Toyota Prius backup camera problems

Filed Mar 11, 2026 · Brakes, Driver assistance · TX · crash

On August 15, 2025, I was backing my vehicle when the rear view camera screen went blank, providing no image of what was behind me. With no warning and no image, I collided with a rock and landscape, causing damage to the rear of my vehicle. At the time of this incident, my vehicle had an open, unrepaired safety defect under Safety Recall 25TA13, which specifically addresses the condition that the rear view camera image may freeze or not display while reversing. I was not aware the recall existed at the time of my accident, and the recall remedy was not completed on my vehicle until February 12, 2026 — nearly six months after the incident. I filed a claim with Toyota Motor North America. They inspected the vehicle on February 11, 2026, found the camera functioning at that time (after the recall had since been remedied), and denied my claim. They cited owner's manual language advising drivers not to rely solely on the backup camera, but did not address the fact that the recall was unrepaired at the time of the accident. Additionally the parking collision warning and automatic braking should have engaged. The rock impacted the car right near one of the car cameras....so the collision warning and braking should have engaged. I am filing this complaint because I believe the unrepaired recall directly caused my inability to see behind my vehicle, and that Toyota's delay in notifying me and completing the remedy contributed to this incident. I am requesting that the federal safety agency review whether Toyota's notification and remedy timeline for Recall 25TA13 was adequate, and that this incident be added to the record of complaints associated with that recall.

Filed Nov 2, 2025 · Visibility · CA

Design of rear window, side mirrors and large rear pillar greatly reduce the visibility and checking of blind spot if you are a taller person. Blind spot electronic detection can not be trusted as it's performance is intermittent. Solution would be for Toyota of retrofit electronic mirror feature like installed in the Limited version of this car. This feature has live rear view camera enabled on the rearview mirror at all times. Prius without this feature is very dangerous to drive.

Filed Feb 17, 2023 · Electrical · FL

The vehicle we own is no longer covered by an extended warranty offered to Toyota owners of 2004-2009 Prius. The warranty covered the replacement of the digital combination meter which, when failing, no longer displays anything on the dashboard. The situation is dangerous because you lose the ability to monitor fuel tank capacity, speed, warning lights, reverse lights and backup camera. To get around this malfunction requires that the back storage panels be removed and 12-volt battery be disconnected and reconnected. However, the fix is short term since the problem resets itself once the car is turned off. Even when the display is working, we have just discovered that the fuel gauge is inaccurate, causing a serious overflow of fuel due to the display showing 1 bar, when the tank was actually 50% full. Toyota, fully aware of this problem offered a "warranty enhancement" that offered replacement coverage up to September 30, 2013. It only covered customers whose care was demonstrating the problem, excluding any cars that were not showing signs of malfunction. We have a 2008 model, purchased from a Toyota dealership in 2011, that up until around 2-years ago showed no signs of malfunctioning. Therefore, the warranty did not apply. We now, however, are experiencing the malfunction on a daily basis and our vehicle is unsafe, and inconvenient to drive. I called Toyota regarding this and they will not offer any further coverage beyond the September 30, 2013 date. The repair for this malfunction is a minimum $1000, which rightfully should be covered by Toyota due to the potential safety issues surrounding this problem. We would like Toyota to acknowledge customers such as ourselves where the malfunction did not appear until later during our ownership of a 2008 Prius, and pay or reimburse for the repair.

Filed May 19, 2022 · Electrical · WA

The electric dashboard (warning lights, speedometer, fuel gauge, etc.) is sometimes off when starting the car. The backup camera and the center display also will not be working. The car will not shut off when the displays are not working. It will usually fix itself after pushing the on/off button a few times. It has happened many times now but isn’t predictable. It hasn’t been looked at by a mechanic yet.

Filed Mar 22, 2022 · Acceleration, Electrical · OH

Dashboard speedometer, fuel gauge, headlight indicators, transmission status, cruise control do not show, are not lit up. Backup camera does not work nor do the back-up lights. This occured after the auxiliary battery was replaced and the dashboard lights and backup camera will occassionally spontaneously return when the car has not been driven for a week or longer but then will go out next time the car is turned off. There are problems with the car turning off consistently and at times the start button needs to be manually depressed for 5+ seconds to shut down.

Filed Mar 15, 2022 · Electrical · UT

The Dash display (shows the speedometer, warning lights, etc) won't come on, and the rear back up camera doesn't either. They seem to both stop at the same time on start up. The car seems to run fine otherwise.

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 Oct 13, 2021 · Acceleration, Electrical · CA

instrument cluster panel goes completely out and blank, speedometer lost, and dash lights gone and causing other issues such as not being able to turn off vehicle, loss of cruise control, unable to open trunk, navigation screen unable to turn off, backup camera not functioning, front lights going on and off while driving at night.

Filed Mar 18, 2021 · Acceleration, Electrical · 146,500 miles · AZ

Instrument cluster in my 2008 toyota prius completely went dark while driving from phoenix to my home in tucson. I was travelling on I-10 at a speed of approximately 70mph. Terribly frightening when all gauges fail at the same instant. This happened in jan 2021. Speedometer, fuel gauge, headlight indicators, prndl, lcruise control, lights that indicate engine emergencies do not light. Back-up camera does not work nor do the back-up lights. These all are extremely dangerous safety issues. Having researched this problem it is evident that toyota knew about this problem as they have recalled thousands of prius' for this issue. They issued an extended warranty for this issue but mine expired before I purchased this vehicle in february, 2020. I firmly am convinced that toyota should honor the warranty for this dangerously common failure which happens to many different model year of the prius. It's, in fact, irresponsible of toyota to not repair these vehicles as they have known how massively prevalent these failures are. The local toyota dealers is charging over $1000.00 to fix the problem. I, for one, cannot afford such a cost for a malfunctioning, critical for safely operating their product, that should be remedied into perpetuity, since they have unquestionably been fully aware of the problem and it's severity. I should not be excluded from repair simply because the failure happened later in this particular vehicle than others.

Filed Oct 3, 2019 · Electrical, Lights · 196,050 miles · ME

The 2008 prius has a digital display. Sometimes when the vehicle starts up there is no information displayed on the screen. Nothing shows what gear (reverse, neutral, forward) it is in. There is no speedometer display. No odometer display. No fuel level display. At the same time that the dash does not light up, I have noticed there is no backup camera or backup lights when the vehicle is in reverse. In addition to the above, the start button will not fully shut down the car. It will cycle between accessory mode and full start when the button is pressed. I have noticed that when the problem is happening the vehicle is also not keeping track of the miles driven while the dash is not displaying - so when the dash does start working again, the odometer is not showing true mileage. After getting the vehicle to finally shut down, I have sometimes had the issue not present the next day at startup. Other times it will last through several starts and stops. I have read online that this problem is consistent with a faulty combination meter. And I feel it is a safety issue.