2012 Toyota Prius problems
Owners have filed 544 complaints about the 2012 Toyota Prius with NHTSA. Service brakes account for 33.5% of them — far more than any other system, ahead of electrical system at 9.6%.
Complaints544
Crashes76
Fires3
Injuries59
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Service brakes 33.5% · 182
Electrical system 9.6% · 52
Exterior lighting 6.6% · 36
Engine 5.7% · 31
Unknown or other 5.7% · 31
Air bags 5.1% · 28
Visibility/wiper 5.1% · 28
Structure 4.2% · 23
Severity
Of those complaints, 76 describe a crash, 3 describe a fire and 59 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 17 model years of the Toyota Prius in this data, 2012 sits 9th by complaint volume. 2010 draws the most.
Filing volume has held steady, 104 in the last three years against 116 in the three before.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 40,063 miles.
In owners' own words
My brakes began making a funny noise when I used them. I only have 80000 on the car and do regular maintenance. I took it in because it seemed the brake pedal was getting spongy as well. They ran in through diagnostic tests and determined the braking module or brake booster/master assembly was bad. This seems to be an issues with Toyota and should be addressed immediately. It is an expensive fix for a low mileage car Service brakes
Problem with braking system involving, the other day the car was on and suddenly three (3) warning lights came on: brake light, abs light and traction control light. There is also now a pumping sound coming from under the interior of the dash (on it at least sounds that is where it's coming from. The car has 151,428 miles on it. I've included pictures of the current eror code, mileage and dash lights that are on. Service brakes · reported at 151,413 miles
Vehicle stability control, anti-lock brake, and traction control lights intermittently turn off. A few times it shut down the hybrid system and tell me to stop . Now all those lights are all on and I am driving without vss, abs and traction control. Braking is getting harder. I took it to the dealer and they told me the cost is $3500. I did some research and found out that this is a known Prius problem problem Service brakes · reported at 78,000 miles
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…