Toyota Prius C stalling problems

Filed Sep 3, 2025 · Fuel system · 75,421 miles · MA

The contact owns a 2013 Toyota Prius C. The contact stated that while driving at 25 MPH, the vehicle stalled and failed to restart. The contact stated that he and his wife were in the vehicle during the failure, and the vehicle was almost crashed into. The contact stated that he and his wife were left stranded in oncoming traffic. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that there was a computer failure and that the inverter converter assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 75,421.

Filed Jun 17, 2025 · Electrical · WA

We were driving on a city street about 25-30mph and the car jerked suddenly and the lights on the dashboard illuminated and the "Check Hybrid System" message came up as well. The car was able to coast to a nearby parking lot. We attempted to drive the car home and the car stalled in the middle of the street. We were able to push the car off the road and then get it towed. The presented a potentially very dangerous situation as the car had a complete failure while driving in the middle of the road. The Toyota service department ran a diagnosis which returned DTC P0A94. All of this indicates that the car should be covered under the CUSTOMER CONFIDENCE PROGRAM 23TE03 however that program seems to only cover the 2010-2015 Prius and 2011-2017 Prius V models and not the Prius C. There are several reports of this same issue happening on the Prius C as well though so it doesn't make sense that it is not covered.

Filed May 31, 2023 · Fuel system · 104,000 miles · MA

The contact owns a 2013 Toyota Prius C. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check Hybrid Propulsion System warning light illuminated, and the vehicle the stalled. The vehicle was towed to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the inverter module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not included in the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 20V369000 (Hybrid Propulsion System) and 18V684000 (Hybrid Propulsion System). The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The approximate failure mileage was 104,000.

Filed Jun 30, 2022 · Electrical, Fuel system · 66,000 miles · TX

The contact owns a 2013 Toyota Prius C. The contact stated that while driving at slow speeds, the vehicle stalled as a system failure warning message appeared on the instrument panel. The vehicle inadvertently turned. The vehicle was restarted but shifted into limp mode with the message displayed. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and then drove the vehicle to the residence. Upon investigation, the contact discovered the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 20V369000 (Hybrid Propulsion System) and 14V053000 (Hybrid Propulsion System, Electrical System) which she linked to the failure. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 66,000.

Filed Dec 17, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · CA

Without warning my 2013 prius C stalled on the freeway with a hybrid battery warning. When the car was shut off it had intermittent problems with starting. After jumping the car battery , it ran normally again for some time before the stalling problem persisted. The hybrid battery stopped running and I received a warning light. Diagnostics at my repair shop said it was an inverter issue.I see that toyota has recalled several models for similar issues with the inverter. When the car is jumped it seems to work for a short time before stalling out again. Has created a real safety issue for me and there is a real lack of information on behalf of toyota on whether or not it will be covered under existing models. It seems like every model toyota from this year was recalled for an inverter issue. The car does run normally on occasion, charges the battery, and will run on EV, but mostly remains in a stalled out low power mode after it has these stalling episodes.e Diagnostics have stated to me that the car batteries are healthy and I relplaced the 12V and several fuses etc throughout this process with similar results.

Filed Sep 10, 2021 · Electrical · CA

I was driving with my 10 year old son on local city streets. I was approaching a busy intersection while going approximately 35 miles when my car just turned off with an error message about the hybrid system failing. I stopped the car and put it in park while trying to turn the car back on, but I kept getting the same hybrid system error message. While the stoplight was red, I got my son out of the car and over to the sidewalk because this was a dangerous situation where anyone not paying attention could've slammed into my stalled car (see picture of black Toyota Prius). I called AAA to get it towed. About 20 minutes later, a cop car pulled up to block my stalled car and then got it pushed to the side of the road (picture attached) because of how dangerous it was sitting there blocking traffic at a major intersection. My car was taken to Cabe Toyota dealership where they diagnosed it with a failed IPM card, which would cost around $4,000 to replace. I did a simple Google search and found that 80,000 Prius from 2012 - 2014 have been recalled for this EXACT reason. There have also been class action lawsuits surrounding this IPM failure due to its extreme safety risks to anyone inside a car that will just die in the middle of driving it, especially when their fail-safe system does not get triggered with this particular IPM failure. As of right now, the car is available for inspection because it's still at Cabe Toyota. The invoice shows that the IPM card needs to be replaced. There were NOT any warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms prior to the car shutting off while driving it. It had been running just fine.

Filed Jan 8, 2021 · Electrical · 126,000 miles · OR

2012 prius c sudden inverter failure caused car to stall on busy street, putting driver at serious risk. Car is well maintained newer model with moderately low mileage and no prior issues. Car is no longer operable until inverter is replaced. Toyota has had prior lawsuits, complaints and recalls due to inverter failure. My specific VIN was not included in recall, but same incident occurred as described in recall bulletins posted by toyota and complaints on website. Toyota refuses to include my VIN under recall.

Filed Dec 28, 2020 · Electrical, Engine · 200,717 miles · CA · crash

Toyota is trying to cover up the true number of vehicles subject to the hybrid system recall.. Toyota claims this vehicle is not the subject of recall, yet the vehicle displays all the symptoms described in the recall.. 1.) the vehicle was in motion at freeway speed on westbound hwy 92 on 12/27/2020 at approximately 6:30pm 2.) the vehicle lost all power.. Dashboard lights came on.. Error message said "hybrid system failure" 3.) power to braking and steering remained 4.) vehicle went off the freeway, with no power, down an exit ramp, and came to a stop, luckily, in a legal parking place, at the curb on de anza blvd.. This is what toyota said publicly: 'the involved vehicles were designed to enter a failsafe driving mode in response to certain hybrid system faults', the automaker explained. 'toyota has found that in rare situations, the vehicle may not enter a failsafe driving mode as intended. If this occurs, the vehicle could lose power and stall. While power steering and braking would remain operational, a vehicle stall while driving at higher speeds could increase the risk of a crash.'

Filed Dec 22, 2019 · 90,000 miles · CO

My 2012 prius c with 90,000 miles began to lose power/speed driving when check hybrid system warning suddenly came on tonight. It was unresponsive to the gas peddle, even at full throttle. Did not allow enough time to pull to the side of a busy road before it lost all ability to drive, leaving me stalled near intersection. A stranger helped push my car off the main road until aaa sent a tow truck. Had this occurred one mile later, I would've stalled on the 25 southbound freeway going from lone tree to denver at a very busy time in the evening without warning (scary thought). Upon arriving home with the towed vehicle, I attempted to start the engine again, but it would not start. Turned off the ignition, removed keys, but a low sound I've never continued for several minutes. After that, the car was completely dead. Dashboard won't light up, no working horn, power locks, windows, alarm. I now have no functioning vehicle and have no idea what caused my car to lose power while driving.

Filed Sep 12, 2019 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 107,931 miles · FL

Takata recall from the date of purchase, vehicle performed unpredictably. I took my car to the toyota dealership and they found that the hybrid battery needed to be replaced. When I drive 45 MPH, the vehicle will stall and all indicator illuminate on the instrument panel. In the middle of the road, the car will stall. Toyota does not stand by their product. My car goes completely dead. Every warning light turns on and its blinking.