Dodge Dart vs Toyota Prius v: which is more reliable?

The Toyota Prius v is clearly ahead of the Dodge Dart on the federal record: 85/100 against 71/100 across every model year we score.

The record, side by side

Dodge Dart
Dodge Dart · Wikimedia Commons

Dodge Dart

71/100 mean
  • 4 model years scored
  • 2,315 owner complaints on record
  • about 48 complaints per year on the road
  • 16 recall campaigns, 3 safety-critical
  • best year 2016 (84/100) · worst 2013 (47/100)
Toyota Prius v
Toyota Prius v · Wikimedia Commons

Toyota Prius v

85/100 mean
  • 4 model years scored
  • 1,348 owner complaints on record
  • about 21 complaints per year on the road
  • 9 recall campaigns, 1 safety-critical
  • best year 2017 (92/100) · worst 2012 (60/100)

Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.

Year by year: Dart against Prius v

The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.

YearDartPrius v Gap
2017—92 BUY—
201684 BUY91 BUY-7
201569 CAUTION——
201483 BUY——
201347 AVOID71 BUY-24
2012—60 CAUTION—

What owners actually complain about

Dodge Dart

  • Power Train — 907 complaints
  • Engine — 483 complaints
  • Service Brakes — 446 complaints

Toyota Prius v

  • Service Brakes — 591 complaints
  • Electrical System — 158 complaints
  • Engine — 146 complaints

They do not fail the same way: the Dart's complaints concentrate in Power Train, the Prius v's in Service Brakes. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.

Years to avoid on each

Dodge Dart — avoid: 2013.

Toyota Prius v: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2013, 2016, 2017.

A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.

What each costs today

A recent used Dodge Dart prices at about $10,800 and a Toyota Prius v at about $11,900 — the Dodge Dart is roughly $1,100 less, and they return 30.0 against 41.0 MPG combined.

Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.

FAQ

Is the Dodge Dart or the Toyota Prius v more reliable?

On the NHTSA record the Toyota Prius v scores 85/100 against the Dodge Dart's 71/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Toyota Prius v carries about 21 complaints per year on the road against 48 for the Dodge Dart.

Which Dodge Dart and Toyota Prius v years should I avoid?

Dodge Dart: 2013. Toyota Prius v: no year scores below 45. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.

What goes wrong on the Dodge Dart and the Toyota Prius v?

The largest complaint group on the Dodge Dart is Power Train (907 complaints); on the Toyota Prius v it is Service Brakes (591).

Is the Dodge Dart or the Toyota Prius v cheaper to own?

A recent used Dodge Dart prices at about $10,800 and a Toyota Prius v at about $11,900, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.

More head-to-heads