"How reliable is the 2003 Toyota Prius?"

"Based on 123 NHTSA complaints, the 2003 Toyota Prius has a median complaint mileage of 75000 miles. The most common issue is STEERING."

"What are common problems with the 2003 Toyota Prius?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 2003 Toyota Prius is STEERING, accounting for a significant portion of the 123 total complaints filed."

2003 Toyota Prius: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 123 complaints

123

Total Complaints

75,000mi

Median Mileage

STEERING

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

40,000 25th Percentile

75,000 Median Mileage

115,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

STEERING

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

TIRES

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC

STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

SERVICE BRAKES

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE

SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRIC

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"THE SIDE WALL BLEW OUT AT 75 MPH ON THE FIRST 100 + DEGREE DAY. BRIDGESTONES REP CLAIMED THAT THERE WAS MAYBE AN INDICATION OF NAIL DAMAGE; HOWEVER THE TIRE WAS TOO BADLY DAMAGED TO BE SURE. NEXT, IT HAD BEEN RUN FLAT, HOWEVER THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN QUICKLY APPARENT IN THE ENGINE NOISE WITH THE CV TR..."

"UNUSUAL TIRE WEAR: FRONT OEM TIRES WORN TO CORDS AT 5000 MILES. PRESSURE KEPT AT SPECIFIED PSI. ALIGNMENT CHECKED AND ADJUSTED AT 1,500 MILES. *NLM"

"WHILE DRIVING AT 60 MPH POWER STEERING FAILED 4 TIMES. DEALERSHIP WILL REPLACE THE RACK AND PINION.*AK"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

STEERING 32 complaints

25th: 64,250 mi Median: 84,500 mi 75th: 111,300 mi

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 12 complaints

25th: 85,377 mi Median: 108,000 mi 75th: 123,200 mi

TIRES 8 complaints

25th: 7,500 mi Median: 18,000 mi 75th: 41,500 mi

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 6 complaints

25th: 29 mi Median: 150 mi 75th: 67,550 mi

STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM 5 complaints

Median: 100,970 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 28 NY: 11 VA: 9 MD: 6 IL: 6 TX: 6 OH: 6 MO: 5 AZ: 4 NC: 4

Who Files Complaints?

18.7%

Original Owners

81.3%

Second+ Owners

Toyota Prius — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
2001	215	60,824	STEERING	23
2002	201	65,395	STEERING	16
2004	737	72,436	EXTERIOR LIGHTING	50
2005	1297	78,000	EXTERIOR LIGHTING	133
2006	1687	50,000	EXTERIOR LIGHTING	109
2007	2448	52,000	EXTERIOR LIGHTING	191
2008	1892	55,000	EXTERIOR LIGHTING	214
2009	635	31,500	EXTERIOR LIGHTING	90
2010	3476	7,195	SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC	255
2011	651	75,000	SERVICE BRAKES	56
2012	531	40,063	SERVICE BRAKES	75
2013	516	44,000	SERVICE BRAKES	54
2014	265	27,000	SERVICE BRAKES	45
2015	195	24,500	SERVICE BRAKES	50
2016	211	17,658	VISIBILITY/WIPER	10
2017	125	14,000	VISIBILITY/WIPER	20
2018	44	8,600	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	8
2019	51	4,500	SERVICE BRAKES	16
2020	23	14,260	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	13
2022	27	29,800	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	5
2023	20	-	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	2
2024	29	3,000	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	10
2025	22	-	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	3

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28