Used Toyota Prius, Prius c and Prius v: the years to avoid

Avoid the 2011 and 2012 Toyota Prius: 518 and 685 complaints, scores of 39 and 37, and Service Brakes as the top component by a wide margin in both years, at 273 and 341. Buy a 2015 or 2017 Prius (84 and 85) or, if the budget reaches, a 2020 to 2022 car, which score 96, 94 and 93 on 14, 6 and 24 complaints. The Toyota Prius c and Toyota Prius v follow the same curve, with the 2013 Prius c (56) and the 2012 Prius v (60) as their CAUTION years and everything from 2014 on a BUY. Ranked by the record, the Prius c has the cleanest sheet, with no year below 56; the Prius v has none below 60; and the Prius, with 2,376 complaints across fifteen years and 38 recall campaigns, has the two AVOID years and also the best modern scores of the three.

Brakes, 2011 to 2015

The third-generation Prius record is one component. Service Brakes is the top entry every year from 2011 to 2015: 273, 341, 235, 106 and 89. On the 2012 it is almost exactly half the year's complaints. It falls every year after that, and by the 2016 it is fourth at 23. There is no brake campaign on file for any of these years — the recalls on 2011 to 2015 cars are the inverter campaigns, two air bag campaigns and distributor notices for seat heaters and labels — so the record shows a brake symptom cluster that the campaigns do not address, and a buyer should read it as that. Electrical System is second each year at 68, 89, 51, 39 and 27, and Engine runs 46, 71, 37 and 24 from 2011 to 2014 before falling to 8 on the 2015. Scores rise as the counts fall: 39, 37, 53, 74 and 84.

The inverter campaigns

The Electrical System count has campaigns behind it. Three separate recalls address the Intelligent Power Module inside the hybrid inverter: 14V053000 (12/02/2014) for 2011 to 2014 Prius, where transistors in the module may be damaged by high operating temperature; 18V684000 (04/10/2018) for the same years and the 2012 to 2014 Prius v, where excessive voltage in the module may shut down the hybrid system; and 20V369000 (24/06/2020) for 2013 to 2015 Prius and 2014 to 2017 Prius v not covered by the second. The Prius v also has 15V449000 (15/07/2015) for a component in the inverter that may overheat and reduce output. Each of these describes the same outcome, a hybrid system that shuts down or loses power, and a used car that has had all of them completed is a different proposition from one that has not. The safety-critical campaigns on the early cars are air bags: 16V487000 for a curtain shield inflator weld on 2011 and 2012 cars, and the distributor sensor campaign 13V014000.

2016 and 2017: the fourth generation

The 2016 Prius was a new car and its record reflects that in a different way. Complaints are modest at 179, but five recalls fall on it and four are safety-critical: 16V741000 (14/10/2016) for the foot-operated parking brake, 16V672000 for a passenger air bag inflator that may partially inflate on its own, 18V085000 for air bag pressure sensors, and 18V579000 for a section of engine wire harness that can wear against the power control unit cover. A fifth, 17V658000, is for a capacitor that may not have been bolted to the inverter housing. The top component is Visibility/Wiper at 42, the first year Service Brakes is not first, and the score is 67, CAUTION. The 2017 has 91 complaints, Visibility/Wiper at 17, and the harness and parking brake campaigns; it scores 85.

The 2018 and 2019 have no record. The 2020 to 2022 cars have 14, 6 and 24 complaints and no safety-critical recalls, though the 2022 is inside 21V734000 for engine control software that can falsely shut down the hybrid system. The 2023 to 2025 cars share 24V274000 and 26V049000, both for a rear door switch that water can short and allow an unlocked door to open; they score 85, 80 and 81, all evidence low.

The Prius c

The Prius c has 742 complaints and 4 recall campaigns across nine model years, five of them scored. Its 2013 is the bad year: 399 complaints, Service Brakes 195, Electrical System 68, score 56. The 2014 nearly halves the count to 205 and scores 81; the 2015 has 132 and scores 89. Neither carries a safety-critical recall, and the 2013 and 2014 have no recalls at all. The 2018 and 2019 score 93 and 92 on 6 and 0 complaints, evidence low, and the one substantive campaign on the car, 19V491000 (26/06/2019), covers them: a DC-DC converter that may fail and cut power to the auxiliary battery, causing a loss of drive. The 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2020 have no record. The component shape — brakes first, electrical second, engine and speed control after — is the Prius shape, and the counts fall in the same years.

The Prius v

The Prius v is the wagon, sold from 2012 to 2017, and its record is the Prius record with the numbers slightly different. The 2012 has 612 complaints, Service Brakes 309 and Electrical System 73, and scores 60, CAUTION, with one safety-critical recall. The 2013 has 467 and Service Brakes 246, and scores 71. Both years are inside the 18V684000 and 15V449000 inverter campaigns. The 2014 and 2015 are not on record. The 2016 and 2017 have 166 and 101 complaints, Visibility/Wiper as the top component at 41 and 18, and scores of 91 and 92 — the best two years for the nameplate, though both are covered by the 20V369000 inverter campaign. The Prius v returns 41 mpg combined in every year, against 48 to 57 for the Prius and 46 to 50 for the Prius c.

What to check before you buy

• On a 2011 to 2015 Prius, or a 2012 to 2017 Prius v, have the dealer confirm every inverter campaign that applies — 14V053000, 18V684000, 20V369000 and, on the v, 15V449000 — against the VIN. Ask whether the inverter or its power module has ever been replaced.
• On any 2011 to 2015 car of the three, drive it on a rough road and in stop-and-go traffic and pay attention to the brake pedal. Service Brakes is the top complaint on every one of those years, with no campaign to close it, so the test drive is the only check available.
• On a 2011 or 2012 Prius, confirm 16V487000 for the curtain air bag inflator.
• On a 2016 Prius, confirm all five campaigns; on a 2016 or 2017, 16V741000 for the parking brake and 18V579000 for the wire harness.
• On a 2018 or 2019 Prius c, confirm 19V491000 for the DC-DC converter.
• On a 2023 to 2025 Prius, confirm 24V274000 and 26V049000 for the rear door switches.

Summary

Avoid the 2011 and 2012 Prius and treat the 2013 as a CAUTION; the brake complaint cluster and the three inverter campaigns run through all of them. Buy a 2015 or 2017 Prius, a 2014 or 2015 Prius c, or a 2016 or 2017 Prius v, all of which score between 81 and 92. The 2020 to 2022 Prius is the best car in the family on the record, with scores in the nineties, but the counts behind those scores are small. Whichever you choose, the inverter campaigns and a brake test drive decide it.