2000 Toyota Prius

Routine

Owners filed 4 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the exterior lighting. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Exterior Lighting2
000
Steering1
000
Exterior Lighting › Headlights1
000

What owners reported

Newest filings
Exterior Lighting
Filed Mar 14, 2013125,000 milesTX

WHILE DRIVING THE CAR DOWN THE HIGHWAY AT NIGHT THE DRIVERS HEADLIGHT WENT OUT. AFTER PULLING OVER AND TURNING OFF CAR AND PLACING EMERGENCY BLINKERS ON GOT OUT AND LOOKED AT HEADLIGHTS DRIVERS SIDE WAS OUT. TURNED OFF HEADLIGHTS AND TURNED THEM BACK ON. THEY CAME BACK ON I DROVE HOME SAFELY. TWO DAYS LATER IT HAPPENED AGAIN WENT TO DEALERSHIP AND HAD BULBS REPLACED. THREE MONTHS HAD BULBS CHANGED AGAIN. THIS HAS BEEN DON MULTIPLE TIMES. TWO WEEKS AGO UPON RETURNING HOME AT NIGHT BOTH HEADLIGHT WENT OUT TOGETHER LEAVIN ME ON SIDE OF ROAD. PARKED CAR AND HAD WIFE PICK ME UP. RETRIEVED CAR THE NEXT DAY. FACTORY SAYS SORRY ABOUT THIS NOT OUR PROBLEM. *TR

Steering
Filed Oct 22, 201057,800 milesDC

2001 TOYOTA PRIUS - STEERING WHEEL SUDDENLY VIBRATES AND PULLS HARD TO THE SIDE. PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT BUT HAS INCREASED IN FREQUENCY. DEALER SAID IT WAS BRAKE DRUM AND PERFORMED $800 REPAIR BUT ONLINE SEARCH SUGGESTS IT IS ACTUALLY COMMON STEERING PROBLEM THAT CONTINUES EVEN AFTER PRIOR REPAIR. *TR

Exterior Lighting › Headlights
Filed Nov 17, 200939,000 milesPA

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 TOYOTA PRIUS. THE PASSENGER AND DRIVER SIDE HEADLIGHT SHUTS ON AND OFF 2 TO 3 MINUTES AFTER STARTING THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT HAS TO TURN THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH ON AND OFF TO RESET THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT. THE CONTACT HAS SCHEDULED AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE DEALER TO DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE LACK OF HEADLIGHTS AT NIGHT COULD POTENTIALLY CAUSE A CRASH TO OCCUR. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 45,000. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 39,000.

Exterior Lighting
Filed Nov 12, 200960,000 milesCA

THE HEADLIGHTS IN MY 2006 PRIUS INTERMITTENTLY GO OFF, AND TURN ON AGAIN WHEN THE HEADLIGHT SWITCHED IS TURNED OFF AND THEN ON AGAIN. IT HAPPENS VERY FREQUENTLY WHEN DRIVING - THE LIGHTS DO NOT STAY ON FOR MORE THAN A COUPLE MINUTES AT A TIME. THIS VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED FOR THE SAME ISSUE IN JANUARY 2008, WAS REPAIRED AT THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP, AND IS NOW OCCURRING AGAIN LESS THAN TWO YEARS LATER. *TR

4 of 4 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 2010
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
20265100Routine
202516200Routine
202424400Routine
202319401Fatalities reported
202224100Routine
20216000Routine
202014000Routine
201930300Routine
201836100Routine
201791320Routine
2016154500Routine
2015165113Fatalities reported
2014207310Above average
2013409330Above average
2012422620Above average
2011518670Above average
20102,82210132Fatalities reported
2009502642Fatalities reported
20081,497467Fatalities reported
20072,003491Fatalities reported
20061,439651Fatalities reported
20051,051641Fatalities reported
2004610620Above average
200399100Routine
2002167245Fatalities reported
2001165330Routine
2000 — this page4000Routine

Compare every Prius 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.