Prius may be next on Toyota recall list

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A leading Japanese newspaper is reporting that troubled car company Toyota, already stung by the massive recall of several models to fix an accelerator problem, is about to tell some Prius owners there's a problem with their anti-lock-brake system.

Although Toyota did admit that the 2010 Prius has anti-lock brake problems, it's still denying that it will recall just over half a million Prius hybrids.

"It's the brick on brick, you know," Patrick Olsen of Cars.com said. "Bad news upon bad news. That just kills your reputation."

Complaints from over 100 drivers of the Prius models, including reports of four crashes due to faulty breaks, are bringing up a new host of troubles.

Toyota maintains that the problem has been fixed but only in models that have been sold since late January.

All this couldn't come at a worse time as this was the first week that Toyota tried to reclaim its reputation by fixing faulty gas pedals in a number of its popular models.

Toyota is not alone in their worries. A U.S. House committee plans on holding a hearing next week to look into whether the car company and U.S. transportation officials acted quickly enough.

"I think we have to look to government's failure throughout this entire period, and that's really where our primary jurisdiction is," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said.

According to a statement on the Toyota Web site the company will monitor the situation with the Prius' brakes and keep the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration informed.

There's no word yet from local dealers on how they will address a possible recall of the Prius that would add more work on top of already busy mechanics.