10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 3 / 4
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 1 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 89,684 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
I have a 2010 Toyota Prius, it overheated and the red light or the warning temperature light never turned on, so now I the car has a cracked cylinder head, that means I have to replace the engine.
- Suisun City, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. While driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle stalled and the check pcs and check hybrid system warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to ourisman Toyota chantilly (4135 auto park cir, chantilly, va 20151) where it was diagnosed that the battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the fuel pump needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 127,735.
- Chantilly, VA, USA
Vehicle stall when hybrid system kicks in and shake, very dangerous considering the car is quiet.
- San Diego, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. While driving various speeds for approximately 250 miles, the vehicle lost two quarts of oil. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 148,785.
- Selma, CA, USA
Recall notice eoe was performed on my 2010 Prius to correct an invertor problem. A software update was performed. According to my dealer at capistrano Toyota as well as other dealers this was just a bandaid and not a true fix. The owner of capistrano Toyota as well as other Toyota dealers have written to Toyota that the invertor needs to be replaced. The dealer H, S had many cars come back after the software fix and had to have the invertor changed. If the invertor fails while driving, the car can possibly just stop running or slow down to 15 miles. This will be very dangerous and possibly deadly.
- Laguna Niguel, CA, USA
Vehicle has lost power on the freeway multiple times forcing me to pull over. In one instance I was almost rear ended by a semi. The vehicle will show a temperature warning and will then shut down and read, "check hybrid system". the Toyota dealership claims it needs a new engine. This is a well known issue and will go in front of a judge in January. I have contacted Toyota about this and they tell me it is out of warranty and not eligible for the warranty enhancement. This should have been an unlimited mileage recall but Toyota refuses to do anything about it. This happened again this morning to my wife who was on a freeway where the speed limit is 70mph. This is an extremely dangerous error and I would hate to see someone die because their car stops on the freeway. This vehicle has also had severay P0401 codes, there is an warranty enhancement for this as well but limited to 150K miles. I was told by the Toyota dealership it was also a culprit for a blown head gasket.
- Springfield, OH, USA
Excess oil consumption, used 2 quarts of oil before next oil change, Toyota's don't consume oil the way this car does, I've never owned a car with this problem using so much oil. The burnt oil is going to eventually build up causing more issues in the combustion chambers and smog devices.
- Selma, CA, USA
The vehicle was in a parking lot. Upon starting the car, the dash displayed "check hybrid system" and the vehicle could not accelerate above 25 miles per hour.
- Milpitas, CA, USA
While driving our 2010 Toyota Prius II on the interstate we began noticing a burning smell. Then, the ABS light illuminated on the dashboard. We pulled onto an off ramp and as we slowed the vehicle down smoke began coming from under the hood. We drove very slowly down the road and the smoke became more prevalent. We turned on a side street and my husband put the vehicle in park, got out, walked to the front, and noticed that the passenger front head lamp was melted and there was a flame. We quickly got our family out of the car (2 kids in carseats in the back). We moved away from the vehicle and the flames become larger and larger. We called 911 and the hood was engulfed in flames by the time the firefighters arrived. They were able to put the fire out quickly, so it did not spread into the front cabin or rear of the vehicle. We had not had any recent work done and the vehicle was fully operational until the time of the fire. We had not been experiencing any problems prior to this incident.
- Long Grove, IA, USA
Motor consumes excess oil. Must add several quarts in between scheduled oil changes. Occasionally when first started, the motor will stall or sputter.
- Sobieski, WI, USA
I was aware the check engine light and alarm came on when I would make right or left hand turns. Took my vehicle in for a check. Was told there "was no oil on the dipstick" so had my oil changed on 2/21/2018 and my mileage was 72704. They did an oil consumption test at this time. When I returned at 73696 miles to have phase two of the test checked, the oil was at "full level". now at 77,250 miles and am having to add oil again. Stopped at Toyota service on 6/01/2018 for them to check the warning light. Vehicle was low on oil again. They topped off the oil at no charge. Thank you! when asked what else could be done about this problem, I was told I could replace the engine. Not going to happen with my 2010 Prius. Not due for an oil change for quite some time. Guess I will check and add oil as needed in the interim.
- Greeley, CO, USA
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact took the vehicle to Toyota of West plains (1902 porter wagoner blvd, West plains, mo 65775) for a scheduled oil change before a road trip. Upon returning from the road trip, it was discovered that there was no oil in the vehicle and the number two head cylinder was burned out. The vehicle was towed to the same dealer and repaired at the vehicle owner's expense. After the repair, the ECU power management board malfunctioned and the dealer refused to reimburse the contact for the repairs. The manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact that there would be no reimbursement for the repairs because the recall had expired. The VIN tool found no recalls for the vehicle. The recall information was not provided. The failure mileage was 111,226.
- Dora, MO, USA
I had been driving the car and had experienced the loss of power described in recent articles as being an inverter problem (that was the subject of a software update by Toyota that may not have fixed the issue). After experiencing this issue several times, my autobody shop recommended replacing the throttle body as the diagnostic codes were not 100% clear what the problem was. I have replaced the throttle body and not had the issue since, but I thought I would report this just in case this is related to the inverter issue. The issue I had was exactly as described -- driving the car, then suddenly losing power and practically unable to move the vehicle (I was able to drive it maybe 3 mph with no power steering, barely got out of an intersection in front of oncoming traffic one time it happened). This happened at various times, always while moving, both on the highway and on city streets, straight/turning. The only time it didn't seem to happen was when stationary. This is the article I read that compelled me to contact nthsa: Https://www.cbsnews.com/news/California-dealership-refuses-to-sell-certain-Toyota-Prius-models-over-safety-issues/
- Falls Church, VA, USA
Car loosing oil I add every 500 miles one liter of oil
- Garden Grove, CA, USA
The vehicle was having issue with the steering locked up when turning with motion about 20+mph. The hybrid system is not as advertised the 50mpg in any way as it only gets average about 35mpg. The vehicle has 87000 miles and the old symptoms from second generation followed suit with it. The dash went totally off when weather is cold and suddenly turned back on when it gets warm. I had driven a few miles without the dash on and it was a bad experience since I cannot figure out the speed or what is going on. The steering is the major issue as we dare not to drive the car and the technicians from the dealer said nothing wrong with the vehicle but third party technicians recommend to take to Toyota for recall.U turns are the worse that locked the steering and the car almost come to a stop with beeping alarms.
- Daly City, CA, USA
The car is consuming oil at unreasonable rates.
- New Glarus, WI, USA
My car completely shut down in traffic, engine, steering, transmission all quit and I was almost in a horrific accident as I could not control the car or get out of anyone's way. The check hybrid warning light was also on. It was towed and the garage said it was a software update that I was not made aware of that caused complete failure.
- Beverly Hills, CA, USA
My 2010 Prius has relatively low mileage - approximately 44,000 miles. It has been routinely maintained at the dealership where it was purchased new. I just replaced the tires a couple of months ago, and the only issues have been the takata airbag recall & the need to replace air filters more frequently than may be normal because I do not have a garage so it is parked outside in a driveway where exposure to pollen & debris from trees is excessive. After a significant wind & rain storm Wednesday night, the engine rattled & made unusual noises for several seconds when I started the car. Then, the "check engine" light came on. I checked the manual, which said not to drive & to call a dealership immediately, which I did. I was told it was not safe to drive & it should be towed to the dealership. I waited until the following morning & started it again to verify the check engine light before having it towed. After I was at the dealership for 3 hours, the service guy told me that when he started it, the car run fine, the check engine light was off, & they were not sure what caused the problem, but their diagnostic evaluation showed a problem with an oil leak in the head gasket. I was quoted a cost of approx. $1500 to open it up, fix the leak, & check for any other problems. I gave the go-ahead, but am wondering if this is symptomatic of a greater problem that will be repeated. I am waiting to hear back from the dealership after the repair today. My goal is to drive the vehicle until it has 100,000 miles or so & then trade in for the newer model. Did I make the right decision" do I have a lemon? is this a common problem with the 2010 model? is it reparable, or could the engine now be warped and irreparable"
- Sacramento, CA, USA
I just tested all years from 2010 to 2011 Prius, those Prius burns a lot of oil at every 2,000 miles. I did fill it (at 4.4 quarts of oil) correctly it but Prius ate over 3 quarts in 2000 miles. Like many of people have been reports this on priuschat.com and etc online forums. I hate to spend my money to buy motor oils! why this Prius excessive oil consumption" "what did this happen"" I just purchased 2010 Prius on Oct. 2016. And I tested it. It still oil consumption. Toyota dealer can't do anything for motor oil. Since it happened, I still check oil level at every 2,000 miles and put it some motor oil in it until it reach to 5,000 miles for synthetic oil change.
- Conroe, TX, USA
- Los Angeles, CA, USA