AutoUtility currently tracks 42 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2018 Toyota Prius. Visibility, Wipers & Glass issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 7 complaints (16.7% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 6 filings cite a crash, 5 report one or more injuries.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 42 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Visibility, Wipers & Glass (7 reports • 16.7% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Engine & Cooling (5), Exterior Lighting (5)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 6 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 5 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2018 Toyota Prius
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Visibility, Wipers & Glass
Engine & Cooling
Exterior Lighting
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech
Body & Structure
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Toyota Prius
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while having a routine oil change, the contact was made aware that there was no coolant in the coolant reservoir. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact was constantly adding coolant to the coolant reservoir; however, the..."
"The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine constantly overheated. An unidentified warning light was flashing on the instrument panel. An independent mechanic inspected the vehicle and became aware that the coolant reservoir was..."
"Both taillamps holding moisture. Could cause electrical issues or fire. .. same year and model car have same reported issues and were fixed by manufacturer. This vehicle is the same but different level."
"Driver door lock actuator not working. This seems to be a common problem for Toyota over the last decade, but they yet to put more vehicles to their recall list. Actuator just stopped working. I have to use key out of FOB to manually open. This is a safety issue if I’m trying to get in my car..."
"The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Prius. The contact stated the trunk opened at a slow speed and failed to remain open. The dealer was contacted and informed of the failure. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle needed to be taken in to be inspected. The vehicle was not diagnosed or..."
Complaint History for Toyota Prius
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Toyota Prius | 180 | 31 | 2 | View 2015 Problems → |
| 2016 Toyota Prius | 181 | 13 | 5 | View 2016 Problems → |
| 2017 Toyota Prius | 93 | 14 | 3 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Toyota Prius Current Page | 42 | 6 | 3 | Current |
| 2019 Toyota Prius | 30 | 7 | 4 | View 2019 Problems → |
| 2020 Toyota Prius | 14 | 6 | 0 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Toyota Prius | 6 | 1 | 0 | View 2021 Problems → |
| 2022 Toyota Prius | 24 | 4 | 1 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 Toyota Prius | 19 | 1 | 4 | View 2023 Problems → |
| 2024 Toyota Prius | 23 | 4 | 4 | View 2024 Problems → |
| 2025 Toyota Prius | 17 | 1 | 2 | View 2025 Problems → |
| 2026 Toyota Prius | 0 | 0 | 1 | View 2026 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2018 Toyota Prius
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 25 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VISIBILITY/WIPER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, AIR,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STRUCTURE,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)
Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
Pedestrian alert sounds
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight ra...
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.