Skip to content
Electronic stability controlPart report

2012 Toyota Prius Electronic stability control Problems

Complaints
7about this part
Share
2%of 424 total for the year
Median mileage
102,226miles
Trend
Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.

NHTSA recorded 7 complaints about the electronic stability control of the 2012 Toyota Prius, 2% of the 424 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 102,226 miles. 1 of these say a crash was involved, according to the filers.

Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.

Example complaints

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

“Vehicle stability control, anti-lock brake, and traction control lights intermittently turn off. A few times it shut down the hybrid system and tell me to stop . Now all those lights are all on and I am driving without vss, ABS and traction control. Braking is getting harder. I took it to the dealer and they told me the cost is $3500. I did some research and found out that this is a known Prius problem problem”

NHTSA complaint #11043167, filed 2017-11, 78,000 miles

“On july 28, 2017, I was driving along with my three children. I pulled into a driveway to park my vehicle behind a parked vehicle. There was approximately a 2 foot span between the back of the vehicle and the front of my 2012 Toyota Prius. To the right of the parked vehicle was a parked truck. Being that I was pulling into a space to park my vehicle, I was traveling extremely slowly. I began to press on my brake to park the vehicle and instantly knew there was a problem. …”

NHTSA complaint #11014797, filed 2017-08, 106,453 miles

“My Prius was just fine then one day it stalled while I was driving in the middle of the free way. I took my vehicle in to elmore Toyota in westminster, ca, they found it had a failed inverter and it was still covered under warranty. It took 2 weeks for them to fix it, but when they returned my car, the slip indicator was now on and would not turn off. They claim it was like that prior to the failed inverter, this was false, my car was running perfect. They then wanted to charge me nearly $1k to fix a problem I did not have prior to failed inverter. …”

NHTSA complaint #11155888, filed 2018-12, 125,000 miles

“I went to start my Prius v. After it was started, a number of the warning lights came on including the ABS and stability control. I was stunned since I had my 30000 mile check up in may with no problems. When I took it to the dealer for repair, the dealer determined that rodents had eaten through a number of the electrical systems because of the soy based wiring. (I understand now that it's biogradable soy based wiring insulation.) I generally park my car at only two locations - my home and my work. I had never seen any rodents of any type! …”

NHTSA complaint #10650709, filed 2014-10, 33,200 miles

“Problem with braking system involving, the other day the car was on and suddenly three (3) warning lights came on: brake light, ABS light and traction control light. There is also now a pumping sound coming from under the interior of the dash (on it at least sounds that is where it's coming from. The car has 151,428 miles on it. I've included pictures of the current eror code, mileage and dash lights that are on.”

NHTSA complaint #11165756, filed 2019-01, 151,413 miles

Electronic stability control: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
202017%
201913%
201711%
201621%
201511%
201484%
201372%
201272%
2011163%
2010582%
2009122%
2008433%
2007342%
2006151%
2005202%
200481%
200322%
200211%

Other parts of the 2012 Toyota Prius

Brakes
200 complaints
Electrical system
52 complaints
Exterior lighting
36 complaints
Other or unknown
33 complaints
Engine
31 complaints
Visibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)
30 complaints
Air bags
28 complaints
Body and structure
23 complaints
Transmission and drivetrain
21 complaints
Steering
13 complaints
Vehicle speed control
13 complaints
Fuel system
11 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2012 Toyota Prius

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