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Electrical systemPart report

2012 Toyota Prius V Electrical system Problems

Complaints
24about this part
Share
11%of 218 total for the year
Median mileage
76,217miles
Trend
FallingComplaints filed in the last 3 full calendar years are at least 25% lower than in the 3 years before.

NHTSA recorded 24 complaints about the electrical system of the 2012 Toyota Prius V, 11% of the 218 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 76,217 miles. 1 a fire, according to the filers.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“After the latest hybrid software upgrade on my car we noticed that the gas mileage dropped by 10%. Then as we were driving in heavy traffic on a two lanes four different warning lights came on two which were for the braking system and two others for the hybrid system. Took the car to the Toyota shop and they found the hybrid batters needed to be replaced at 63,000 miles.”

NHTSA complaint #11232453, filed 2019-07, 63,118 miles

“On june 5th, 2019, I took my car in to round rock Toyota and they performed the 2018 Toyota Prius V recall fix. Since then, my mpg has gone from an average of 41 miles per gallon, which has stayed consistent since I purchased the car brand new in june 2012, down to 32 mpg. I took the car back to round rock Toyota for a diagnosis on sept 30, 2019 and they said that they cannot find anything wrong, there are no error codes, and that my now greatly reduced 32 mpg fell within Toyota standards. …”

NHTSA complaint #11265675, filed 2019-10, 111,000 miles

“Was driving down the street in my prius when all of a sudden the car went totally dead. It did not go into a limp-home mode. I was dead in the water in the middle of a street all of a sudden. We had to get out and push it out of the street. Mechanic says its a known issue with prius and inverter. That was pretty dangerous and I was glad we werent on the freeway. We were unaware of any recall. The car went into disco mode - every warning light it had was on and blinking but the car was completely dead.”

NHTSA complaint #11144597, filed 2018-10, 130,000 miles

“My 2008 Toyota prius's dashboard indicators (odometer, warning signs and everything) showed symptoms of disappearing momentarily during second half of the year 2016. Upon restarting, it used to come back. However, on february 18, 2017, the dashboard light won't come back even after multiple time restarting. Drove to work in that condition hoping the dashboard indicators will come back but they didn't. Made an appointment with dealership to check it out on monday. Before the appointment, the indicators came back so I cancelled the appointments. …”

NHTSA complaint #10956861, filed 2017-02, 145,000 miles

“My 2012 Prius V had about 3000 miles on the speedometer when I began to notice that from a start, when I would put the lever into drive it would go into reverse. It is very intermittent. I cannot make it deliberately happen. I have taken the car to the dealership over this issue twice. They could not get the car to make the shifting error. Because they cannot replicate the error, they will not give credibility to the problem. This problem has occurred probably 20 times since it began happening. I am now keeping a log on each occurrence. …”

NHTSA complaint #10509484, filed 2013-04, 3,000 miles

Related service bulletins

Electrical system: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
2016425%
201528%
20141518%
20131613%
20122411%

Other parts of the 2012 Toyota Prius V

Brakes
133 complaintsEngine
36 complaintsOther or unknown
15 complaintsVehicle speed control
15 complaintsSteering
11 complaintsAir bags
8 complaintsElectronic stability control
7 complaintsTransmission and drivetrain
7 complaintsForward collision avoidance
6 complaintsFuel system
5 complaintsBody and structure
4 complaintsExterior lighting
3 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2012 Toyota Prius V

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 29, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology