Owners have filed 10,754 complaints on the Toyota Prius, covering 2001–2026. The system named most often is Service Brakes (1,791 reports). Worst years by volume: 2010, 2007, 2008; cleanest: 2026, 2021, 2020. 851 reports describe a crash, 59 a fire, 14 a death. On average the car was 5.1 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Toyota Prius
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 10,754 Prius complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 1,791 Read
I have owned two 2007 toyota prius. Both have been totaled due to what I believe is a failure of the hybrid drivetrain to disengage during emergency braking. First 2007 prius, purchased new in 2007. On dec 9, 2009, to avoid a collision, I fully pressed the brakes with full force however the prius continued to propel…
My dad was driving on the highway. He said that he stepped on the brakes and the brakes did not work. He got into an accident in which the all airbags were deployed and the car was totaled. The car only had 700 miles. I believe this was the second time that my dad drove this car on the highway. My mom, who was a…
Attempted to park in my garage and overshot the turn. The brake then failed to stop and I dented my garage outer wall. I reversed my car and tried to reposition it to go inside the garage, putting it on drive. However, the brake pedal made the car accelerate and the car went on reverse. It then crashed into the…
Electrical System 366 Read
Toyota prius (2008) - fire after minor accident (battery fire) after a fairly standard rear end collision (25-30 mph), my toyota prius caught fire and burst into flames. I was stopped at a red light on a city street in chicago, il when the accident occurred, my vehicle was not in motion. Within minutes of impact (to…
On 05/22/2009, my husband and his [xxx] had a car accident. My husband's car was hit from behind when he was driving a toyota prius with his friend sitting in the front passage seat. The backs of the chairs of the driver seat and front passage seat were move and broken.the seat back shaft damage failure. My husband…
On August 15, 2025, I was backing my vehicle when the rear view camera screen went blank, providing no image of what was behind me. With no warning and no image, I collided with a rock and landscape, causing damage to the rear of my vehicle. At the time of this incident, my vehicle had an open, unrepaired safety…
Vehicle Speed Control 310 Read
The contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. When the contact first drove the vehicle, he noticed smoke emitting from the dashboard area. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they advised him that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle and no repairs were made. On approximately twelve occasions afterward, while…
My 2005 toyota prius accelerated even when the accelerator pedal wasn't depressed. The brakes were burned off the car in an attempt to bring the vehicle to a stop. The car crashed into the side of a gas station. There were no injuries to people, but the car was destroyed by the impact and a fire. The side of the gas…
As I was pulling my car into a parking space with the brake applied lightly, the car suddenly lost braking and lurched forward when the front wheels touched the curb. This caused the front of the car to jump the curb and hit a tree a foot or two away. My foot was on the brake during this and the car did not brake…
Air Bags 291 Read
The contact owns a 2024 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while parallel parking and straightening the vehicle, he tapped the accelerator pedal, and the vehicle suddenly accelerated aggressively and crashed into a stoop. While reversing previously on three occasions, the vehicle braked suddenly without application…
Airbags never deployed front or side. Vehicle equipped and activated SOS system did not work. Vehicle was a total loss and I nearly died in the process
My husband and I rented a car from Avis on June 19, 2023. THe car they we selected was not available so they picked a prius out of the lot and gave it to us. On the morning of June 20, I was slowly turning into the driveway at [XXX] , my foot on the brake the whole time to slow to a stop so I could park parallel to my…
Exterior Lighting 196 Read
The 2026 Toyota Prius illuminates a road distance on an unlight, rural road of 110 feet on low beam. Parked at the beginning of one white dashed center line, the low beams illuminate two additional white dashed lines. Road lines are a standard 12 ft painted line with a 37 ft interval between lines for a total of 110ft…
My vehicle has an ongoing issue with the headlights not being bright enough to drive at night with. I have replaced the headlights more than 5 times now over the course of a year, each time with different brands including Toyota OEM headlights. Each time, they are still not sufficiently bright enough to see with at…
I purchased the toyota certified pre-owned prius in july 2013. I first had an issue with the headlight in august 2014 when the headlight kept coming loose from it's casing. This happened again on april 24, 2015 only this time the headlight fell to rest on some plastic and caused the headlight assembly to start on…
Power Train 135 Read
The contact owns a 2015 toyota prius. When the vehicle's gear shifter park position button was activated, the engine was turned on, and the vehicle was unoccupied, it accelerated forward on its own. The vehicle crashed into a rock. The air bags had not deployed. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries…
I entered my parked, stationary prius, pressed my right foot on the brake pedal, disengaged the parking brake and pressed the on/off button to turn the car on. My foot remained on the brake pedal. The engine immediately raced and the car began to accelerate at high speed. I stomped on the brake pedal and the car kept…
The prius was stationary, parked in the driveway of our house. My teenage daughter was in the car washing the windshield and windows on the inside and accidentally bumped the gearbox (shifter). The car went out of park and into neutral and rolled backward. The engine was not on. The car quickly rolled 20 feet into a…
Engine 123 Read
The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the contact smelled an abnormal burning odor and then heard an abnormal explosion. The contact observed black smoke coming from under the hood. The contact pulled off the road and turned the vehicle off. The contact stated no…
The contact owns a 2010 toyota prius. While driving at 35 mph, the vehicle shook and smoke emitted through the vents of the vehicle coming from the engine. The contact coasted the vehicle over to the side of the road and powered off the engine. The vehicle was restarted, but the failure recurred. There was no warning…
The contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. While driving approximately 55 mph, the check engine indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing, but the technician was unable to diagnose the cause of the failure. Seventeen days later, the failure recurred and the vehicle was taken to another…
Visibility/wiper 90 Read
- Windshield washer fluid reservoir level going low. It is available for inspection. - Safety concern: No liquid to wipe off windshield particles, dirt that may hinder driver visibility. - The issue was brought up to Jaymee of South Coast Toyota, Costa Mesa CA when Prius was taken for delivery May 16,2026. Request to…
Driving 60mph on highway and driver's side window spontaneously shattered and covered the driver, drive seat and floor, leaving only about 10 square inches that fell secondarily. There was no projectile that penetrated into the car at all, and no glass was projected over to passenger side as would be indicated if…
Started vehicle in driveway to warm up for a minute. Sitting in vehicle with front defrost turned on medium fan, 75 degrees settings. After a few minutes, while still in park, I heard the windshield crack and noticed that a 12-18 inch crack appeared from the bottom middle part of the windshield
Prius years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Electrical System | 1 | — | |
| 2025 | Electrical System | 1 | — | |
| 2024 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2023 | Electrical System | 1 | — | |
| 2022 | Air Bags,service Brakes | 4 | — | |
| 2021 | Electrical System,service Brakes,engine | 1 | — | |
| 2020 | Air Bags,unknown Or Other,forward Collision Avoidance | 6 | — | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 7 | — | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 9 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 8 | — | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 27 | 1 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 25 | 1 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 30 | 3 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 41 | 2 | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 33 | 6 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 161 | 10 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 53 | 3 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 127 | 5 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 113 | 9 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 66 | 5 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 81 | 4 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 29 | 2 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 8 | 3 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags,service Brakes | 7 | 3 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 808 |
| Average complaints per series | 13.3 |
| Worst single series | 194 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.1 years |
A model average of 13.3 hides a worst series at 194. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Prius?
By complaint volume, 2010, 2007, 2008 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Prius years are the cleanest?
2026, 2021, 2020 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Toyota Prius have?
10,754 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2001–2026. Of those, 851 describe a crash and 59 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.