10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
4 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
33,129 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 drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2015 Toyota Prius Owner Comments

problem #13

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 #12

May 272021

Prius

  • miles
When I looked up my car on Kelly Blue Book for pricing, it said that it has been recalled as of 2020. I was not aware of this at all and could have got into a serious accident. I recently purchased a 2015 Toyota Prius Hybrid in February and not even my saleswoman told me that it has been recalled. It has a sleuth of issues that came with it.

- Spearfish, SD, USA

problem #11

Jul 072020

Prius

  • 17,870 miles
Started hearing grinding and screeching noises from underneath the hood after a 125 mile drive to san francisco. The following day vehical started but grinding noise persisted while vehical was parked idling.dorve to the stoe and on the way back home the car stalled on the highway. Could not get it to turn back on so I pushed it off the highway. Error message on dash mentioned something about an error with the hybrid system.

- Salinas, CA, USA

problem #10

May 152020

Prius 4-cyl

  • 100,500 miles

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

105K milage. Driving on highway at about 45mph and car suddenly jerk and slowed to about 10/15mph. Lost electric power, able to only continue driving on gas 10/15mph. Toyota had to replace the following which they indicate was not under warrently which cost $2642. Transister kit, powe plue kit, inverter D grease super long life cool gasket

- Daly City, CA, USA

problem #9

Jan 262020

Prius

  • 38,000 miles
The Prius was stationary, parked in the driveway of our house. My teenage daughter was in the car washing the windshield and windows on the inside and accidentally bumped the gearbox (shifter). The car went out of park and into neutral and rolled backward. The engine was not on. The car quickly rolled 20 feet into a tree and caused 6200$ damages to the rear of the car. Luckily no one was behind the car. I believe that the Prius can be accidentally placed in neutral if electrical is on in the car (ie radio) and someone has their foot on the brake and hits the gearbox by accident. There is no safety on the shifter to prevent unintentional shifting. Many other cars require a manual button on the shifter to be depressed prior to shifting. This is not the case on the Prius. Without that safety feature, accidents like this one can happen and potentially kill someone. The car can be made to be in neutral by accident rather easily.

- Mercer Island, WA, USA

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problem #8

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 #7

Mar 192019

Prius

  • 89,000 miles

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

Vehicle jerked violently and had loss of power on highway at speed of 65mph going straight. Toyota evaluated and determined the inverter was burnt due to overheating causing hybrid system to fail. Toyota stated was not covered by VIN for existing recall.

- Huffman, TX, USA

problem #6

Jul 102018

Prius

  • 90,000 miles
My car 2015 Toyota Prius 2 I was at traffic light I put the gear shift on P postion when I move gear shift to D but it jumped to N by it self it cant to go even to P I tried turn off the car I wait few second I try again I get the same problem the gear shift jumped to postion N the police man come and I called my state farm roadside assistant to tow the car the police man try to help me and after about 10 or 15 minutes the car back to normal so I drive to my home but I wasn't feel safe actully

- Pottstown, PA, USA

problem #5

Sep 042017

Prius 4-cyl

  • 22,267 miles
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Prius. While at a stop and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle accelerated backwards. The contact was able to brake and regain control of the vehicle. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 22,267.

- Livermore, CA, USA

problem #4

Jul 232016

Prius

  • 6,459 miles
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Prius. When the vehicle's gear shifter park position button was activated, the engine was turned on, and the vehicle was unoccupied, it accelerated forward on its own. The vehicle crashed into a rock. The air bags had not deployed. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries sustained. The vehicle was driven home. The approximate failure mileage was 6,459.

- Shafta Lake, CA, USA

problem #3

Jan 112016

Prius

  • 4,580 miles

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

Car was stationary in driveway car would not start and master warning light was on in addition to a warning saying "shift malfunction. When parking, park in flat place and apply parking brake securely" a buzzer was sounding. This indicates a shift control system error. The car would not start. Notified dealer and the car was towed. No error codes were found. The car started for the dealer.

- Old Chatham, NY, USA

problem #2

Dec 022015

Prius

  • 6,000 miles
This is an update to complaint number: 10809942. === I forgot to include this: *** besides the rolling backward problem I had, if one has a get-into-gear-and-go emergency, it is very likely that the car will not get into gear, you will not realize that, and when you step on the accelerator to go, the car will not move. Then you have to realize why it did not go and shift again. In case of an emergency, this delay may be critical.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #1

Dec 022015

Prius

  • 6,000 miles
The transmission gear shift is dangerously designed. The shifter will move into a gear positions even if it transmission does not actually shift into the gear. Whenever the handle is released, it springs back to the central position, whether the transmission is in gear or not, so the driver does not know if the transmissions is actually in gear or not--or if in gear, which gear. The driver is expected to look at the instrument panel so see what gear is highlighted in the display. I rented a Prius for a week and numerous times, I thought I had shifted into drive (or reverse), but when I pressed on the accelerator, nothing happened because it had not gone into the selected gear, and I did not know that because the shift lever always springs back to center position, whether the transmission is in gear or not. One time, at night, I was making a three-point U-turn, shifted into drive, turned the wheel to the left, stepped on the accelerator, and suddenly the car was turning to the right! panic'slam on the brakes. Then I realized the transmission had not shifted into drive and I was rolling backwards. If the driver feels the shift lever go into a gear, the car should be in that gear; if it does not go into that gear, then the shift lever should not move into the position; and once in gear, the shift lever should stay in position, not spring back to center.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

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