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Toyota has told dealers it's preparing a plan to
repair the brakes on thousands of hybrid Prius cars in the U.S., a problem unrelated to unintended acceleration issues in other Toyota models. 


      In a message sent Friday night to dealers, a Toyota group vice
president, Bob Carter, said the company is working on a plan and
will disclose more details early next week. More than 100 drivers
of 2010 Prius cars have complained that their brakes seemed to fail
momentarily when they were driving on bumpy roads. The U.S.
government says the problem is suspected in four crashes and two
minor injuries.

      Public awareness of the problem "has prompted considerable
customer concern, speculation, and media attention due to the
significance of the Prius image," Carter said in the e-mail. "We
want to assure our dealers that we are moving rapidly to provide a
solution for your existing customers."

      Toyota blames a software glitch and says it has already fixed
vehicles in production. But it's still deciding how to handle
repairs on 270,000 Priuses that were sold in the U.S. and Japan
starting last year. The company could announce a full-fledged
safety recall or simply ask owners to bring their vehicles in for
repairs, since the brakes aren't failing completely.

      The problem isn't related to separate recalls involving millions
of Toyotas with defective gas pedals and floor mats that could
cause unintended acceleration.
      

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Toyota has told dealers it's preparing a plan to
repair the brakes on thousands of hybrid Prius cars in the U.S., a problem unrelated to unintended acceleration issues in other Toyota models.

Toyota preparing to announce Prius fix next week

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