3.4

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
38,425 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2008 Toyota Prius electrical problems

electrical problem

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2008 Toyota Prius Owner Comments

problem #4

Nov 192021

Prius

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the instrument cluster intermittently failed to operate as needed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and diagnosed with instrument cluster failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unavailable.

- Eugene, OR, USA

problem #3

Jan 192015

Prius

  • 85,000 miles
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at 25 mph, the contact noticed that the instrument cluster panel failed to display reading levels. The vehicle was taken to three independent mechanics. The mechanics were unable to duplicate the failure. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 85,000.

- Wautoma, WI, USA

problem #2

Nov 152013

Prius 4-cyl

  • 61,000 miles
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact sated that while driving less than 10 mph on a wet road surface, the brakes failed to respond when engaged and went straight to the floor. In addition, the brake pedal became stuck to the floorboard when depressed. The contact was able to coast to the shoulder where the brake pedal was released. The vehicle resumed normally and was later taken to the dealer, who advised that the battery failed and caused the brake actuator to fail. The dealer replaced the battery. The failure and current mileage was 61,000. Updated 02/11/2014 the consumer stated there was no resistance and the pedal did not get stuck, but it had no effect in stopping the vehicle. After several seconds, the consumer coasted to the shoulder at which time, the brakes started to work. Also, the battery was replaced. A month after the incident, the instrument cluster failed again, with no warning lights and it had to be replaced.

- Cedar Key, FL, USA

problem #1

Jun 012008

Prius 4-cyl

  • 7,700 miles
Summary: Prius low fuel warning light/buzzer came on, and only 5 miles later car ran out of gas, in a bad place at night on highway. The manual states that when low light comes on you have three gallons or less. With the Prius, even treating this conservatively as only 1 1/2 gallons, that should still be over 60 miles. I had driven the vehicle between 30 and 50 miles with low light on multiple times previously. This usually works occasionally fails fuel warning is clearly dangerous. And from internet researching, it is clearly a widespread problem, and Toyota not only is completely ignoring it, they denied to me having received any complaints on this (there are previous complaints on this even right on this NHTSA website). Driving from Colorado to Kansas City on I-70, a little after passing the sign that said "topeka 27 miles", just after 10 at night, the low fuel light illuminated and warning sounded. We planned to stop at the next fuel stop, which we expected to be within 20 miles at the most. About 5 miles after the light illuminated, the car suddenly lost power, the gas engine clearly had quit, the red triangle warning illuminated, along with another warning. After the initial scare, I pulled the vehicle over, slowly, under battery power, not knowing what had happened. In the manual we found that the second warning indicated "hybrid system malfunction", and not to attempt to drive the vehicle. Some 10-15 minutes later, as we were trying to get emergency help, that warning disappeared, and a new message came up, "add fuel". eventually we borrowed gas from a family that stopped to help us in this rural area, and got help from a highway patrolman. Toyota checked vehicle, denies problems, denies receiving complaints, refuses to send warnings to Prius owners. NHTSA, this is a safety issue, like your recall 00V384. 6/19/08 add * the consumer believed that the low fuel warning light was defective.

- Westwood, KS, USA

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