1,048 of the
15,583 complaints filed about the Toyota Prius
are about the throttle and cruise control —
7% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2010.
1,048
Complaints
7%
Share of all complaints
276
Crashes
7
Fires
Acceleration & Cruise Control complaints by model year
Unknown. There were a multitude of codes that appeared on the diagnostics causing problems with engine. The temperature, brake, tire sensor lights are all on. The cruise control is not working. White smoke emitting from tail pipe and engine. Main engine coolant leaking. Car overheating rapidly.
NHTSA complaint #11748670 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I was driving my car and suddenly the traction , hand brake and ABS sign started showing up. I usually apply only 10% of force on brake pedal but after this I have to apply almost 60% of force to even slow down the car. Almost 90% force to stop the car It has threatened safety of my family. When diagnosed at autozone they told cannot determine error code. When reading in internet this seems to be common problem in prius. Please help is fixing the issue as it is not at my fault. This seems to be manufacturing defect.
NHTSA complaint #11734183 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The way the accelerator pedal sensor is positioned allows for water infiltration from wet carpet / tracked in snow and water. The component is available for inspection upon request. Once sufficiently saturated the sensor fails, and ceases function DURING VEHICLE MOVEMENT. The problem is reproducible but has not been confirmed as a pattern of failure by the dealership. As far as my recollection, the manufacturer hasn’t inspected the part. P2138 is the associated check engine code and the vehicle enters limp mode DURING TRAVEL. The check engine light (and subsequent problems) first appeared while in traffic on 2/10/2026.
NHTSA complaint #11721303 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Entering the highway the car suddenly learched and stopped excelerating, creating an unsafe situation, and went into a slow mode. It limped along. Caused cars issue around having to slow merge and driving only 10-15 miles per hour. The dealer could find no codes and said it could be an air bubble in fluid line??? No warning lights.
NHTSA complaint #11690445 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Randomly my instrument panel goes blank while in motion and can only be retrieved by hard turning the car off when stopped, you loose your speedometer, lights, and all until reset. Other issue with speedometer readings that are consistently off between 5-15mph with no fix, resolutions or repairs.
NHTSA complaint #11684148 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH downhill on a mountain and depressing the accelerator pedal, the pedal travelled down to the floorboard, but the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The contact pulled over to the side of the road. The contact stated that upon turning off and restarting the vehicle several times, the vehicle responded as needed. The contact stated that the failure recurred after making a turn at 3-4 MPH downhill. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 194,000.
NHTSA complaint #11675989 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My name is [XXX] ,i am filing this report on behalf of My daughter [XXX] the driver of the vehicle that involved with the unintended acceleration on the 2009 Toyota Prius .On a good clear morning on [XXX] . My daughter drove the 2009 Toyota Prius to work- when she enter to the parking lot at the speed round 5 mile/hour . Just when she was making a left turn on to the entrance gate with her left foot on the brake pedal . On a sudden the vehicle RPM unintended rev up too high and the vehicle had an unintended accelerating to move forward aggressively causing lose control of the steering . Also she could not brake even though her left foot was on the brake pedal and pressing hard to try to stop the vehicle . . This dangerous incident causing her Prius to bumped into the electrical gate panel control box . The accident caused some damages to her Prius and to the entrance gate control box though no body was hurt . But it got us through the terrible experience because it could kill some one for sure . My daughter been driving this commute car daily in the past 5 years and she has the skill of 20 year driving with good record . This Prius of her still have all OEM equipments with no add- on parts-,no modifying part on any systems what so ever- and NO extra floor mat cause we been warned before about the possible of unintended acceleration causing by aftermarket floor mat to any vehicles. . We feel unsafe after the mystery accelerating problem on Toyota Vehicle that could take people lives . So the mystery unintended accelerating on car is REAL . I am currently checked and find out her Prius has 2 incomplete recalls (un-notice to us ) but none of them related to the unintended acceleration problem . We would like the NHTSA to take this problem seriously to save people life . I will included photos of this incidents and willing to provide all information if needed to address this problem, again to save lives . INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 5
NHTSA complaint #11670935 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
As I was pulling my car into a parking space with the brake applied lightly, the car suddenly lost braking and lurched forward when the front wheels touched the curb. This caused the front of the car to jump the curb and hit a tree a foot or two away. My foot was on the brake during this and the car did not brake automatically, or engage any other sort of safety measure. This was terrifying and I could have easily hit a pedestrian or injured myself and the passengers of my vehicle on impact. I completely lost control of the vehicle's braking due to this issue. Since the incident happened today, my vehicle has not yet been inspected. No warning lamps of any kind had been activated. The car was nearly brand new. Upon further investigation, there are numerous reports of similar events happening to Toyota hybrids over the years. A simple google search for this turns up many reports. These reports center around sudden loss of braking from the regenerative braking system and a "lag" before conventional braking is applied that causes the forward lurch due to the momentum of the car. Many others on online forums seem to also suggest running into this issue specifically when the wheels hit a bump. This sounds exactly like what happened to my car, causing it to lose control despite my having the brake applied. It is insane that such a problem has existed for years in the braking system without being fixed by Toyota.
NHTSA complaint #11652443 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
When I am coming to a stop or need to put on my brakes my car will accelerate at a jump ahead pace As if to take off instead of slowing down and stopping. Regardless whether I’m turning a corner or I’m continuing straight when I have to Put on the brakes it speeds up instead.
NHTSA complaint #11647997 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owned a 2022 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while idled forward into a parking space at the local car wash, the brake pedal was depressed to stop but the vehicle erroneously accelerated forward and crashed into a brick wall where it came to a stop. During the crash, the air bags did deploy and no injuries were reported. The vehicle was destroyed and later towed to an undisclosed location. No police report was filed. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The local dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 25,000.
NHTSA complaint #11637566 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The light up display for the odometer, fuel gauge, and speedometer does not always light up. When it is not lit, the cruise control and any warning and informative alarms/lights also do not work. This is a well-known issue among owners of these cars, related to the capacitors on the circuit board for the display being defective, and there is extensive documentation of it online. It may also have had a technical service bulletin released for the issue, but I'm not entirely sure. The light goes out intermittently and is not always consistently out. I did mention it to the service personnel when I took it in to get recalls repaired recently, and they didn't seem surprised or unaware of the issue. I did not ask them to diagnose or fix it, as I know I can get it done for a better deal elsewhere.
NHTSA complaint #11632471 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while in bumper-to-bumper traffic, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The brake pedal was applied but failed to respond. The driver crashed into the front passenger side of the Lexus. The vehicle continuously moved forward. The contact was eventually able to pull over safely. The pre-collision malfunction warning light illuminated. The brake malfunction light was flashing. The air bags did not deploy. There was no reported fire or injury. A police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who could not determine the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was then towed to an autobody center where it remained. The manufacturer was contacted, but no additional assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 39,000.
NHTSA complaint #11629049 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while her husband was driving approximately 40-50 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the accelerator pedal failed to go back to the normal position and remained stuck. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact's husband depressed the brake pedal, and the engine revved significantly. The driver was able to pull to the side of the road. The driver turned off and restarted the vehicle, and the vehicle responded as needed. The dealer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the manufacturer for assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 119,000.
NHTSA complaint #11621099 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
* I was pulling into a parking space at a slow speed. When I applied the brake the car accelerated causing the car to scrape the car next to the space. The car then stopped. * The acceleration was out of my control and the brakes did not stop it. Fortunately there was no person in front of me. * The Tow truck operator who came to get the car experienced the same issue when pulling into the bay at the dealer. I do not know about the manufacturer during their inspection as they did not provide me with that information. * Toyota had an inspection performed and that report was submitted to Toyota on August 20. We just received notification from Toyota that they found no problem with the car. * No warning lights noted.
NHTSA complaint #11620209 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Heading westbound on I-70, taking Exit 29 off ramp from highway, I drove over uneven pavement. My traction control, ABS and brake lights illuminated, the brakes suddenly felt mushy. As I approached the stoplight at the end of the exit ramp, I questioned whether I would be able to stop. Scared me immensely. Luckily no cars were near me. I now do not have ABS, Traction Control, stability control OR regenerative braking.
NHTSA complaint #11617367 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 - 45 MPH, the vehicle independently accelerated. The brake pedal was depressed but failed to stop the vehicle immediately. The contact swerved around the vehicle in front and ended up on the opposite side of the roadway. The contact attempted to avoid oncoming traffic and swerving around all the other vehicles and ended up in a ravine. The contact's husband depressed the START/STOP button from the passenger’s side to turn off the vehicle, enabling the vehicle to come to a stop. The contact restarted the vehicle and continued to drive the vehicle to the dealer at slow speeds. The dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure by the dealer. The failure mileage was 56,000.
NHTSA complaint #11615271 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2024 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while parallel parking and straightening the vehicle, he tapped the accelerator pedal, and the vehicle suddenly accelerated aggressively and crashed into a stoop. While reversing previously on three occasions, the vehicle braked suddenly without application with no object in the surrounding area. There were no reported injuries. The air bag deployed. There was smoke detected from the engine. There was no reported fire. A police report was filed. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 3,000.
NHTSA complaint #11613797 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I was driving the vehicle around 55 mph when a check hybrid system warning popped up. About 30 seconds later the vehicle went from being in drive to B (brake mode) and the vehicle began to slow at a rapid pace with no warning. Could potentially cause an accident as this occurred with very little warning.
NHTSA complaint #11608031 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the steering wheel erroneously steered to the left direction on its own. The contact used force to maneuver the vehicle however the steering wheel independently veered again to the left, right, left, and then back to the right. The vehicle crashed into a curb, and violently accelerated across 2 lanes of oncoming traffic where a van crashed into the vehicle head-on. The air bags deployed upon impact. The contact sustained 11 fractured bones (L1 through L5 lower lumbar, pelvic, pelvis, 11th rib, and sacrum) and received medical attention via trauma center where she remained for over 2 weeks. The other driver of the van sustained unknown injuries but did not receive any known medical attention. A police report was not on file for the incident. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 77,000.
NHTSA complaint #11602992 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My car accelerated significantly on its own while I was pulling into a parking stall in a private parking lot. It caused my vehicle to jump a curb and accelerate up a dirt divider and push over a bush that was planted in the dirt divider. Depressing my brakes did not Decelerate the car, so I pressed the Park button to eventually stop the vehicle. I’m not sure what speed it was traveling when it accelerated, but I could smell burning rubber at the end of the incident. I’m not sure when the smell first occurred.
NHTSA complaint #11590556 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.