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2016 Toyota Prius

For every car sold, owners filed more complaints about the 2016 Prius than about the typical Prius year: 1.9 times as many. 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.

0.84 per 1,000

1.9 times this nameplate’s own median

Counted from 92 complaints filed in the first three years, of 156 ever. 95% lower bound 0.67. Not counted: 1 complaint that reported only that a recall repair was unavailable, not a failure.

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 yearPer 1,000Complaints
20084.11653
20091.65246
201011.981681
20120.65104
20130.4368
20140.3552
20150.2835
20160.8492
20170.8782
20180.2924
20200.4118
20220.4421
20230.3513

Issues owners of the 2016 Prius report

No phrase appears often enough in these complaints to describe them reliably.

When it breaks

68% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 19,700 miles, from 100 complaints that recorded one).

Failures cluster early, which is the signature of how the car was built rather than of wear. A low-mileage example has not yet passed the risk window.

What NHTSA did

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

Pedestrian alert sounds

Questions buyers ask about the 2016 Toyota Prius

Is 2016 a good year or a bad year for the Prius?

For every car sold, owners filed more complaints about the 2016 Prius than about the typical Prius year: 1.9 times as many. 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). The typical year is the median across its model years.

What problems does the 2016 Prius have?

The parts owners named most often in complaints filed to date: Visibility/Wiper (40), Unknown Or Other (30), Electrical System (20).

Is the 2016 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 more complaints about the 2016 Prius than about the typical Prius year: 1.9 times as many.

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.