10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
9 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 0
Average Mileage:
23,832 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.

2015 Toyota Prius brakes problems

brakes problem

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2015 Toyota Prius Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #24

Feb 052023

Prius

  • miles

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

The brake assist. Driving and suddenly no brakes. Happened 2x in this vehicle and had to get a tow each time, even after getting new brake pads the first time it happened at my mechanics. The dealer confirmed today that they would fix the problem at $2700. The lights for traction and abs went off with a warning sound. Pulled over both times and called aaa for tow-€¦..each a separate incident.

- Okeechobee , FL, USA

problem #23

Jun 152022

Prius

  • miles
The brake booster pump assembly has failed through no fault of my own. This is a major safety issue!

- Nashville, TN, USA

problem #22

Nov 012021

Prius

  • 80,000 miles
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that as he approached a stop light at 25 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed and traveled to the floorboard as he attempted to stop the vehicle. The brakes failed to operate without warning as he hit the vehicle in front of him. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. A police report was filed and both the contact and the other driver were able to drive away from the scene. No injuries were reported. Prior to this failure, the contact stated that the same failure occurred months prior while traveling at 20 MPH in the rain. The contact stated that the brakes failed to operate without warning as he depressed the brake pedal to the floorboard; he hit an unknown object on the road due to the failure. The contact initially thought that the failure was related to slippery roadways; however, after the most recent failure, he related the prior incident with his most recent failure. The dealer nor the manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be serviced or diagnosed. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

- Country Club Hills, IL, USA

problem #21

Apr 192022

Prius

  • miles

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

My mom was involved in an accident in her 2015 Toyota Prius on April 19, 2022, which she advised lurched forward at a stop and when applying the brakes to stop the vehicle, she said was unresponsive, causing her to clip a vehicle and sending her vehicle into a ditch totaling her car and injuring her passenger and her. I would like to have this investigated and hold Toyota responsible. This could have been much worse and lives could have been lost. She is now without means of transportation, and she is now possibly responsible for damages to property and bodily injury because of this. Through my research I have discovered multiple class action lawsuits brought against Toyota for the same exact models. I asked the police officer to run a scan on the computer, but he advised it was only for serious accidents. There was no indication of the problem or messages.

- Fremont, CA, USA

problem #20

Feb 102022

Prius

  • miles
My 2015 prius gen 3 has a 118,000 miles since we bought it brand new in 2015. We periodically have it maintained with our own mechanic even after the warranty expired with the dealer. However, we experienced that the lights of Brake system, ABS and VSC went out the same time. We have it checked but there was no error code. the car is operational but the brake system does not engaged fully when you presses the brake pedal. The vehicle does not stop immediately if you need to immediately stop the vehicle. The problem strongly indicates failure in ABS control modules which can costs us a big amount of money ranging from $3,500 minimum up to $6000 max. Majority of the prius owners that shared their experiences to us regarding the same problems are unanimous in their opinion that it is indeed the brake control module. That such defect can only be pointed to the manufacturers' misdeeds.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #19

Sep 252021

Prius

  • miles
As stated from 5 months after we bought it, and the first prius, the car won't start. No matter if parked flat, keys in or out over night, or the temp, when the break is pushed it is squishy and makes draining noise and won't start. As a dr on call i have LOST patients because I could not leave my house. i carry and use the charger daily ever since. Taken in lots. they say, "you don't drive enough..or some other bogus excuse, like don't leave keys in car, which is how priuses start and run!. the car is driven in all ways a lot. also we buy headlights and headlamps on both about every 2 months. also it looses power and has shut off while driving. the worst is when it would start on its own in the locked garage. at that point my wife just quit driving all together. nothing but nightmares. She almsot crashed on fw when power went out.

- Rancho Cordova, CA, USA

problem #18

Aug 032021

Prius

  • miles

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

While attempting to accelerate from a stop light, the Prius stalled. It would not accelerate although the engine revved. I restarted the car by powering completely off and back on. I tried to accelerate again multiple times until it slowly came up to speed the third attempt. The car was in drive and has never happened before. This is a safety concern for multiple reasons but the main being it can cause harm to those in the vehicle as well as other drivers on the road when the car stalls unexpectedly. There were no warning signals on the dash. Toyota dealer looked at it right away, ran diagnostics, and could not find an issue. Nothing was -€œfixed-€ or updated.

- Bismarck, ND, USA

problem #17

Aug 202020

Prius

  • 34,000 miles
Brakes failed to slow or stop vehicle at ?20 mph; driving on a side street. No warning lights were active that morning. Crash into telephone phone resulted in "totaled" car. There was broken branches on road and some mud; car may have skidded. My wife says the car seemed to speed up before the crash

- Baltimore, MD, USA

problem #16

Oct 052016

Prius

  • 75 miles
I purchased the vehicle new in 2025 and I have been experiencing brake failure issues every time I attempted to brake over either a pothole, a slick surface like a metal sheet at road construction or wet roads the brake would fail. All the red warning signs would come on in the dashboard and the brakes would make that loud horrible noise. I love my Prius, I don't want to get rid of it. I was hoping Toyota motors would have a fixed for the braking system by now as this is very unsafe specially inexperienced drivers. My goal is to pass this car to my teenage daughter when she goes to college in 2021, but this may not be possible if Toyota doesn't to up with a solution to the problem.

- Miami, FL, USA

problem #15

Apr 052019

Prius

  • 30,000 miles
The brakes on my 2015 Prius totally failed and I had to swerve to avoid crashing into the car stopped in front of me. I've been driving for more than 30 years and have never experienced anything like this. It was terrifying. To wit: I was driving about 20 M.P.H. on city streets in long beach, California, in April 2019. As I drove over a bridge, traffic was coming to a stop at a red light 200 yards in front of me. I drove over a narrow metal plate--there are several on the bridge--and hit the brakes, but my car didn't slow. A warning light flashed--a stability control light, I believe, due to the metal plate. I pressed the brakes to the floor as my car rolled downhill on pavement. My car did not slow at all. I looked in the driver side mirror and saw that the lane to my left was clear, so I swerved into it with my foot on the brakes. The car slowly came to a stop well beyond where I should have stopped had my brakes worked properly. The incident was so terrifying that I had to pull over to collect myself. My brakes worked properly after that. A few days later, I took my car to penske Toyota in downey, California, where I bought the car, and told a service agent what happened. I asked him to fix the problem. After service technicians inspected the brakes that day, I was told the brakes appeared to be fine and, barring a recall, nothing could be done. I've been driving the car since then, but I've worried that the brakes could fail again. Then I saw the Jan. 3, 2020 article below. As a result, I've rented a car and have stopped driving my Prius. This is a terrifying, life-threatening problem that needs to be addressed now. Https://www.dailynews.com/2020/01/03/A-southern-California-Toyota-dealer-wants-the-car-giant-to-fix-an-alleged-brake-defect-before-putting-lives-at-stake/ P.S. I'm not sure of the exact date this incident occurred. Date below is my best estimate.

- Long Beach, CA, USA

problem #14

Nov 012018

Prius

  • 35,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Prius. While the contact's daughter was driving at an unknown speed, the brake warning indicator illuminated. The contact informed his daughter to check under the hood for possible low brake fluid. When everything checked out, the contact's daughter restarted the vehicle and the warning indicator turned off. The contact received a customer support program notification (zjb) regarding a defect with the brake booster or brake booster pump, which could cause the brake lamp warning indicator to illuminate. The contact notified frontier Toyota (23621 creekside rd, valencia, ca 91355, 661-255-7575) of the notification and was informed that a diagnostic test would need to be performed before they could make any repairs. The manufacturer was also notified of the notification and provided the same information as the dealer. The manufacturer provided case number: 1909041948. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 35,000.

- Stevenson Ranch, CA, USA

problem #13

Jul 012018

Prius

  • miles
Violent shaking when applying brakes in forward and reverse. Vehicle does not slow and stop properly when braking. Vehicle intermittently skips with no slowing or stopping effect when braking.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #12

Jun 032019

Prius

  • 63,000 miles
Sent an alert on certain internal malfunction of internal assemblies of the brake booster from Toyota. Asking me to bring it in for examination. Brakes have been acting spongy and am losing a small amount of brake fluid monthly.

- South Easton, MA, USA

problem #11

Jun 092019

Prius

  • 50,000 miles
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 moving. The sound of the engine was loud enough that people in nearby houses heard it. My car would not slow with my efforts to brake. I tried to shift into neutral and park but the car did not slow down. It raced across the street and plowed directly into a neighbor's stone wall. My car became wedged between the wall and a large tree. I had to exit the vehicle from the passenger side as the driver's door was pressed against the tree. After the collision, interior lights were non-functioning even when the door was propped open. The car would have crashed through the house if it had not been stopped by the wall and tree.

- San Ramon, CA, USA

problem #10

Apr 182019

Prius

  • 60,000 miles
Toyota sent me a letter stating the brake booster may cause issues with my car and all my lights came on for this issue. Toyota told me to take car to dealer for repair under new warranty extension for brake booster issues. Dealer is now telling me it's not covered so I need to pay for repairs. I asked what I'm paying for and they stated new brake booster. What's going on here??

- Union City, CA, USA

problem #9

Mar 182019

Prius

  • 41,000 miles
At 41,000 the vehicle per a Goodyear dealer advised that my front brakes were metal on metal. The caliber was also frozen and the brake line was leaking. The car was at the dealership on 3/7/19 with no mention of a need for repairs to the front brakes. Is there a general problem with bad brakes on Toyota vehicles?

- Oakland, CA, USA

problem #8

Jun 252018

Prius

  • 38,500 miles
As I was driving our 2015 Toyota Prius at about 30 mph on a surface street and going straight, we came upon a metal construction plate over the roadway surface and the brakes were automatically applied to the vehicle. There were no vehicles directly in front of me within 100 feet. The vehicle did not come to a complete stop, but this sudden action could have caused a collision.

- Henderson, NV, USA

problem #7

Aug 132017

Prius

  • 62,000 miles
I can't put break.the sign light on is slip sign, ABS sign and hand break sign. The sign light on in 2 time. 07/31/2017 is same thing and then also check hybrids system check sign light on and triangle sign light on.

- So San Francisco, CA, USA

problem #6

Nov 102016

Prius

  • 20,000 miles
Was driving on the freeway at about 45 mph when I car abruptly changed lanes in front of me. I immediately slammed on the breaks but the car did not come to a complete stop. It kept going forwards and was not decelerating fast enough. To avoid hitting the car in front of me I had to swerve to the right, which immediately caused the ESC to turn off and my car kept swerving.

- La Palma, CA, USA

problem #5

Jul 242016

Prius

  • 21,000 miles
I was sitting in the passenger seat of the car while it was parallel parked. I pressed the push to start button to turn on the battery so I could charge my phone. There was no one in the driver seat. The car turned completely on when I reached over to press the button. Not only did the engine start, but without anyone pressing on the breaks the car released itself from being parked. The car started rolling backwards into the car parked behind me. I have no explanation about how this happened. I have been reading into it and apparently it's a defect of the 2015 and older models. When the car started rolling back I also started pressing both the park and push to start buttons to turn it off again. I've never felt so unsafe in a vehicle and goes to confirm that park and push to start should not be buttons!!! it makes the vehicle much more dangerous not being able to override those commands when it chooses to go on its own.

- Beverly Hills, CA, USA

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