2009 Toyota Prius problems
Owners have filed 644 complaints about the 2009 Toyota Prius with NHTSA. Exterior lighting accounts for 17.2% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of service brakes, hydraulic at 15.2%.
Complaints644
Crashes90
Fires7
Injuries37
Deaths2
What owners report breaking
Exterior lighting 17.2% · 111
Service brakes, hydraulic 15.2% · 98
Vehicle speed control 11.0% · 71
Service brakes 9.8% · 63
Electrical system 9.3% · 60
Service brakes, electric 6.8% · 44
Power train 3.4% · 22
Unknown or other 3.3% · 21
Severity
Of those complaints, 90 describe a crash, 7 describe a fire, 37 report an injury and 2 report a death.
Reading the numbers
Across the 17 model years of the Toyota Prius in this data, 2009 sits 8th by complaint volume. 2010 draws the most.
Filing volume has held steady, 29 in the last three years against 30 in the three before.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 32,500 miles.
In owners' own words
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. While driving at night, the low beam headlights dim intermittently. The contact drove the vehicle to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the headlight assembly was damaged and needed replacement. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact also stated that the failure occurred daily. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000. Exterior lighting · reported at 130,000 miles
My right headlight goes off without warning. I have to turn the head lights on and off for it to come back on; it is dangerous when I have to drive at night, and the headlight goes out,. This is a continuous problem, it make if difficult to concentrate on the road, and it becomes hazardous and freighting. It is also bothersome to others when I have to turn my lights on and off. Exterior lighting · reported at 68,000 miles
We were driving on the interstate at 70 mph, when the headlights suddenly went out. It was dark and raining, and were unable to see the road edge. We pushed the emergency flashers and were able to see how close to the road edge we were. About two minutes later, the lights both came back on and we continued to drive to seek a safer area. Every 15 minutes the lights would flicker. Exterior lighting · reported at 99,500 miles
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…