The 2000 Toyota Echo has 4 recalls, all centered on the same braking issue: under cold conditions, the brake booster can lose vacuum assist, requiring significantly more pedal pressure to stop the vehicle and extending stopping distances.
These filings describe variations of the same underlying problem. In cold weather, especially at highway speeds without allowing the engine to warm up, moisture from the crankcase ventilation system can freeze inside the intake manifold and block the vacuum supply to the brake booster. A separate but related condition affects automatic transmission models specifically: when the air conditioning and other electrical loads are running right after a cold start, intake manifold vacuum can drop too low to properly support the brake booster. In both cases, the brakes still work, but the driver must press the pedal harder than normal to achieve the same stopping force.