Corolla brake pedal bottoming out

[delbois]

I picked up my 2020 Corolla TS a few weeks ago. It was a little used demonstrator with only 2k on the clock. As  expected there was surface rust on all the discs however general use over a couple of hundred miles (incl sustained braking and sharp braking) has failed to remove the rust from the rear NS disc. The opposite rear side and front discs are now fairly shiny. As I was concerned the calipers/glide pins were sticky through lack of use I tried some firm pumps on the brake pedal whilst parked and was surprised to find I was able to bottom out the pedal against the floor. Is this normal or something to raise at the next service in a few weeks? To clarify when driving the brakes are very effective and well able to perform an emergency stop.

[Catlover]

Hi Derek, when you said you tried firm pumps on the brake pedal whilst parked, was that parked with the car in Ready mode or with car completely switched off?

[Corolla2004]

My goodness, this doesn't sound right at all. I would not drive the car until you've checked the brake fluid reservoir for loss of brake fluid as the result of a leak. Does pumping the pedal improve the travel?

[Deek]

24 minutes ago, Catlover said:

Hi Derek, when you said you tried firm pumps on the brake pedal whilst parked, was that parked with the car in Ready mode or with car completely switched off?

Sorry Joe and John - I should have made it clearer.... the car was was Ready Mode. It took reasonable force to reach the bottom of the pedal's travel.... about the same as an emergency stop. Pumping doesn't seem to alter the hardness or affect the length of travel. The fluid reservoir is at max. As I said in my initial post I have no issues with the brakes when driving and I've tried some serious braking from 60mph and they're extremely effective. 

[TonyHSD]

Hi guys, nothing to worry here and it is how brakes should behave in Toyota hybrid, these are different from standard Toyota car ( non hybrid) , there is an electric pump for the rear brakes and servo and manual connections to the front brakes. Pumping hard will take the pedal down to the bottom, this is also how it activates the hill start assist on older hybrids like Prius gen 3 and Auris gen1. Also this method can be used for manual bleeding of the system without using Toyota diagnostic tools. 👍For the discs I noticed even fairly new cars suffer from rust, if the disc doesn’t clean up within 60 -100 miles drive may not clean at all even after 1000 miles, it will require dismantling, cleaning and lubricating of the slider pins, I do that twice a year and it’s well worth the effort. 

[Mooly]

If you can do this SAFELY it might be worth a quick hard stop while in reverse from a decent speed. That will throw the weight onto the rears and should allow them to bite a bit harder. 

Obviously be very careful if try that... a deserted car park might be best.