Toyota Prius Problems — All Years, Common Issues & Reliability

These tires were purchased brand new and installed at Pep Boys on March 24th. By the 15th of this month—less than a month later—one of the tires had developed a bulge on its sidewall.bubbling on the tire sidewall . However, neither the manufacturer (Toyo) nor the retailer (Pep Boys) has been willing to take responsibility for the issue, refusing to process a return, issue a refund, or address the quality defect. I have clear photographic evidence demonstrating that this is undeniably a product quality issue!

The 2026 Toyota Prius illuminates a road distance on an unlight, rural road of 110 feet on low beam. Parked at the beginning of one white dashed center line, the low beams illuminate two additional white dashed lines. Road lines are a standard 12 ft painted line with a 37 ft interval between lines for a total of 110ft of illuminated road. The average stopping distance of the Toyota Prius traveling at 55mph is ~260 feet. I am able to see less than half the stopping distance of the vehicle. I have hit a deer twice because of the lack of road illumination. Each deer strike was with with two separate 2026 Toyota Prius vehicles. Both vehicles had the same illumination pattern. Fortunately, it was a deer strike, however, imagine for a moment if it were a human walking along the the road or a disabled vehicle. This is a safety concern and does not meet the NHTSA regulation FMVSS N. 108, summarized below. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regulations under FMVSS No. 108 mandate that low-beam headlights provide sufficient, controlled illumination for night driving while preventing excessive glare, generally aiming to illuminate approximately 200–300 feet ahead. I did complain to Maplewood Toyota about the issue and the Service Team stated they can only adjust the headlight within the Manufacturer's suggested range. This vehicle was purchased as a new, I made an assumption that everything would be properly adjusted coming off the manufacturing floor. Maplewood Toyota did not complete an inspection of the vehicle to determine "as found" headlight aiming prior to the deer strike. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms related to this incident. Jeff Rabinort, Service Manager had a conversation with me following the incident. He did confirm there was a maximum adjustment that they could make to the headlight, but was unclear what that was. I encouraged Jeff to drive a 2026 Toyota Prius on an rural road for confirmation.

The contact owns a 2025 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the driver’s side front door became inoperable while using the controls. The door could be opened from the front passenger’s side of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V049000 (Electrical System, Latches/Locks/Linkages). The failure mileage was 21,000.

The contact owned a 2023 Toyota Prius. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 26V049000 (Electrical System, Latches/Locks/Linkages) and 24V274000 (Electrical System, Latches/Locks/Linkages); and requested to be removed from the recall distribution list. The local dealer and manufacturer were contacted.

The contact owns a 2025 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the rear driver’s side door unexpectedly opened while a minor was seated inside the vehicle. The message that the rear door was unlocked was displayed. The dealer was notified of the failure, but the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V049000 (Electrical System, Latches/Locks/Linkages). The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 3,900.

I was driving my 2024 Toyota Prius and was involved in a front-end collision. The impact was strong enough to cause significant front-end damage, but the front airbag did NOT deploy. I was wearing my seatbelt at the time. This is a serious safety concern because the airbag should have deployed in this type of frontal impact. If the crash had been worse, I could have been seriously injured. I believe this may be a safety defect in the airbag system.

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2022 Toyota Prius. It was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a private sale. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 29,909. At the time of the registration, it was discovered that the mileage was 173,000.

The recall (Number 26V049) is a serious safety concern, however the dealer states there is no remedy available despite a clearly described available remedy ("Toyota dealers will modify the left and right rear door switch circuits FREE OF CHARGE, to prevent the switch from activating even if it is shorted.")

On August 15, 2025, I was backing my vehicle when the rear view camera screen went blank, providing no image of what was behind me. With no warning and no image, I collided with a rock and landscape, causing damage to the rear of my vehicle. At the time of this incident, my vehicle had an open, unrepaired safety defect under Safety Recall 25TA13, which specifically addresses the condition that the rear view camera image may freeze or not display while reversing. I was not aware the recall existed at the time of my accident, and the recall remedy was not completed on my vehicle until February 12, 2026 — nearly six months after the incident. I filed a claim with Toyota Motor North America. They inspected the vehicle on February 11, 2026, found the camera functioning at that time (after the recall had since been remedied), and denied my claim. They cited owner's manual language advising drivers not to rely solely on the backup camera, but did not address the fact that the recall was unrepaired at the time of the accident. Additionally the parking collision warning and automatic braking should have engaged. The rock impacted the car right near one of the car cameras....so the collision warning and braking should have engaged. I am filing this complaint because I believe the unrepaired recall directly caused my inability to see behind my vehicle, and that Toyota's delay in notifying me and completing the remedy contributed to this incident. I am requesting that NHTSA review whether Toyota's notification and remedy timeline for Recall 25TA13 was adequate, and that this incident be added to the record of complaints associated with that recall.

This is a 2024 Toyota Prius prime lease in February 2024. I went to our trusted local car shop for our annual inspection, and was told that we need to replace all four tires and we’re just passed 24,000 miles on our odometer. We are two seniors living in New York State and we only drive on paved roads. We believe this is a failure both of Toyota and Toyota for choosing these tires on this particular model. We were told we need to spend over $1000 to replace tires on a car we do not own. Toyota pointed us in the direction of Toyo, and Toyo pointed us in the direction of Toyota. This is unacceptable and we do not want to pay $1000 for tires that should not be worn out after 24,000 miles with normal driving. We’d like to get some satisfaction on this issue.

Vehicle has an active safety recall where the rear hatch may open while driving. Manufacturer states there is no remedy until August 2026, making the vehicle unsafe to operate. I am still making loan and insurance payments on a vehicle that cannot safely be used due to the recall.”

The way the accelerator pedal sensor is positioned allows for water infiltration from wet carpet / tracked in snow and water. The component is available for inspection upon request. Once sufficiently saturated the sensor fails, and ceases function DURING VEHICLE MOVEMENT. The problem is reproducible but has not been confirmed as a pattern of failure by the dealership. As far as my recollection, the manufacturer hasn’t inspected the part. P2138 is the associated check engine code and the vehicle enters limp mode DURING TRAVEL. The check engine light (and subsequent problems) first appeared while in traffic on 2/10/2026.