2021 Toyota Prius Prime

Routine

Owners filed 10 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the electrical system. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Service Brakes2
202
Electrical System2
000
Visibility/Wiper1
000
Vehicle Speed Control1
000
Unknown or Other1
100
Forward Collision Avoidance › Adaptive Cruise Control1
100
Electrical System › Instrument Panel › Speedometer/Odometer1
000
Back Over Prevention1
000

What owners reported

Newest filings
Electrical System › Instrument Panel › Speedometer/Odometer
Filed Mar 9, 2026274,000 milesCA

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2021 Toyota Prius Prime. The contact discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy after the purchase. The vehicle was a private sale. At the time of the purchase, the vehicle mileage was 73,000. It was later discovered upon checking the vehicle history report with a Local dealer, the contact was informed that the mileage was 274,000.

Service BrakesCrash2 injured
Filed Oct 29, 2025NY

I was slowly entering a handicapped parking place right in front of a business. The distance from the front of the parking space to the building wall was about 15 feet, one car length. I approached the place to stop in the parking spot when in a split second the car violently surged forward and would have crashed into the cinderblock wall had there not been a supporting post on the building and a metal frame with equipment which stopped the forward movement. The surge was explosive, almost like the acceleration of an airplane taking off. The whole incident took a second or two. There was no opportunity for any driver response to the surge. Had we not been using seatbelts, the front seat passenger & myself would have gone into the windshield and perhaps been killed or very seriously injured. Had I not been driving toward the building when the violent episode occurred, I likely would have hit someone in the parking area and killed or seriously injured people or crashed into park cars. Our injuries were relatively minor due to the seatbelts. The passenger will need therapy on her neck and back. A week later we are still emotionally stressed. There were no indications there was anything wrong with the car prior to this incident. It had only 27,000 miles with new tires and no apparent service issues. This hybrid car, which goes about 22 miles on a charge, was about at the point when it would have transitioned from electric to use of the gasoline engine. The badly damaged car was t

Back Over Prevention
Filed Sep 22, 202527,696 milesIL

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Prius Prime. The contact stated that while shifted into reverse(R), the rearview camera intermittently went black. No warning light was illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the rearview camera intermittently went black. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. Upon further investigation, the contact related the failure to an unknown NHTSA Campaign; however, the VIN was not under recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 27,696.

Electrical System
Filed Mar 30, 2025ME

Rodents accessed and damaged the car because there essentials components are not protected.

Forward Collision Avoidance › Adaptive Cruise ControlCrash
Filed Oct 20, 2024MD

My vehicle is equipped with Toyota Safety Sense, which includes Full-Speed Range Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC) and a Pre-Collision System. Today, while driving with DRCC engaged, my vehicle followed a leading car and appropriately slowed down to 2 mph as we approached a signalized intersection. However, when the leading vehicle changed lanes, a gap was created between me and a new lead vehicle, which was fully stopped. Despite this, the DRCC system accelerated to 5mph and collided with the stopped vehicle.

Vehicle Speed Control
Filed Jul 25, 202434,000 milesME

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Prius Prime. The contact stated while driving 45–50 MPH and approaching a stop sign, the brake pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to respond. The driver continued to pump the brake pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond and depressed to the floorboard. The vehicle accelerated, veered across the road, jumped the curb, and stopped. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and an engineer determined that the brakes were working properly. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.

Electrical System
Filed Sep 20, 202380,000 milesMD

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Prius Prime. The contact stated that after the vehicle was shifted into park, the key was removed and the contact stepped away from the vehicle, when the vehicle inadvertently started to roll away. As a result, the vehicle rolled into the neighbor’s driveway and grazed another vehicle then stopped. Additionally, the contact stated that while the vehicle was on the charger port, the vehicle failed to start. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was advised to take the vehicle in to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacture was notified of the failure and the contact was provided a case number. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

Service BrakesCrash
Filed Nov 6, 2022CA

Brakes of my Toyota Pirius Prime did not work after I was hit on my right side. Brakes completlety was out. Also I was not able to run the car. The cars brakes should work even I got an accident to precent some further damage to other cars.

Unknown or OtherCrash
Filed Apr 3, 2022TX

A sticky accelerator caused my 2021 Prius to lurch forward into a wall. I was pulling into a parking place when this happened. The front airbag deployed. This is the second time this has happened to me with a Prius. In my previous Prius it happened to me two years ago. Both times the vehicle suddenly lurched forward. It was terrifying.

Visibility/Wiper
Filed May 12, 2021518 milesOH

CAN'T SEE VEHICLE DISPLAY SCREEN DURING BRIGHT SUNNY DAYS, WHICH I FIND DANGEROUS CONTACTED TOYOTA ABOUT ISSUE, THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT PEOPLE SAFETY

10 of 10 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 2017
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
202411400Routine
20235400Routine
20228100Routine
2021 — this page10000Routine
202016100Routine
20198100Routine
201816000Routine
201742000Routine

Compare every Prius Prime year →

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.