10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
4 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
56,397 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.

2004 Toyota Prius electrical problems

electrical problem

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2004 Toyota Prius Owner Comments (Page 1 of 8)

problem #152

Sep 012020

Prius

  • miles

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

During a hot period of summer, my drive selector decided to not stay in the drive position unless I held it there. I could make the initial selection of drive and then stop on the gas, but it would not stay unless I physically held the lever down in the drive position. I never had an issue with the reverse position; only drive. I could always get the car back into Park. This is an extremely unsafe driving condition because it happens without warning and the fix is not obvious. Once the driver is aware of the fix, it forces them into an unsafe driving condition: driving with one hand on the parking selector. Once cooler weather came, the issue went away. It didn't happen on all hot days and was intermittent. I replaced the drive selector in 2022 and have only had the issue come up one other time since replacing this part.

- Windsor, VT, USA

problem #151

Nov 022020

Prius

  • 160,000 miles
All the instrument cluster lights continue to go out on my 04 Prius. I don't know how much fuel I have this could be a safety issue. I don't know how fast I'm going this could definitely be a safety issue. And zero warning lights come on this is definitely a safety issue. By looking on the internet I can tell thousands of priuses have this exact same issue with the instrument panel cluster going out. This should definitely be a recall.

- Kuna, ID, USA

problem #150

Apr 032020

Prius

  • 250,000 miles
Headlights occasionally go out at random while driving. Began with driver side, very intermittent, became more frequent, now also includes passenger side. Both have gone out at the same time while driving at night twice. Turning all lights off briefly and back on will re-illuminate the headlights. Problem first occurred several months ago and has gotten progressively more frequent. Now, once light(s) goes out during a drive, it will continue to do so repeatedly every few minutes. Very dangerous.

- Athens, OH, USA

problem #149

Dec 152019

Prius

  • 130,000 miles

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

Combination meter is black 90% of the time. Restarting engine or disconnecting battery only works on occasion. Have safety concerns.

- Citrus Springs, FL, USA

problem #148

Apr 222019

Prius

  • 115,000 miles
I am the owner of a 2004 Prius. After buying my car used 2 years ago I noticed that once in awhile the display, including fuel consumption, speedometer, odometer, and more, would not light up and that the car would not turn off easily several times I have been in situations where I have little gas an am unable to see my gas gauge or know how fat iam going on the highway. I understand that this was once covered by Toyota under the warranty extension but is not considered a safety concern. The warranty extension is expired. In what universe are a functioning fuel gauge and speedometer not considered a safety concern? I am also concerned that this will deteriorate further and cause an accident.

- Denver, CO, USA

problem #147

Nov 212018

Prius

  • 5 miles
(combination meter problem) while driving at night on the freeway the entire instrument panel (dash board) started blinking on and off. For our safety, we decided to slow down and exit the freeway and stop in a safe area. We turned the ignition off, then started the car, with nothing appearing on the instrument panel beside the check engine light. We lost the speedometer, all gauges and all the electrical and electronics which normally helps to guide our driving.we had to take the car to the Toyota dealer the following morning which took seven days to replace the combo meter. I later found out that this issue is not knew and there was a letter issued by Toyota titled (2004 to certain 2009 model year Prius vehicles combination meter warranty enhancement notice). The letter stated that they had problems with some of these Prius year models and that if the owner did not experience this condition to file the letter in their vehicle's owner's warranty information booklet. Here is my request: This should not be a warranty issue but should have been a safety recall as depending of the number of miles the vehicle is driven, this issue seems to sooner or later occur. I repaired my vehicle and paid for all the repairs, all I need now is for the NHTSA to look into this problem, investigate it and have Toyota send a recall letter rather than an extended warranty. This way I can receive a reimbursement for the repairs. Here is a link to the letter and all consumers complaints: Https://www.toyoheadquarters.com/threads/2004-2009-Toyota-Prius-combination-meter-warranty-extension-ztv.174/ I believe for the safety of all Prius drivers in the usa, this should be changed to a recall since many of these model and year Prius vehicles are still on the road and will reach a certain mileage to make to combination meter fail.

- Corona, CA, USA

problem #146

Feb 222019

Prius

  • 135,838 miles

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

Takata recall vehicle needs to have brake actuator. Bg brake fluid service.

- Oakville, CT, USA

problem #145

Sep 012018

Prius

  • 150 miles
My car head lights are turning off, at first it was one not turning on and then it was the other one, now they take turns. It is a safety issue which almost had make me crash more than 2 times. To the point that I am unable to use the car during the night. This happens if the car is parked or running.

- Loxahatchee, FL, USA

problem #144

May 262017

Prius

  • 138,000 miles
3 days after buying my 04 Prius both of my low beams and one of my high beams went out. A few months after replacing them my driver side low beam went out, the high beam was fine. 2-3 months after re replacing the driver's side low beam the passenger side low beam went out. I have had to replace my headlights about 5 times each (10 times total driver+passenger side) I had my ground wires checked, I constantly check my fuses, mechanics say nothing is wrong with my lighting, but here I am with this reoccurring issue. I have been using the same kind of bulbs because I can't imagine spending more money on a bulb to have it blow out in a couple of months (xtravision 9003 12.8V,55/60W halogen). Apparently my reverse lights aren't working either, and one of my license plates lights is out (I think the plate light is probably not connected to the other lights going out) zi do think the reverse lights are a related problem though. My lights go out both in motion and stationary (I couldn't tell you if it happens on turns or not, but it can happen on highways), sometimes I can get them to come back on by giving a little smack, but usually a few days after that they officially burn out. I've researched this problem on Prius forums and apparently I am not the only Prius owner experiencing this with the same frequency, there are no recalls for this issue, yet so many of us are experiencing this, which is quite detrimental to ours and others safety. Sometimes I can't tell my lights have gone out til I get pulled over or am able to see my headlight reflection on another vehicle, even worse is when I'm wondering why I can't see anything when it's so dark out just to found out one of my headlights blew again. I still own this vehicle and still trying to figure out why this is a continuous problem.

- Monticello, NY, USA

problem #143

Dec 052017

Prius

  • 223,000 miles
Car was in motion, 55 mph on highway going straight, had been driving one hour. Smoke started filling the rear hatchback area, coming from the driver's side of the cargo-area floor. Pulled over and flames came up. Doused it with water. Upon inspection the sks sensor (remote control door lock sensor) had burst into flames, burning the plastic and other components around it.

- Volcano, HI, USA

problem #142

Aug 142017

Prius

  • miles

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

Digital dash fails to illuminate dealer says recall has expired a known problem by Toyota.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

problem #141

Sep 162017

Prius

  • 104,000 miles
My 2004 Prius's check engine light turns on randomly wnd often and I lose full power of the car. The battery is fully charged. The car stopped 4 times today - lost all power and the brake would not stop the car.

- Port St Lucie, FL, USA

problem #140

Jul 242017

Prius

  • 290,000 miles
2004 Toyota Prius with hid option. One or both hid headlights go out while parked or driving. Turning the light control on and off will temporarily solve the issue. The issue is random in nature. For instance, I noticed one headlight went out this morning and before I could turn the switch to reset the other headlight went out, leaving me in the dark on the road. The vehicle may be park or in motion. There appears to be no direct relation to environmental factors. Extremely dangerous when driving on rural roads with no street lights. It appears to me to be a ballast issue. This repair requires working with high voltage components and goes beyond the scope of a diy project. This has been an ongoing issue for me, but only recently have both headlights started to fail at the same time. Thank you.

- Mineral Wells, TX, USA

problem #139

Aug 152015

Prius

  • 170,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the combination meter failed, which caused the instrument panel and dashboard lights to not illuminate when the vehicle was started. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 170,000....updated 02/19/16

- Tuttle, OK, USA

problem #138

Sep 252015

Prius

  • miles
The front right side headlight keeps going out. Already replaced it twice and it seems this is very common with the Toyota Prius. Fuse also keeps burning. This is a very dangerous situation at night. Driving with one head light is becoming to common for this type of vehicle.

- Stockton, CA, USA

problem #137

Mar 152015

Prius

  • 106,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Toyota pruis. The contact stated that the brake warning light on the instrument panel intermittently illuminated. This was a recurring failure. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The technician was unable to determine the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000.

- Arlington, VA, USA

problem #136

May 092015

Prius

  • 45,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Prius. When the vehicle was started, the instrument panel would not illuminate. The failure recurred on several occasions. On several occasions, the vehicle would not power off after the on/off switch was depressed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was diagnosed that the multi functional display multi-meter and the power switch were faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the extended warranty no longer applied to the vehicle. The approximate failure mileage was 45,000.

- Waban, MA, USA

problem #135

Jul 092015

Prius

  • 200,600 miles
Speedometer & other control information display went blank. Pulled over to side of road but unable to turn off engine. Contacted Toyota & was told problem is known & warranty extend to 9 years & unlimited miles. However, my vehicle is older than nine years, so I must pay estimate $1400 to fix & car will be unavailable for estimate 2 weeks. The vehicle is unsafe to drive, prior to this known problem occurring car was operating perfectly ( averaging 50 mpg per tank of gas, documented). This appears to be a safety problem that was known by the manufacturer, however they seems to be trying to hide this by making the statistical estimate that by extending the warranty the majority of these cars would be off the road and their lawyers & legal insurance would cost less than the few humans kills after this arbitrary 9 year risk period. I could have been killed as a result of this failure! fortunately I was not, however I am left with a vehicle that is undriveable (with no warning!) and can only be repaired by Toyota at a cost I am not able to afford!

- South Pasadena, CA, USA

problem #134

Mar 132015

Prius 4-cyl

  • 156,654 miles
The dashboard display failed to light up, but the car turned on. It did go into drive, so I drove my daughter to school, then stopped to call coggin Toyota at the avenues to report the problem, but the car would not turn off. They said it was the instrument cluster, a known problem with the Prius and for which there was a technical service bulletin and a warranty enhancement, although that "enhancement" ended 9 years after the vehicle went into service. I brought the car in right away since I couldn't turn it off. My car is 10 years old. I called Toyota to complain that I had not been told about this when it was still under the enhanced warranty period (although they have records saying they mailed something) and that if I had known about this (and apparently dozens of other problems looming out there for which there are tsbs) one week earlier when I paid over $3,000 to have the hybrid battery array replaced, I might have made a different choice. My biggest complain centers on being told what I believe was a lie by the Toyota customer service rep --[xxx] -- when I pressed for why, if the manufacturer knows the part has a high failure rate that it's willing to take responsibility for, does that enhanced warranty period end? she told me the government of California and other states limits that period to 9 years. She could not provide documentation of that government regulation, and it doesn't sound right that regulations in California (or other states) would limit the time it would allow a company to offer repairs to its product with an enhanced warranty. Has this happened to anyone else and what can be done about it? information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

problem #133

Jan 032012

Prius 4-cyl

  • 105,000 miles
I have been having a problem with my Prius combination display (digital display that shows the speed, mileage, fuel level, current gear selection, etc.). sometimes when I turn on my car, the combination display is blank and will not turn on. The rest of the car turns on, but that display remains blank. I can drive the car, but I can't see my speed, mileage, or what gear the car is in. This usually happens when it is cold outside (below 50 degrees or so). When the problem first came up in 2012, I would turn off the car and turn it back on and the display would then work fine. It was very hard to repeat the problem and it was quite intermittent. This winter (2014-2015) the problem has come back, but now the display will often not turn back on even if I power cycle the car. There is another new related problem. Whenever the car shows this display problem, I then cannot turn off the car. I press the power button and nothing happens. I even tried to hold it down for 3-10 seconds. The car will not shut off. I have to usually disconnect the battery to get it to power down. This problem has me concerned. Not being able to see my speed is my biggest concern. Also since the gear shift lever always returns to a reset spot (it doesn't stay in the gear position after you select your gear) it's impossible to see what gear the vehicle is in. Also very concerning. I took it to the dealer and they confirmed the problem/defect. It appears that many other owners have this same problem. I believe there is a defect in the manufacturing of the display/circuit board. Toyota did initially offer to fix the problem, but by the time I could actually repeat the problem to show to the dealer, the offer had expired for me to get it repaired. It's a serious issue that I wanted to report to the NHTSA. Thank you.

- Burbank, CA, USA

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