Problems · by component
2007 Toyota Prius air bags problems
50 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2007 Toyota Prius cite air bags, 2% of all 2,004 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
50
2% of all complaints
Crashes
38
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
34
Reported by owners
What owners say about the air bags
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“The lights spontaneously turned off while driving on a cloudy night on an unlit section of interstate. While slowing the car down, it went onto gravel, semi-circled around and flipped over onto the lower median. No air bag deployed. No protection from shoulder seat belt. Head hit steering wheel, and I briefly lost consciousness. Tests showed skull and cervical fractures. The car was "totaled." I was planning a move. Now I consider myself to be lucky to be alive. I am rewriting because of previous a NHTSA computer malfunction changing a serious injury to "NO" injury on the questionnaire.”
“Both headlights failed, one earlier, then the second, on a cloudy night on an unlit, deserted rural stretch of interstate highway. Driver started slowing down from 60 mph, looking for a place to pull over. An accident resulted--only the defective car was involved. No airbag was deployed. The driver was injured. (Full recovery--months.) The car was totaled.”
“The contact owned a 2007 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving approximately 30-35 MPH, the vehicle in front of her slammed on the brakes, causing her vehicle to crash into its rear end. The air bags failed to deploy. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact sustained a severe whiplash. The contact was able to exit the vehicle through the front passenger side window. The contact stated that her son transported her to the hospital, where she was informed that she had sustained a concussion and neck abrasion injuries. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a collision shop, where it was totaled. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but did not provide any assistance. The failure mileage was approximately a 180,000. The VIN was not not available.”
“STEERING WHEEL DEFROSTER CONTROL PANEL STOPPED WORKING, ALL THE REST OF THE CONTROLS ARE OPERATIONAL EXCEPT THE DEFROSTER PORTION. SEEMS THE CLOCKSPRING IS MALFUNCTIONING. AS THE SAME PART IS PROVIDING SIGNAL FOR ALL THE STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS AND POSSIBLY THE AIRBAG, THIS IS A SAFETY CONCERN TO ME.”
“TAKA INFLATOR, I WAS IN A CAR ACCIDENT AND NONE OF THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. IT WAS HEAD ON ACCIDENT. ALSO MY CAR JUST STARTED TO SPEED UP. I ENDED UP HITTING A BILLBOARD.”
“I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD GOING ROUGHLY 40-35 MILES PER HOUR WHEN THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME SLAMMED ON THEIR BREAKS. I COLLIDED WITH THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME, WE CAME TO AN ABRUPT STOP. THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY, CAUSING MY FACE TO SLAM AGAINST THE STEERING WHEEL. LEADING TO FACIAL AND TEETH INJURIES. MY CAR FRAME WAS BENT, IT IS TOTALED.”
Showing 6 of 50 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 4, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.