Toyota Prius seat belt problems

Filed Jan 16, 2026 · Body, Seat belts · CA

Body / Liftgate The rear hatch unexpectedly dropped and fell on my head while the vehicle was stationary. The right-side rear hatch gas strut separated from the body at the mounting point. The left-side rear hatch gas strut had also shown signs of imminent failure and subsequently broke near its mounting point. This resulted in loss of hatch support and uncontrolled closure, creating a risk of head and upper-body injury. The failure appears related to structural stress at the strut mounting locations, not misuse. Seat Belt – Rear Center Passenger The rear center passenger seat belt upper cover can be easily pulled off by passengers, which breaks the plastic retaining tab. When the tab breaks, plastic fragments fall into the seat belt mechanism, causing the belt to jam and fail to retract properly. This results in impaired seat belt function, which is a safety concern for rear passengers. The vehicle has not been modified, and the failure occurred during normal use. Vehicle mileage at time of incident was approximately 150,000 miles. The rear center passenger seat belt issue has been present since the vehicle was new. The rear center passenger seat belt mechanism was replaced twice by the dealer during the warranty period, with one replacement performed as a goodwill repair after Toyota Corporate declined coverage. Despite these repairs, the same issue reoccurred, indicating a persistent design-related vulnerability rather than isolated misuse. The issue results in seat belt jamming and failure to retract, which is a safety concern.

Filed Oct 5, 2024 · Seat belts · OH

The issue is with the back middle seat belt. When the back right passenger seat, which is a 2/3 seat is placed down in order to accommodate long pieces of lumber, it remains stuck there as the seatbelt for the middle seat will not release. The seatbelt mechanism for the middle seat is located in the 2/3 seat which is stuck in the down position. Therefore, we cannot use the middle seat nor the back right seat because the seatbelt for the middle seat is locked in place and not releasing. So the back right seat is lying down and stuck there as the seatbelt for the middle seat is locked unable to release. Living alone, I rarely use the middle seat for passengers. Honestly, that seatbelt has probably only been used five times in five years. Obviously, this poses a Safety problem.

Filed Apr 24, 2024 · Seat belts · IL

**What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? **How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? **Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? **Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? **Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? PASSENGER SIDE SEAT BELT The passenger side seat belt became folded and stuck. It would not enable the person to pull it and attach it to the clasp. When my little boy did pull it in the clasp it was an extremely snug fit. I had 3 people try to unfold it. Finally someone had to slice it so that we could at least get part of it to work and go into the clasp. The shoulder strap did attach properly it is just the stomach strap that is not working properly. I brought it to the Toyota dealership to see: 1. If there were any recalls on it. 2. To see about getting it repaired. The dealer said that there were no recalls on that item and that it was indeed broken and it would cost over $500 to repair. I have not brought it the manufacturer. I don’t know where the manufacturer is located. Are they in Japan? The only warning signs were when the seatbelt was not properly attached because it did not properly fit on my passenger.

Filed Mar 2, 2024 · Airbags · WV

The Airbag lights were lit, the person sitting with seatbelt on (flashing) and the person sitting with an inflated airbag in front of them. I ran an OBD2 scan on SRS and got code B1656. Driver seat belt buckle Left Hand. I Investigated the latch and found one wire was snapped off and a couple of inches shorter that the wire that was still connected. I have included 2 pictures of the back end of the seat belt latch. You can see the broken wire and where it use to be connected.

Filed Dec 30, 2022 · Airbags · WA

Passenger airbag indicator on/off light was on despite having passenger over the airbag activation weight requirement being present with seatbelt buckled. Brought car to Toyota dealership and after running diagnostics for two hours they found that the airbag itself is faulty.

Filed Nov 7, 2019 · Brakes, Seat belts · 58,000 miles · NJ · crash · 1 injury

Tl* the contact owned a 2007 toyota prius. While traveling at a low rate of speed, the preceding vehicle stopped abruptly and the contact's brakes failed without warning. As a result, the contact rear ended the other vehicle. The air bags did not deploy and the seat belt failed to operate. The paramedics transported the contact to a local hospital where she suffered from injuries to her chest and back. A police report was filed. The contact stated that prior to the failure, the vehicle was taken to sansone toyota (90-100 us-1, avenel, nj 07001, (732) 815-0500) where the brakes were serviced twice. The vehicle was towed to a local tow yard and deemed destroyed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and sent an investigator to check the vehicle's black box. The contact was informed that there were no failures found on the black box at the time of the crash. The cause of the failure was not determined. The failure mileage was 58,000. The VIN was unknown.

Filed Dec 4, 2018 · Seat belts · 25,000 miles · IL

Seatbelt on drivers side does not retract, gets caught in door when exiting the car. Dealer won't fix it. It's a safety issue in that the driver when exiting has to stop deal with extended seat belt caught in door, could be hit by another car in a parking lot or the street. It's been like this for months. Very annoying.a google search shows this is a common problem for toyota cars.

Filed Sep 12, 2018 · Seat belts · NM

Front driver and passenger seat belt did not buckle in-lock in, the mechanism is not broken, it't just not click to lock in.

Filed Aug 31, 2018 · Seat belts · 10 miles · NM

Seat belt driver and passenger buckles inside latch worn out-locking pin worn out due to make out plastic. This is not a good safety seat belt oem. From manufacture toyota. We need to recall this. All seat belt buckle latch, inside materials to lock the pin should make out metal, not plastic... Do to wear and used to snap in/out so manytime cause the buckles warnout. Please recall this problems thank you.

Filed Jun 7, 2018 · Seat belts · 117,050 miles · TX

The driver seatbelt buckle will not unbuckle