2007 Toyota Prius problems
Owners have filed 2,451 complaints about the 2007 Toyota Prius with NHTSA. Exterior lighting accounts for 43.6% of them — far more than any other system, ahead of electrical system at 10.1%.
Complaints2,451
Crashes191
Fires11
Injuries100
Deaths2
What owners report breaking
Exterior lighting 43.6% · 1068
Electrical system 10.1% · 248
Structure 7.6% · 186
Service brakes, hydraulic 6.1% · 150
Service brakes 5.2% · 127
Vehicle speed control 5.1% · 124
Unknown or other 2.7% · 67
Service brakes, electric 2.4% · 59
Severity
Of those complaints, 191 describe a crash, 11 describe a fire, 100 report an injury and 2 report a death.
Reading the numbers
Across the 17 model years of the Toyota Prius in this data, 2007 ranks 2nd by complaint volume — 2010 draws the most.
Filings have fallen off, 15 in the last three years against 62 in the three before. That is normal as a generation leaves the road.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 52,000 miles.
In owners' own words
Headlights on 2007 Prius failed intermittently. They will work when the vehicle is first turned on but will sometimes turn off. I brought it in within 30,000 miles and had the entire headlight assembly replaced by the dealer and it seemed to resolve the issue for a while. However it is happening again to the other side at 42000 miles, these are hid headlights and have approximately 1000-1500 hours of use to them. Exterior lighting · reported at 28,000 miles
Driver-side headlight functions intermittently at startup....I have to turn switch off completely and turn on, and light functions....Many Prius owners have complained about this over the years, and Toyota has done nothing....Some theorize the circuit board controlling the hid lights is in a poor location and overheats/defective....Anyway this is not a bulb problem, but a system problem.....Please help us...... Exterior lighting · reported at 72,000 miles
My vehicle is a 2007 Toyota Prius. The headlights have started to work intermittently. Makes it very dangerous at night. Replacement is very difficult and expensive, due to bad engineering/design. However, many owners report that even replacing does not always solve the problem, which seems to be a Toyota Prius -wide defect. For safety and consumer protection reasons, these should be recalled and repaired. Exterior lighting · reported at 30,725 miles
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…