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Toyota recalled the current model of its signature vehicle, the Toyota Prius, for brake problems Tuesday, leaving some of Minnesota's 1,184 new Prius owners disappointed in a car company once synonymous with quality.

"I'm disappointed in the quality," said David Brostrom of St. Paul, who bought a 2010 Prius last July. "The Toyota culture has not turned out to be what I thought it was -- first and foremost focused on quality and safety."

He knows what he's talking about.

"Shortly after we got the car, my wife tapped quite lightly on the brake and experienced a noticeable surge of acceleration," Brostrom said. "It wasn't pronounced. But it was kind of unnerving."

Tuesday, Toyota recalled 437,000 hybrids for brake problems, including the 2010 Prius and the Lexus HS250h and Toyota Sai. Toyota had previously recalled another 8 million vehicles for accelerator pedal problems. In a separate action Tuesday, Toyota also recalled 7,300 of its newest Camry cars in the U.S. to fix a potential leak of brake fluid that could interfere with braking.

Including Tuesday's Prius announcement, more than 38,000 Minnesotans have been affected so far by the Toyota recalls, Minnesota car registrations show.

The string of recalls has led Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds, two of the guides to used car prices, to cut trade-in values on recalled Toyota models. That's left some new Toyota owners feeling they have to keep what they've bought.

Among those feeling stuck with a Toyota is Maria Gatz of Bloomington, who is "a little shaky" about her recalled 2010 Toyota Corolla, for which she and her husband traded a Chevy truck.

"I'd give anything to have my truck back," Gatz said of her new Toyota, which was recalled because the vehicle could unexpectedly accelerate. "But because of lower trade-in values for recalled Toyotas, I don't think we could get our value out of it at this point."

Gatz sees bleak humor in her situation.

"It was our first Toyota," Gatz said. "And the stinger is that we were influenced by our salesman, who told us that Toyota had never had a recall."

Meanwhile, grim headlines for Toyota continued Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. In other developments:

•State Farm, the largest U.S. auto insurer, said it had informed federal regulators late in 2007 about growing reports of unexpected acceleration in Toyotas. That disclosure raised new questions about whether the government missed clues about problems.

•Congressional investigators cited growing evidence that not all the causes of Toyota's acceleration problems have been identified. A staff memo from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which had planned an oversight hearing for Wednesday, said there was substantial evidence that remedies such as redesigned floor mats have failed to solve problems. The hearing was postponed until Feb. 24 due to snow in Washington.

•Federal safety officials said they were examining complaints from Toyota Corolla owners about steering problems.

Despite the headlines, some local owners of new Priuses were philosophical, although they disagreed on whether their glasses were half full or half empty.

James Winslow of Eagan says he's disappointed, "but not totally surprised. This car has a lot of innovations, and I did think about waiting a year until they got all the bugs out of it. But I still think we bought the best vehicle. We really like the mileage, which in warm weather was over 50 miles per gallon."

"We're happy with the Prius because we don't seem to have a problem," said Robert Drassal of St. Paul, who just replaced his first Prius with a 2010 model, and who has been a loyal Toyota customer for more than 20 years. "I don't think this recall is as bad as it's made out to be."

"Worry is maybe too strong a word," said Jack Woodcock of Brooklyn Park. "We're concerned, obviously. But Toyota has had such a good reputation for quality for so long that I don't think this is a huge negative for them, especially among Toyota buyers like my mom, who owned Toyotas for years and swore by them."

Charles Sedgwick of Edina, who likes the Prius gadgets, including a back-up camera and a GPS unit, said he's not afraid of the braking problem. "If I'm driving on the highway I'll just hang back behind the car ahead a little more. I'm not upset with Toyota at all."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. alex@startribune.com • 612-673-4553 ghowatt@startribune.com • 612-673-7192