10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
57,397 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.

2013 Toyota Prius engine problems

engine problem

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2013 Toyota Prius Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #33

Feb 132024

Prius

  • miles

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

I pushed on the gas, the car started mildly shaking under the hood( the engine) then I released my foot off the gas and the shaking ceased. I the. Attempted to accelerate again and the car started violently shaking so I released my foot from the accelerator and turned the car while coasting onto a side road where I traveled back home. Had the car towed to mechanic. He said the engine needs to be replaced as the pistons are damaged. My car has 196,000. I will have the engine replaced as my other 2012 engine just did the same similar thing and I am out two Priuses with blown engines. There were no warning lights and no previous issues or signs prior to the catastrophic events.

- Brockway, PA, USA

problem #32

Sep 162022

Prius

  • miles
Hybrid battery overheats after an hour of driving at high speeds. Car battery shuts down and becomes immobile.

- Portland , OR, USA

problem #31

Aug 062022

Prius

  • 140,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving at approximately 65 MPH, she heard a rattling and knocking noise then smoke started to spread throughout the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the dealer stated that the piston disintegrated and caused damage to the engine. The vehicle was diagnosed and the contact was informed that the head gasket and engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. No warning lights were illuminated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed to replace the engine. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.

- Salinas, CA, USA

problem #30

Dec 062021

Prius

  • miles

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

MY 2013 Prius' hybrid system failed as I was entering a very busy state highway (where several fatalities have been recorded) exit when a tractor trailer truck unexpectedly bore down on me. My engine reduced to half speed and there was no breakdown lane to pull over to. The dashboard lights lit up and indicated a hybrid system failure, but I could not get to safety for another 2-3 miles. This is an NHTSA recall (20V-369) that was eligible for repair under an expanded warranty, but ONLY AFTER the vehicle has experienced the shutdown. The IPM (Intelligent Power Module/hybrid) system breakdown was confirmed by Toyota dealership's diagnostics, but the warranty period was not told to me and the charges amounted to almost $3000. My research and doggedness discovered that the costs would be covered in toto. But more importantly, I am among numerous Prius owners who experienced this problem and more could occur, risking injury if not death.

- Hadley, MA, USA

problem #29

Aug 172021

Prius

  • miles
We have been experiencing on multiple occasions car while driving will slow down, hybrid safety warning light on dashboard will turn on and tell us we have to go to a safe area and turn off car. The car will automatically shut down like a golf cart feeling. We have had near incidents were we have almost crashed. The car now will not go past 35 miles. We brought the car to a Toyota Dealership because we noticed their was a software update recall. When we left the car repeated the warning again about 5 minutes leaving the dealership. The dealership has not helped us and refuses to fix car. We mentioned to them that there have been many complaints regarding the same issue.

- Vernon Hills, IL, USA

problem #28

Sep 252021

Prius

  • miles
The car has been stopping on me anytime I go 35 mph or more. The check hybrid system warning light appears then the far shuts down.I have been having this problem for over a year now after Toyota techs have performed all other software updates.I have replaced hybrid battery 12 v battery both water pumps sensors along with a low mile engine.my year car is on all recall list except the inverter replacement which is the problem.I have spent several thousand dollars on a no end issue.

- Chicago , IL, USA

problem #27

Jul 072016

Prius

  • miles

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

Excessive oil burning.

- Norwalk, CA, USA

problem #26

Feb 242020

Prius

  • 84,000 miles
We hare recently started experiencing excessive oil consumption without dash warning. Our car burned 2 quarts of oil in 150 miles with no warning. Toyota has issued an internal service bulletin (T-sb-0169-16) that covers our VIN number, but since we are beyond warranty they made no offer to help (we were not notified while the vehicle was under warranty). Essentially our car was in motion at highway speeds with little or no oil, but no warning that there was no oil. I think we got very lucky that our drive ended before the engine failed.

- Edmond, OK, USA

problem #25

Dec 232019

Prius

  • 21,000 miles
Attempting to travel in my 2013 Prius five during xmas was driving and approaching a red and while trying to stop pedal went directly to floor and skid light went on and barely avoided what should be an easy stop!! weather clear felt a drag and no coasting ability... car has 21,000 miles and is in perfect appearance but far from in peak condition as this car from brand new had issues I got tired waiting for Toyota to fix. Cruise control, brakes, bluetooth, engine wrapping sounds on startup, I am told the brake issue since new is now a 3,000+ repair and since it showed no code at dealer I would have to pay! merry xmas Toyota! what is NHTSA waiting for"?? I am shocked at both for inaction so I will make some call to my elected officials this has to be fixed. Toyota is becoming GM who would have figured?" my other Prius issues matter less when brakes don't stop you reasonably and the repair is over 3,000 on a car with 21,000 well cared for miles...

- Gorham, NH, USA

problem #24

Dec 232019

Prius

  • 21,000 miles
From day #1 these issues were present on 2013 Prius five: Lka suddenly stops car over minor car movements ahead, major knocking sounds from engine on cold starts, brake pedal hits floor and suddenly locks up! I now have 20K and hardly drive it now trips skid icon", bluetooth is erratic, cruise control shuts off or won't turn on when its wet out, drizzles or rains! is my Toyota my mother warning me not to drive in bumper to bumper traffic, avoid rain or snow, not to use electronics or listen to music while driving and if I use the tech in this 36K Prius five its causing me to drive like a 90 yr old with bad eyes and even poorer judgement! it's a wonder why some people hate Prius drivers..! the 12V battery dies every few days so I must keep it plugged in. I even wrap my fob in foil at home and keep it as far from car as possible to not wake up the car if I walk by a window close to its parked to avoid power drain. Toyota tells dealer everything is okay?....in what world would anyone pay to have a car like this and tell customers its okay?" I have to drive and other people's lives are in danger! my son is now getting ready to drive and I can't imagine him fighting the controls that Toyota built in to keep him safe! I used to manage a Porsche dealership and raced on many tracks and can drive fairly well and don't like to complain but after my recent issue and research found a lot of common problems with others so I chimed in..

- Gorham, NH, USA

problem #23

Nov 182019

Prius

  • 164,000 miles

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

In the middle of driving my car on Nov 18 & Nov 21st, the engine revs extremely loud followed by the inability to actually drive my car, like its shutting down on me. In a matter of about 5 seconds and it not allowing me to drive or accelerate it returns to normal. It has happened twice this week and thought for sure I would find a recall on this extremely dangerous issue but to no avail. It happened both times on a well traveled two-lane highway. I was driving about 35-40mph. I was fortunate enough no one was directly behind me both times. Incredibly dangerous! Toyota please do a recall asap!

- Pensacola, FL, USA

problem #22

May 292019

Prius

  • 77,000 miles
Toyota dealership refused on recall based on defected steering shaft which was bought by me and fixed by mechanic. It was critical issue and recall in other models as well. Also, Toyota does not fix defective piston rings based on excessive oil consumption -https://attachments.priuschat.com/attachment-files/2019/04/165269_T-sb-0169-16.pdf. Please help me at least recover some money for the part and finally let them be responsible for burned oil in engine!

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #21

Apr 052019

Prius

  • 75,000 miles
Unknown squeaking at the back, none of the mechanics was able identify the sound on the back seat... oil burning, bulbs burning so often.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #20

Sep 062019

Prius

  • 152,000 miles
Based on the description from the dealer, the piston rod broke and hit the casing and broke the casing causing catastrophic failure, this happened when I was driving the car and was at 40 mph. As I was driving, I heard a loud bang and suddenly my car started shaking violently and then smoke started coming out from the engine area. I immediately stopped the car and got it towed to the nearest shop for inspection when they found this issue which if I was on a highway could have been disastrous. And could have got into an unfortunate accident. Which could have been fatal..

- Rpv, CA, USA

problem #19

Jul 022019

Prius

  • 250,000 miles
Hybrid system shuts down while driving without warning and happens every day

- New Johnsonville, TN, USA

problem #18

Nov 262018

Prius

  • 89,000 miles
Engine rattle/knocking noise on first morning start up on occasion. Car is parked outside in a driveway in los angeles, California. Previous dates unknown (maybe happened 4 other times). Log started 11/26/18 since the noise was really bad that day. 11/26/18 at 6 a.M. car sat in driveway for 2 days. The noise was really bad, the check engine light came on. The next day the check engine light automatically came off. 1/22/19 at 6 a.M. car sat in driveway for 2 days. The noise was bad but not as bad as 11/26/18. Check engine light did not come on. 2/1/19 at 6 a.M. car sat in driveway overnight. Slight noise. Check engine light did not come on. I have seen several other complaints online. Some have said its the intake manifold. The dealer has requested I take my car in for the recall (recall no. 18V684) to see if it fixes the problem but I'm going to request they dig into this further. I have approximately 92,000 miles.

- Tujanga, CA, USA

problem #17

Oct 042018

Prius 4-cyl

  • miles
The contact owns a 2013 Toyota Prius. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 18V684000 (hybrid propulsion system). The contact called frederick Chevrolet at 717-406-1727 (located at 1505 quentin rd, lebanon, pa 17042) and was informed that the parts were not available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and was not able to confirm when the parts were to become available. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

- Harrisburg, PA, USA

problem #16

Dec 072018

Prius

  • 134,000 miles
The engine terribly shakes and got a loud knocking noise during an initial stationary cold start in the morning during winter. It happened 3 times this December 2017.

- Peoria, AZ, USA

problem #15

Nov 082018

Prius

  • 80,000 miles
I was driving down a city road at 25-30 mph at dusk (5:15pm), and with my headlights on. The first indication of a problem was the smell of burning rubber when I turned on the heater. Assuming the problem was with another vehicle ahead of me, I turned off the heater and kept driving. A mile later, as I was nearing my destination, I noticed several warning lights turn on (skid light and exclamation mark light) and the steering became less responsive. I then saw smoke emitting from under my hood. A few seconds later, the front passenger-side corner of the car burst into flames. I managed to pull over, woke up my two young children from their car seats, and got everyone out. Within a minute, the entire hood was ablaze. Given where the fire started, I suspect the headlight. I replaced it the day before. The light seemed to work fine for 1 day, but it is suspicious that is also the area where the fire started.

- Concord, MA, USA

problem #14

Oct 042018

Prius

  • 65,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the manufacturer had not provided the remedy for NHTSA campaign number: 18V684000 (hybrid propulsion system) within a reasonable time frame. The dealer (dch wappingers falls Toyota, 1349 U.S. 9, wappingers falls, NY 12590, (845) 206-0521) stated that the part was unavailable and did not know when it would arrive. The contact stated that the vehicle rode roughly, the battery warning indicator illuminated, and the vehicle stalled. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

- Lagrangeville, NY, USA

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