WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. regulators said they were investigating brake failure complaints concerning 2007 and 2008 Toyota Camry hybrid sedans.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had received 59 complaints of problems with brakes, including brake failures and that the pace of complaints had accelerated. Fifty-five percent of the complaints had been filed in the past eight months, the agency said.
The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that two of the complaints included accidents and several included consumers alarmed that they were paying up to $3,000 for repairs.
"I am also aware that this issue is more common, especially on Toyota Camry hybrids around five years old," wrote one Toyota owner in a complained filed with the NHTSA.
"It is ridiculous to have to pay 10 percent of my car's original price since it is a widespread safety problem," the complaint said.
Toyota spokesman John Hanson said the company is cooperating with the NHTSA and that "this isn't something that we know for sure yet what the problem is or what the fix will be. That is what this portion of the process is about."
Toyota has been fined repeatedly for mismanaging recalls. In 2012, the NHTSA fined the company $17.35 million for a not issuing a recall of Lexus RX 350s and RX 450h sports utility vehicles in a timely fashion, the Times said.
In 2010, Toyota was fined $48.8 million for similar reasons concerning cars that were accelerating when the driver was not intending to do so.
