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Total NHTSA Complaints
30
Owner filings recorded
#1 Reported Problem
Brakes & Traction Control
12 reports (40%)
Crash Incident Reports
7
Filings citing a crash
Fire & Injury Reports
2
0 fire • 2 injury filings
Defect Investigation Analysis

Executive Problem Findings

AutoUtility currently tracks 30 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2019 Toyota Prius. Brakes & Traction Control issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 12 complaints (40% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 7 filings cite a crash, 2 report one or more injuries.

Methodology Notice: Consumer complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Filings are not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and do not constitute an audited component failure rate.
Incident & Severity Profile
  • • Total Owner Reports: 30 complaints submitted under federal penalty.
  • • Primary Subsystem: Brakes & Traction Control accounts for 40% of submissions (12 reports).
  • • Secondary Systems: Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (8), Engine & Cooling (6).
  • • Crash Incidents: 7 filings cite an impact or collision.
  • • Thermal Incidents: 0 filings cite smoke or fire.
  • • Reported Casualties: 2 injury filings • 0 fatality filings.
Category Distribution

Reported Defect Categories for 2019 Toyota Prius

Factual proportion of owner complaints categorized by automotive subsystem in NHTSA records

Brakes & Traction Control
12
40%
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech
8
26.7%
Engine & Cooling
6
20%
Air Bags & Restraints
5
16.7%
Electrical System
4
13.3%
#1 40% SHARE

Brakes & Traction Control

12 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.

⚠️ 5 Crash
⚠️ 1 Associated Recall Campaign
#2 26.7% SHARE

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

8 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.

⚠️ 4 Crash
#3 20% SHARE

Engine & Cooling

6 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.

⚠️ 1 Crash
#4 16.7% SHARE

Air Bags & Restraints

5 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.

⚠️ 4 Crash 🩹 2 Injury
Federal Oversight

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)

Formal engineering analyses and preliminary evaluations opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

ODI Action #DP22005 CLOSED Defect Petition (DP)
Opened: 2023-01-27 • Closed: 2023-08-07
Subject / Subsystem
Pedestrian alert sounds
Affected Component
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM
Recall Linkage
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 rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified NHTSA he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by NHTSA regarding the subject matter of the petition.
Consumer Filings

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2019 Toyota Prius

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Engine & Cooling ODI #11759842
Filed: 08/26/2026
Defect Report

"Coolant is leaking into the catalytic converter. This seems to be a common issue. Toyota issued a technical service bulletin on XXX covering this exactly. Some 2016–2019 Prius and 2017–2019 Prius Prime vehicles may exhibit low coolant level, MIL on with DTC P148F00, and/or poor heater performance..."

Electrical System ODI #11749970
Filed: 07/13/2026
Defect Report

"Frequency when I start car makes a very loud , painful high pitch noise for anywhere from 5-15 seconds"

Other / Miscellaneous ODI #11709126
Filed: 01/06/2026
Defect Report

"Body of car has rust perforation starting from the inside working out. This is on the roof, so water incursion will effect airbags and electrical system. FIrst noticed rust bubbles a few years ago, but did not think much of it. Now two body shops have said roof panel needs to be replaced. This is..."

Brakes & Traction Control ODI #11695974
Filed: 10/28/2025
Defect Report

"See Attachment"

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech ODI #11692652
Filed: 10/11/2025
Defect Report

"Since October 2023, my 2019 Toyota Prius has developed severe and unpredictable driving behavior after a regular brake service, which may have triggered or coincided with a software or ECU update. The car, which had been driving smoothly since I bought it in 2021, suddenly began showing false..."

Multi-Year Trend

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 42 6 3 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Toyota Prius Current Page 30 7 4 Current
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 →
Exhaustive System Audit

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2019 Toyota Prius

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 22 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Injury Entries Fatality Entries
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 5 0 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 2 2 0 2 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 2 0 0 0 0
Tires NHTSA category: TIRES 2 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 2 1 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 1 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,BACK OVER PREVENTION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES, AIR 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
Search Intelligence

Quick Answers: Common Problems & Reliability Questions for the 2019 Toyota Prius

Direct, deterministic answers synthesized from verified United States government databases for the 2019 Toyota Prius

What are the most common reported problems with the 2019 Toyota Prius?

In official NHTSA consumer records, the most frequently cited issue area for the 2019 Toyota Prius is Brakes & Traction Control, appearing in 12 records (40% of submitted filings).

Secondary reported categories include Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (8) and Engine & Cooling (6).

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Is the 2019 Toyota Prius a reliable vehicle?

AutoUtility does not issue subjective reliability scores or commercial ratings. In official United States government records, NHTSA tracks 30 consumer defect complaints and 4 safety recall campaigns for the 2019 Toyota Prius.

Reviewing documented component complaint distributions, recall remedy notices, and active federal investigations provides an objective, evidence-based view of the vehicle's historical safety and defect record.

Source: NHTSA ODI & Safety Recalls Databases

Are there crash, fire, or injury reports associated with the 2019 Toyota Prius?

Among consumer complaint records on file with NHTSA for the 2019 Toyota Prius, 7 filings cite a crash, 0 cite smoke or fire, and 2 report one or more injuries.

Incident entries represent consumer descriptions at the time of submission to federal authorities and do not establish mechanical causation or legal liability.

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Consumer Logs

Has NHTSA formally investigated defects on the 2019 Toyota Prius?

NHTSA ODI records list 1 formal defect investigation involving the 2019 Toyota Prius (all closed).

Federal defect investigations are formal engineering evaluations opened when safety defect trends emerge, and do not by themselves establish a confirmed defect or mandatory recall.

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Registry
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database under 49 CFR Part 576.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.