general problems of the 2012 Toyota Prius

The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while reversing, the driver's side rear wheel flipped over. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with a corroded I-beam assembly on the rear wheel. The contact was informed that the driver's side rear hub and the brg assembly, rear suspension, and bolts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 196,347.

2012 Prius in very good condition with 180k miles- only 12 years old. Driving on back roads (thankfully) and the drivers side rear wheel compelely fell off while driving. I was doing about 30 mph and felt like there was a flat tire so I was in the process of pulling over when the whole rear assembly snapped. The wheel hit the rear quarter of the car and bounced about 100 feet down the road. I could have been on the highway and this could have been fatal I believe. Very, very scary. As can be seen in attached photos the issue was rust from the inside. This is very concerning since there was no way for me to know this was an issue. I could have been killed or killed someone else. I believe Toyota needs to look into this since there are other Prius' out there the same thing happened to on this very thread. Although this is a massachusetts car I have owed it since 25k miles and have maintained it impeccably. I always have the undercarriage cleaned after driving on salty roads. Safety inspection was current- only done the month before. Had that wheel bearing replaced about 2 weeks before the incident and the reputable mechanic reported no issues. There was no warning except for maybe a minute before it happened- the car was vibrating like I had a flat tire. The damage repair estimate on this was $8500. Catastrophic fail Toyota. Is this a rust issue like the tacoma, tundra, and sequoia?????.

On 07-June-2024 @14:47 my 2012 Toyota Prius suffered a catastrophic failure. I was attempting to back my 2012 Toyota Prius vehicle a few meters back into my driveway while turning slightly. This was a very slow speed backup. Suddenly, the rear passenger side wheel collapsed inward, and rendered the vehicle unmovable. A video of the incident is attached for viewing the vehicle has low mileage approximately 58,000 miles. The vehicle is in excellent condition and the service records provide evidence of proper maintenance, often at Toyota dealership. This vehicle was originally from cape cod massachusetts and perhaps suffered adverse effects from ocean salt air? although the rest of the vehicle does not show any significant rusting. . I am impressed by the engineering of the Prius hybrid technology, but this point of failure seems to be an engineering weakness.

Today 05/25/2024 noticed a slight camber on the right rear wheel. Jacked up the car and removed the right rear to take a closer look and realized the rear axle/subframe was splitting in half along the weld point. If I hadn't caught this today and my daughter was driving it I'm confident she or others would have been killed or severely injured since most of her driving is highway related. The part that is blowing my mind is the vehicle was at the dealership twice in the last month and no one noticed when on a lift. The car is now permanently on jack stands till it can be repaired. I'm not sure it will even hold together to get onto a tow truck. I will not attempt driving do to safety specially others. I witnessed a tire go through a vehicle resulting in the death of someone.

A groaning noise at all temperatures so far. It begins and then goes away after I drive for a block. It is very loud and it can be heard by others around me. It is embarrassing and doesn't sound like it is healthy for the longevity of the vehicle.

On cold mornings the car makes a groaning noise from the rear for aprox a 1/2 block. My dealer was able to verify the problem when I left the car overnight parked outside. They said they are waiting for Toyota to come up with a fix. The car now has just over 10,000 miles but it has been going on for most of the time we have owned it.

When starting to drive the car after is has been sitting for about 3 hours and especially first thing in the morning, the vehicle makes a groaning noise which seems to be coming from the left rear tire area. It lasts for about the first 50 feet and then it stops making the noise. This has happened with temperatures varying between 40 to 75 degrees. When it is really hot in the morning, the noise is not present. The dealer has looked at the vehicle several times and they say that this is a national problem with no solution. I have owned this car for 4 days short of a year with 12,250 miles on it and it does it all the time. This is very frustrating because the car is fine otherwise.