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.
I bought this vehicle on July 3, 2015. When I took it in for an oil change in Dec. 2015, I was informed that there was a mice infestation and that the electrical wires and other systems were damaged, resulting in about $2,800 in repairs due to the mice chewing the wiring. I just took this vehicle back in on 29 Nov. 2021 because some of the systems weren't working properly, and they confirmed that a mouse has again chewed up the electrical system, again costing about $5,000 in repairs. I've just been informed by my exterminator that Toyota uses a wiring harness coated with a soybean based coating which is causing reports of mice damage in a lot of Toyota vehicles. We have 2 other vehicles which are not Toyota vehicles and have never had a single problem with mice chewing the wiring harnesses of those vehicles, although all are parked in the same area. The vehicle is currently pending repairs at Fred Haas Toyota Country in Houston, TX and will be there for at least a couple of weeks pending availability of parts. Electrical issues of this type can cause serious failure of safety features. Toyota has never told me that they use soy based elements in their vehicles that would entice rodents to chew the wiring or otherwise entice them into the vehicle. I do not have a report from insurance yet, but I have filed a claim.
Window buttons on drivers side master power window switch failed. Felt warm on door. There have been recalls of other models of Toyota cars including Prius C.
As stated from 5 months after we bought it, and the first prius, the car won't start. No matter if parked flat, keys in or out over night, or the temp, when the break is pushed it is squishy and makes draining noise and won't start. As a dr on call i have LOST patients because I could not leave my house. i carry and use the charger daily ever since. Taken in lots. they say, "you don't drive enough..or some other bogus excuse, like don't leave keys in car, which is how priuses start and run!. the car is driven in all ways a lot. also we buy headlights and headlamps on both about every 2 months. also it looses power and has shut off while driving. the worst is when it would start on its own in the locked garage. at that point my wife just quit driving all together. nothing but nightmares. She almsot crashed on fw when power went out.
During routine low speed suburban driving, a fire started under the hood in the right front of the car. The smoke was first noticed by a pedestrian so I pulled over, got out of the car, and called 911. I had no prior warning of any sort. The fire completely destroyed the car. This is being investigated by Toyota. I have photos and would be happy to provide more details.
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
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Anytime I change elevations the engine seems to rev when it is idling on cruise control. On the downhill, the car will accellerate to ignore the speed on cruisecontrol to dangerous high velocity. I reported this to Toyota of North hollywood three times... it was never addressed.
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
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Prius. While the contact's daughter was driving at an unknown speed, the brake warning indicator illuminated. The contact informed his daughter to check under the hood for possible low brake fluid. When everything checked out, the contact's daughter restarted the vehicle and the warning indicator turned off. The contact received a customer support program notification (zjb) regarding a defect with the brake booster or brake booster pump, which could cause the brake lamp warning indicator to illuminate. The contact notified frontier Toyota (23621 creekside rd, valencia, ca 91355, 661-255-7575) of the notification and was informed that a diagnostic test would need to be performed before they could make any repairs. The manufacturer was also notified of the notification and provided the same information as the dealer. The manufacturer provided case number: 1909041948. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 35,000.
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.
While driving, left side of instrument panel went dark. No speed indication and cruise control tripped off. Started car next day and instrument panel was normal. While sitting in driveway with engine running, engine stopped as normal for the hybrid Prius, when the engine turned off, the left side of the instrument panel again went dark. Dimmer switch at full bright and nothing blocking mirror for combination panel (instrument cluster).
Toyota soy wiring class action lawsuit! the wire harness contain soy wiring materials that are very attractive to rodents, resulting in costly repairs. Parked my car at work (on January 18 2017) in a full parking lot at a dealership with dozens of other cars but only my car had the wire harness chewed by rodents, and of dozens of cars around my car, the rodents chose my car, the 2015 Prius because the wiring in the engine bay are made of soy which attracts rodents. www.wthr.com/article/13-investigates-lawsuit-says-Toyota-vehicles-attract-rodents-causing-costly-repairs%C2%A0
I was sitting in the passenger seat of the car while it was parallel parked. I pressed the push to start button to turn on the battery so I could charge my phone. There was no one in the driver seat. The car turned completely on when I reached over to press the button. Not only did the engine start, but without anyone pressing on the breaks the car released itself from being parked. The car started rolling backwards into the car parked behind me. I have no explanation about how this happened. I have been reading into it and apparently it's a defect of the 2015 and older models. When the car started rolling back I also started pressing both the park and push to start buttons to turn it off again. I've never felt so unsafe in a vehicle and goes to confirm that park and push to start should not be buttons!!! it makes the vehicle much more dangerous not being able to override those commands when it chooses to go on its own.
Random electrical problems started happening. Bluetooth would not allow me to answer incoming phone. I could not call out. Unable to change radio station, turn on/off radio. Unable to turn on cd, or eject disk. Then radio will start working and am able to use bluetooth if I dial from my cell phone. All within a week. Last night, I drove in silence. No radio, cd, bluetooth. Have maintenance appt. Tues., and stated problems w/ electrical system. Didn't matter if car was moving or stopped.
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.
Within a 6 day period, the main 12 volt battery died and the car which was only 3 weeks old would not start. Also the cable used to charge the hybrid battery trips the circuit breaker in my house each time even though it is a ground fault outlet and a 20 amp breaker. I had to call out a tow truck to jumpstart the battery both times. Car was parked and directions were followed exactly for charging it. I took it to the dealer who found nothing wrong and was told I should have a dedicated line to charge the car, even though I wasn't told this by the salesman. The electric service in my garage in brand new. This is ridiculous to go to this expense and not be told in advance, and to have a new battery need charging. It had to be charged before I could even test drive the car but that did not matter. I was told I could not get a new battery as it tested "good".
The navigation and audio screens are mostly unreadable in bright sunlight. In order to attempt to see the screens in these conditions some operators may be distracted from the roadway in order to read the screen information. These distractions may include moving heads away from the wheel area in order to get a better view of the screen or attempting to hold objects above the screen in order to minimize the glare from the sunlight. Complainant has owned previous models of Toyota Prius which did not have this problem.
I was pulling out of a parking space where my front was up against a building with a car on either side of me. I reversed for about 25' where a telephone pole mandated that I make a K-turn to get out. As I switched from reverse to forward, I saw a spark as the car jet-propelled forward. I tried to break multiple times, but the car accelerated the 25' into the wall. All airbags deployed, and fluid gushed out of the front end. The car was declared a total loss. I was told by Toyota and my insurance company that I must have accidentally accelerated instead of repeatedly breaking. I am grateful that I hit a wall instead of people. Someone could easily have died had I had switched from reverse gear to forward in less confined location. The entire accident lasted 2 seconds, with no opportunity to pull the emergency break or go into neutral. Ps: I am a happily married doctor with beautiful children and grandchildren, and not at all suicidal. This three month old 2015 Prius 3 failed before the first oil change. I am not satisfied with the results.
A brand new:2015 only driven for two days, went out of control after completing right turn. Driver stopped at red light. Turned right while accelerating with full control of vehicle. Completed right turn while accelerating to attain highway speed in 45 mph zone. Upon completion of turn driver turned steering wheel less than 2 inches to drivers right to continue bearing on strait course down highway. Immediately thereafter steering wheel shuddered, and steering wheel rotated hard to the right for what seemed like a 110 plus degree rotation. The Prius out of control veered sharply to the right and smashed into curb. Driver injured back, hand, and foot....updated 03-11-15
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- Hockley, TX, USA