2012 Toyota Prius C
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
Vehicles › Toyota › Prius C › 2012
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
These records cover every 2012 Toyota Prius C. To see whether one car still needs a recall repair, decode its VIN or check it with NHTSA.
The contact owned a 2012 Toyota Prius C. The contact stated that while attempting to park, the vehicle rapidly accelerated upon tapping the brake pedal and crashed into a brick storefront without warning. The air bags failed to deploy upon impact. A bystander inside the store assisted the contact in exiting the vehicle. Law enforcement responded to the scene and administered a breathalyzer test, which returned negative for alcohol. A police report was filed, noting minor scratch damage to the storefront's concrete. The contact did not seek immediate medical attention; however, she sustained soreness in her upper arms and upper legs, as well as driving-related anxiety in a rental vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was inspected and deemed a total loss by an insurance adjuster. The contact stated that two days prior to the crash, the vehicle had surged forward without warning when the brake pedal. The dealer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 165,000.
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Prius C. The contact stated that while driving 20 MPH, the message "Check Hybrid Status - Stop vehicle in Safe Place Immediately" was displayed. There were several warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with an internal power module transmitter and MG control computer inside the inverter assembly failures. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact called an independent mechanic, and DTC: P0A94 (DC/DC converter or inverter performance problem invertor assembly) was associated with the failure. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 98,015.
While driving 65 mph on the expressway on January 12th, 2026 under cruise control, I tapped my brakes to slow down. My brake warning light came on, along with the ABS warning light, and the anti-swerve warning light. Cruise control no longer worked, and my brakes were noticeably hard to apply. I immediately had the vehicle computer checked and the issue is a leaking brake booster component, a faulty part known by Toyota to fail prematurely with this and other Prius models. No recall was issued however. The car is now unsafe to drive until a ~$4000 repair is done, according to my service representative.
Brakes went soft with little braking power. Traced the fault code to a faulty braking actuator; toyota says this is past the coverage date for the recall.
I own a 2012 Toyota Prius C with approximately 156,578 miles. The vehicle has been diagnosed with C1391 – Abnormal Leak in Accumulator, which causes the brake actuator to lose hydraulic pressure. This results in frequent buzzing from the actuator pump, illuminated warning lights (BRAKE, ABS, Traction Control), and loss of ABS and stability control. The condition increases stopping distance and creates a serious safety hazard. Toyota previously acknowledged this exact defect under Customer Support Program CSP 21TE01, which covered brake booster and pump assemblies for certain Prius and Prius C models when codes such as C1391 were present. However, the program expired on November 30, 2022, and my vehicle is just over the 150,000-mile coverage limit. Despite this, my Prius exhibits the same defect that Toyota has already recognized as a safety-related issue. Toyota Carlsbad confirmed the diagnosis and quoted $3,399.55 plus tax for repair, with a reduced courtesy estimate of $2,817.86 plus tax, but declined goodwill assistance since CSP 21TE01 expired. Given the widespread reports of brake actuator failures in Prius models, I believe this represents a systemic safety issue that warrants NHTSA investigation and potential recall/extended coverage.
Brake Actuator and ABS Accumalator failed. It is a common failure reported by multiple owners on these cars. I was on the high way going 70 when it failed and lost any brake boost I had putting me in a very dangerous situation where I narrowly avoided an accident. Upon scanning the car's codes I got code C1391 which I looked up and saw a bunch of other people who were also struggling with this issue.
I am writing to express a complaint regarding the issues I have experienced with the brake system of my Toyota Prius C, 2012 model. For the past several months, I have noticed that the brakes exhibit strange noises, soft pedal sensation, reduced braking efficiency, were driving and the ABS, traction, brake, and that other light turned on and the brakes became slow these issues have been observed on multiple occasions and pose a safety risk to myself, other drivers, and pedestrians. I have taken the vehicle for inspection, but the problems persist or have not been definitively resolved. I believe these faults may be related to defects in the braking system, and therefore I request a thorough inspection and necessary repairs at no cost, considering that the manufacturer could be responsible for manufacturing defects.
The brakes on this Prius started to make weird noises. Because it is a hybrid, I wasn't sure if it was normal. After searching online, it is a known issue. The car has just under 76,000 miles on it. It might be worth $7000 on a good day. Toyota wants to replace two brake parts, numbered 47050-52020 and 04006-74152 to a tune of $2700. According to a Toyota bulletin, this job should take 2.3 hours. For that amount of work, my local Toyota shop wants almost $2000 in labor. My car was seen by the local shop (being on an island, it is literally the only Toyota shop that this car can be seen) when the "customer support program" 21TE01 was in place and they did nothing. Now, the time window has disappeared, even though we only have half of the maximum number of miles to get the repair. Toyota should be ashamed of themselves.
My ABS actuator failed. Turns off the boosted braking and cruise control. This is a known issue in Toyotas and it always happens outside the warranty window. This is putting my safety at risk as the brakes don’t work as they’re supposed to
I was driving down the interstate with my cruise control on when all of a sudden the cruise control disabled and warning lights came up on my dash board. It still drove fine for several weeks. On Friday December 6th, I was going down the road and had to press the brake slightly for a car turning. When I pressed the brake, the car went into a spin. It spun a couple of rotations. Luckily I was on a wide part of the highway and no oncoming cars were approaching. Toyota had a recall for the same code and parts for the 2010 Prius but did not include the 2012 Prius. They just had an alert which I did not receive because the notice went to the former owner. However, I did take my car in for oil change and diagnostic but they did not tell me that there had been a problem with these parts. They want almost $4,000 to repair it. Why would they not include ALL vehicles with this same part. If it fail on one, it will fail on another. I think Toyota should make them all good. Please make them issue a recall for all of these parts. I took my car to a mechanic but because of special tools needed, you have to take your car to the dealership for repairs. When I called the dealership, I was told I needed a break booster pump and a brake master cylinder for a total of $3, which is ridiculous on a $7,000 car.
While my daughter was driving brake pedal faded and rear brakes locked up causing her to lose initial control of car . Steering felt tight . Many warning lights , check hybrid system , brake lights , steering warning lights , along with abs lights came on . Took car to Toyota dealer to diagnose it needs brake booster and master cylinder module . Service consultant said known issue with TSB but it had expired . Many , many complaints of this same incident of Toyota and Prius forums .
Code C1391 shows in which the accumulator and the brake booster assembly need to be changed. This is a known defect and was covered through an ‘extended warranty’ due to a lawsuit. Since it results in less than optimal braking, and can result in crashes since function disappears suddenly, it should have warranted a recall. This issue is also known to happen in multiple Toyota hybrid vehicles.
The brakes fail and the ABS module stops working correctly and when I go at a speed of 60 MPH the brakes lock until the speed drops and they work again. The problem is with the ABS module and I went to the dealer and the repair value is $3450 dollars.
Last week my 2012 Toyota Prius-C had four lights come on (ABS, Brake, Swerve, and one other). I took it to my local mechanic who informed me that it was my master cylinder brake that needed to be replaced and would cost me $3,300. This issue started roughly 10-12 months ago, when I heard my brakes making a noise that sounded very unusual, almost like a hydraulic issue. I learned that there was a Toyota initiated CSP. Toyota realized there was an issue with the 2012-2014 brake system that affected over 100,000 vehicles. Those affected by CSP's are supposedly notified by mail. Needless to say, I never received such notice. This aforementioned CSP expired in November 2022 that my car would have qualified for, had the problem been diagnosed prior. However, when I brought my car in on August 8th, 2022 for my hybrid battery, a diagnostic was done on my brake system with no indication that my brake system was in trouble. I really can't fault the mechanics at the local Toyota, I took it to a second brake specialist a few months after and they too could not identify the problem. The problem was so bad, Toyota discontinued the brake system. Toyota said it would need to be broken 100% with an error message to qualify prior to the November 2022 deadline. After being facetious and saying I should have broken the part myself to qualify, she said that is what I would have needed to qualify.
Without prior warning brake pedal goes to floor before minimally engaging braking system at a very reduced rate causing me to swerve and narrowly avoid collisions on interstate. There is no pressure feeling in the brake pedal although brake fluid level is normal and inspection of brake pads indicated significant pad available. No DTC light is coming on and OBD scan tool indicates no brake error. Brakes are unable to stop car to avoid collision, so car is dangerous and undrivable.
My letter to Toyota: I'm writing this in regard to an inverter issue my 2012 Prius C recently experienced. While driving last month my car completely shut down, no warning and thankfully cars avoided hitting me and I was able to get from the middle lane to be able to coast to a side street in which I had to be towed. It turned out it was an inverter issue which had to be replaced. Granted my vehicle has less than 135k even though it is a 2012. I have done research and found models of Prius had the same exact issue(s) which was part of a warranty enhancement and I truly think my vehicle should be included. I want this to be looked in to and addressed. I will be contacting NHTSA also in regard to this. I filed with Toyota and ref#230323001904
Seatbelt does not retract or lock properly when braking.
I was driving on the expressway and experienced a sudden loss of power. The internal combustion engine suddenly stopped and did not deliver any power to the wheels. I immediately received a message on the system that said 'Check Hybrid System Stop Vehicle in a Safe Place'. The electric motor still continued to provide some power with the available battery charge. I was able to make it to the shoulder of the road but it was challenging to get to the shoulder with no power or warning and high speed traffic. My wife and I were in the vehicle. The vehicle had no engine or error codes until the failure on the expressway. The vehicle has the code P0A1A and P0A94. This is consistent with the error codes in the NHTSA 19V491000 recall and Toyota Safety Recalls E0E and F0R.
I was driving on freeway when my vehicle shut off and wouldnt start again. It almost caused an accident thankfully not. I paid to have car taken tothe repair shop Viva Toyota in Las Cruces NM and they inspected it and gave me a quote on repair as well what was causing the problem. There was a saftey recall for the PCU and i believe the inverter is causing the failure. please help me to get this figured out.
a warning light came in on my dashboard brakes regarding the Brake pump accumulator. It feels like my brakes are not working right, not stopping like they always did.I was scared I almost hit someone in front of me at a red light because after applying the appropriate notes due on the brake pedal I noticed a delay in the car stopping. I had the brakes checked by a mechanic and they are ok. This is very dangerous. Can the manufacturer be required to repair this defect? Thank for your help.
My brakes gave out while driving with my infant child luckily I was almost home and made it without hitting anyone or seriously hurting myself and my child. Had car diagnosed error code c1256. Local dealership won’t repair because I “missed “ recall and my car has salvage title. I cannot afford to fix on my own and I’m shaking as I drive with my child to work everyday praying to get there in one piece because I have to work…
I was driving going 45mph when my car shut off and wouldn't start back up. It almost caused an accident from it stopping in the middle of the highway. The master warning light, brake system warning light, warning buzzer ABS warning light and the slip indicator light came on as also the message center reading to have the hybrid system checked immediately. I did have ot towed on for a diagnosis and it came back saying i needed a new inverter power module this will cost $2000 . i cant afford that. I read all over the internet how there is. Safety recalls. When i called toyota they said there are no recalls so now im stuck paying this. Not happy at all!!! If there are anymore 2012 prius with this problem please write a complaint so we can get this on recall and have the company cover the cost of repair.
My wife hit a deer at highway speed. The airbags deployed. The drivers side lower airbag deployed in the footwell. The driver was unable to get to the break paddle to stop due to the airbag at het feet. She had to use the emergency brake to stop the vehicle. That worked, but she had limited vision of the road ahead and it took some time for her to think of using the emergency brake.
I was driving with my 10 year old son on local city streets. I was approaching a busy intersection while going approximately 35 miles when my car just turned off with an error message about the hybrid system failing. I stopped the car and put it in park while trying to turn the car back on, but I kept getting the same hybrid system error message. While the stoplight was red, I got my son out of the car and over to the sidewalk because this was a dangerous situation where anyone not paying attention could've slammed into my stalled car (see picture of black Toyota Prius). I called AAA to get it towed. About 20 minutes later, a cop car pulled up to block my stalled car and then got it pushed to the side of the road (picture attached) because of how dangerous it was sitting there blocking traffic at a major intersection. My car was taken to Cabe Toyota dealership where they diagnosed it with a failed IPM card, which would cost around $4,000 to replace. I did a simple Google search and found that 80,000 Prius from 2012 - 2014 have been recalled for this EXACT reason. There have also been class action lawsuits surrounding this IPM failure due to its extreme safety risks to anyone inside a car that will just die in the middle of driving it, especially when their fail-safe system does not get triggered with this particular IPM failure. As of right now, the car is available for inspection because it's still at Cabe Toyota. The invoice shows that the IPM card needs to be replaced. There were NOT any warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms prior to the car shutting off while driving it. It had been running just fine.
2012 prius c sudden inverter failure caused car to stall on busy street, putting driver at serious risk. Car IS well maintained newer model with moderately low mileage and no prior issues. Car IS no longer operable until inverter IS replaced. Toyota has had prior lawsuits, complaints and recalls due to inverter failure. My specific vin was not included in recall, but same incident occurred as described in recall bulletins posted by toyota and complaints on nhtsa.gov website. Toyota refuses to include my vin under recall.
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened these reviews into vehicles including this one.
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified NHTSA he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by NHTSA regarding the subject matter of the petition.
On January 3, 2013, NHTSA received a letter (ODI No. 10487746) from Ms. Jessie A. Powell petitioning the agency to investigate drivability and braking concerns in the subject vehicle.The petition expressed two concerns: 1. The first software problem was when the vehicle shifted from battery to motor and caused such impact, I initially believed the vehicle had been struck in the rear.2. The next more alarming problem was NO BRAKES. The brake pedal traveled to the floor and a dashboard warning light flashed.This symptom occurred twice, leading to the vehicle being towed to the dealership, the second time in the dealership parking lot after diagnostics of the first incident.After a test drive and vehicle inspection, no actionable problem was found within the petitioner?s vehicle.The braking concern reported turned out to be normal vehicle operation.The petitioner identified other complaints of poor braking performance and low brake pedal received by NHTSA concerning Prius models. Broader review of the consumer complaints reported for all variants of the subject vehicle showed no indication that either the reported jolting sensation or the brake performance concerns reported are occurring in this vehicle population at a level that would require investigative action by NHTSA.The following recalls by Toyota were to address many of these complaints in Prius variants. Neither of these recalls is applicable to Ms. Powell?s 2012 Prius C: 1. Recall 10V-039 March 5, 2010 - 2010 Prius, Lexus HS - Reprogramming ABS ECU - Improve Antilock brake function over bumpy surfaces. 2. Recall 13V-235 August 7, 2013 - 2010 Prius, Lexus HS - Replace Brake Booster / Pump assembly - Low brake pedal due to nitrogen bubble in hydraulic portion of brake system. In the Agency?s view, additional investigation is unlikely to result in a finding that a defect related to motor vehicle safety exists in the subject vehicles.Therefore, given the need to allocate and prioritize NHTSA limited resources to best accomplish the Agency?s safety mission, the petition is denied.This action does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist.The Agency will take further action if warranted by future circumstances.More details concerning our review can be found in the Federal Register Notice for this action.
Technical service bulletins and other communications the manufacturer sent dealers about this vehicle. Ask a dealer for the full document by its number.
Bars are owner complaints, dots mark years with recalls. Select a year to open its report.