10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
46 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
24 / 1
Average Mileage:
35,783 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 engine problems

engine problem

Find something helpful? Spread the word.
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2008 Toyota Prius:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

2008 Toyota Prius Owner Comments (Page 1 of 7)

problem #140

Dec 192022

Prius 4-cyl

  • miles

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

I am currently having this issue with Combination Meter, which means the Prius dash board will not show any speed, fuel, P, R, D label and many more important information is not shown on display. I had complained to Toyota, CASE[XXX] on 19Dec2022, I have spoken to Danial N and manager Alex S from Toyota. They both have denied solving this issue from Toyota as the Warranty Extension ZTV has expired. Even I had provided them proof that Toyota knew about this problem, please see [XXX] from Toyota regarding this. My Prius has 258000 miles, and it is 2008, It is high mileage as per their documents this will accrue in high mileage Prius with cold weather. I live in NJ, and it is getting cold and my car as high miles. Toyota refuse to take care of the problem and I as a consumer will have to pay over $1200 to get it fix as this is only done at Toyota dealership. Currently I am thinking of getting it fix at Paul Miller Toyota of West Caldwell, 1155 Bloomfield Ave, West Caldwell, NJ 07006, 973-287-4050. What's sad is Toyota used to rank at the top of best customer service. I'm guessing most of the problems are just after the 9 years, calculated to guarantee fixing the problem to as few people as possible. THERE'S NO EXTENSION AND TOYOTA WON'T HELP. I TRIED AND WAS TOLD ALL DEALS EXPIRED AND TO HELP ONE WOULD MEAN THEY'D HAVE TO HELP ALL. WE'RE ON OUR OWN. Hoping that Toyota has released a solution to the dangerous and consumer related problem related to the failing Combination Meter. The previous ext. Warranty was only good for 9 years from date of first use which did not help many drivers. Super negligent and ripe situation for class action lawsuits not to mention many potentially fatal accidents on the roads. Toyota has denied fixing this problem even Toyota knows this is on going problem. As a government official please try to help me resolve this issue as this is a major concern for many millions of drivers which Toyota need to resolve this. Please INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (

- Parsippany, NJ, USA

problem #139

Aug 172022

Prius

  • miles
The inverter water pump failed while I was driving 50mph, it caused the car to stop working and the brakes malfunctioned as well. When I tried to hit the brakes I had to hit them a lot harder and it still acted like it wasn-€™t going to stop. I was lucky enough that the light up ahead was still green and the cars in front of me started going forward.

- Pompano Beach, FL, USA

problem #138

Feb 092022

Prius

  • miles
Dashboard speedometer, fuel gauge, headlight indicators, transmission status, cruise control do not show, are not lit up. Backup camera does not work nor do the back-up lights. This occured after the auxiliary battery was replaced and the dashboard lights and backup camera will occassionally spontaneously return when the car has not been driven for a week or longer but then will go out next time the car is turned off. There are problems with the car turning off consistently and at times the start button needs to be manually depressed for 5+ seconds to shut down.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

problem #137

Jan 212021

Prius

  • 146,500 miles

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

Instrument cluster in my 2008 Toyota Prius completely went dark while driving from phoenix to my home in tucson. I was travelling on I-10 at a speed of approximately 70mph. Terribly frightening when all gauges fail at the same instant. This happened in Jan 2021. Speedometer, fuel gauge, headlight indicators, prndl, lcruise control, lights that indicate engine emergencies do not light. Back-up camera does not work nor do the back-up lights. These all are extremely dangerous safety issues. Having researched this problem it is evident that Toyota knew about this problem as they have recalled thousands of Prius' for this issue. They issued an extended warranty for this issue but mine expired before I purchased this vehicle in February, 2020. I firmly am convinced that Toyota should honor the warranty for this dangerously common failure which happens to many different model year of the Prius. It's, in fact, irresponsible of Toyota to not repair these vehicles as they have known how massively prevalent these failures are. The local Toyota dealers is charging over $1000 to fix the problem. I, for one, cannot afford such a cost for a malfunctioning, critical for safely operating their product, that should be remedied into perpetuity, since they have unquestionably been fully aware of the problem and it's severity. I should not be excluded from repair simply because the failure happened later in this particular vehicle than others.

- Tucson, AZ, USA

problem #136

Mar 102020

Prius 4-cyl

  • 220,000 miles
My brake, ABS, vsc, and (!) lights are on. The brakes work at roughly 10% stopping power. Makes an awful buzzing noise when the brakes are applied and the warning chime is on constantly the high pitch ring is unbearable. I called my local Toyota service dealer and was told the champagne ended Nov 30th 2017.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

problem #135

Feb 142020

Prius

  • 76,000 miles
For the past year since I've had the vehicle the car accelerates instead of slow down if I hit a bump or before I step on the break it speed up and slips instead of slow down.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #134

Dec 102019

Prius

  • 150,000 miles

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

My 2008 Toyota Prius shut off while I was driving on the road I could've involved in big accident if I was on a highway the way it shutdown without any warning sign. It just suddenly stopped

- Philadelphia, PA, USA

problem #133

Jul 012019

Prius

  • 250,000 miles
The speedometer does not display when turning on the car. I figured out that by unplugging the battery in the back it would sometime bring it back on. Now it only comes on every once in a while, it's no longer keeping track of miles when not on, as well as the fuel gauge is not keeping track of gas and have ran out twice because it stated half full.

- Mesa, AZ, USA

problem #132

Dec 072018

Prius

  • miles
For several years our Toyota Prius has exhibited the following issue: Intermittently, and without warning, when you start the car the dashboard does not light. As a consequent, you cannot not see the speed you're driving at, the fuel level of the car, any warnings such as check engine, low tire pressure etc, and you're not able to use a number of other important features such as cruise control. In addition, you are not able to turn off the car when you reach your destination. Because you cannot turn off the car, you cannot lock it. Undisclosed to customers, there has been for several years an extended warranty being offered by Toyota, to the dealerships, to fix this problem (warranty policy bulletin, pol 12-05). This information is provided only to dealerships. As I customer, I never received information about this extended warranty. I only found out about it via other customers. Our local Toyota dealership (Toyota of olympia) has refused to apply the extended warranty and fix the problem. We contacted the dealership several years ago about the issue, which they have a record of. Toyota customer service also refuses to help us get this issue fixed and apply the extended warranty. The case number with customer service is 1812072507. Both Toyota and the dealership state that the customer most replicate this intermittent issue to a dealership mechanic before either entity will authorize fixing the issue. Several weeks or months may go by before the issue appears and it appears only for an unpredictable duration before "going away", so this is an impossible burden of proof for the customer -- the customer has to take the car to a dealership at the moment the intermittent issue occurs, and must arrive at the dealership and get the mechanic to immediately drop their other work in order to hopefully witness the issue before it "goes away".

- Olympia, WA, USA

problem #131

May 022018

Prius

  • 162,000 miles
Toyota has acknowledge an issue with its combination meter in the 2004-2009 Toyota Prius but has not recalled the issue and instead wants payment to fix the problem. Toyota has documented this under the Toyota service bulletin T-sb-0172-09: "some 2004-2009 model year Prius vehicles may experience an intermittent condition where the combination meter display will not illuminate in cold weather conditions. An updated combination meter ECU is now available to correct this condition" Toyota offered a 3 year warrenty window for this but being outside this they want almost $1000 to fix this. This issue stops the speedometer for illuminating which creates a safety hazard when gauging the correct speed for the road and conditions.

- Tacoma, WA, USA

problem #130

Feb 192018

Prius

  • 149,800 miles

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

Running on a city street at 20 miles, gas pedal would not work, could not decrease or increase mileage. Brake pedal worked but went all the way down and finally stopped with a jerk. A constant noise and and has a Toyota confirmed brake acctuator problem that Toyota refuses to help since extra warrant expired in 12/2017

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #129

Feb 202017

Prius

  • 170,000 miles
The vehicle combination meter sporadically will not turn on which prevents the display of the speed of the car. During this condition, the fuel economy will not display, the car may not be powered off by normal procedure, and the fuel gauge, drive train mode indicator, and odometer are not visible. This has occurred for the past 2 years, primarily during cold weather, but also during warm weather, and I have a video recording of this problem while operating this specific vehicle dated February 20 2017. Toyota will not honor their own warranty extension described in their document pol12-05, related to tsb T-sb-0172-09, stating that the dealer must be able to reproduce the issue in order to cover the replacement. Toyota's document pol12-05 specifically states "this condition is primarily found in cold weather climate conditions. When the vehicle is brought to your dealership it may no longer be in a climate which allows duplication of the condition. If this occurs, please verify with the customer that the experienced condition is in accordance with this warranty extension and proceed with replacement of the combination meter." On 5/12/2017, andrea N. (would not provide last name) with Toyota customer experience center, assigned me Toyota case # 1705121649 and stated that "the dealer must reproduce the issue in order to cover replacement under warranty" despite the Toyota letter explicitly allowing for warranty replacement when the condition cannot be reproduced by the dealer.

- Shawnee, KS, USA

problem #128

Feb 092017

Prius

  • 160,000 miles
I was in an automobile accident where I rear ended vehicle in front of me. I tried to stop but the vehicle would not stop or even make an attempt to slow down. My ankle suffered a severe twist from trying to apply brakes. There was plenty of room to stop but the brakes would not react to slow down vehicle. There was a car coming in the oncoming lane so I could not go around vehicle in front of me. My vehicle was in motion in the city and I was going straight. The pavement was a little rough and my ABS light was going off and all I could do was hit vehicle in front of me due to brakes failing and not slowing me down.

- North Canton, OH, USA

problem #127

Sep 062016

Prius

  • 81,500 miles
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. While driving 20 mph and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to increase in speed. All the warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 81,500.

- Scottsdale, AZ, USA

problem #126

Oct 132015

Prius

  • 18 miles
I was traveling northbound on the saw mill river parkway. Exited on the northbound taconic state parkway ramp. After crossing the taconic state parkwat overpass. My 2008 Toyota Prius (without any input from my part) turned left and accelerated onto the grassy area. Even though made multiple attempts at correcting my direction by turning the car to the right and to stop the car, neither the steering inputs or engaging the brakes had any effect on the vehicle. After traveling almost the entire width of the grassy area, the car was caught by a branch on the ground, just before the driver side of the car would have slammed into a tree. I then proceeded to turn the car off. When I turn the car back on, everything was back to normal. There was no error message from the ECU during or after the incident.

- Yonkers, NY, USA

problem #125

Feb 122015

Prius

  • 60,000 miles
While driving at night approx. 50 miles per hour Prius lost power and appeared to be in neutral. Did not lose headlights. I pulled over and shut down and restarted without incident buy am fearful of it happening again in traffic.

- Spring Hill , FL, USA

problem #124

Feb 022015

Prius 4-cyl

  • miles
2008 Toyota Prius. Consumer requesting all recalls associated with vehicle. The consumer referenced recall # 09V388000. He also mentioned information regarding a steering defect.

- Mercer, PA, USA

problem #123

Dec 012008

Prius 4-cyl

  • 100 miles
We have two Prius cars with same issue - when making a turn from a stop and trying to accelerate quickly the car jerks and hesitate as the anti slip system light flashes and engages. You cannot accelerate quickly into traffic from a dead stop making a turn as the car refuses, jerks and acts like it will stall. Pavement is dry and no gravel. Happens each and every time since I purchased the car. Easy to replicate. Come to a complete stop, then turn right while pressing the accelerator down quickly and the slip system kicks, car jerks, hesitates and then very slowly starts to eventually accelerate.

- San Jose, CA, USA

problem #122

Oct 242014

Prius 4-cyl

  • 80,000 miles
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 3 mph, the vehicle accelerated independently and surged forward. As a result, the contact crashed into a rocked landscaping. A police report was filed and there were no injuries reported. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000. Updated 8/31/2017

- Milwalkee, WI, USA

problem #121

Sep 152014

Prius 4-cyl

  • 105,326 miles
Driving 2008 Toyota Prius with 105K miles on the freeway. Suddenly, I saw the ABS, vcs and brake lights shows up on the dashboard along with a continuous screeching noise. I tried to apply the brakes but the car did not stop, I applied the brake even harder, still the car did not stop but continuous to move forward. It was traffic time on a Monday morning, so I was going on 15mph. When I found that my brake did not respond, I immediately moved to the curb and called aaa. Dealer did check my vehicle and said there is break actuator issue and needs to be replace with a price tag of 3823 usd. Spoke to Toyota customer service, and the associate told that this is a wear and tear issue. How come the brake actuator become faulty on a 6 year old car, which was advertised a safe car. Note: I had my 100K service done and I was told everything was normal.

- Ladera Ranch, CA, USA

Read the next 20 complaints »

Not what you are looking for?