Other steering problem on the 2003 Toyota Prius
1 crash 1 of the 22 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other steering problem gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Toyota Prius report other steering problem at a median of 90,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 115,000 miles, from 20 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 30,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 145,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 116,923 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
15% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29,777 miles | 66,750 miles | 91,500 miles | 113,800 miles | 146,700 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,400 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 16 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2013, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2004 at 115,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 40; the 2003 has 22. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
This complaint concerns the failure of the power assist operation of the electrical power steering system. The power steering warning icon is displayed on the central panel and the driver experiences an abnormal steering effort. *tr
I currently own a 2003 toyota prius with about 76,000 miles. I am active duty military currently stationed in germany. I have encountered a steering problem where the steering wheel shutters and shakes as if you are driving on rough terrain. It usually occurs between 5 MPH and 30 MPH while in a turn. When this occurs you temporarily lose control of the steering and potentially, the car. After doing some cursory research on line this appears to be a recurring problem with the toyota prius (http://priuschat.com/forums/care-maintenance-troubleshooting/36358-03-power-steering.html ) I think it has also been an issue with the 2001-2002 models that have been recalled for this problem but not for the 2003 and beyond. I believe that this does affect the ability for the car to be driven safely. We took it in to a dealer here in germany and they gave an estimate of 2500 euro for repair, which equates to about $3800 us dollars. The car is only worth approximately $10,000. Because of the extreme cost, I conducted research on the problem and then called toyota to see if this would be covered because this is a manufacturer's defect with the…
Erratic behavior of electric power steering. Uncontrollable shaking of steering wheel. An un safe condition. There has to be a lot these problems because replacement steering racks are on back order and no prediction of when they will available. With no parts available and car un safe then car is useless. *tr
Also reported on the 2003 Toyota Prius
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Other wheel or tire problem
Other electrical problem
Other brake problem
Stalling while driving
Steering column or shaft failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 22 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other steering problem happen on the 2003 Toyota Prius?
Across 20 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 90,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 115,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other steering problem on the 2003 Toyota Prius?
22 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
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