2016.

“On the involved vehicles, there is a possibility that the parking brake could become inoperative,” Toyota said in a statement. “If this occurs and the driver exits the vehicle with the transmission in a gear other than ‘Park’ while the ignition is on, the vehicle could roll away, increasing the risk of a crash.”

Recommended Videos

Most of the recalled vehicles reside abroad, with 212,000 affected Priuses registered in Japan and 17,000 in Europe. There are 92,000 cars in the United States, though, and the tragic story of actor Anton Yelchin’s death in a vehicle rollaway incident (involving a Jeep Grand Cherokee) is still fresh in our minds. Toyota says it will notify owners of the affected vehicles by mail starting in November, and dealers will be standing by to fix the issue at no charge. According to the brand, the only remedy needed is the installation of new clips on the parking brake cable dust boots. Drivers can check their vehicle’s status by going to Toyota’s dedicated recall website and entering their VIN.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

It’s not all bad news on the Toyota front, however. At a joint news conference in Japan on Wednesday, the automaker revealed it has begun partnership talks with Suzuki. Though there’s nothing tangible to announce yet, the potential business marriage would give Suzuki access to Toyota’s comparably massive research, development, and production capabilities, while also granting Toyota insight into building smaller, more inexpensive cars for markets like India. We’ll be following the story closely as it develops, so for all your automotive news, keep your browsers tuned to DT Cars.

Andrew Hard
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Andrew first started writing in middle school and hasn't put the pen down since. Whether it's technology, music, sports, or…
Digital Trends’ Top Tech of CES 2025 Awards
Top Tech of CES

Las Vegas is overrun. Every billboard in town is shouting about AI, hotel bar tops now sport a sea of laptops, and after hours The Strip is elbow to elbow with engineers toting yard-long beers.

That means CES, the year’s biggest tech bacchanalia, has come to town, and Digital Trends editors have spent the last four days frolicking among next year’s crop of incredible TVs, computers, tablets, and EVs. We’re in heaven.

Read more
Sony and Honda’s Afeela 1 EV makes more sense at CES than in the real world
Afeela 1 front quarter view.

The Sony car is almost here. After its creation via a joint venture with Honda in 2022 and two years’ worth of prototypes, the electronics giant’s Afeela brand is finally taking reservations for its first electric vehicle, with deliveries scheduled to start in 2026.

But will it be worth the wait? Coinciding with the opening of reservations, Sony Honda Mobility brought updated prototypes of the Afeela 1 (as it’s now officially known) to CES 2025, representing what California customers (Afeela is only taking reservations in that state) who put down a $200 refundable deposit can expect when they take delivery.

Read more
Bose wants to dominate car audio, and I heard its next-gen 3D automotive speakers
Bose logo on a speaker grille

Bose’s automotive audio business is huge, and it’s set to get even bigger. The company has been making big plays in car audio for some time now. The audio company works with premium brands like Porsche, building high-end speakers that allow drivers to experience high-quality audio on the road, whether they’re carting the family around in an Escalade or weaving around the highway (don’t do that) in a Porsche Macan.

But while it has a solid selection of audio brands under its belt, the world of personal audio is also evolving. Mercedes-Benz showed off its Dolby Atmos system at CES last year, and now, a year later, plenty of other brands are joining the trend. At CES 2025, Bose walked me through its current lineup of automotive audio products, as well as a sneak peek of what’s to come.
Immersive audio
The big trend in all areas of personal audio right now essentially boils down to supporting 3D audio formats like Dolby Atmos. Consumer home theater products are increasingly offering up-firing and side-firing speakers that can bounce audio around the room to simulate height and surround effects, while headphone brands are increasingly developing spatialized audio tech that can convert stereo audio into simulated spatial audio.

Read more