Electrical System Problems of Toyota Prius - part 1

Randomly, the car have a delay of approximately 2 seconds when I hit the gas pedal. It happened multiple times, 2-3 times per day. The gas pedal can pe pressed to the floor, it won’t react. After 2 seconds or so it will react and drive normally. I noticed this is happening when the car is in ev mode ( I’m either stopped at red light, or I’m slowing down a bit/taking a turn. This is a hazardous situation and very dangerous.

Front door locks defective. Remote control doesn’t open the doors, even after replacing battery in key fob. It started with the driver door and now the passenger door doesn’t lock or unlock.

See all problems of the 2023 Toyota Prius 🔎.

While driving, one spot on the left side of my steering wheel suddenly got very hot. There are now two small circular indentations where the steering wheel covering has melted. This has happened at least 3 times in the last week or so. I have scheduled service on 8/4/25 at my local Toyota dealership (vineland, NJ) to check it. I am not parking it next to my house in case it decides to catch fire. My vehicle was involved in a collision back in may 2024 and was fixed by caliber collision vineland-xd 3181 s delsea dr vineland, NJ. Both driver's side and passenger's side front fenders had some damage, and the hood was pushed a bit from the passenger's side to the driver's side. Was not moving fast, maybe 5 mph, when hit by someone driving at an unsafe speed. Maybe that and loosened a wire, maybe not. Reporting due to fire possibility.

See all problems of the 2022 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Brake getting stuck on the floor would have to press on brake really hard just to get a response, this will happen out of the blue! driving in highway or just driving off the driveway. I almost hit a car in front of me due to lack of brake, I had to swerve to the side! first appear 1 day after buying the car. . This issue needs to be worked on right away.

See all problems of the 2012 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Failure of the intelligent power module (ipm) within the inverter assembly.

See all problems of the 2013 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The odometer on my 2004 Prius stops at 299,999. This is a known problem in the 04-05 models that was corrected in 2006. Leaves me unable to track miles for maintenance and other uses. This also has the problem with the entire digital dash going dark which means no speedometer or gas gauge. Making the vehicle almost unable to be driven safely at this point. I have reached out to Toyota and they verify that it was an issue with this year range but because I have owned it too long they don't do anything about it.

See all problems of the 2004 Toyota Prius 🔎.

I purchased my 2015 Prius c in July of 2016. Since then I have consistently had issues with the lock actuator going out on various doors. As follows: 3/12/18 - driverside 6/13/18 - passenger front 8/3/20 - driverside 8/5/22 - rear driverside 12/16/22 - passenger front 3/14/23 - driverside and now in July of 2025 the driverside actuator is failing, again. The previous times were covered by my warranty, but that ended in 2023. My car is also kept in a garage. The dealership attempted to blame this issue on the elements, but come on. . . If that was the case, this would be happening to all sorts of various cars, and it's not. This is an issue for a variety of reasons, one being I am unable to access getting into my vehicle with the door lock that is not working. I currently have to go to my passenger side and crawl over to unlock my driverside door. If I needed to get into my car quickly, I would be out of luck. This is ridiculous as this is the seventh time a lock has gone out - making it about every year and a half that a lock needs to be replaced - and the 4th time for my driverside. How is this not a recall issue???.

See all problems of the 2015 Toyota Prius 🔎.

2013 Toyota Prius v has 3 recalls for the same issues but my VIN # says there isn't any recalls associated with it. I need help. It stalled on me on my way home from work luckily not on the high way now it's throwing code c1310 c1259 c1241 it won't crank all it does is click. I replaced 12v batterychecked all connectors.

We were driving on a city street about 25-30mph and the car jerked suddenly and the lights on the dashboard illuminated and the "check hybrid system" message came up as well. The car was able to coast to a nearby parking lot. We attempted to drive the car home and the car stalled in the middle of the street. We were able to push the car off the road and then get it towed. The presented a potentially very dangerous situation as the car had a complete failure while driving in the middle of the road. The Toyota service department ran a diagnosis which returned dtc p0a94. All of this indicates that the car should be covered under the customer confidence program 23te03 however that program seems to only cover the 2010-2015 Prius and 2011-2017 Prius v models and not the Prius c. There are several reports of this same issue happening on the Prius c as well though so it doesn't make sense that it is not covered.

See all problems of the 2014 Toyota Prius 🔎.

I recently took my vehicle to the dealership because all the hazard lights on the dash came on. They diagnosed it as an issue with the inverter water pump and suggested that the engine was overheating, which was causing the hazard light to appear on the dashboard. So I had them replace that part and everything was fine. A week later, I went to drive to work and my entire dashboard was out. My radio, clock, blinkers, and brakes worked, but I could not see the speedometer, gas gauge, odometer or any other dashboard features. When I tried to restart the car, it wouldn't turn off. I tried several times and even got my husband to try. When we couldn't turn it off, I drove blindly straight to the dealership. They diagnosed the issue as being a problem with the combination meter. Recently, I found out that there was a customer support program through Toyota that replaced the combination meter in my same car model. This service expired in 2017. I got the car in 2020-21. Thankfully I was home, and was able to follow my husband to the dealership. I'm not sure what I would've done if this happened while I was out. I am also have traction issues with the brakes. When I try to brake on a slope or incline, the glide hazard lights come on. It's happened several times when it's raining, but it's been happening more when it's not. I typically give enough space between myself and the car in front of me, but it's concerning that the brakes lock up when I'm on any type of sloped surface.

See all problems of the 2008 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The vehicle stalled while driving 35 to 45 mph. Engine had no power but the brakes and power steering worked.

Toyota issued a recall with a limited time for Prius brake booster/actuator failures. This issue is known to present brake failures and necessarily place drivers, passengers, and pedestrians at risk in the case of such brake failures. Toyota made no effort to proactively remedy this problem and further neglected customer safety by excluding Priuses with the same manufacturing issue from the recall, under its 10 year 150,000 mile requirement. Whether or not the Priuses have been driven 150,000 miles or 10 years the nature with which the malfunction presents represents a safety for any driver.

See all problems of the 2010 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The wireless charging in my vehicle and others have reported the same problem. The phone gets so hot to the touch while charging that it is causing cell phones to shutdown and possibly damage them. There needs to be a update to provide cooling air to the charging area to avoid customers phone damage or worse a possible fire due to the extreme temperature the phones are obtaining.

I am writing to express a complaint regarding the issues I have experienced with the brake system of my Toyota Prius c, 2012 model. For the past several months, I have noticed that the brakes exhibit strange noises, soft pedal sensation, reduced braking efficiency, were driving and the abs, traction, brake, and that other light turned on and the brakes became slow these issues have been observed on multiple occasions and pose a safety risk to myself, other drivers, and pedestrians. I have taken the vehicle for inspection, but the problems persist or have not been definitively resolved. I believe these faults may be related to defects in the braking system, and therefore I request a thorough inspection and necessary repairs at no cost, considering that the manufacturer could be responsible for manufacturing defects.

Around may 2025, the brake booster and pump in the car stopped working. There was no clear warning lamp or indicator prior to it failing. While driving on the highway, the part stopped working and significantly changed the car's braking power. Rather than smoothly braking as it did before, the car's brakes have significantly less braking power. The defective part also affects the car's abs system, making the car unsafe if a sudden stop were required as the brakes will lock up and the car will lose grip on the road and start skidding. Significantly longer braking distances is needed and it's not clear the car would be able to safely stop at a short distance in the event of an emergency. It's a miracle we didn't get into any accidents when the part suddenly failed. There is a significant risk that failure of this part will be the cause of a car accident when the car suddenly no longer brakes how the driver is used to. Toyota has previously offered an extended warranty on the part, but the part did not fail until shortly after the warranty expired. The car has been within my family since it was originally put into service and none of the owners were ever notified that the part could be replaced or even fail in such a manner. The problem has been confirmed by a dealer but they have only offered to fix it at a significant cost. The vehicle does not feel safe to drive. Warning lights only appeared after the part failed but they weren't particularly helpful in diagnosing the problem in the moment because 4 different lights turned on all at once.

Car was driving fine one day and then while driving down the interstate I had the pre collision system malfunction error, brake light came on, cruise will not operate, abs light is on. After much research it seems Prius v has a common issue with brake booster faulting.

See all problems of the 2016 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The brake booster assembly (part number 47070-47060) on my 2013 Toyota Prius has failed. This component is critical to the proper functioning of the braking system. It is currently still installed in the vehicle and available for inspection upon request. As a result of the failure, the abs warning light, traction control light, and brake warning light are all illuminated on the dashboard. The braking performance has noticeably declined — the pedal feels inconsistent and at times unresponsive. This has created a significant safety risk while driving, especially during sudden stops or in wet conditions, as it compromises the vehicle's ability to brake efficiently and predictably. The issue has been confirmed by a Toyota dealer (or independent mechanic if that’s the case — feel free to change this line accordingly). The dealer diagnosed the issue as a failure of the brake booster assembly, which aligns with known failures reported by many other 3rd-generation Prius owners. The vehicle has not been involved in an accident, and has not been inspected by the police or insurance representatives. Toyota previously issued a customer support program (csp zjb or zg1) covering this part, but it has since expired. I only recently began experiencing symptoms and was unaware of the csp until after contacting Toyota. Prior to the warning lights, I experienced intermittent symptoms such as a soft or delayed brake pedal, and an unusual sound from the brake system when the vehicle was turned off. The warning lights first appeared around [insert approximate mileage or date here], and have remained illuminated since then. Given the safety-critical nature of this component and the known defect history, I am requesting assistance from Toyota in the form of goodwill coverage or reimbursement, and would like this issue escalated for further review.

The accelerator wasn’t pushing down after I turned a corner then the lights in attached photo appeared. The power inverter needs to be replaced and since my car had the j0v software update in 2/2019, and the recall update came out in 3/2019, it was not linked to my VIN as it should’ve been. The update to j0v (attached) should have been posted w my VIN, correct? they are fixing it under customer support but refuse to tow it or give me rental bc they are saying it isn’t a recall issue, when the document below says it applies to all cars that needed j0v. I want to be sure all cars that had recall service before the march2019 update get this update linked to their VIN.

Abs actuator and pump failure.

See all problems of the 2011 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Break pump , break pump assembly, break actuator. Vehicle has only 91k miles it. Breaks feel rough and slower to react. Too worried to use vehicle. Dealership said it’s a very well known issue and wanted $5800 to fix it.

The headlight bulbs keep going out. I have replaced the bulbs at least 2-3 times a year for the past few years. I have asked dealers about this and they tell me there is no recall or TSB. This is a hazard to night driving because of decreased illumination, especially in dark roads with not enough lighting. Please recall/fix this issue!!.

Breaking system failure do to asb actuator, breaks are locking and vehicle is engine braking.

See all problems of the 2009 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the instrument panel failed to function as intended. The contact stated that the instrument panel went blank. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent at first but had become a permanent failure. In addition, the front headlights and rear taillights failed to function as intended. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, no cause for the failure was found. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while driving at various speeds, the front headlights failed to work as intended. Upon inspection, the contact noticed that the bulbs had melted into the wiring harness. The contact stopped driving the vehicle at night. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.

Wednesday morning I went to start my car to go to work. I noticed the brake would not go down. It was difficult to press. I was unable to go to work safely. I brought my car to a mechanic where I was informed it was a faulty brake booster. When I researched online, I saw many many other Toyota owners went through the exact same issue. There is no recall but it’s a huge issue and a a safety problem.

The light up display for the odometer, fuel gauge, and speedometer does not always light up. When it is not lit, the cruise control and any warning and informative alarms/lights also do not work. This is a well-known issue among owners of these cars, related to the capacitors on the circuit board for the display being defective, and there is extensive documentation of it online. It may also have had a technical service bulletin released for the issue, but I'm not entirely sure. The light goes out intermittently and is not always consistently out. I did mention it to the service personnel when I took it in to get recalls repaired recently, and they didn't seem surprised or unaware of the issue. I did not ask them to diagnose or fix it, as I know I can get it done for a better deal elsewhere.

See all problems of the 2006 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The following describes a near total failure of the brake system that accompanies and is triggered by routine aging of the battery. I believe this applies to multiple model years and editions of the Prius, based on reports by other owners on owners' discussion groups. I believe this should have the highest severity level. Here is what happens: an alarm is sounded, several warning lights abs, vcs appear, and soon after that, the front brakes stop working. The rear brakes then prove ineffective and lock up. The happens with high frequency under any of the following conditions: (a) as the battery approaches 3yrs age, (b) it is excessively cold outside. (c) there is a higher than typical load on the 12v system from any of a variety of reasons. After installing a fresh new 12v battery, the above happens with much less frequency. There no warning on the dashboard to indicate that the condition of the 12v battery is not safe for operation of the vehicle. It seems clear that the route cause is that the brake control unit is configured within inadequate tolerance for the normal aging of the 12v battery, compounded by the absence of warning on the dash. This probably traces back to a poorly chosen ldo voltage regulator in the design of the brake control unit. Recommendation: review the electrical designs for the brake control unit, all model years, replace as needed and update the dash board computer to provide warning when the battery condition is not sufficient for safe operation of the vehicle. I further recommend that this be done with all due haste, as the condition is quite dangerous. Qualifications: phd chemical physics and electrical engineer.

In 11/2024, I started experiencing intermittent noises coming from the engine compartment of my 2011 Toyota Prius. The initial sound resembled the buzzing noise generated when first starting the vehicle. Then the noise started to persist for extended periods after the vehicle was turned off. It would oscillate between buzzing for approximately 10 seconds & remaining dormant for about 1 minute, repeating this cycle. The duration of these cycles could extend for up to 20 minutes. Concurrently, I experienced several instances where the brake pedal would abruptly become stiff & difficult to press. Notably, no warning lights were illuminated on the dashboard. Recognizing these symptoms as unusual, I conducted online research and discovered that the issue could potentially stem from a malfunction in the “brake booster pump and assembly. ” given the potential for a loss of braking power and the risk of personal/public safety, I scheduled a diagnostic inspection at Toyota of poway, poway, CA, on 12/18/2024. It confirmed the presence of a problem with the brake booster pump and associated components. In light of this diagnosis, I made the decision to refrain from driving the vehicle until the repairs were completed. The repair costs amounted to $3,475. 47. I found I had received a notification from Toyota’s customer support program, designated as “customer support program notification-zjb. ” this notification explicitly acknowledged this defect & provided a repair coverage policy that stipulated a coverage policy of which I’m no longer entitled to. Despite not meeting the eligibility criteria for the repair coverage program, I am deeply troubled by the fact that this recognized defect persists in vehicles currently on the road, such as mine, without any corresponding recall action and subsequent repair costs covered by Toyota. Fortunately, I was spared from any accidents as a direct consequence of this issue. Many similar complaints here support this dangerous issue!.

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the instrument panel went blank. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent at first but had become a permanent failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was referred to the manufacturer for assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that there were no recalls no warranty coverage on the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 72,000.

Car was diagnosed at a Toyota dealership with a brake booster issue reading code 20te07 after my vehicles brakes suddenly would not work and the car continued to jolt forward. The brakes wouldn’t stop the car. According to Toyota, my vehicle is three months outside of the warranty period but under the covered mileage so we are left to repair this defect ourselves. This was a very dangerous situation and could have cost us and our children our lives instead of just the $4800 repair cost. This has happened to both of our Prius’s so this is not a rare issue. Toyota needs to have a plan for these parts failing suddenly and they should all be recalled for safety in my opinion. The experience was very scary and we had zero control over the vehicle when the brakes suddenly went out. Where do I join the class action lawsuit?.

I was driving on the highway during rush hour when a loud beeping noice began. My 15 year old cousin was in the passenger seat and began to check for the source of the beeping. I was driving 55mph on a busy highway with no safe shoulder stop. As I was preparing for the exit, the brakes suddenly became dysfunctional. The pedal was extremely hard to press down and I found myself unable to slow down the car in enough time to avoid hitting upcoming traffic. I found myself in an urgent, life threatening situation and needed to pull over into the emergency lane located before the exit. I could not just consider my safety, but that of other drivers and my 15 year old passenger. She is traumatized. I was able to get the car to stop with my entire weight on the pedal. Once stopped, I scrambled to find the reason for the sudden brake problem, checking if anything rolled under my foot, if the floor mat was loose, if the gear shift was wrong, even checked if I accidentally hit the emergency brake. Nothing was out of place. No new dash lights. I looked in the manual. I had no information. I went to jiffy lube and they performed a diagnostic test and informed me they are unable see all the codes with hybrids because Toyota’s computer can only see just in August I went to Toyota for my oil change, nothing was said about the brakes needing to be fixed and how repairing them now would prevent the failure of the accumulator pump system. If I had known paying $400-$500 for the brakes then would prevent having to pay $3000 to replace a pump. I would have made that sacrifice and went outside of my budget. This is paramount information that should be disclosed to all Toyota customers that take their car in for care and pay. After further research, I strongly believe Toyota employees purposely withhold information from their customers not informing consumers about avoiding pump failure and the need repair their brakes and is complicit in any incident caused by pump failure may cause.

The low-beam headlamps on thousands of 2011 Toyota Priuses were burning out very prematurely (a matter of weeks, not months). Toyota corporate said they created a customer support program to replace the headlight wiring harness free of charge, but this program ended in 2019. I believe that Toyota should be compelled to issue a recall to replace the wiring harnesses on all 2011 Toyota Priuses, because working headlights are a critical component of a safely traveling vehicle. The cost of replacing the wiring harness is more than $700, a real dent in a working family's budget. For now, we are replacing the burned-out bulbs. However, we believe a recall initiated by NHTSA is warranted in this case.

I was driving the vehicle around 55 mph when a check hybrid system warning popped up. About 30 seconds later the vehicle went from being in drive to b (brake mode) and the vehicle began to slow at a rapid pace with no warning. Could potentially cause an accident as this occurred with very little warning.

The abs pump( accumulator and booster) are regularly failing on all Toyota Prius( 2010-2015). When the abs pump starts to fail, the warning lights for traction control, brake and abs come on. These lights come on at all speeds and its very hard to bring the vehicle to a complete stop when this happens. The brakes completely stop working and the brakes become rock solid. The brakes become so hard that they can’t be possibly be depressed to stop in time. I nearly missed getting killed from this as I am out of country and Toyota is refusing to fix it since its not a recall and I am in canada. Toyota is asking $3500 in parts and $1500 in labor to repair. I can not afford it and this issue is on all Prius from 2010-2015. This is a major safety hazard and can cause serious injury and damage. Toyota is refusing to repair it since they believe the cars are out of warranty. However Toyota has been notified about this safety hazard arising on all Prius(2010-2015) but decline to respond or take action. I urge NHTSA to take action and get this resolved as the abs brakes failing on the Prius can be really dangerous and can cause life threatening accidents.

About 3 years ago we started getting the red triangle of death with 2 amber lights on display the vsc and the round circle with the exclamation point in the center. This could happen in 500 miles or it could happen tomorrow. When this happens I loose all exceleration and air conditioning and a orange car emblem with an exclamation point in it on the display screen. Once safely off road press power button off and back on and everything is back to normal except red triangle and car on display screen car is then drivable again. Using a code reader to check codes no codes appear but still have red triangle. Leaving car set for a period of time and restarting car and red triangle is extinguished. Have to drive in right lane on freeway in case it wants to quit. The most recent time was last week had driven it about 80 miles with a stop about halfway for 1 hour and stopped for a movie came back got in car started it and within 1000 feet got the red triangle, was in left turning lane with red light, shut off and restarted and was able to drive again as in all other times, took it to a neighbor who had a code reader(about 9pm) and no codes found, he reset it and red triangle extinguished. This type of happening is very unnerving to say the least, dont know when or where it will lay down with us. Don't know if anyone else has had similar issues with their Prius ours has 213,000+ miles on it. Original hybrid battery it was checked in 2015 and some cells replaced by a shop certified to replace cells in this battery. Thank you.

This NHTSA web site adivses owners to "file an online complaint" if ". . . The manufacturer has failed to remedy the recall in a timely manner. . . " it is NHTSA #24v274 and has been active for 11 weeks without the manufacturer's remedy. There is no public estimate of a date for this recall to be addressed, except for a vague "third quarter of 2024" which implies an additional 11 weeks for any remedy to be provided. I think that 22 weeks is not a remedy in a "timely manner. ".

See all problems of the 2024 Toyota Prius 🔎.