Model Years

2020 Toyota Prius Recalls and Problems

NHTSA lists 1 safety recall and 30 owner complaints for the 2020 Toyota Prius.

Recalled components: stability control. Most-described problem: unintended acceleration or surging (7 complaints, 23%). Most-reported area: brakes (6 complaints, 20%).

Fewer complaints than a typical Prius year

The 2020 drew 20 owner complaints in its first three years, against about 44 for a typical Prius year (21 for a typical year since 2016).

Years to avoid: 2010, 2012, and 2016. Based on owner complaints, not adjusted for sales.

Every Prius year ranked

1Safety recalls
30Owner complaints
11Complaints citing a crash
0Complaints citing a fire

Opens NHTSA's lookup in a new tab; your VIN goes to NHTSA, not to us. The VIN is on the driver's side dashboard, the door jamb and your registration. Safety recall repairs are free at Toyota dealers.

How to check a car for recalls, step by step

Get a vehicle history report from EpicVIN (opens in a new tab): a paid report with the car's title, odometer and salvage records, from an approved NMVTIS data provider. Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you buy. If you typed a full VIN above, the link sends it to EpicVIN and opens its checkout page for that VIN. Check the price before you pay: EpicVIN's $1 trial lasts 3 days, then becomes a monthly subscription until you cancel ($49.99 to $99.99 a month on its pages as of Oct 2, 2026). Disclosure

Data: NHTSA recall, complaint and investigation filesUpdated

Includes the Prius Prime plug-in hybrid. Excludes the smaller Prius c and the Prius v wagon.

1 safety recall for the 2020 Toyota Prius

Newest first. Summaries are NHTSA's own wording. Open a recall for the fix and the full notice.

Stability control

Jul 24, 2019
  • Fails federal standard 126 (electronic stability control)
  • NHTSA 19V-544
  • 6,925 vehicles

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 pump may fail causing a deactivation of the Vehicle Stability Control system and a loss of braking assist. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 126, "Electronic Stability Control Systems."

Risk: Deactivation of the vehicle stability control system or a loss of braking assist increases the risk of a crash.

The fix and full notice

Fix: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace the brake booster pump, free of charge. The recall began September 20, 2019. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 and Lexus owners may contact Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987. Toyota's numbers for this recall are K1L/K0L. Lexus' numbers for this recall are K2F/KLF.

NHTSA listing: PRIUS PRIME. Components: Stability control; Brakes. Toyota campaign K1L/K0L, K2F/KLF.

Questions about any of these recalls: call NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236 (TTY 888-275-9171) or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

NHTSA investigations

NHTSA's investigations file, dated Nov 12, 2026, lists no investigations for the 2020 Toyota Prius.

What owners report

Owners have filed 30 complaints with NHTSA about the 2020 Prius. Below, they are sorted by the problems owners describe and by the areas NHTSA files them under. NHTSA does not verify complaints.

Problems owners describe

Counted from the complaint text: a complaint counts once for each problem it describes (how we match them). Some complaints describe none of these. Compare other models in the problem owners report most for every model year.

Areas named in complaints

A complaint can name more than one area, so shares add up to more than 100%.

Toyota Prius recalls and complaints by model year

The highlighted bars are the 2020 model year. Newer model years have had less time on the road, so their counts are lower. Counting complaints filed in each model year's first three years, the 2010 Prius drew the most (1,682) and the 2020 drew 20.

Owner complaints

2020: 30 complaints

Show as a table
Owner complaints by model year, Toyota Prius
Model yearComplaints
20102,829
2011523
2012450
2013426
2014224
2015172
2016156
2017133
201853
201939
202030
202116
202232
202328
202443
202518
202610

Safety recalls

2020: 1 recall

Show as a table
Safety recalls by model year, Toyota Prius
Model yearRecalls
201010
20116
20127
20134
20144
20152
20165
20173
20181
20193
20201
20210
20221
20234
20244
20252
20261

Crash test ratings

NHTSA's 5-Star Safety Ratings for each version it tested. Rollover risk is NHTSA's estimate of the chance of rolling over in a single-vehicle crash.

Tested versionOverallFrontalSideRollover
Toyota PRIUS 5 HB AWD
Rollover risk 10.7%
Toyota PRIUS 5 HB FWD
Rollover risk 10.7%
Toyota Prius Prime 5 HB FWD
Not ratedNot ratedNot ratedNot rated

2020 Prius MPG

EPA rates the 2020 Toyota Prius up to 56 mpg combined as a hybrid.Every version and fuel cost

Questions

What are the most common 2020 Prius problems?

In the 30 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2020 Toyota Prius, the problem described most is unintended acceleration or surging (7). NHTSA does not verify complaints, and one complaint can describe several problems.

Is the 2020 Toyota Prius safe?

In NHTSA crash tests every tested version of the 2020 Toyota Prius earns 5 stars overall. The table above lists each tested version.

Is NHTSA investigating the 2020 Toyota Prius?

No. NHTSA's investigations file, dated Nov 12, 2026, lists no investigations for the 2020 Toyota Prius.

How do I check if my Prius has an open recall?

Enter the 17-character VIN from your dashboard, door jamb or registration at nhtsa.gov/recalls. The lookup lists unrepaired recalls for that exact vehicle. Safety recall repairs are free at Toyota dealers.

Sources and method

  • NHTSA recalls file (NHTSA datasets), dated Nov 12, 2026; every campaign checked against NHTSA's recalls API.
  • NHTSA owner complaints file, dated Nov 11, 2026. Counted by complaint number, so a complaint naming three components counts once in the total.
  • NHTSA investigations file, dated Nov 12, 2026. Defect petitions, which ask NHTSA to open an investigation, are listed apart and only while open. Audit queries, which check whether a company met its recall and reporting duties rather than whether a vehicle has a problem, are not listed.
  • NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings (NCAP).
  • NHTSA model names covered: PRIUS, PRIUS PRIME.

Complaint counts are unverified owner reports. They rise with sales volume and time on the road, so compare model years with care. How we build these pages. Spotted an error? Tell us.