2008 Toyota PRIUS - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

Based on the safety rating data provided for the 2008 Toyota Prius, the overall safety of this vehicle can be described as moderate. The front crash driver side and passenger side ratings are both rated at 4 out of 5, indicating good protection in frontal collisions. The side crash driver side rating is excellent at 5 out of 5, providing a high level of safety in side impacts.

It is worth noting that the Toyota Prius offers optional electronic stability control, which can help drivers maintain control of the vehicle in challenging driving conditions. However, this model does not come with forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems, which are increasingly common safety features in newer vehicles.

In terms of complaints and recalls, the 2008 Toyota Prius has a total of 1462 complaints and 4 recalls reported. While the number of complaints is relatively high, it is important to consider the overall safety ratings and features of the vehicle when evaluating its safety performance.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

1,462

Recall Count

4

Investigation Count

2

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2008 Toyota Prius 4-DR.w/SAB Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2008 Toyota Prius 4-DR.w/SAB

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.

Optional
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

2008 Toyota Prius 4-DR.w/SAB Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2008 Toyota Prius 4-DR.w/SAB 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 2005 Score 2008 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 4 Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 4 Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

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

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 4 5 Not Rated
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 4 Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated

Rollover Ratings

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

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated

Complaints for the 2008 Toyota PRIUS

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:
"on june 1st yesterday this issue happened again but it was the taillights. the uploaded document is from the most recent repair shop bill for the front headlight (under warranty since it stopped working so close to the previous repair) intermittently without cause the front right head light goes out (seems like every 3-6 months). and every 12-18 months the tail lights go out (the brake lights still work). the mechanics can't tel if it's a circuit board issue (possible lack of cooling/fan), loos connections and or just poor design. no matter what it is dangerous as i i unexpectedly had to drive on hwys in the dark not knowing my lights all of a sudden aren't working. thank you very much."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2023-01-06
Complaint:
"headlights go out randomly. have to turn them off and back on to resume normal operation."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2022-04-04
Complaint:
"i had purchased this 2008 prius touring model used on 4/8/22. the first time i drove it at night i was on the freeway traveling at 55 mph and suddenly had almost no visibility due to loss of headlights. it was terrifying and pure luck that i made it off and home. the headlights turn off one at a time. i took the car to atomic auto in portland, oregon and they said the type of bulbs in the car often do this when they are failing and need to be replaced. this shop put new bulbs in yesterday, may 12th. it was raining heavily when i left the shop and i turned the headlights on. they failed again in the same way. i had no idea there was a problem like this with any car. i have searched online and now know that this has been a problem with toyota prius."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2024-01-04
Complaint:
"this model car is equipped with hid headlights. the car has had numerous problems with the bulb not lighting on one side. the light could be cycled off/on and this would allow the lamp to stay lit for an unpredictable amount of time. sometimes this cycling would allow the lamp to stay on for an entire trip and sometimes the headlights would have to be cycled off/on again. replaced the lamps today with brand new bulbs. both lit during the initial testing. later in the day the left lamp does not light even when cycled off then on. the headlights on this car are unreliable. the trouble in changing the lights would have been fixed with traditional halogen lights but now further troubleshooting is required or replacement of the igniter or bulbs. headlights on cars in the 21st century should be completely reliable especially after replacing both lamps with brand new bulbs. this is a safety concern while driving at night."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2021-10-09
Complaint:
"right side headlight goes out intermittently without a traceable cause. people have noticed the light out while at motion on a residential street at low speed, on a highway at 50 mph and at rest."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2021-12-02
Complaint:
"primary headlights randomly go out while both parked and driving down the road. sometimes both at the same time. turning them off and on again manually resets them to work again. this seems like a huge design flaw and major safety hazard, since it leads to driving in the dark without headlights. repair shops want $100s per bulb to replace hid bulbs that seem to not actually be burned out. the design choice for hid bulbs that exhibit this temporary failure mode seems to be a fundamentally flawed engineering choice compared to other, more reliable technology such as leds. no existing recalls were found when searching the dot.gov website for this issue."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2021-02-02
Complaint:
"the driver's side headlight on my 2008 prius goes out periodically when driving but, to date, not when stationary. i recently drove to texas and back and this didn't occur on the highway or country roads. it seems to only happen in city stop-and-go driving, but i can't be sure. if noticed, by turning the lights off and on it comes back on but it's not always noticeable. information online indicates that costly hid bulb and ballast replacements, and/or other costly repairs, do not solve the problem. this poses a potentially serious safety risk and has gotten me pulled over by the police. the problem seems to be common with 2006-2009 prius's which would indicate a design/manufacturing flaw that toyota should address and correct. please look into this matter and advise me on how to proceed to correct the problem. thank-you, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr"
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2020-09-10
Complaint:
"08 prius headlights intermittently and without warning go out for up to about 1/2 hour at a time. either one will do it almost every time they are used and so far, only one at a time. untrustworthy and very dangerous."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2020-12-07
Complaint:
"headlights are defective. i have changed the relay switch, computer hid and headlights and they still are not working. i've also had to pay a ticket as a result."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2021-06-01
Complaint:
"the passenger side headlight turns off unpredictably, usually within 10 minutes of driving time. turning the lights off and back on sometimes gets the headlight to turn back on, but not always. then within 10 minutes it will turn off again. not only is this a safety issue and driving violation, i also cannot sell the car with non-functioning headlights."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2019-01-03

Recalls for the 2008 Toyota PRIUS

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"toyota is recalling certain model year 2004-2009 prius vehicles manufactured august 5, 2003, through march 30, 2009. the affected vehicles have a steering intermediate extension shaft assembly built with metal splines that complete the connection from the steering wheel to the steering gear. these splines may have been manufactured with an insufficient hardness."
Consequence:
Over time, the splines may wear and eventually fail resulting in a loss of steering ability, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
Remedy:

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the extension shaft and replace it if it is one with insufficient hardness, free of charge. The recall began during December 2012. Owners may contact their Toyota dealer or the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331.

Component(s) Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2012-11-14

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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