10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 1
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 2 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 16,214 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.
I am an excellent driver. I purchased this Prius in the summer of 2011. We (my wife and young daughter) were proceeding on juanita drive N.E. in kirkland, wa. My wife and I agree that our speed was approximately 30-33 mph and that there were approximately 3+ car lengths between us and the vehicle in front of us. The weather was dry and sunny. Suddenly, a vehicle three vehicles ahead of us stopped to make a left turn, and the two vehicles behind it were able to stop. I immediately applied my brakes to the floor as soon as I observed the stopped vehicle ahead. I felt no response - no gripping of the brakes or gripping of the wheels to the road, no squealing, no skidding, no sense of the brakes slowing the vehicle in the three seconds I applied them. Due to vehicles in the opposing lane, a narrow road and no shoulder (a ditch with telephone poles on the right), I was forced to design the least harmful impact - my front right corner to the rear left corner of the vehicle in front. The impact tore open the right front of the vehicle, shattering the windshield next to my wife and causing her legs to fly up and strike the dashboard, injuring her legs in several places. Her airbag did not deploy. My 7-year-old was in her car seat in the back seat. The larger split back was behind her. The back became unhinged at impact and flipped forward, forcing my daughter's upper body forward. She sustained minor facial injuries. While it is possible that the airbag non-deployment was appropriate (I am not certain of this), there is no question that the braking was soft, squishy, non-existent, and the back seat should not have become unhinged.
- Kirkland, WA, USA
The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the vehicle was equipped with an aftermarket heated seat warmer manufactured by philips. The contact stated that the heated seat warmer failed. The contact noticed that the driver's seat had become hotter than normal the contact then noticed that a hole had burned into the driver's seat. The vehicle was taken to a specialized equipment dealer for further inspection.the vehicle was not repaired. The serial and model numbers were not available. The failure mileage was 56,000 and the approximate failure mileage was 56, 200. The VIN was not available.
- Easton, MD, USA
The driver's head seat, of the Prius 2011, pops up when driving on a high way especially if the road is a bit rough.
- Cupertino, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the drivers side headrest would slide up and out of the seat while driving. The contact also stated that the headrest would obstruct his vision when attempting to see what was taking place from the rear. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that all drivers side headrests on the 2011 model year vehicles function in the same fashion. The contact was also informed that the failure was not a safety feature. The failure mileage was 10 and the current mileage was 7,000.
- Laconia, NH, USA
- Batavia, IL, USA