Toyota Prius collision warning 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 Dec 5, 2024 · Acceleration, Brakes · 39,000 miles · FL · crash

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while in bumper-to-bumper traffic, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The brake pedal was applied but failed to respond. The driver crashed into the front passenger side of the Lexus. The vehicle continuously moved forward. The contact was eventually able to pull over safely. The pre-collision malfunction warning light illuminated. The brake malfunction light was flashing. The air bags did not deploy. There was no reported fire or injury. A police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who could not determine the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was then towed to an autobody center where it remained. The manufacturer was contacted, but no additional assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 39,000.

Filed Jul 19, 2024 · MA

About a year ago and again a few days ago, I was slowly moving my Prius forward when suddenly it accelerated at full speed. The first time I was pulling into a parking spot beyond which was a grassy area and then a stockade fence. When I felt the car lurch forward, I slammed on the brakes, but was still going quite fast. Fortunately, the collision avoidance brakes kicked in and stopped the car just before I hit the fence. In the second case, I was slowly pulling into a parking lot when again the car surged forward. This time I was able to stop the motion with the brakes myself . In both cases I was conscious of moving my foot from the gas pedal to the brake pedal. In both cases it was a hot summer day, near 90.

Filed Apr 24, 2024 · Brakes, Electrical · CA

While driving vehicle on the freeway it stated braking power low, stop in a safe place, antilock brake system malfunction, pre-collision system malfunction, lane departure alert malfunction. I was almost in a major scary accident.

Filed Aug 21, 2023 · Brakes · 143,000 miles · GA

The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, there was an abnormal sound coming from the front driver’s side of the vehicle. The contact stated that the traction control, brakes, the Pre-Collision System (PCS), and the ABS warning lights were illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the brake actuator and the brake booster to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with the TSB: POL1803, however the vehicle was not included. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 143,000.

Filed Aug 1, 2022 · Brakes · CA

About 3 weeks ago, I was driving down PCH around Manhattan beach , California. Suddenly the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree , the ABS light , Brake light , pre-collision system light and a yellow triangle with an exclamation point in the middle all turned on at the same time , and a loud beeping alarm went off inside the car that was deafening and most importantly the brake pedal turned very hard I had to stand up on it just to slow down to brake and my braking distance tripled . I almost hit the car in front of me . I had this terrible feeling that the car isn’t safe to drive . It feels like the brakes failed. Luckily there was an autozone nearby so I pulled in their parking lot and borrowed a code scanner . C1252 , C1253, C1319 was the codes that showed up all indicating that the abs system failed and the results is recommending to replace the brake booster pump and the abs module. There’s also a leak of some kind within the abs system. I brought it to an independent auto shop near my residence and the shop told me that the and power brake booster and the abs module needs to be replaced . The repair will cost $2.000 to get fixed in which I can not afford. I was able to seek help from my siblings and was able to come up with $1200 . So I’d figured the shop owner might be able to let me pay half first and half in 2 weeks or so when the car is fixed. But when they replaced the 2 parts with brand new ones ..yhe ECU isn’t communicating with the ABS module . The shop suggested that we bring the car to a Toyota dealership to get it diagnosed to figure out why the abs system is still faulty even when the abs power brake booster and abs module were replaced with new ones . Toyota dealership said they will charge $795 just to diagnose it . I almost passed out in shock.. I haven’t worked since the brakes failed on my car and I can’t afford to pay for the repair . Please help.

Filed Oct 20, 2021 · Visibility · CA

Moments ago, I entered my 2016 Toyota Prius to find that my windshield had mysteriously cracked while parked over night. The crack was not present when I last drove the car last night. Based on some online research for windshield replacement cost, I've learned that Toyota was faced with a class action lawsuit regarding 2016-17 Toyota Prius containing defective windshields; in which these windshields are known to unexpectedly crack while parked or under ordinary driving conditions. Furthermore, my Toyota Prius is equipped with safety features (such as pre-collision system, lane departure alert with steering assist, automatic high beams and full-speed dynamic radar cruise control) that require a front camera to function properly. The cracked windshield now interferes with the camera's visibility, line of sight and perceived orientation, thus causing me to feel unsafe while driving the vehicle. I am filing this compliant because I am now faced with not only an unsafe vehicle to operate, but also the cost to fix a windshield that is known to be defective from Toyota.

Filed Sep 11, 2020 · Brakes · 5,500 miles · VA

I was traveling at about 55 MPH on highway 66 when the instrument panel began flashing the following warnings: "braking power low, phsb malfunction, parking brake low, pre-collision malfunction, anti-lock malfunction, lane deparrure malfunction, brake overide" . The only obvious symptom was that there was no brake boost - the brakes continued to function, but without power assist. I am a former auto mechanic, so I would have noticed if there were any other symptons. The dealership had the car for 3 weeks and ultimately replaced both the brake booster and the master cylinder. They initially replaced the booster and discovered that that did not fix whatever was causing the warnings and dtcs. Toyota instructed them to replace the master cylinder and that apparently fixed the problem. They could not explain why a fault in the master cylider would have caused the array of symotoms observed by both myself and the mechanics. I was surprized that the master cylinder was the cause as the the loss of boost seemed to be a brake boost problem. I was told that toyota is aware of the problem and that it is widespread.

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 May 28, 2018 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 7,400 miles · IN

In moderate to heavy rain with the toyota dynamic cruise control engaged on the highway between 55 and 70 MPH, the prius has dangerously accelerated itself towards a car immediately in front of my car and would have created a front-to-rear collision if I was not extremely vigilant and manually braked and canceled the adaptive cruise system within 10-20 feet of the car in front of me. The system seems to operate blindly in moderate to heavy rain and will accelerate to user-set speed even when a car is traveling slower immediately in front of my vehicle. I strongly suspect the pre-collision braking is failing at the same time as the dynamic cruise (in rain) since it relies on the same components. The prius prime needs to be reprogrammed to not allow dynamic cruise engagement in moderate to heavy rain. This is a very dangerous situation because driver visibility is already impaired under these conditions. If this did not occur multiple times, I would not have believed it was actually happening. The prius manual says that rain can cause the system to not behave as intended; however, in that case it needs to be automatically disabled so it does not create a very false sense of security. This is going to cost lives if it's not reprogrammed. I would be surprised if this was the only toyota that exhibits this dangerous behavior. I strongly believe that lives can be saved with a simple reprogram of the system to not allow operation under conditions that can create unintended acceleration into a slower moving vehicle. Toyota should save themselves millions in potential liability and take this suggestion seriously.