2016 Toyota Prius acceleration problems

Filed Oct 6, 2026 · Acceleration, Fuel system · CA

I turned on my car in a flat parking lot, reversed out of my spot, and drove up to a traffic light to exit the parking lot. When the light turned green, I took my foot off the brake and tried to accelerate, but nothing happened. After a few seconds, my car lurched forward with a sudden jerk, and I was able to exit, but this behavior (no movement, then sudden jerk) continued to happen. I was scared that I would get into an accident, so I pulled over and turned the car off and on. The behavior continued. I drove to a safe location, and parked the car. I noticed the engine kept revving up and down, even though I was parked, and the hybrid battery indicator showed no charge. I turned off the car, and had dinner for about an hour. After I finished dinner, I started the car, and it was driving normally again (creeping forward as soon as I took my foot off the brake), but I was afraid the problem would happen again, at a dangerous moment. There were no warning lights or messages while this problem was happening. I explicitly checked that the parking brake was not set.

Filed Mar 7, 2023 · Acceleration, Engine · TX

On September 2022 (at 46K) Dealer did TSB related fix on my 2016 Prius. PFA for service record. They replaced Exhaust Front Pipe, which is suggested work from Toyota PFA for Toyota Technical Bulletin. T-SB-0135-19 At 51,747 on March 1st 2023 around 8 40 am, while we are driving on highway at 70 mph suddenly Check Engine Light, Coolant light, Hybrid related lights were on Vehicle lost the control, speed was dropping luckily we could safely stop the vehicle on the shoulder no Vehicle hit us from behind. Sudden stop of engine while driving on highway at 51K miles is safety issue. Toyota dealer could not provide additional details except Engine is over heating.

Filed Jun 13, 2022 · Acceleration, Electrical · AL

When the battery cooling fan is running, the car is slow to accelerate or will not accelerate at all. The incident has happened multiple times over the past year when the temperatures are above 90. If at a complete stop, the car will not accelerate, it will only jerk forward. The car has to be turned off and restarted to be able to accelerate. If braking or reducing speed, the car will be sluggish, and I have not been able to get the speed over 40 mph. I have taken it to the dealership, but they said they could not recreate the issue, though I do not believe that they followed the directions I gave them to recreate the problem. No warning lights appear when the issue occurs, so they did not have an answer. The first time the incident occurred, I had just had the scheduled maintenance completed two days earlier and they did not find anything in the inspection that needed to be repaired. The first time the incident occurred, I was at a stop light trying to make a right turn. The incident has occurred twice when trying to pull on to the highway and accelerate up to speed.

Filed Nov 23, 2020 · Acceleration · 44,000 miles · AL

I've noticed a few times while driving that my prius started accelerating when my foot was off the pedal. It hasn't caused an accident or anything too scary yet but it is disconcerting. I noticed others had complained about this and wanted to add that I seem to be experiencing the issue too. It's possible it's just my vehicle specifically; I've not had time to take it to a mechanic yet.

Filed Nov 2, 2020 · Acceleration · 14,500 miles · IL · crash

Spontaneous acceleration incident. I was slowly pulling into a parking space in a parking garage. As I straightened it out to complete the maneuver, the car took off on its own and hit the wall of the parking garage there was some damage to the front end. A similar incident occurred once before with no damage. Toyota has had recalls in prior years for this problem - broken throttle return switch - but they insist this isn't the problem here. Essentially they are claiming this didn't happen, that what I experienced with the car just taking off on its own didn't happen. The car isn't safe to drive without getting this repaired, but they claim it doesn't need repair. In their response letter, toyota said, "the event data recorder (edr) recorded that there was accelerator pedal application and no brake application leading up to the impact." of course there was no brake application, there was no time to apply the brake! The car took off like a bat out of hell and rammed into the wall in 2-3 seconds! This is not only a danger for me and my car but could be for other prius owners as well. I have a youtube video on how to do the repair but I can not upload it here.

Filed Sep 28, 2020 · Acceleration · 42,372 miles · NJ · crash

Car accelerating with not being able to stop when applying brake, car was put in reverse and took off with engine racing in home driveway.

Filed Mar 16, 2020 · Acceleration · CA · crash

Toyota prius. Consumer writes in regards to unintended acceleration. *ld the consumer the vehicle accelerated on it's own striking 2 vehicles.

Filed Dec 26, 2019 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 70,000 miles · MI

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 toyota prius. While attempting to start the vehicle, the collision avoidance indicator remained illuminated and the cruise control failed to work. The contact took the vehicle to gates toyota (640 w ireland rd, south bend, in 46614), but it was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 70,000.

Filed Jun 5, 2017 · Acceleration · 7,700 miles · MD

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 toyota prius. The contact stated that while driving at any speed, the plastic ridge on the center console caught the driver's shoe and caused the accelerator pedal to stick to the floorboard of the vehicle when the driver attempted to release the accelerator pedal. The contact called the fitzgerald toyota dealer in gaithersburg, md and was advised to contact the manufacturer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact back to the dealer for investigation. The failure mileage was 7,700. The VIN was not provided.

Filed May 17, 2017 · Acceleration · 12,000 miles · VA

The vehicle does not report speed in kph, only in MPH. This means that every time I cross into canada with this vehicle, I have difficulty discerning whether I am following all vehicle safety and traffic laws or maintaining a safe speed. To repeat, while every other vehicle I have ever owned has a speedometer that reads in both english and metric units, this vehicle does not. It reports speed in MPH *only*. This is fine in the united states, but every time I cross into canada I'm left guessing.