Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (service brakes, ABS, rotors and pads, parking brake).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2011 Toyota Corolla owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
I was on a decline on the off ramp, and when I went to stop for a lite, my brakes would not stop my car. I tried to stop, and felt as if the car sped up. I had complained to the dealer and had them check my breaks four times because of a stopping issue. Shortly before my crash my breaks would screech, and I thought it to be durt on my breaks, or break dust. I had taken the car to a recommended break shop to get my breaks checked out. They said the break pads, roders, calipers etc were in good condition with only one or two issues. I asked them to replace the roders, and break pads with OEM parts. The issue now sits with the breaks being depressed as hard as one can depress them, only to have the car not stop, and feel like it was speeding up. At the time of the crash, you could hear the motoar speeding up even with my foot only on the break and clearly the car would not stop.
I came to an intersection and stopped, then took my foot off the brake before noticing that the light was still red. The other vehicle was roughly 30 feet away when I pushed on the brakes. I should have easily been able to stop. Brakes did not engage and I had been pushing them so hard and for so long that I fractured my ankle. There were not even skid marks at the accident scene. My car had front end frame damage from the accident (totaled), and the airbags never deployed. Additionally, in the past I had noticed the rpms rising for no reason while car was idling, and the acceleration issue, where the vehicle seemed to ?hang? Between speeds of about 35 and 40 and 60 and 65mph. The rpms I only noticed once-so I did not report it, and the ?hanging? Was my own ignorance (I haven?t had a 4 cylinder in a long time and this was my first?and probably last?Toyota). …
I was approaching a four way stop at the appropriate speed limit of 35mph before the impact. As I was getting closer, I went ahead and decelerated. I've had problems with the brakes in the past. As I got closer to the stop sign, in a blink of an eye, I was being dragged by a large Chevy heavy duty truck across the intersection. The airbags did not deploy either. The impact completely dismantled my front end. After the paramedics and fire fighters arrive, I was rushed to the er for reported back and neck injuries. I was looked over and was discharged barely being able to walk. The car was towed to a repair shop quite a distance away from my home. My insurance said the shop could be trusted. I asked over 20 people and each person said that the damage from this car has to result in being totaled. The mechanic said otherwise. …
The accident happened in the house-attached garage. I already entered the garage, and the car is almost stopped. Then I need to hit the brake thoroughly to fully stop the car. I hit the brake pedal however the car accelerated suddenly, jumped ahead and crash into the house wall. Even though everything happened in a second, I'm sure that it it the larger pedal(which is the brake) I engaged with in that second. I have driven this car for 3 years, and parked in this garage for months. So I'm pretty familiar with the car and the place. Luckily, there is no people got injured, and the air bag didn't explode. The wall was hit significantly, and the front of my car was damaged.
Tl* the contact rented a 2010 Toyota Corolla from enterprise rental. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH and moving to the next lane, there was a puddle of water as she depress the brake the vehicle started spinning around causing her to crash into the retainer wall. The driver side front was badly damaged and all the air bags in the vehicle deployed. No injuries were reported and the police was not notified. The vehicle was towed back to the rental vehicle shop. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 41,689.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that while at a stop light and after depressing the accelerator pedal, the brakes erroneously activated and abruptly stopped the vehicle. The failure also occurred while driving in reverse. A loud noise was present when the failure occurred. No additional information was available. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 47,000.
Tl* Takata recall. The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Corolla. The contact waited one year to have the vehicle repaired per NHTSA campaign number: 16V340000 (air bags). The dealer (town and country Toyota, 9101 south blvd, charlotte, nc) informed the contact that the battery and rotors were defective due to the vehicle not being driven while waiting for the recall parts to arrive. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
My car seems to be accelerating as opposed to braking when I apply brake at very low speeds (around 20 MPH). I noticed it first in October 2014 and thought it was random incident or my misjudgment. Later that year and in the following year my wife complained about the same thing when she was driving. Fortunately we haven't had any accidents or crashes in this vehicle so far.
Around 250-300 miles I went over a dip in the road at about 40 MPH and went to hit the brakes while taking a turn that was approaching a stoplight when the brakes would not let me push them down and would give me feedback as if ABS was active. After a couple seconds I was able to reapply pressure to the brakes to stop. This happened a total of eight times in 2,100 miles. The car has been in some close calls, and all the incidents happened after hitting a dip while trying to reduce my speed from over 50 MPH to the time of hitting the dips. It feels like ABS is activating, and in turn not allowing me to apply pressure to the brakes. Another incident happened as I was going down the freeway approaching traffic and I went over a dip on the freeway and the brakes would not allow me to stop for about a couple of seconds. …
Approx. A week after this vehicle was purchased it was involved in a crash on 08/29/2011. This vehicle was crashed due to an higher than usual rev which delays the time for a vehicle to come to a stop. The rev on this vehicle does not decline sometimes when releasing the accelerator. The vehicle came with Toyota car so I have went to the Toyota dealership many times to have a multi point inspection and they said everything was perfectly fine. They were unable to "duplicate" the issue. Feeling like there is nothing I could do I gave up and just continued to drive it with extra caution and make payments on my lease till the term was over. About a year later at 11,000 on my recent service visit the Toyota mechanic told me I needed new brakes. He stated that this was unusual at this mileage and brakes should be fine, but on my car the brakes were completely gone. …
Brake complaints in other Corolla years
Frequently asked questions
How common are brake problems on the 2011 Toyota Corolla?
NHTSA has 21 complaints about the brakes of the 2011 Toyota Corolla, 4% of the model year's 584 complaints. The component named most often is antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2011 Toyota Corolla brake problems?
No. NHTSA lists no brakes recall for the 2011 Toyota Corolla, though it has 9 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2011 Toyota Corolla brake problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 35,000 miles, and 44% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 7 crashes, 0 fires and 4 injuries to brakes problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.