2010 Toyota Prius Toyota Prius 2010

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2010 Toyota Prius repairs by problem area

Engine (19%)

Transmission and Drivetrain (1%)

Brakes and Traction Control (11%)

Suspension and Steering (9%)

Electrical and Air Conditioning (36%)

Paint, Rust, Leaks, Rattles, and Trim (13%)

Other (10%)

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Chart based on 523 repairs.
See TSBs and recalls for the 2010 Toyota Prius.

2010 Toyota Prius electrical repair cost distribution

$2500+ (0%)

$1000 - $2499 (3%)

$500 - $999 (2%)

$100 - $499 (35%)

< $100 (60%)

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Chart based on 151 repair trips. The repair cost chart excludes repairs made under warranty, do-it-yourself repairs, and repair trips that include maintenance.

2010 Toyota Prius 4dr Hatch

98-horsepower 1.8L I4 Hybrid CVT FWD

89000 mi

US $300
Headlight assemblies clouded and passenger light burned out. Replaced assemblies, headlights and marker lights 
37500 mi Navigation screen turns off suddenly. 
77300 mi

US $350
The car showed the key fob battery was dead. Went to the dealer and had battery replaced. 3 weeks later the car was showing the key fob battery was dead. Toyota replaced the battery a second time. Lasted 2 weeks. Had to replace the key fob. 
165000 mi

US $50
We have been plagued with issues with key fobs since we bought the car. I keep a handful of replacement batteries on hand at all times to change them out in our key fobs every few months. Dealer couldn't figure out why they go dead so fast and they charged $50 each time we visited them and all they would do is replaced the battery in the key fob. I've owned other Toyotas with the same key fobs and never had to replace the batteries. 
124300 mi

C $250
12V battery dropped to 9 Volts after letting the accessories at ON. Car would not start. 
68400 mi

US $480
start battery - not good in a car with "start/stop" - 7 years old- no warning 
75000 mi

US $156
2 year old car battery went dead leaving the vehicle undriveable 
76000 mi

£100
Replaced 12v battery 
76200 mi

£100
12v battery died. 
96000 mi

£100
12v battery replaced 
128500 mi

US $35
Replaced headlights. 
137500 mi

US $15
Headlight replaced 
207000 mi

US $20
Left high beam headlight 
213000 mi

US $20
Left lowbeam headlight replaced. 
215000 mi

US $200
Unable to start engine. Vehicle powered on, but without ready light. Removed battery and tested. 1 Cell was bad. Replaced battery. 
114000 mi Passenger side front door power lock actuator intermittent. Door would not lock / unlock with fob or central locking switch. Worked manually. 
71780 mi

C $250
Replace 12V Battery 
91300 mi

US $5
Both front lights (in between normal headlight beams and completely off) 
36000 mi

US $150
amplifier faulty pulled total dash and still repairing 
75300 mi

US $700
Car was in accident by previous owner. Previous owner had a crappy repair person fix AC system. Adam's Toyota corrected mistakes. Fixed problem. 
26000 mi SAT radio not able to connect, dealer replaced SAT antenna. 
34500 mi

US $5
Issues with iPod connection. Detailed in dealer TSB and covered under extended warranty. 
52000 mi Nav system display stopped responding. It was replaced. 
52000 mi

US $310
Battery needed to be rplaced. 
3000 mi Sat and GPS and radio, CD system malfunctioned. Dealer replaced entire system. 
49000 mi noise from a/c 
47000 mi

US $150
Battery replaced. 
35200 mi Car would not start. Battery had gone bad. No warning. Dealer replaced with a new battery. Covered by warranty. 
58000 mi

US $250
Battery went dead without warning. 
86000 mi Recall for bad headlamp 
123200 mi

US $938
The AC system lost pressure. (I heard the system leak.) The leak was diagnosed and the part was replaced. 
130200 mi

A $140
12 V battery was replaced. 
58000 mi

US $80
Power windows sometimes completely cease to work, switches on all doors fail to roll windows up/down. Replaced driver's master before I figured out it was a system-wide problem. Repair failed to change symptoms. 
108000 mi

US $225
Finally had intermittent window issue diagnosed and corrected. Took quite some time. Mechanic found loose connection in wiring, said it was likely not assembled correctly at the factory. 
13000 mi Radio replaced 
38000 mi

US $130
Tire stem connection to the tire pressure monitor box in front driver side wheel broke. This happened when air was being added to that tire. The tire lost all air and the spare tire had to be installed until the repair was accomplished. 
45000 mi

US $80
One headlight and one parking light needed to be replaced 
43700 mi Display has begun to blur - neither warranty nor extended warranty covered it. 
99000 mi Prius display is fogged up and unreadable 
150200 mi

US $22
Left low beam bulb, bought a 2 pack of bulbs and replaced both right and left low beam bulbs 
39000 mi Audio system display and dash buttons malfunction. Display either blank or displaying strange symbols. Dash buttons only turn audio on and off, no matter what button is pushed. Steering wheel audio controls function normally. 
59000 mi

US $55
Drivers side headlight bulb was burned out and had to be replaced. 
60500 mi Passenger side headlight burned out and had to be replaced. 
79300 mi

US $15
left front low beam light 
82000 mi

US $382
Auto dimming mirror does not dim most of the time causing being blinded by cars behind you at night. Per dealer works fine. Yes, it dims when you point a flashlight at it, yet driving around at night it does not work. 
112000 mi

US $149
Car battery needed replacement. 
110000 mi

US $270
replace the 12 V marine battery 
156000 mi

US $100
Right side door lock actuator. 
156000 mi

US $150
Driver electric door lock not working. 
49000 mi

US $250
Tire pressure sensor replacement 
92000 mi

US $12
Headlight bulb 
68000 mi Recall in headlamp wiring harness. Replaced harness and headlamp bulbs 
152000 mi

US $29
Recall item - Replaced headlight wiring harness and light bulbs. Additional charge for burnt light socket. 
206000 mi

US $1800
A/C compressor/motor assembly failed and was replaced and system recharged 
212000 mi

US $20
Headlight bulb burned out and I replaced it 
151900 mi

€500
Condensor climate control replaced 
182000 mi

US $120
Replaced battery 
157000 mi Headlight wiring harness replaced. 
107000 mi Noticed during January's cold temps that the selector buttons on the head unit selected the wrong band. For example, pressing the AM button selected the FM1 station, Pressing FM1 selected the FM2 station... 
68000 mi

US $30
Replaced passenger side headlight bulb 
83000 mi Recall for headlights burning out too frequently, which was a problem our car definitely experienced. 
54700 mi

US $70
Front low headlight and parking light went out. 
73000 mi

US $1100
A/C Compressor needed to be replaced. 
72000 mi

US $22
Right headlight burned out. 
110000 mi

US $251
Engine battery replacement 
103600 mi

US $75
Replaced a headlight bulb. 
109000 mi

US $1500
A/C wasn't working. Compressor needed to be replaced and re-mounted Wiring for headlight needed to be replaced. The previous shop botched the headlight replacement, melting some of the wiring. 
140000 mi After an oil change the A/C seemed less effective. Oil change claimed they didn't have anything to do with it. Had another shop look under the hood to see if anything had been knocked loose, but they didn't see anything either. We decided to live with it. 
62620 mi

C $250
12v rear battery replaced 
125000 mi Headlamp change. 
27000 mi 12V battery hard failure, dealer replaced. Forums indicate it was a common failure. 
128000 mi replaced wiring for low beam headlights and low beam headlight bulbs under technical service bulletin 
179000 mi

US $55
Low Beam Bulbs - Not failed/just dim 
76000 mi

US $280
Replaced battery 
78000 mi

US $140
Replaced battery. 
64000 mi

US $335
The electronics started to reset. Appearently there was a marginal battery cell that started to intermittently open. This caused the 12V system to fall to zero, and reset. Although the Batery was checked and it checked OK.... I had it replaced and the problems stopped. 
4500 mi The headlight auto level was malfunctioning, headlights would go to a low position and stay there. This made visibility poor with normal lights. We had to use the High Beam headlights to see. Shop could not duplicate and did not repair. 
52080 mi

C $324
Battery was dead. It was replaced. 
2000 mi The address data base for NAV system is highly inaccurate, providing non-existent addresses and/or addresses at the wrong location. Because the POI database is linked to the address database, POIs are also inaccurate. Data, not electronic problem. 
8000 mi Bluetooth has a 5 second delay after connecting incoming call before calling can hear driver speaking. Very weak reception on FM and SAT. Shop confirmed problem also existed on other cars in their lot. 
10000 mi A/C was not cooling. Dealer said there was a bad gasket causing Freon leak. Gasket replaced and system recharged under warranty.  
16000 mi Reception on FM radio has been poor from day one. Toyota rep examined a few months ago, and said "they all do that". I discoverd a TSB existed to replace radio becuase of poor reception. Called it to the dealer's attention and he replaced. POI and address database of Nav system still woefully inaccurate. Toyota has released an updated DVD but refuses to make it available at no cost. 
22000 mi Ordered new Nav DVD, version 10.1. This allegedly fixes the bluetooth delay, and may improve the ability to locate an actual address within a few hundred feet. 
26000 mi Replaced Nav DVD 9.1 with 10.1. 
27000 mi CD changer only accepts 3 CDs - it us a 4 CD changer. Problem verified by dealer and new radio ordered. 
28000 mi Radio replaced with one previously ordered. Works OK now. 
47000 mi

US $380
Keyless door lock/unlock stopped working. Replaced driver side door lock actuator assembly. 
54000 mi Door lock didn't work on passenger side - similar to previous problem on driver side. Would not lock when sensor touched - required key fob and/or manual. Intermittent, dealer hasn't replicated. 
66000 mi Passenger's front door lock (smart key) inoperable. Had failed once before, but seemed to have corrected itslef. Driver's front door lock failed previously. 
57000 mi The small starting battery required replacement again (second time in five years). 
80700 mi

US $250
Condenser broke (hit by tiny rock on road) and needed to be replaced. Several hundred dollars, I paid $250 insurance deductible. 
101000 mi Stereo display shows garbled symbols or nothing at all. Pushing mode buttons, scan, seek, etc powers the stereo off and ejects the CD. Problem is worse in cold temperatures but happens year round. 
35960 mi Motor for rear window washer 
22000 mi radio would not play CDs. dealer replaced head in dash. problem solved 
1000 mi Bad relay causing parking lock failure warning message intermittently. Lock did not actually fail. Relay was replaced by the dealer. 
22300 mi

US $250
Replace starting battery, original lasted almost 4 years 
26000 mi Radio had to be replaced 
50000 mi Aux battery failed, leaving the car unable to start. 
32000 mi SKS key fob used up batteries & went dead after 2 weeks. After the dealer installed 4 new batteries, at two week intervals, the dealer finally agreed to submit a warranty claim. They replaced the key fob and programmed the new one. 
86300 mi Navigation display system quit. - dealer had to order a replacement which took about 2 weeks to get, they then replaced the defective dislay unit. Everything ok now 
31000 mi Headlamp went out- still covered under warranty. replaced without incident by dealer at no cost. 
53700 mi Headlight out- covered under warantee 
61800 mi

US $99
Another headlight went out- The first one was replaced under warranty after I complained that I didn't think that headlights should go out so quickly in a car. 
63600 mi

US $29
About one month after I had the passenger headlight replaced the driver headlight went out. I told the shop that they should have suggested I change both headlights at the same time due to the high cost of removing parts to get to headlight. 
137000 mi Finally realized that they had some headlamp issues- Truly the headlamps have been my only issue with this vehicle in the almost 9 years I have owned it. It is my favorite car of all I have owned and certainly overall the best. 
13000 mi Left half of dashboard quit working, including speedometer, gas gauge, and mpg indicator. Was a circuit board. They knew the problem, replaced the board, no charge. All's well again. 
43000 mi The airbag problem indicator on the passenger side started coming on. Found to be a defective sensor. Was replaced under warranty at no cost to us. 
12200 mi

US $200
Dead battery after leaving car idle for several weeks 
4000 mi check engine light at odo 3700. read code #0304. no record of that code (factory had no record of that code) could not duplicate. no driveability issue. 
30700 mi Cruise control failed to engage. Couldn't fix. 
90100 mi

US $150
Replaced the 12v battery. 
107000 mi The cruise control problem was intermittent and continued to fail randomly. It was never fixed. 
24600 mi

US $312
12 volt battery died 
17000 mi Navigation system frequently displays 'no navigation dvd:insert disc', although disc has never been removed by me. Dealer stated that they removed smudges on disc, but if it recurs, they would replace navi system. 
27000 mi Navigation system stops seeing disc. 
71000 mi Window switch replaced, as the auto-up/auto down function was broken. 
2000 mi had the dealer change the auto-off headlights from 30 seconds to 0 seconds. 
65000 mi

US $250
Replaced 12v battery 
26300 mi driver door - window motor replaced. Was making slight grinding noise when raising. 
60000 mi

US $400
XM antenna amplifier went out. Local family owned Toyota/Honda shop replaced XM antenna assembly. 
121000 mi Toyota installed electrical surge protector for headlights. The headlights kept burning out. 
15000 mi CD player skipped frequently. Replaced entire head unit. 
18300 mi Battery replaced; died under warranty 
31620 mi

C $340
12 volt starter battery had failed cell and needed to be replaced. 
8000 mi The climate control display was cloudy/blurry and was replaced with a much more clear screen. 
23300 mi

US $337
the 12 volt battery needed to be replaced 
117000 mi

US $200
Replace auxiliary battery. 
43000 mi Washer fluid takes several seconds to flow, draining back into tank. Wipers end up dry wiping before fluid arrives to nozzles. Did not occur when brand new. TPMS light on, indication is TPMS component failure. Dealer attempted repair by replacing damaged sensor, however light returned with same symptoms within 25 miles. Power mirrors operate intermittently. TPMS Light repair attempt. Dealer suggests ScanGauge II is at fault (high polling interval). Dealer asked to run w/o SG plugged in for 72 hours to confirm DX. 
52700 mi Cold air leaking from floor vents while in face mode. 
59000 mi Left bulb burned out, replaced both with Phillips model that is 30% brighter. JDM (aftermarket) Premium Toyota horn high-note tone out of spec due to previous self-adjustment and my not using thread-lock. Adjusted tone, however not in the correct orientation, thus horn is still out of tune. 
43000 mi

US $423
New battery. 
56000 mi

US $85
Headlights again 
71000 mi

US $325
Replaced the driver door lock assembly (PN 69040-47060) because it would no longer lock the car from an electrical signal (fob, door handle, or lock button on door). 
98700 mi

US $203
Car failed to turn on (go to READY mode) when I pushed the start button. Dashboard lights were dim or non-existent. Happened twice over the course of a few days. Battery was 8 years old. 
56000 mi

US $215
12 Volt starter battery failed. I include as all electric including hatch, were battery is located was non-functional. Had to lower back seats and crawl into trunk to replace battery. called Toyota, got NO help. 
69000 mi intermittent failure of smart key. battery runs down quickly and needs to be replaced often. 
92000 mi

US $10
Headlights bulb 
6000 mi bad speaker 
29300 mi

US $400
12 volt battery died, total car disabled and could not jump car. had to flatbed 
14300 mi Intermittent Warning light: Check PCS System (Pre-collision System). Sometimes came on with Traction control warning. Dealer blamed accidentally disengaging PCS (switch is on bottom edge of instrument panel). Warning reappeared next day. 
24000 mi

US $147
12 V battery had a bad cell. Replaced battery. Age 3 years, 11 1/2 months; mileage 23539. 
35000 mi

US $200
TPMS light was on. Replaced all 4 TPMS units in the wheels (2 were bad, 2 were OK). 
43500 mi

US $188
12 V battery replaced again. 
27000 mi XM signal is weak/no signal. Cause: unknown codes retrieved from navigation unit. Solution: Toyota submitted tech case for diagnosis -awaiting reply from tech. 
20000 mi Wire had come loose from dealer installed fog lights. Crimp loose wire to solve problem. 
33300 mi Dealer installed fog lights quit working. A relay connection (OEM part) for the fog lights had not been properly sealed when the dealer installed the fog lights. Water had gotten into the relay and caused a short. 
102000 mi

US $70
Right Headlight and left marker light 
122000 mi

US $225
Fuse block shorted. When car was new dealer installed foglights that stopped working. Short at fuse block was where dealer connected fog lights. 
100 mi Recharge A/C with freon due to leak. Order replacement A/C hose. Recharge A/C with freon due to leak. Order replacement A/C hose. 
74000 mi Tire gauge quit and needed to be replaced along with four tires. 
87000 mi

US $50
Had to replace a blown fuse. None of the power outlets were working. 
101000 mi

US $50
Had to replace fuses for the aux power outlets. 
113000 mi Fuses for the aux power outlets kept popping, dealer did not identify the underlying problem before we sold it. 
36000 mi

US $50
auxilliary plugs for charging telephone or other electrical devices not working 
8000 mi No sound from sound system. Power amplifier failure. Part ordered. Audio power amplifier replaced after parts ordered from previous repair trip. 
31000 mi iPod receptical plug intermittent, mostly not good cutting off music and/or voices. receptical in bottom of console problem but there are two different ones, iPod only and iPod plus USB. Mine was dual but they tried to replace with iPod 
201500 mi

US $21
One headlight bulb went off one day, and the other the next day (not too bad after 200k miles). 
97000 mi

US $20
Headlamp on left side wires broken. Wire too short. 
22900 mi Dead battery after 4 days of not driving (snowstorm and cold weather) 
17200 mi Map button on MFD stopped working correctly. Appt. scheduled for April 5 to evaluate 
61000 mi

US $1000
Burned out headlight bulb turned into a complete replacement of the wiring harness for both headlights. First dealer tried a scam. Second dealer repaired the problem.One headlight lens damaged. Ex. Warrenty paid $600.00, I paid $400.00. 
13000 mi Trip computer overstates fuel economy by 5.6 percent. Toyota refuses to fix. 
16000 mi Power outlet inside center console never worked. Replaced fuse. 
24300 mi replaced radio/cd player 
77000 mi

US $12
I replaced a headlight bulb 
78000 mi

US $30
Headlight replaced 
70000 mi

US $23
left headlight burnt out 
78000 mi

US $180
Cruise control switch replacement 
33300 mi Both low beams went out at the same time 
30500 mi

US $50
left low beam failed, replaced both 
67580 mi Replaced 12 volt battery 
28700 mi Head unit displayed jumbled characters, CD player ejected discs randomly. 
25000 mi

US $45
Checked battery and charging system found nothing wrong. 
27000 mi

US $95
Right headlight bulb would not reinsert back into assembly 

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2010 Toyota Prius 4dr Hatch

31620 mi

$2000
Radio FM not playing above certain frequency range i.e > 98 A modulator was added to capture certain radio station. 
77500 mi

$200
Controller change was needed 
18000 mi

US $255
Five of the six front light bulbs burned out & had to be replaced. No fuse problem detected. 
34300 mi

US $49
Drivers' side headlight bulb was burnt out 
36000 mi

US $89
Drivers' side front headlight bulb was replaced, as it had burned out. 
39000 mi

US $10
Had to replace batteries in both "keys" for the car 
41000 mi Headlights and low beam bulbs kept burning out. Toyota reimbursed me for some portion of the repairs, AND installed a "repair kit" and headlamp free of charge. 

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2010 Toyota Prius Electrical Problems

See our lemon odds and nada odds page to see vehicles with no repairs or vehicles with more than three repairs. To see how frequently 2010 Toyota Prius problems occur, check out our car reliability stats.