Problems · by component

2010 Toyota Prius fuel/propulsion system problems

60 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2010 Toyota Prius cite fuel/propulsion system, 2% of all 2,823 complaints for this model year.

Complaints
60
2% of all complaints
Crashes
1
Reported by owners
Fires
1
Reported by owners
Injuries
1
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the fuel/propulsion system

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“For the last 14 years, a check engine light has been coming on telling me that I have a fuel canister emissions leak because the canister is cracked. In 2016 2.87 million Toyota Priuses were recalled with the fuel canister crack issue. For unknown reasons Toyota has refused to fix this dangerous issue and has told me that my car was NOT included in the recall. I do not believe Toyota is being honest in their continued denial of this dangerous issue and excluding my 2010 Toyota Prius. This issue has been ongoing since the car was new.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 6, 2026Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11722506
“My 2010 Toyota Prius has had a charcoal fuel canister leak since day one. 2.9 million Prius cars were recalled and Toyota says my car is NOT included in the recall but has the same issue of the other Toyota Prius that were included? Check engine light has never gone off. Upon fueling a strong odor of gasoline is detected and I am very worried about the car catching fire. Toyota needs to be held accountable and forced to fix this safety related problem.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 12, 2025Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11673058
“Total malfunction at highway speeds. Very unsafe, the car completely shut off. This may have resulted in a highway fatality due to collision as the vehicle was in the fast lane. NTSA please do your due diligence and investigate the faulty, defective HYBRID system as I believe the faulty inverter recall is much more larger than the original recall”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Apr 7, 2024Electrical system, Vehicle speed control, Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11581635
“I was driving in my neighboorhood and as I went up the wall bridge my acceleration stalled and my ABS light, Check engine light, and check hybrid system light came on simultaneously and started beeping. At the same time, I lost my braking ability completely. I had to swerve off to the grass in the hopes of not hitting turning traffic at the stop sign. Luckily, it stopped before doing any major damage to anything. Thankfully, I was close to home and was able to put it in my driveway safely. The check engine light then cut itself off, but my brakes remained completely nonfunctional. If this had happened on the highway or a busy road I'm sure it would’ve been much worse.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 19, 2023Service brakes, Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11512678
“The ABS, VSC/traction control, and brake system warning lights all came on at the same time in my 2010 Toyota Prius. I almost lost control of my car's braking ability. Afterwards, the hybrid system does not perform its regenerative braking/recharging any longer. And the cruise control mode doesn't work also. The DTC from the OBD2 port is C1391 - abnormal leak in the brake fluid accumulator. I found out that this issue is widespread among Gen 3 Priuses, but Toyota has not made this officially a recall campaign, but classifies it as a "customer support bulletin." But the issue is dangerous enough that it should be a recall item. I moved homes in fall of 2018, and Toyota says it mailed out a letter about this brake issue and resulting campaign, but I never received the letter. I was totally unaware that this was a safety issue, that Toyota acknowledged it, and that this safety issue with an ongoing "recall" campaign with an expiration date. Toyota denies that this is a recall issue, and will not provide this service. I would like for NHTSA to reopen and investigate this issue, and make Toyota issue a general recall campaign to resolve this dangerous safety problem with the car.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 7, 2023Vehicle speed control, Service brakes, Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11506132
“I was driving on the road and right before a stop light my car jumped as if someone hit me from behind. After looking in my rear view and seeing no one on me I realized something else happened. I look at my dash and check hybrid system light was on. I was in traffic at the light waiting and looked it up on my phone to find out what to do. Some article said to pull over and turn it off and restart it. The light turned green and traffic started moving so I started to drive. I thought I could probably make it home but the car started driving a lot slower than usual. I really didn’t want to pull over because it was in a bad part of town but I felt like I had no choice because the car was barely moving. It seemed more dangerous to be on the road with other drivers. So I pulled over and parked and tried starting it again. It wouldn’t shift to drive so now I’m stuck and can’t get home unless I pay to get my car towed. I get my car towed to the house. I put a meter on the battery and it was fine. I put a diagnostics tester on it and came up with these codes POA1A and POA94. I contacted hybrid mechanic that doesn’t work at Toyota and he said to take it in to a…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 31, 2022Electrical system, Unknown or other, Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11459053

Showing 6 of 60 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.