2016 Toyota PRIUS - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2016 Toyota Prius is an exceptionally safe vehicle, with an overall safety rating of 5 out of 5. It performed well in all crash tests, including front and side crash ratings which received scores of 4 and 5 respectively. The car is equipped with standard electronic stability control, which enhances its safety features. Additionally, it has an optional forward collision warning system. Unfortunately, it does not have a lane departure warning system.

In terms of reported issues, there have been 159 complaints filed about the Toyota Prius. The car has also been subject to 6 recalls, indicating that the manufacturer takes proactive steps to address any safety concerns in a timely manner. Overall, despite the complaints and recalls, the safety features of the 2016 Toyota Prius make it a reliable and secure choice for drivers and passengers alike.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

159

Recall Count

6

Investigation Count

1

Safety Rating

5/5

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Safety Features

2016 Toyota Prius 5 HB FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2016 Toyota Prius 5 HB 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.

Optional
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

2016 Toyota Prius 5 HB FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2016 Toyota Prius 5 HB 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 2005 Score 2016 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 4 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 2016 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 4 5 Not Rated
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 5 Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 Not Rated

Rollover Ratings

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

Test 2005 Score 2016 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 4 Not Rated
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 2 Not Rated

Complaints for the 2016 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:
"the original windshield has a “rippling distortion” where the windshield has ripple/bubble from defective glass or installation mistakes, making seeing traffic signs or streets very hard. i just bought this vehicle and noticed the problem. it created poor road vision, especially at night. toyota needs to recall and replace all these windshields before it causes more accidents due to poor visibility looking through the glass."
Components Involved: VISIBILITY/WIPER
Date of incident: 2023-08-10

Complaint:
"moments ago, i entered my 2016 toyota prius to find that my windshield had mysteriously cracked while parked over night. the crack was not present when i last drove the car last night. based on some online research for windshield replacement cost, i've learned that toyota was faced with a class action lawsuit regarding 2016-17 toyota prius containing defective windshields; in which these windshields are known to unexpectedly crack while parked or under ordinary driving conditions. furthermore, my toyota prius is equipped with safety features (such as pre-collision system, lane departure alert with steering assist, automatic high beams and full-speed dynamic radar cruise control) that require a front camera to function properly. the cracked windshield now interferes with the camera's visibility, line of sight and perceived orientation, thus causing me to feel unsafe while driving the vehicle. i am filing this compliant because i am now faced with not only an unsafe vehicle to operate, but also the cost to fix a windshield that is known to be defective from toyota."
Components Involved: VISIBILITY/WIPER
Date of incident: 2022-08-10

Complaint:
"2016 prius sitting in the driveway during a relatively hot day (~95 f temperature), appears to have a big crack. i looked it up and apparently toyota is undergoing a class action lawsuit over the same issue. no outside damage to the windshield, the driver side window was down for the reason of the heat. shame that this happened. hopefully someone from the authority can help with this."
Components Involved: VISIBILITY/WIPER
Date of incident: 2021-10-08

Complaint:
"for the second time in my ownership of this toyota 2016 prius, the windshield has cracked considerably due to tiny road debris making contact with it. i was driving along the highway when a small pebble from the road made contact with my windshield causing a crack which has grown in size and has snaked along my windshield considerably since the crack occurred earlier this week (7/13/2020). the total replacement of the windshield along with the calibration of the equipped ads camera system is very expensive, especially considering that this will be the second time that i must replace and re-calibrate. although i would prefer to use a toyota dealership, it would be very difficult for me to do so as the estimated cost is over $1k. with the current state of global affairs, no glass repair companies in my vicinity offer any oem windshields and they are heavily inundated with clients so the earliest that i could get a replacement service would be at the end of this month. i fear that the crack may fully spread across the windshield and that the integrity of the windshield may give. as a healthcare worker, i cannot afford to not use my vehicle."
Components Involved: VISIBILITY/WIPER
Date of incident: 2021-01-07

Complaint:
"i have a 2016 prius with approximately 20,000 miles that was pursued new from the dealership in nov 2016. at around 10:30am, i was two blocks from home, driving on a residential street (25mph) and decelerated to approx 10mph as i approached a red stoplight at the oncoming intersection. cross traffic was moving but there were no other cars in the lanes left or right of me and/or approaching my car. i heard a very faint click/popping sound coming from the upper right upside of the windshield and immediately pulled over to examine the glass. i found a very small star shaped ding, less than a millimetre wide about 3-4 inches from the top right of the windshield. i then called my insurance agent who stated a small ding like that could definitely be fixed by a glass shop and would be covered in full by allstate. i decided to just go back home and look online for somewhere nearby i could take in my car. i drove back, parked my car back into my underground temperature controlled space. i wasn't able to get a same day appointment so stayed in until 5:30pm when i left to go to dinner. i was shocked to see that the small ding was now a large diagonal crack from the upper left corner, to just past midpoint of the windshield. because of the crack, the windshield can not be fixed. i was told that replacement and recalibration will cost approx just under $1000, which i will end up paying out of pocket because my insurance deductible is $1000. has now been 8 days since the initial ding and the crack has continued to elongate. it is now 2/3 of the length of the windshield. i have owned eight toyota vehicles, three of which have been new priuses. this is the first and only car where anything like this has ever happened. it appears that many other 2015-2016 prius owners have experienced similar problems with their windshields too. toyota must address this safety issue,"
Components Involved: VISIBILITY/WIPER
Date of incident: 2021-06-05

Complaint:
"with no impact whatsoever, and the car parked and stationary for more than 15 hours, i woke up this morning to find a crack in the front windshield. this crack is in the lower, middle section of the front windshield, generating up from the base of the windshield, and veering towards the left. there is absolutely no feeling of an impact (i.e. scratch, dent, ping, etc.) on either the outside of the windshield or the inside of the windshield - it appears that the crack is embedded in the glass itself. i have contacted my local toyota dealer and will be bringing it in for their inspection this week. however, in my online research, it seems that there have been a number of 2016 toyota prius' that have had this mysterious front windshield crack occur - enough to make me wonder if there is something wrong with the factory-provided windshield, and that would possibly warrant a recall. thank you for your consideration."
Components Involved: VISIBILITY/WIPER
Date of incident: 2019-01-03

Complaint:
"there is something wrong with the windshield design of the car. i had debris or road gravel hitting the windshield twice in last 2 months and got a crack on windshield in 2 occasions. i was driving car at 65 mph on highway in both instances. i also realize a flaw with wiper design that the wipers do no clear the full wind shield. this reduces visibility specially winter when there is lot of salt and snow on roads."
Components Involved: VISIBILITY/WIPER
Date of incident: 2018-03-11

Complaint:
"my windshield had a very minor chip which resulting in a crack across the windshield. this seems to be an disproportionate damage to the windshield suggesting a structural design defect."
Components Involved: VISIBILITY/WIPER
Date of incident: 2020-07-08

Complaint:
"while driving from tucson to phoenix on us route 10 at around 65 mph on the way to southern california on august 24, 2018, in 100 degree f. heat, a crack began in the lower drivers side of the windshield and was a foot long within seconds. by the time i reached home at 5:00pm, the crack had grown horizontally to more than two feet in length. i have avoided washing the windshield with cold water, or at all, and if the crack has lengthened further in the more moderate temperatures, i have not noticed. there is no obvious sign of a rock impact. when the sun is a the wrong angle, there is a distractingly bright glare from the crack."
Components Involved: VISIBILITY/WIPER
Date of incident: 2019-12-08

Complaint:
"owner of a 2016 toyota prius 3 with advanced technology package: i'll preface this that i'm satisfied with most/if not all other aspects of the prius (except entune...). however, it seems there is a definite issue with windshields cracking. i was driving on the freeway at the start of roadtrip when i heard and barely saw a rock/pebble hit lower left drivers side section of the windshield. i instantly saw 1-2 inch diameter crack/chip appear. over the next few hours i saw it grow and expand. reading up on this it seems i'm not only one who's experiencing this issue. i don't know if its just the design or glass is under some higher stress. unfortunately, due to the nature of the cameras and sensors, one has to go to toyota service anyway to get the camera recalibrated. oem glass does not appear to be cheap either!"
Components Involved: VISIBILITY/WIPER
Date of incident: 2019-06-07

Recalls for the 2016 Toyota PRIUS

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain 2016 prius vehicles. a capacitor within the hybrid system may not have been properly bolted to the inverter housing."
Consequence:
If the capacitor was not properly secured, vibrations from driving the vehicle may damage the capacitor, shutting down the hybrid system, causing a loss of motive power and increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the inverter, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin by early December 2017. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is H0U.

Component(s) Involved: HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM > INVERTER
Date of incident: 2017-10-18

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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