10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
9,087 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.

2016 Toyota Prius brakes problems

brakes problem

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2016 Toyota Prius Owner Comments

problem #15

Mar 012021

Prius

  • 31,000 miles

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

When putting the car in park and then engaging the foot parking brake on a slope, such as my driveway, and then turning off the car, the car rolls back significantly. Then, while exiting the car, the rear brakes make loud grinding and creaky noises as the car settles downwards slightly. Then, when entering the car, the brakes make the same creaky and grinding sounds. When holding the brake pedal to power on the car, then disengaging the foot parking brake, then shifting the car from park to reverse or drive, the car jerks abruptly and at the same time makes a loud and stuck disengagement sound, as if the car was being held on the hill/driveway solely by the parking pawl. It seems like the parking brake is not holding the car, and instead, the parking pawl is.

- Lihue, HI, USA

problem #14

Aug 312016

Prius

  • miles
Vehicle has clicking noise when we push the break paddle. This is the second vehicle that I got from Toyota which has the same problem. The company kept the first vehicle and then give me this one after the trade in.

- Pflugerville, TX, USA

problem #13

May 152016

Prius

  • 17,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Toyota Prius. While the vehicle was reversing and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle jerked while coming to a stop. There were no warning indicators illuminated. As a result, the contact had to release the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to city Toyota (255 san pedro rd, daly city, ca 94014, (650) 204-8135) where it was diagnosed that the brake actuator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The dealer advised the contact to schedule a diagnostic appointment. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000.

- Brisbane, CA, USA

problem #12

Jun 052018

Prius

  • 17,200 miles

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

When the car is in drive and stationary on a hill facing up wards (like in a driveway) the car still sends electrical power to the electric motor and to the wheels even when the brakes are applied. This only happens when facing up a hill. All electrical power is suppose to turn off when the brake is pressed. This started happening two weeks ago and the dealership said that this is normal but it is not normal as it never did this before. It does not happen when on flat ground or when facing down hill. Dealership claimed that this is the hill assist feature holding the car but that's a lie as the hill assist utilizes the brakes and not the motor. Dealership could not find any error codes and refused to dig further into the issue and made up lies about it.

- Lihue, HI, USA

problem #11

Feb 072018

Prius

  • 19,700 miles
February 7, 2018 !01 frwy North approaching santa rosa/ pleasant valley off ramp on the downgrade out of newbury park at 25 mph in the right lane. A.brake lights are seen in car ahead. B.the dash board lights up red with the word brake in red C.a loud pulsating audio noise can be heard coming from the speakers. D.the driver touches the brakes and the car goes into full ABS emergency braking reducing speed from 25 mph to 12 mph in less than 1/2 second E.the driver and the passengers experience a violent lurch which produces whip lash. F.the seat belts engage causing pain to the shoulders. G.the incident occurred at 25 mph. This has occurred over 6 times in the past year. A pdf is attached of the history of problem as presented to thousand oaks Toyota and Toyota national in November 2017. Video cameras were installed in the car in December 2017 to capture this as thousand oaks Toyota and Toyota national said this never happened. Here are the links to the video of the above incident: Accident starts at 30 seconds https://vimeo.com/254847752 https://youtu.be/62ao8Z0igdy [xxx] - driver [xxx] - passenger front seat [xxx] - passenger rear left seat camera 1 mounted in back ceiling camera 2 mounted on console information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Camarillo, CA, USA

problem #10

Jan 112018

Prius

  • 31,000 miles
Over the past year and over 15,000 miles our 2016 Toyota Prius four touring has experienced sudden displays of warning messages and lights reporting braking power low - visit your dealer; braking power low - stop in a safe place - see owner's manual; pre-collision system malfunction - visit your dealer; anti-lock brake system malfunction - visit your dealer; lane departure alert malfunction - visit your dealer; ics malfunction - visit your dealer; check cruise control system - visit your dealer. The following codes/faults have been detected: ABS - C1403, C1407, C1415; parking sensors - C164D, C1A50; blind spot monitor - C1A45; blind spot monitor slave - C1A45; pre-collision system 2 - C1A50; lane-keeping assist 2 - C1A50; ECU - P157800 & cruise ECU - P157800. The warning messages/lights came and went while driving on both city streets and highways. Each time I took the vehicle to the dealer. They could see the codes in memory, but could not replicate the problem. No parts were replaced. The only thing they have done is to take apart and reseat some of the connector cables and then send us on our way telling us to bring it back in if it happens again. We are seriously concerned about the safety of this vehicle and have no reassurance that the problem has been resolved and no reassurance that major braking systems might not be available to me if it occurs again. I contacted Toyota customer assistance with no change in their position. I am currently negotiating to trade the vehicle in as I am not comfortable that the problem is resolved and deeply concerned that it will happen again. I have shared video of the warning messages and lights with the dealer, but am unable to upload video here.

- Susanville, CA, USA

problem #9

Sep 082017

Prius

  • 5,986 miles

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

When breaking while traveling over bumps/ripples on the road or over rough road conditions such as potholes or roadwork, the vehicle feels as though the breaks are skipping or failing. This has occurred multiple times under the same or similar conditions. There is a sensation while attempting to stop, that the car is not going to stop in time or that you have lost control of the vehicle's ability to stop safely.

- Conway, AR, USA

problem #8

Jan 202017

Prius

  • 8,400 miles
NHTSA recall no.16V672 and 16V741 were not completed. Called the authorized Toyota dealer, stevens creek Toyota, 380 kiely blvd, san jose, ca 95129, on 01/20/2017 for remedy to be performed. I was told that they will call me back when teh parts are available. Remedy not comleted yet.

- San Jose, CA, USA

problem #7

Sep 202016

Prius

  • 2 miles
Vehicle feels like it wants to go forward as soon as the gas engine turns on to charge the hybrid battery when it is stationary, is in park gear with the foot parking brake fully on and on a flat surface. When the car is running off of battery mode and the battery becomes depleted the gas engine turns on to charge the hybrid battery, you can feel the car sending power to the wheels for a slight two seconds and can also hear the brakes creaking as a result of the engine feeling engaged to the wheels even when the park gear (/button) is selected. It happens all the time and not sure why it would do that while in park. If a parking brake failure was to happen what would happen when the engine turns on to charge the battery again" will it creep forward or what" just thought this was a concern since I have not experienced this with non hybrid cars.

- Lihue, HI, USA

problem #6

Feb 102017

Prius

  • 3,510 miles
While driving the vehicle started to shake from underneath fiercely, I called my mother who came and picked up the car she turned around and went back to my residence, while attempting to park in the garage the car started to roll down the driveway and the brakes wouldn't work, the car landed on the street. City of lancaster

- Lancaster, CA, USA

problem #5

Jan 062017

Prius

  • miles

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

Toyota of surprise is saying that they can't fix our Prius recall for the emergency brake until January 2018.

- Surprise, AZ, USA

problem #4

Nov 182016

Prius

  • miles
16V741000 was not performed on the car even though it was purchased 11/17, and the recall began 11/10. Dealer lee's Toyota located at 139-65 queens blvd, jamaica NY 11435

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #3

Nov 042016

Prius

  • 1,500 miles
On Friday, October 21, 2016 while driving over a pothole I pressed on the brake. The car slowed but all of a sudden the brake suddenly depressed even further down and the car jerked and seemed to stall before pushing forward. I had been pressing the brake as far down as it would go and it seemed as if there would be some kind of brake failure. On October 31, 2016 while driving over another pothole, I again stepped on the brake and suddenly the pedal again depressed further down and there was a creaking and squealing sound. Then on November 4, 2016 while going over a pothole, there was a squealing and creaking sound but not a sudden additional depression of the brake pedal. All these incidents happened on salt lake blvd. Or kamehameha highway and passes under the fixed guideway for Hawaii's rail system. The road is extremely bumpy and full of potholes.

- Aiea, HI, USA

problem #2

Jun 012016

Prius

  • 500 miles
As I took a highway exit, following behind other cars doing the same, my Prius refused to brake efficiently when another car abruptly invaded our line. It felt as if the brakes made a slight release or couldn't reach a full stop. I had enough space to stop, and I pressed the brakes on time but there was almost no brake reaction and I crashed into the truck in front of me. I was probably going 20-30 mph, somewhere in the middle... so not even that fast. Best part is that the airbags didn't inflate, even though the car was almost totaled. This feels explainable to me... I had it for only two months thus far. I do not recommend this car to others.

- San Juan, PR, USA

problem #1

Jun 252016

Prius

  • 500 miles
When gently applying brakes for a stop light, and the right wheel hits a 1 and 1/8 inch deep depression in the road, the brakes feel like they momentarily release. The depression is for a 9 inch diameter city water cover, and the overall diameter of the depression is 12 inches, and it is 1 and 1/8 inches deep. This can be replicated at this location and we have also noticed the same thing happening elsewhere in town.

- Willmar, MN, USA

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