2008 Toyota Prius

Name: 2008 Toyota Prius owner-filed safety complaints per 1,000 sold
Creator: YearsTell

For every car sold, owners filed 9.4 times as many complaints about the 2008 Prius as about the typical Prius year. Among the 9 Prius years with enough complaints to compare, owners filed the fewest about the 2015 (0.28 per 1,000 sold) and the most about the 2010 (11.98).

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

4.11 per 1,000

9.4 times this nameplate’s own median

Counted from 653 complaints filed in the first three years, of 1,496 ever. 95% lower bound 3.79.

Every Prius model yearComplaints per 1,000 sold, first three years

This yearOther yearsToo few complaints to rankTypical year, 0.44

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters. The bar is how many complaints each rate rests on.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	4.11	653
2009	1.65	246
2010	11.98	1681
2012	0.65	104
2013	0.43	68
2014	0.35	52
2015	0.28	35
2016	0.84	92
2017	0.87	82
2018	0.29	24
2020	0.41	18
2022	0.44	21
2023	0.35	13

Issues owners of the 2008 Prius report

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Exterior Lighting 579 complaints

hid	176	30%
off back	107	18%
lights off	90	16%
headlight out	74	13%
hid headlights	58	10%
headlights off	46	8%

Service Brakes 390 complaints

actuator	79	20%
brake actuator	58	15%
bump	56	14%
surface	35	9%
bumpy	32	8%
pothole	31	8%

Electrical System 235 complaints

headlights	46	20%
headlight	44	19%
meter	33	14%
combination meter	31	13%
combination	31	13%
off back	24	10%

When it breaks

27% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 51,832 miles, from 1248 complaints that recorded one).

Failures arrive late and spread out, which looks like wear. Service history matters more than model year here.

What NHTSA did

2 investigations covering this model year, 1 of which list a recall campaign.

Intermediate Steering Shaft Separation

Questions buyers ask about the 2008 Toyota Prius

Is 2008 a good year or a bad year for the Prius?

What problems does the 2008 Prius have?

The parts owners named most often in complaints filed to date: Exterior Lighting (579), Service Brakes (390), Electrical System (235). The phrases they used are listed above.

Is the 2008 Prius reliable?

Complaint records cannot settle that on their own. They count safety problems owners chose to report to the federal government, not every repair. What they do show is how this year compares with the other Prius years: for every car sold, owners filed 9.4 times as many complaints about the 2008 Prius as about the typical Prius year.

Which Prius year has the fewest complaints?

Among years with enough complaints to compare, the 2015, at 0.28 per 1,000 sold. Every Prius year, ranked.

What the used-car guides say

No guide we read covers the Prius.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page, each on NHTSA’s own site:

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is taken year by year from published US sales figures, each one quoted from a named source.