Other steering problem on the 2013 Toyota Prius
Only 4 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When other steering problem gets reported
There are 8 reports of other steering problem on the 2013 Toyota Prius, 4 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 18th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 10,600 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
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 2013 has 8. 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.
I was driving on the freeway at approximately 55 MPH. The steering began to veer back and forth. I thought it might be due to an uneven road. I switched lanes and experienced the same problem. It became very apparent that it was not due to an uneven road. As I began to apply the brakes due to a traffic jam, the brakes were weak and had to eventually slam on the brakes to stop on time. I have to begin applying the brakes at about 50 yds from a stop sign traveling at 45 MPH in order to stop on time. *tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2013 toyota prius. The contact stated that the steering wheel pulled to the left and right while driving various speeds. The contact had to use excessive force to steer the vehicle in its appropriate lane. In addition, the door locks activated independently and failed to unlock occasionally with the electronic control. The dealer attempted to correct the steering wheel failure by performing an alignment, but the failure recurred. The door lock failure was not corrected. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 50. Updated 10/24/2014*lj updated 4/20/2015 *js
I was driving on the highway at 55~60mph, and suddenly the power steering trouble light indicator came on. I noticed the steering wheel was a bit harder to turn( left or right). I slowed down and took the first exit, reducing speed to 30~35mph. At the stop sign, all indicators light came on and I couldn't turn the steering wheel (left or right). I was able to accelerate out of the stop sign, but then I felt a "thugh" in the engine, and notice I didn't have any braking power for a few second. So I pulled over, I turned the car off, and turned on again, I immediately drove into a parking lot after the stop sign, the car just died; I couldn't brake, no steering, no gas power, nothing. The car was towed to toyota dealership. This was the 2nd incidence within 3 weeks. The first time this occurred with similar sequence of failure. The car was towed to toyota dealership and they said the auxiliary battery died, and replaced it free of charge ( car was 24,250 miles at that time). This second time, I hope toyota can find the root cause of this issue. I don't think the new auxiliary battery died again. It's only been 3 weeks since toyota…
Also reported on the 2013 Toyota Prius
Other brake problem
Master cylinder or brake booster failure
ABS module or sensor failure
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Loss of braking
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 8 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 8 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 2013 Toyota Prius?
Across 4 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 10,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other steering problem on the 2013 Toyota Prius?
8 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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