2007 Toyota Prius: wrong fuel gauge reading

Filed Jan 15, 2026 · Fuel system · MD

2007 Toyota Prius touring edition WILL NOT TAKE ANY FUEL PROPERLY AND WILL OVERFILL AND "BURP" CAUSING GAS TO FLOW EXPLOSIVELY OUT OF THE FILLER NECK AND HOLE. Tank will not fill, at all, causing risk of running out of gas while on highway. FUEL GAUGE DOES NOT WORK AT ALL. FUEL TANK will not fill properly, if at all, overfills and burps causing fuel to blow out of the filler hole with force. THIS IS A FIRE HAZARD as gas can spill all over near the filler area and possibly catch fire. Stopping the filler hose will not help, as the tank refuses to take any gas, even when close to empty. People need to put gas in, not guess. The car will ONLY TAKE BARELY 2 gallons in winter without overflowing. THIS IS A LIFE SAFETY AND FIRE HAZARD AS THIS OVERFLOWING GAS AND REVERSE FUEL FLOW CAN IGNITE, or catch fire. THE BLADDER IN THE TANK STOPS WORKING AND WILL NOT ALLOW FUELING ANS SPITS FUEL BACK OUT OF THE FILLER NECK AND HOLE.

Filed Nov 3, 2022 · Acceleration, Electrical · CA

Instrument panel cluster failure. Panel goes black while driving and lose power. Vehicle won’t start or shut off. My vehicle was getting serviced at the dealership and they couldn’t start the vehicle. I was told the instrument panel cluster was the problem. I contacted Toyota Customer Service, and was told they were aware of the issue. They had issued an extended warranty and sent out a letter to all owners this warranty has expired in 2016. If you purchased your vehicle after 2016 you would not have received any notice regarding this. While driving you can’t see you speed, your gear selection, fuel level, lights and no warning lights. The warning is that your vehicle won’t start or shut off.

Filed Nov 20, 2021 · Electrical · DC

After I had auxiliary battery replaced at a Toyota dealer 10/13/21, I started noticing that intermittently, when I turned the car on that the lights on my instrument panel would not be lit (can't see speed, odometer, gas gauge). Then noticed other strange things when the instrument panel was dark, such as the back-up camera would not work, had a hard time turning the car off, and back trunk hatch would not open. Took it back to dealer on 11/12/21, thinking problem was related to the battery replacement. First service advisor said that it was the combination meter...that they see it all of the time with Prius'. While waiting for my car, I googled "combination meter" and saw how ultimately dangerous its malfunction could be over time - e.g. the electrical braking system fails and you have to use your emergency brake to stop the car, which would be exceedingly dangerous at 65 mph. When checking out, my service rep agreed with me that it is a safety and Toyota issue, but there was nothing the dealer could do but replace it (at cost to me of $1100+). I took to a non-dealer who read the code - B1271: "Combination Meter ECU communication stopped. Called Toyota who told me it had not been recalled for safety, but there was a warranty enhancement program to cover the replacement of combination meters, which had expired for my car in 2016. There was nothing they could do except contact the customer relations rep at dealer where I am taking car to get fixed on 11/22/21. They took no responsibility at all. I also know the combo meter had a safety recall for the 2019 Prius' so still an issue.

Filed Jul 7, 2021 · Brakes, Electrical · TX · crash

Under hard braking (over 50% of the pedal) the front passenger wheel applies all the force to stop the car to that one tire causing it to lose traction and skid. Brakes are insufficient to properly stop the vehicle and no warning lights are illuminated on the dash. Actually more than half of the time the whole dash does nothing, no MPH, no gas gauge, nothing but a blacked out information less panel. Then to top it off the car only has one headlight bc it blows what ever headlight I put into the ballast. 3 of the most common failures for a 2007 and my Prius has a grand slam assortment of serious potential life threatening problems that should have been repaired (never should have been assembled with) by Toyota. Minor wreck when attempting to stop the car under not driving conditions. Thankfully no one was hurt and only had to replace the front hood, bumper and radiator and support but have deemed the car as not road worthy and unfit for any driving conditions.

Filed Feb 10, 2020 · Electrical · 134,000 miles · FL

Sometimes when I start my car, the speedometer, fuel level and odometer cluster display goes blank. I do have a speedometer app on my phone. I have used tips from prius owners about how to get the display back on. I still believe this may be a problem for normal drivers. It usually happens when I start the car.

Filed Oct 6, 2018 · Electrical · 175,000 miles · CA

Combination meter display failure. This is a known issue in which the instrumentation panel and cruise control cease to function. The car may also not turn off without going through elaborate procedures. It is seriously dangerous in that the speedometer and the fuel gauge do not display. Toyota is aware of this defective omponent and issued an "enhanced warranty" to repair the problem, but only if the problem manifested itself within the defined period of the enhanced warranty.. For those prius owners who have experienced this life-threatening flaw after the enhanced warranty period elapsed, the only recourse is to drive an unsafe vehicle or to pay four figures for a repair. A component that is know to be defective should be replaced free of charge at any time if it involves safety.

Filed May 23, 2018 · Electrical · 151,000 miles · FL

The 2007 toyota prius touring with 151k on it started experiencing dashboard going blank when power button pressed. The emergency signal and direction signal works but other navigation or main display including speed, fuel gauge and mileage doesn't work. Dealer said, it's out of warranty to replace even though it's part of safety warning by toyota before. The vehicle was able to run without dashboard display including break system working but not sure. It's very danger to run this vehicle without dashboard and may run of fuel or go over speed.

Filed Oct 6, 2017 · Electrical · 85,000 miles · FL

Our car was stationary all 3 times the instrument cluster went out, where we could not see what gear we were in, the speedometer, odometer or fuel gauge. One time, even though we pushed the power button, the car would not turn off. Toyota advised they issued a warranty enhancement, after a technical services bulletin was issued, but we did not receive the notice. We feel the federal safety agency should have made them issue a recall as this is not safe. Toyota told us we are past the 9 year enhancement so they are refusing to pay for the repair. Although we have not experienced it, we were told others have been in a situation where the car conked out on the interstate when they were going 65 MPH. We hope the federal safety agency will make toyota issue a recall on this dangerous problem.

Filed Nov 15, 2016 · Electrical · 100,000 miles · TX

Dashboard display (including backup display) intermittently functions. This happens when stationary, in motion, on a city street or highway, turning, driving straight, or breaking. The following unsafe conditions resulted: no speedometer, no gas gauge, no tire pressure gauge, no odometer, no cruise control, no backup display, etc.

Filed May 18, 2016 · Fuel system · 55,700 miles · NJ

Fuel gauge not reading properly in car. Car label states 11.9 gallon capacity in fuel tank. Gas gauge shows one bar of gas left in car, but it takes only six gallons of gas to fill up automobile. This misleading gas gauge means drivers do not know what the true reading of gas is remaining in their fuel tanks which could lead to the car running out of fuel in the wrong place at the wrong time. This occurs when the car is moving.

Filed Jun 21, 2015 · Body · WA

The gas tank design toyota prius from at least 2007 and until 2010, contains no actual fuel gauge. In the northern states with severe winters this results in owners frequently running out of gas when they think they still have ample fuel as shown by multiple complaints found on the internet, and for us on a trip in february to march 2015 we were in serious fear of running out of gas when in fact if the specification for capacity has any meaning we still had over 4 gallons of fuel. We got so worried, we stopped at a brothel in nevada so my wife could ask how far to the nearest gas station. When we got to the gas station the fuel pump indicator was even blinking to indicate we were in danger of running out of fuel, yet the car filled up with only 65% of its rated fuel capacity. Running out of gas unexpectedly is especially dangerous in the toyota prius because so much depends on electricity including the steering to get the car off the road. There is no guarantee it cannot happen when the battery is already at maximum depletion or the main battery itself has failed but not yet been replaced in which case the car is totally dependent on continuous fuel flow. It certainly came as a shock to me to learn that what is displayed is no better than a grossly inaccurate estimate of remaining fuel, or about to run out fuel level. Toyota should be forced to recall all of these vehicles for fuel system replacement in the interests of safety and keeping people from being killed for running out of gas at the wrong time and stopping dead on the highway. As these cars age, they become more dangerous because it is only a matter of time before they will be driven with a bypass of a defective main battery, but epa regulations preventing alteration of anything emissions related will make these cars road hazards across the nation if the problem is not dealt with.

Filed Mar 3, 2015 · Fuel system · 100,000 miles · IN

Tl*the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle would suddenly shut off without warning. The contact discovered that the vehicle was out of fuel although the fuel gauge indicated that 1/2 tank of fuel was present. The contact indicated that the failure had occurred on multiple occasions. The cause of the failure was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 100,000.