2016 Toyota Prius transmission 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 Jan 16, 2025 · Engine, Steering · PA

My car suddenly stopped in the middle of the road with message "Hybrid system stopped steering power low". Safety concern to this happen on the middle of road during rain or cold.

Filed Jul 9, 2024 · Electrical, Engine · AZ

During summer months when temperatures are above 100 degrees when accelerating from a complete stop I can hear the engine rev and the RPMs increase but the vehicle will move at 1-2 mph. Even if the accelerator is to the floor. After 3-4 seconds the tires will squeal and the vehicle will be jolted forward then it will slowly accelerate. This happens occasionally and I have taken it to a Toyota dealership and a chain mechanic shop, neither have been able to recreate the problem. There are no warnings and no error codes. I have been stuck in the middle of intersections trying to turn left, I have not been hit, but I fear it will happen. There is a recall out for this issue on other Priuses and I believe the issue needs to be investigated further as there is another complaint on this site for the same issue and I have found it on other sites. I bought the car in fall of 2019 and this problem has been occurring since summer of 2020.

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 May 23, 2022 · Engine, Transmission · OR

Overheating light began flashing while driving 5/21/22. Drove to Napa Auto Parts and saw coolant reservoir was empty. Bought anti-freeze and filled reservoir. Upon arrival at destination, reservoir was empty again. Filled it again. Upon the next morning, reservoir was empty again. Took it to an auto-shop which found that the exhaust heat exchanger in my car has failed and is leaking coolant. Please see Applicable technical service bulletin, T-SB 0135-19. While the car is less than 96 months old, it is above 80k miles. I see this issue has been escalated in California, where the warranty is for 96 months and 150k miles. Want to report that the change in miles between states is disappointing. This issue is common and should be handled as a known recall, not just a known issue.

Filed Oct 28, 2021 · Transmission · DC

Over the course of the last year, I have noticed an increasingly louder clicking noise coming from the front left (driver side) wheel area upon breaking. The noise goes away if I shift into neutral, so I'm nearly positive that this is related to the axle/CV joint. I've also conducted extensive research on this issue and it is a common problem encountered by other Gen4 Prius owners. Toyota even issued a TSB for this issue in December of 2018 (T-SB-0157-18), the federal safety agency No. 10153229. My car had its powertrain warranty lapse earlier this year, but I know for a fact that this has been covered out of warranty because I've corresponded with other Prius owners who had Toyota cover the repair of this defect/glitch. I am trying to avoid a catastrophic breakdown of my CV joint if I'm driving on the highway and I'd appreciate it if the federal safety agency would be able to compel Toyota to help with the repair of this issue. I've had no luck dealing with either the dealership, or the corporate office at Toyota. They do not seem to be taking any ownership of this issue nor taking demonstrating any accountability.

Filed Jun 9, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · WA

Vehicle stalls for 5-10 seconds when stopped at a red light. Seems to happen sporadically and is difficult to reproduce. There have been other reports of it online here: https://priuschat.com/threads/tsb-nimh-only-reduced-power-when-accelerating-from-a-stop.187455/ https://priuschat.com/threads/2017-prius-2-no-acceleration-movement-from-full-stop.209317/ https://priuschat.com/threads/2016-prius-2-stalling.200606/

Filed Aug 18, 2020 · Engine, Fuel system · 40,100 miles · CA

Car does not accelerate from a stop when pressing the gas petal while car is in drive. This seems to happen only in the summer months. While pulling up to a red light I slowed the car to a stop. When the light turned green I let my foot off the brake, car motioned forward a bit but when I pressed my foot on the gas petal the engine would rev but would not accelerate in any way. I put the car in reverse to try and get out of main road traffic but car continued to have no power. I then put the car into drive, put my foot on the gas petal and again, engine would rev but car would not accelerate. This is very dangerous as the car will roll forward when taking your foot off the brake, so you can roll into the middle of a highway before you realize there is no acceleration putting drivers at great risk of being t-boned while attempting to turn (especially left turns). I have taken the car to toyota twice and service can not find any issues as no codes have shown up. The software was updated and issue occurred again after update.

Filed Aug 18, 2020 · Transmission · 41,020 miles · CA

2016 toyota prius has issues accelerating when put in drive and foot is on the gas petal. Car engine will rev but does not accelerate. I reversed, put the car in drive and went about a tenth of a mile and stopped to wait for the gate to open. Upon gate opening I pressed the gas petal and car did not move but the engine revved. No warning lights were on and car was in fact in the drive position. Second occurrence happened at a major intersection, I was waiting at a red light, light turned green I pressed the gas and engine revved but car did not move. Toyota has been unable to diagnose the issue because the car doesn't give any codes or warning lights. They have been unable to replicate the problem.

Filed Jul 24, 2020 · Transmission · 24,000 miles · CA

Left cv axle joint disconnected.this happen in city when in motion.