Toyota Prius: which years to buy, and what breaks on them
Best and worst years of the Toyota Prius
Of the 24 model years of the Toyota Prius that carry enough owner reports to score, 2004 comes out best at 66 out of 100 and 2010 worst at 81. The scores rank each year against other cars of the same model year, so an older one is not penalised for having had longer to break.
15,595 owner reports across 27 model years, 11,989 of them carrying an odometer reading. 24 years carry enough reports to score.
The year to buy, and the year to avoid
Both figures are ranks against other vehicles of the same model year, so the two are comparable even when the years are a decade apart. Each links to that year's full report.
2004 Toyota Prius
Best of 27 years on 737 owner reports, its own worst problem being other speed control problem. Evidence behind the score: high confidence.
2010 Toyota Prius
Risk 81 of 100 from 3,485 reports, worst problem other brake problem.
Severe High confidence confidence
How much the year actually matters
The gap between the best and worst year is 16 points on a 100-point scale, which is wide enough to be worth acting on when two cars are otherwise comparable.
Across every year of the Toyota Prius, owners have filed 15,595 reports with NHTSA. The 2010 accounts for the largest share at 3,485, which can mean a genuinely troublesome year or simply the year that sold best and has been on the road longest.
What tends to break across the Toyota Prius
Taking the most-reported failure from each model year, the recurring problems on the Toyota Prius are other brake problem (worst mode in 8 years), other speed control problem (worst mode in 5 years) and headlight failure or clouding (worst mode in 3 years). A fault that heads the list in most years is characteristic of the design; one that heads a single year is usually a batch or a supplier.
Every model year, scored
Shorter is better, and the outlined row is the best year of the line. A year with too few reports to score is shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not the same as no problems.
| Year | Reports | Per 1,000 | Median report | Most reported problem | Recalls | Risk | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Toyota Prius | 4 | 0.1 | 59k | Headlight failure or clouding | 0 | not rated | Unrated |
| 2001 Toyota Prius | 215 | 12.3 | 61k | Other speed control problem | 3 | 68 | High confidence |
| 2002 Toyota Prius | 201 | 11.5 | 65k | Other steering problem | 2 | 68 | High confidence |
| 2003 Toyota Prius | 123 | 7.0 | 75k | Other steering problem | 1 | 66 | High confidence |
| 2004 Toyota Prius | 737 | 6.5 | 72k | Other speed control problem | 6 | 66 | High confidence |
| 2005 Toyota Prius | 1,298 | 11.4 | 78k | Other brake problem | 6 | 69 | High confidence |
| 2006 Toyota Prius | 1,690 | 14.8 | 50k | Headlight failure or clouding | 6 | 67 | High confidence |
| 2007 Toyota Prius | 2,451 | 21.5 | 52k | Headlight failure or clouding | 4 | 67 | High confidence |
| 2008 Toyota Prius | 1,894 | 16.6 | 55k | Other brake problem | 4 | 71 | High confidence |
| 2009 Toyota Prius | 644 | 5.7 | 32k | Other brake problem | 6 | 75 | High confidence |
| 2010 Toyota Prius | 3,485 | 24.9 | 7k | Other brake problem | 10 | 81 | High confidence |
| 2011 Toyota Prius | 665 | 4.8 | 75k | Other brake problem | 6 | 71 | High confidence |
| 2012 Toyota Prius | 545 | 3.9 | 40k | Master cylinder or brake booster failure | 6 | 73 | High confidence |
| 2013 Toyota Prius | 546 | 3.9 | 43k | Master cylinder or brake booster failure | 3 | 71 | High confidence |
| 2014 Toyota Prius | 281 | 2.0 | 28k | Other brake problem | 3 | 70 | High confidence |
| 2015 Toyota Prius | 216 | 5.7 | 26k | Master cylinder or brake booster failure | 1 | 74 | High confidence |
| 2016 Toyota Prius | 215 | 3.4 | 18k | Other speed control problem | 5 | 72 | High confidence |
| 2017 Toyota Prius | 127 | 2.0 | 14k | Other speed control problem | 3 | 75 | High confidence |
| 2018 Toyota Prius | 46 | 0.7 | 8k | Other speed control problem | 1 | 69 | Moderate confidence |
| 2019 Toyota Prius | 54 | 14.4 | 5k | Other brake problem | 3 | 81 | Moderate confidence |
| 2020 Toyota Prius | 23 | 0.4 | 14k | Other brake problem | 0 | 73 | Low confidence |
| 2021 Toyota Prius | 11 | 0.2 | 5k | Exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin | 0 | not rated | Unrated |
| 2022 Toyota Prius | 31 | 7.4 | 33k | Airbag failed to deploy in a crash | 1 | 75 | Moderate confidence |
| 2023 Toyota Prius | 26 | 1.5 | 6k | Other electrical problem | 4 | 73 | Moderate confidence |
| 2024 Toyota Prius | 34 | 1.9 | 3k | Airbag failed to deploy in a crash | 4 | 77 | Moderate confidence |
| 2025 Toyota Prius | 28 | 1.6 | 22k | Loss of braking | 2 | 69 | Moderate confidence |
| 2026 Toyota Prius | 5 | 0.3 | — | Tire blowout or tread separation | 1 | not rated | Unrated |
What each column means
Reports counts owner complaints filed with NHTSA against that model year. Filing is voluntary and unverified, so the count is a floor on how often something went wrong, never a census. It also rises with how many cars were sold, which is why the next column exists.
Per 1,000 divides those reports by an estimate of how many of that model year are on the road, so a common car and a rare one can be compared. The estimate comes from the vehicle counts in recall campaigns covering the same model year, which is the only per-model fleet figure published free of charge; where no recall covers a year, this column is blank rather than guessed.
Median report is the odometer reading at the midpoint of that year's reports: half of the readings owners gave were below it. It is a description of when problems get reported, not a prediction of when this car will break, and it needs at least eight readings before it is shown at all.
Risk is a 0–100 score combining how often reports arrive relative to fleet size, how serious they are, and how early they land, ranked against other vehicles of the same model year only. Confidence says how much evidence sits behind it: a low score on thin evidence is a shrug, not a clean bill of health. Both are defined in full on the methodology page.
Generations, and why the boundary matters
The Toyota Prius splits into generations: 2000–2003 (best 2003, worst 2001), 2004–2010 (best 2004, worst 2010), 2011–2015 (best 2014, worst 2015), 2016–2018 (best 2018, worst 2017), 2019–2021 (best 2020, worst 2019) and 2022–2026 (best 2025, worst 2024). Comparing years inside one generation is the fair comparison — same body, same engines, usually the same suppliers.
Generation boundaries here are inferred from the pattern of model years in the data rather than taken from manufacturer documentation, so they are occasionally a year out. Where a boundary matters to a purchase, check it against the build date on the car.
| Generation | Years | Best year | Worst year | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-2003 | 2000–2003 | 2003 Toyota Prius 66 | 2001 Toyota Prius 68 | 2 |
| 2004-2010 | 2004–2010 | 2004 Toyota Prius 66 | 2010 Toyota Prius 81 | 16 |
| 2011-2015 | 2011–2015 | 2014 Toyota Prius 70 | 2015 Toyota Prius 74 | 4 |
| 2016-2018 | 2016–2018 | 2018 Toyota Prius 69 | 2017 Toyota Prius 75 | 6 |
| 2019-2021 | 2019–2021 | 2020 Toyota Prius 73 | 2019 Toyota Prius 81 | 8 |
| 2022-2026 | 2022–2026 | 2025 Toyota Prius 69 | 2024 Toyota Prius 77 | 8 |
How to use this page
Use it to eliminate rather than to select. The years at the top of the risk column are the ones where enough owners reported enough serious failures to be worth avoiding when there is a choice; below that, the differences are smaller than the difference between a well-kept car and a neglected one.
Every figure comes from owner complaints filed with NHTSA and from recall records, both voluntary in the sense that nobody audits them for completeness. Counts are floors. The AtWhatMileage methodology page sets out each formula.
Questions this page answers
What is the best year for the Toyota Prius?
Of the model years we can rate, 2004 Toyota Prius scores best at 66 out of 100, based on 737 owner reports. 2010 scores worst at 81.
Which years of the Toyota Prius should you avoid?
2010 has the highest risk score in this model line at 81 out of 100. The scores compare each year against other vehicles of the same model year, so they are not affected by age alone.
How the generations are drawn. NHTSA does not publish generation boundaries, so ours are inferred from breaks in the recall and complaint record and from the model's own year range. They are close to the enthusiast consensus but not authoritative — if a boundary looks wrong for a car you know well, tell us and we will fix the table rather than argue with you.
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed