Toyota Prius Complaints (2007)

2,004 consumer complaints on file.

#11773225October 23, 2026
STEERING
In October 2026, my 2007 Toyota Prius experienced a serious mechanical steering failure at approximately 187,310 miles. The steering wheel could rotate without properly controlling the front wheels, resulting in a loss of steering control and creating a significant safety hazard. On October 6, 2026, an independent repair facility inspected the vehicle. Its written diagnosis, documented on an October 21 invoice, identified worn gearing at the intermediate steering shaft connection to the steering rack. The technician also identified a failed steering wheel spiral cable. The steering system has not been permanently repaired. This vehicle previously received Toyota's steering-related recall repair. I am concerned that the failure may be related to NHTSA Recall 12V537000, which addressed wear of steering shaft splines and the potential for complete loss of steering control. There is also a documented history of steering complaints. In May 2024, I reported abnormal steering noises to a Toyota dealership, which could not reproduce the problem. In July 2024, the dealership confirmed steering noises but attributed them to suspension components. In February 2025, the dealership confirmed noise originating from the steering column assembly and recommended replacing the steering column yoke assembly, potentially including both upper and lower intermediate steering shafts. I was not verbally informed of this recommendation. I am concerned that a vehicle previously repaired under a safety recall subsequently experienced a steering failure resembling the original recalled defect. I request that NHTSA review this failure and investigate whether it indicates a problem with the effectiveness or durability of the previous recall remedy.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11711145January 15, 2026
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
2007 Toyota Prius touring edition WILL NOT TAKE ANY FUEL PROPERLY AND WILL OVERFILL AND "BURP" CAUSING GAS TO FLOW EXPLOSIVELY OUT OF THE FILLER NECK AND HOLE. Tank will not fill, at all, causing risk of running out of gas while on highway. FUEL GAUGE DOES NOT WORK AT ALL. FUEL TANK will not fill properly, if at all, overfills and burps causing fuel to blow out of the filler hole with force. THIS IS A FIRE HAZARD as gas can spill all over near the filler area and possibly catch fire. Stopping the filler hose will not help, as the tank refuses to take any gas, even when close to empty. People need to put gas in, not guess. The car will ONLY TAKE BARELY 2 gallons in winter without overflowing. THIS IS A LIFE SAFETY AND FIRE HAZARD AS THIS OVERFLOWING GAS AND REVERSE FUEL FLOW CAN IGNITE, or catch fire. THE BLADDER IN THE TANK STOPS WORKING AND WILL NOT ALLOW FUELING ANS SPITS FUEL BACK OUT OF THE FILLER NECK AND HOLE.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11664994June 5, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
The brake actuator failed. When the car was diagnosed by the Toyota dealership, they identified the problem as an internal leak within the brake actuator. Luckily, nobody has been hurt attempting to drive the car, but it is still being driven to get it from home to the repair shop so anything is possible. The first symptom I could link to this was in 2023, when the car would not accelerate via the gas pedal after the brakes were pressed during cruise control. Turning off the car and turning it back on fixed the problem. Afterwards, the red brake symbol was turned on. From that point on, the brake light would only shine sometimes. leading me to believe there must not have been something wrong with the car, since nothing else happened after that. 2024 is when the red brake light and ABS symbol both lit up. The only information that I could find in the manual was to take the Prius to the Toyota dealership. I could not find details on the problem. I continued to drive the car regardless because there seemed to be no problem. After letting the car sit for a few months in 2025, I began driving it again, and it was fine. A month later, I turned on my car and was met with a loud beep that did not end. This was my final sign to take it to get repaired. The car has exceeded 200,000 miles. This fix is $3,205.40 at the dealership. My 2007 Toyota Prius is valued between $2k to $4k. The repair would cost more than simply buying another Prius.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11650664March 26, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
Check engine light came on with codes C 1256 & C 1300. Primary issue is Brake actuator failure. Toyota is ignoring this known and repeated issue and it may lead to a dangerous/ deadly situation if brakes go out while driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11623731November 5, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES
Failing Brake Actuator Assembly. This is known issue by Toyota and they issued a brief warranty repair program, but have since stopped and refuse to fix the issue or provide assistance.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11617019September 28, 2024
TIRES:TREAD/BELT
After an Interstate highway drive and when then discovering my tire had been punctured by a screw or other object, but with still enough air in the tire to drive to a tire repair facility, I drove to have the puncture repaired. On repairing the puncture of the 185/65R15 tire, the repairman observed a portion of the tire’s steel belt to be visible on the inside of the tire. An immediate replacement of the tire was recommended, but this facility did not have an identical tire to provide. The facility emailed me a picture of the protruding steel belt. This writer has twice reported the matter to the tire’s manufacturer, but still no response since the first report on 09/24/2024. No party other than the tire repair facility has inspected the tire. This writer has recognized no noticeable effect of the defect, but the repair facility stated it could cause a blowout at any time.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11615569September 20, 2024
SEAT BELTS
The drivers seat belt receptacle spit out a spring and plastic part and it cannot buckle anymore.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11610960August 26, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES
2007 Toyota Prius Brake Actuator needs replaced. ABS, Parking Brake, VSC light came on 2 weeks ago when driving down a highway.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11609836August 20, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES
There is a known, (by Toyota), issue with the ABS brake actuator in many Prius generations including the 2nd generation Prius that I own. My mechanic said it would cost @$3000 to fix. This as I said is and has been a known issue with these cars that affects the ABS braking and puts myself, my family and any one on the road near me in danger. Toyota was quietly replacing these under an unadvertised, extended warranty program. Mine is out of this so called warranty period but if this was a known issue and was corrected at no cost due to the fact Toyota knew there was an issue why was there never a recall on the affected models all with this same problem? I feel that this dangerous problem should be corrected by Toyota at no cost to the owners of their dangerous affected vehicles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11600977July 10, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, STRUCTURE:BODY:DOOR:HANDLE:EXTERIOR
Hatch release has melted, see NHTSA ID’s for example: 10511408, 10533059, 10504366, 10496197, 10448470, etc.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11586567May 2, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Failing hybrid water pump at around 110,000 miles. This part was part of a recall in 2012 but my VIN is not included for the same issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11581639April 8, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
This complaint is about the problematic brake actuator for a Toyota Prius Hybrid. I started to hear frequent whirring noises from the front part of the vehicle a few month ago. Additionally, whenever my foot is on the brake, a mechanic sound appears. Recently, the whirring noise is becoming more frequent, on a approximately every 10-15 sec frequency. I took the car to the dealership last Friday, and the mechanics stated the issues being associated with the brake actuator. The dealership also stated that if repairs or replacement was recommended after diagnosis, the cost would be on the order of $2,000 to $3,000. I contacted my regular mechanic shop, and found out that they do not perform brake actuator repairs on a hybrid. This issue left me with limited choice for solution because it seems to be specialized and is expensive to fix, and most importantly, this issue could lead to a safety hazard for my future transportation.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11571556February 12, 2024
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
I CANT SEE THE ROAD. Who is in charge of allowing these new bright LED headlights? They make it very hard to see where I’m driving when they’re eye level with my car!! So all I see is a bunch of LED lights coming straight at me, which is very unacceptable because now I can’t see the road. Making it a very obvious safety concern which is weird when I thought the government is supposed to be preventing stuff like this from happening. What the heck
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11566087January 17, 2024
ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
I keep replacing P1116 and it keeps coming back also I was driving up a hill when I lost power and the car wouldn't accelerate. It would turn on and go into gear but not go anywhere. I know it says my vin doesn't have recalls but why am I experiencing them
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11554493November 10, 2023
EXTERIOR LIGHTING, AIR BAGS, SEAT BELTS
The lights spontaneously turned off while driving on a cloudy night on an unlit section of interstate. While slowing the car down, it went onto gravel, semi-circled around and flipped over onto the lower median. No air bag deployed. No protection from shoulder seat belt. Head hit steering wheel, and I briefly lost consciousness. Tests showed skull and cervical fractures. The car was "totaled." I was planning a move. Now I consider myself to be lucky to be alive. I am rewriting because of previous a NHTSA computer malfunction changing a serious injury to "NO" injury on the questionnaire.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11550528October 17, 2023
AIR BAGS, EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Both headlights failed, one earlier, then the second, on a cloudy night on an unlit, deserted rural stretch of interstate highway. Driver started slowing down from 60 mph, looking for a place to pull over. An accident resulted--only the defective car was involved. No airbag was deployed. The driver was injured. (Full recovery--months.) The car was totaled.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11547630October 1, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Combination meter often does not turn on when turning the car on. This means you cannot see a speedometer, any warning lights, fuel tank levels, or mileage. Also the trunk gets locked and is unable to open. Sometimes the car will not turn off. This has been happening on and off for over a year but has gotten increasingly worse. There are no warning signs. This can happen any time you turn on the car but might not always happen. It can also prevent you from turning off the car. When searching online, it seems this is a common problem with high mileage Priuses between 2005-2009 and so Toyota extended a warranty on it but did not tell all of the owners, most likely to get out of a recall.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11542716September 5, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES
Brake Actuator system (ABS) needs to be replaced with only 133K miles on my 2007 prius. I heard a sound and had a Toyota service center check for any issues. They told me it was the ABS system that needed to be replaced at a cost of $5K. The repair costs are greater than the car value. Toyota knows about this year, make, and model issue. I contacted Toyota Corporate about this this week and learned there was an extended warranty for this specific issue on my car. They refuse to honor the extended ABS system warranty even though I'm under 150K miles per the warranty. They told me a letter was sent to me about replacing it at no cost in 2017. I never received the letter nor did the Toyota service center I used at the time tell me about the issue. Additional Info: I am not driving the car since the dash lights have come on - red triangle, check engine, VSC and (!) symbol - with a circle inside the (). Noise checked at Toyota dealer service center and confirmed it's the brake actuator system No inspection by the manufacturer, police, insurance rep, or others The sound came first when pressing the brake pedal and then the lights came on after taking to the service center
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11536412August 3, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY
catalytic converter is easily accessible and there should be a recall to have a safety operation and stop all these cars from being sold in the market because there is a rise in many thefts of the catalytic converter due to it being very easily accusable without any guard in place to prevent thieves from getting to it to remove and sell for parts. Spray paint can be cleaned off and vin numbers can be sanded down. simply trying that will not work. i was unaware that it was stolen off of the vehicle until i drove it a little ways to where the vehicle was then burning and i could smell it catching on fire
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11532894July 18, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When the 12-volt battery in this car dies, there is NO warning light to indicate the battery is dead or is running low. The driver is given no warning or indication prior to the car being disabled. Once the battery dies, the vehicle immediately decelerates, there is no acceleration, the braking system becomes mostly disabled, and the power steering is not functional. The car becomes disabled, while being driven, without warning. When this event happens, there is a high pitched screaching alarm, and the majority of the dash lights turn on. None of which indicate there is an issue with the 12-volt battery. The large red triangle light with the exclamation mark comes on, as well the lights indicating that there is a problem with the brakes. Additional dash lights also turn on during this dangerous event. The rear view monitor screen states that there is an issue with the transmission. The reality that a minor 12- volt battery is responsible for disabling a vehicle is extremely dangerous, especially since it happens when the car is being driven. This is a serious issue. Toyota must include an indicator light that warns the driver the battery is low prior to the car being being disabled. Please investigate this matter, as it seems to be a common problem, based on online research. My safety was in jeopardy due to the fact that I was driving the car on a main road, with moderate traffic, and lost control of the car as it became disabled. To get my car off of the road required the assistance of several good Samaritans who used their bodies to block traffic in order to get the car out of the flow of oncoming traffic. Fourteen days later, after the battery was replaced, and the car serviced/inspected, I drove the car 10 to 15 miles, wherein the car did the same thing. Per the dealership, the issue was not the 12- bolt battery. Thank you for your time and consideration. Kindly, Cynthia Becker 623-209-4290 [email protected]
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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