2009 Toyota PRIUS - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2009 Toyota Prius 4-DR.w/SAB has received a decent safety rating based on the available data. In terms of crash ratings, it scored 4 stars for both the front crash driver side and passenger side, and an impressive 5 stars for the side crash driver's side. However, the overall safety rating is marked as "Not Rated," which is worth noting.

One positive aspect of this vehicle is the optional electronic stability control, which can enhance its safety performance in various driving conditions. Unfortunately, it does not come equipped with forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems, which could have further improved its safety features.

In terms of complaints and recalls, there have been 484 complaints reported and 6 recalls issued for this model. While the number of complaints is relatively high, the presence of recalls indicates that Toyota is actively addressing any potential safety issues with the Prius.

Overall, while the Toyota Prius shows promising crash test ratings, the lack of an overall safety rating and certain safety features may be factors to consider when evaluating its safety performance. The presence of stability control is a definite plus, but potential buyers should stay informed about any reported complaints and recalls to ensure the vehicle's safety and reliability.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

484

Recall Count

6

Investigation Count

2

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2009 Toyota Prius 4-DR.w/SAB Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2009 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

2009 Toyota Prius 4-DR.w/SAB Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2009 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 2009 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 2009 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 2009 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 2009 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:
"apparently a known issue with the hid lights coming on or off intermittently."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2023-01-12
Complaint:
"the front lights and break lights sometimes turn off while i am driving. both of the lights or one of them."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2025-07-10
Complaint:
"headlights intermittently go off, and i wound have to switch it off and on for light to come back on, but for few minutes until it does it again, and i drive uber at night. i have searched the problem online, it seems to be a common problem on the second generation prius from 04-09, i called few repair shops and they acknowledged the problem but did not have an answer to solve it."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2021-01-02
Complaint:
"my 2017 prius is having headlight failure. i was told by my neighbor that my headlight was out. i bought a new one and went to replace it but they were both working. thought it was a defective bulb so waited to replace it. i check both headlights when i come to a stop behind a car so i can check the reflection of the headlights. sometimes they are both on sometimes only one is on, occasionally both are out. what i have noticed is when i turn on the car, immediately the headlights are bright,(not high beam) and immediately go dim. this acts like a bad contact or high resistance somewhere in the circuit. the headlights going on and off seems to be a circuit breaker of some kind. fortunately i don't drive much at night, however i am having to drive more at night and the possibly of the headlights both failing is terrifying. i started to research the problem and it seams i am not the only person having the problem. the internet is full of other people having the same problem. it seems that nothing is being done about it. i am hoping that toyota is not deciding to just let the people kill themselves because it will be nearly impossible to prove that the headlights were out at the time of the accident so they will not have to pay a lawsuit and not have to fix a recall problems. i am 74 years old and been an auto mechanic all my life so i know about automobiles and wiring. i doubt that anything will be done, and wonder how many people have been killed because no one will dig deep enough into the problem to find the problem and fix it."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2021-07-07
Complaint:
"in december of 2018, i pulled my car up to a redbox station to return a movie. i pushed the park button on my 2009 toyota prius and got out of my car to put the movie into the slot. the car apparently was not in park and continued to move forward (i tried to catch it, but was unsuccessful, and hurt myself in doing so) until it slammed into a parked car in the same parking lot. my insurance listed it as an at-fault accident and fixed my car and the one that my vehicle had hit. (i told the adjuster i knew that i had put the car in park) i also had a 700.00 deductible to pay for fixing my damaged car. as time went by, this started happening more and more frequently. i would push the button for my car to go into park mode and it would not go into park. i would have to put the car into another gear and then it would go into park. other weird things with the car were happening as well. sometimes the car would not turn off and more and more when i would start the car, the dashboard would be completely black. i mentioned to my mechanic that this was happening, however, i could not make it happen whenever i took it to him. i did manage to get it on video though that it was happening. i just recently learned from my mechanic that this has been a safety issue with this car and that it's a bad combination meter. he also informed me that toyota only allowed for 9 years from the date the car was manufactured for this problem to be fixed. how come i did not receive any notification that this could happen and how do you put a time limit on a safety issue such as this one. my car did not go into park mode and ended up slamming into another vehicle. i could have easily fallen under the wheels of the vehicle as it kept on moving or it could have easily hit another person. i am hoping someone can investigate this for me and get back to me with information on how i can get this fixed."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2019-05-12
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2009 toyota prius. the contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the driver side low beam headlight failed to illuminate. the vehicle was taken to the local dealer moor automotive located at 1246 hartford turnpike, vernon, ct 06066, who replaced the driver's and passenger's side headlight bulbs. the contact stated that approximately 8 months later the passenger's side light bulb failed. both bulbs were replaced at daytona beach toyota located at 451 n nova rd, daytona beach, fl 32114. the failure recurred for a 3rd time and was replaced by an independent mechanic. the failure mileage was 75,667."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2020-06-11
Complaint:
"headlights go out after a few days.. replaced over 8 bulbs. checked connectors, checked wiring.. no problem found and the problem still exist."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2019-10-12
Complaint:
"one of the front headlight sometimes work sometimes not.i just get this car today and after purchasing i saw this problem."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2019-12-03
Complaint:
"the headlights come on and off. bulbs have been replaced, fuses and still they periodically come on and off. when i take the to dealer they say no issues."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2018-09-11
Complaint:
"every day one of my headlights are not working. one day it could be the left one, the other day could be the right one. i'm afraid both might go out during night time driving."
Components Involved: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Date of incident: 2020-06-10

Recalls for the 2009 Toyota PRIUS

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"southeast toyota is recalling certain model year 2005-2011 passenger vehicles for failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 110, "tire selection and rims." these vehicles were sold without the requisite load carrying capacity modification labels."
Consequence:
A DRIVER MAY OVERLOAD A VEHICLE WHICH MAY INCREASE THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Remedy:

DEALERS WILL MAIL TO CONSUMERS THE CORRECTED LABEL OR THE CUSTOMER WILL HAVE THE OPTION FOR DEALERS TO INSTALL THE LABEL FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON MAY 27, 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT SOUTHEAST TOYOTA AT 1-800-301-6859.

Component(s) Involved: EQUIPMENT > OTHER > LABELS
Date of incident: 2010-02-03
Recall:
"gulf states toyota is recalling certain model year 2005-2010 vehicles for failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 110, "tire selection and rims." these vehicles were sold between september 1, 2005 and june 2, 2008 without the requisite load carrying capacity modification labels."
Consequence:
THIS DOES NOT MEET THE STANDARD REQUIREMENTS.
Remedy:

DEALERS WILL MAIL TO CONSUMERS THE CORRECTED LABEL OR THE CUSTOMER WILL HAVE THE OPTION FOR DEALERS TO INSTALL THE LABEL FREE OF CHARGE. DEALERS WILL ALSO CORRECT THE OWNER'S MANUAL. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON MAY 27, 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT GULF STATES TOYOTA AT 713-580-3300.

Component(s) Involved: EQUIPMENT > OTHER > LABELS
Date of incident: 2010-02-03

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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