Selling a junk Toyota Prius
Any Prius sells for scrap or parts, running or not. Below: what owners report most often for each model year, the recalls on file, and which of those change the offer. Enter your ZIP for a buyer near you.
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What owners report about the Toyota Prius
NHTSA has 15,527 owner complaints on file for the Toyota Prius, model years 2000 to 2022, the 26th-most of the 423 models in our data. The most-reported components are brakes (3,696, 24%), lights (3,531, 23%), other (1,899, 12%). 1,456 complaints involved a crash, 103 a fire, and 446 say the vehicle had to be towed. The median mileage when the problem was reported is 53,000 miles. The 2010 model year has the most complaints (3,487). Data as of 2026-10-12.
When the top complaint is brakes, the question for a seller is whether a buyer will resell the car, pull the parts or scrap it. Read our guide to deciding whether to repair or junk: it explains which offers assume the part works and how to describe the car so the price holds at pickup.
Toyota Prius by model year
| Year | Complaints | Most reported | Crash | Fire | Recalls | Median miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 4 | Lights | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2001 | 215 | Steering | 23 | 3 | 3 | 62,466 |
| 2002 | 201 | Steering | 16 | 5 | 2 | 67,578 |
| 2003 | 123 | Steering | 5 | 0 | 1 | 84,000 |
| 2004 | 737 | Lights | 50 | 2 | 6 | 75,000 |
| 2005 | 1,298 | Lights | 133 | 5 | 6 | 83,338 |
| 2006 | 1,690 | Lights | 110 | 7 | 6 | 51,000 |
| 2007 | 2,451 | Lights | 191 | 11 | 4 | 53,769 |
| 2008 | 1,894 | Lights | 214 | 10 | 4 | 57,910 |
| 2009 | 644 | Brakes | 90 | 7 | 6 | 45,000 |
| 2010 | 3,487 | Brakes | 255 | 22 | 10 | 15,000 |
| 2011 | 668 | Brakes | 57 | 10 | 6 | 82,925 |
| 2012 | 546 | Brakes | 76 | 3 | 6 | 50,000 |
| 2013 | 553 | Brakes | 59 | 9 | 3 | 65,000 |
| 2014 | 284 | Brakes | 45 | 2 | 3 | 41,097 |
| 2015 | 220 | Brakes | 54 | 1 | 1 | 30,500 |
| 2016 | 218 | Visibility and wipers | 10 | 0 | 5 | 20,050 |
| 2017 | 127 | Visibility and wipers | 20 | 6 | 3 | 15,140 |
| 2018 | 48 | Other | 8 | 0 | 1 | 22,000 |
| 2019 | 54 | Other | 16 | 0 | 3 | — |
| 2020 | 23 | Other | 13 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2021 | 11 | Engine | 3 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2022 | 31 | Electrical system | 8 | 0 | 1 | — |
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not confirmed defects. Median miles is the odometer reading owners gave when they reported a problem, shown only where 20 or more reports include it.
Toyota Prius recalls
NHTSA lists 31 recall campaigns across these model years, most often for air bags (5), steering (4), equipment (4). Recall repairs are free at a franchised dealer. Before you sell, check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls; a buyer who plans to resell the car will.
- 2022 model year, engine and cooling (campaign 21V734000, Sep 2021): Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2022 Prius and Prius Prime vehicles. The Engine Control Unit (ECU) software may falsely detect an error and shut down the hybrid system, causing a lo…
- 2013 model year, hybrid system (campaign 20V369000, Jun 2020): Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2013-2015 Prius and 2014-2017 Prius V vehicles not included in recall 18V-684. Excessive voltage in the Intelligent Power Module (IPM) within the inv…
- 2019 model year, electrical system (campaign 19V876000, Dec 2019): Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2019 Prius vehicles. An electrical short circuit in the combination meter could occur, causing the speedometer, the odometer, and the fuel gauge to g…
- 2019 model year, other (campaign 19V544000, Jul 2019): Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2019 Lexus LS500, LC500, ES300h, UX250h, LS500h, Toyota Prius, RAV4 HV, 2019-2020 Toyota Prius Prime, and 2020 Corolla HV vehicles. The brake booster…
- 2019 model year, equipment (campaign 19V244000, Mar 2019): Gulf States Toyota (GST) is recalling certain 2019 C-HR, 4Runner, Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, Camry, Camry Hybrid, Highlander, Land Cruiser, Prius, RAV4, Sequoia, Tacoma, Sienna, Tundra and Yaris vehicles. The text on the loa…
What a Toyota Prius is worth as a junk car
Buyers price a junk Prius on four things: its weight at today's scrap steel price (the floor), the parts still on it that can be resold, whether it starts and drives, and how far they have to tow it. None of those come from a complaint database, so use this page to describe the car accurately and our junk car value guide to work out a ceiling for the metal. Then get more than one offer.
Guides for selling this car
Should you junk or repair your car? 
How much is my junk car worth? 
How junkyards price cars 
Catalytic converters and junk cars 
How to prepare your car for the junkyard 
Junk car scams and how to avoid them Other Toyota models
- Toyota Camry 21,206
- Toyota Corolla 13,585
- Toyota RAV4 11,581
- Toyota Sienna 11,232
- Toyota Tacoma 10,386
- Toyota Tundra 8,098
- Toyota 4Runner 7,196
- Toyota Highlander 6,982
Questions people ask
- What is a junk Toyota Prius worth?
- What a yard can recover: the car's weight at the current scrap steel price, plus parts it can resell (the catalytic converter, engine, transmission and wheels if they're good), minus towing and processing. The same Prius gets different offers from different buyers, so compare at least two. Our value guide shows the public benchmark.
- Will a junkyard buy a Toyota Prius that doesn't run?
- Yes. Junkyards and junk car buyers take cars that don't start, and most arrange the tow. Tell them honestly whether it starts, whether the engine and transmission are still in it, and whether the catalytic converter is on; those are what change the price.
- Should I fix an open recall before selling a Toyota Prius?
- Recall repairs are free at a franchised dealer for as long as the car exists. If the car is going for scrap, the repair won't change the scrap price. If a buyer might resell it or pull parts, a completed recall can help. Check your VIN at NHTSA's recall lookup first.
- Where do these Toyota Prius numbers come from?
- From the complaint and recall data NHTSA publishes for every make and model, counted by model year on 2026-10-12. A complaint is an owner's report, not a confirmed defect, and the count rises with how many of the model were sold.