Buyer Research

2016 Toyota Prius — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $12,000–$17,000. There are 2 high-severity known issues you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 16 Toyota Prius years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

First year of the fourth-generation Prius — new platform, new hybrid hardware, 50-plus mpg — and a record of 179 complaints with no fires, which is a different world from the 2010 and 2011 pages. A quarter of it is a windshield that cracks from a pebble, or from nothing overnight. The rest is the kind of first-year list you would expect: five recalls, including an inverter that can shut down and cost you drive, a wiring harness that can chafe and short at the hybrid control unit, and a parking-brake cable that can let go, plus a 'Braking Power Low' brake-booster fault that a couple of dozen owners hit within the first 15,000 miles. Every one of those is either a free recall or a priced part. Check all five campaigns on the VIN, inspect the glass, and buy — a 2016 with the recalls closed is one of the better used-hybrid buys we have read.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 179 owner complaints for the 2016 Toyota Prius, and 5 recall campaigns.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. The largest single group is glass, wipers and mirrors at 25%. That is notable without being overwhelming — worth checking, not worth panicking about.

5 recall campaigns cover this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2016 Toyota Prius

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

Windshield that cracks from a small stone, or with no impact at allMedium

Forty-four of 179 complaints — a quarter of the record — are the windshield: a crack found in the lower middle of the glass after the car sat overnight, two cracks within a week of buying it new, a chip from an unseen pebble on the freeway that ran a foot in days. Toyota collected at least one owner's original glass for quality checks in 2017. A replacement on this car has to be the right glass for the Toyota Safety Sense camera behind the mirror, and the camera has to be recalibrated afterwards, which is why a cheap aftermarket install can leave the pre-collision system throwing errors. Run a finger along the bottom edge and around the camera bracket, and if the seller says the glass was replaced, ask who did it and whether the camera was calibrated.

Repair cost (estimate): $400–$1,000 including camera recalibration

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under glass, wipers and mirrors (44).

'Braking Power Low — Stop in a Safe Place': the brake booster faultHigh — wallet impact

Twenty-three brake complaints, two of them crashes. The ones that matter describe the same sequence: ABS and traction lights, then 'Braking Power Low — Visit Your Dealer' and 'Pre-Collision System Malfunction' on the screen, sometimes with a soft pedal — one couple nearly rear-ended the car ahead 50 miles after hitting a pothole. On this generation the brake booster and master cylinder are one electronic assembly, and when it faults the car falls back to reduced hydraulic braking. Several owners hit it under 15,000 miles and had it fixed under warranty; on a 2016 today that warranty is gone. Watch the dash on the test drive for any brake message, and press the pedal hard at a stop to feel for a slow sink. The rest of the cluster is a click from the pedal on light application and a jerk when braking in reverse, both worth mentioning to the seller and neither expensive.

Repair cost (estimate): $1,500–$3,000 for the brake booster assembly

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the brakes (23).

Engine wiring harness can chafe at the hybrid control unit and short (recall), plus a 12V battery that diesMedium

Recall 18V579 covers 2016–2018 Prius: the engine wire harness can rub on the cover where it plugs into the hybrid Power Control Unit, wear through, and short circuit, with a fire as the possible result. Dealers inspect the harness, add a protective sleeve, and replace the harness if it is already damaged. That recall is why 'wiring' is the most common word in this cluster. The other thread is the small 12V auxiliary battery: a car that shows nothing when you press Power, towed twice, the battery replaced twice. A weak 12V on a Prius does not crank anything, it just refuses to boot, and a $150 battery fixes it. The cluster also holds one unintended-acceleration crash while parking and a car that would not accelerate with the hybrid battery fan running in 90-degree heat; both are single reports we cannot turn into a check.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $120–$250 for a 12V auxiliary battery

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (26); 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Inverter capacitor may not be bolted down — hybrid system can shut off and the car loses drive (recall)High — wallet impact

Recall 17V658 is 2016-only: a capacitor inside the hybrid inverter may not have been properly bolted to its housing at the factory, and road vibration can damage it until the hybrid system shuts down and the car loses motive power while driving. The remedy is a complete inverter, replaced free. This is the most important line on the VIN lookup for a 2016; the earlier generation's inverter history is why. If the seller has the dealer paperwork, it will say the inverter was replaced under the campaign.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Parking brake cable can disengage — the car can roll if left out of Park (recall)Medium

Recall 16V741 covers 2016–2017 Prius built August 6, 2015 to October 3, 2016, with the foot-operated parking brake: the cable can come off its mechanism, so a driver who leaves the car in Drive or Neutral with the ignition on and the pedal set could see it roll. Dealers fit a clip at the cable end, free. Press the parking brake pedal all the way down on a slope and confirm the car holds; then check the campaign on the VIN.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Passenger airbag inflator that can partly inflate on its own; side-airbag sensors that can fail (two recalls)Medium

Two airbag recalls on this year. 16V672 covers cars built November 30, 2015 to June 14, 2016: a manufacturing error in the front passenger inflator could let it partially inflate with no crash, and dealers replace the whole passenger airbag assembly. 18V085 covers the 2016 Prius for pressure and acceleration sensors that can fail and stop the side and curtain airbags deploying; dealers replace sensors by serial number. Of the 11 airbag complaints, seven were filed after a crash with no deployment, which is exactly what the second recall is about and which a buyer cannot test for — so the VIN lookup is the test.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under airbags (11); 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Any crack or repaired chip on the windshield, especially near the bottom edge or the camera
✗'Braking Power Low' or 'Pre-Collision System Malfunction' on the screen at any point
✗Brake pedal that sinks slowly under steady pressure at a stop
✗Car that hesitates to power on, or a dash that flickers on the first press
✗Parking brake that does not hold the car on a slope
✗Seller who cannot say whether the inverter recall was done

Good Signs

✓All five recalls shown closed on the NHTSA VIN lookup
✓Dealer paperwork for the inverter replacement under recall 17V658
✓Windshield replaced with Toyota glass and a camera calibration on the invoice
✓12V auxiliary battery replaced with a dated receipt
✓Brake booster replaced under warranty with the work order
✓Cold start to a clean dash with the car ready in under three seconds