Tesla Model 3 vs Toyota Prius

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	Tesla Model 3	Toyota Prius
Complaints on file	7,584	15,583
Model years covered	2017–2026	2000–2026
Worst model year	2018	2010
Best model year	2017	2025
Crashes reported	859	1,469
Fires reported	40	101
Injuries reported	331	602
Deaths reported	25	18
Most complained-about part	Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance	Brakes
Share of complaints involving harm	16.5%	14.1%

Tesla Model 3 by year

56 1,693 1,050 767 1,225 1,497 726 330 209 31

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 2,922 38.5%

Other & Unspecified 681 9.0%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 629 8.3%

Brakes 564 7.4%

Electrical System 555 7.3%

Steering 387 5.1%

Suspension 359 4.7%

Airbags 310 4.1%

Toyota Prius by year

4 215 201 123 737 1,298 1,690 2,451 1,894 644 3,482 664 544 544 281 215 215 127 46 53 23 11 31 26 31 28 5

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Brakes 4,567 29.3%

Lights 3,536 22.7%

Electrical System 1,607 10.3%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 1,048 6.7%

Engine & Cooling 784 5.0%

Other & Unspecified 557 3.6%

Airbags 436 2.8%

Body & Structure 430 2.8%