2012 Toyota PRIUS V - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2012 Toyota Prius V has not been rated for crash safety by the NHTSA. Despite this, it comes equipped with standard electronic stability control for added safety on the road. However, it lacks forward collision warning and lane departure warning systems. The vehicle has had 509 complaints reported, along with 8 recalls issued. While the exact safety ratings are not available, the presence of stability control enhances the car's safety features. Considering the number of complaints and recalls, potential buyers should stay informed about these issues before making a purchase.

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Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

509

Recall Count

8

Investigation Count

3

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2012 Toyota Prius V SW FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2012 Toyota Prius V SW FWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2012 Toyota Prius V SW FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2012 Toyota Prius V SW FWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2012 Score 2017 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2012 Score 2017 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2012 Score 2017 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated

Complaints for the 2012 Toyota PRIUS V

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"brake actuator making noise every 10 seconds and oil is having to be filled in everyday."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2025-06-01
Complaint:
"brake failure"
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2023-10-05
Complaint:
"coming to a yellow light, i braked and the vehicle made a strange sound with loss of braking, so i sped up instead, having to go through a red light. shortly after, that afternoon, when i again started the vehicle, the safety lights lit up in the dashboard and my vehicle kept making a strange cycling noise. as it turns out, it was the whole brake actuator assembly. under great financial hardship, i had the vehicle repaired ($4300+). i applied to toyota corporate for help but they denied it, saying i was outside the extended warranty. i’ve since learned this brake problem was a known issue, and toyota settled a class action settlement. my vehicle has only 90,000 miles on it, and it is has been used primarily as an in-town vehicle, our only car. i’m asking for a recall and reimbursement on repair for affected vehicles. toyota has been allowed to get away with responsibility for a known issue by putting it into a extended warranty program, now expired. meanwhile, this dangerous, known defect continues to happen to unsuspecting drivers. i was lucky with my incident, as no cars came out when the light changed, but it could have been a different outcome."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2024-12-11
Complaint:
"hard to stop, abs and brake and traction controll related warning lights on. error code c1391"
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2024-03-11
Complaint:
"brake warning lights (abs, traction, and (!)) went on while driving on the highway with my 8-year old. needed brake booster replaced. replaced at dealership for over $4500. was a year and a half outside of a customer support program that covered cost for our vehicle through jan 2022. called toyota to see if they could do anything and to report safety issue. they did not give me any funds towards repair. i feel that this is a significant and scary safety issue, and an unfair financial burden for toyota customers to bear."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2025-04-10
Complaint:
"see attached document for complaint"
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2024-06-09
Complaint:
"on october 24, 2023, while driving my car, several lights went on all at once, including the abs, and brake lights. i immediately drove it to the toyota dealership on 2213 old jacksboro hwy, wf tx 76301. the car was also making a noise constantly, that i had taken into toyota service center previously which was also causing an issue with my battery dying. (it went through 4 batteries in the last 2 years). toyota diagnosed it as a problem with brake booster and assembly and brake booster pump. calling for both of them to be replaced at a cost of $3,888. toyota did not inform us of any recall regarding brakes, i did email toyota directly, called and tried to work with the dealership, all to no avail. they are being sued due to numerous complaints and refused to assist me."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2024-11-10
Complaint:
"error code c1391 confirmed by two separate facilities, described as "abnormal leak in accumulator" and "accumulator pressure." took to an independent shop first, then to haley certified toyota dealership. at dealership, parts needed were quoted to include tsb-0024-19. three lights went on simultaneously (abs, traction, brake)."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2024-01-10
Complaint:
"the abs pump kept running after the car stopped running... malfunction and had to be replaced!"
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2023-03-10
Complaint:
"my car breaks with out i almost hit the car in front of me, i could killed someone . this is very dangerous i took my car to a toyota dealership they said the extended warranty expired. they said upon inspection found code c1252,c1253,c1256 brake pump and actuator fault. upon inspection found abs actuator accumualtor leak. causing brake pedal to be hard and brake system malfunction. toyota should had made a recall of this and not just a extended warranty that expires. i have 206,000 miles original owner they should me a lawsuit for this its very dangerous. i end paying $3000 of my own money to fix it, i should get reimburse for my money."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2023-04-08

Recalls for the 2012 Toyota PRIUS V

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain 2010-2014 toyota prius and 2012-2014 toyota prius v vehicles. excessive voltage in the intelligent power module (ipm) within the inverter may cause the hybrid system to shut down, causing the vehicle to stall while being driven."
Consequence:
If the hybrid system shuts down unexpectedly, it can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will update the software for the motor/generator control electronic control unit (ECU) and the hybrid control ECU as necessary, free of charge. The recall began January 22, 2019. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's number for this recall is J0V. Note: The software updates in this recall are needed even if the vehicle had the software previously updated under recalls 14V-053 or 15V-449.

Component(s) Involved: HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2018-10-04

TOYOTA Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

TOYOTA ranks 3 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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