1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Any common, lesser-known (big significant) issues with 2016 Prius I should know about before buying?

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by Nowihaveaprius, Jan 8, 2021.

  1. Nowihaveaprius

    Nowihaveaprius Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2019
    3
    0
    0
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    II
    My 2011 Prius recently needed a head gasket and cold start knocking repair that has become too expensive to be worth fixing, so I'm looking into getting a used 2016 Prius in order to avoid the issues with Gen 3 models and hopefully drive for a decade give or so. I found a website called Car Complaints that lists "WINDSHIELD CRACKS EASILY" as the top reported problem (compared to the 2011, which has "Engine Problems" listed as its most reported problem). Are there any other underlying issues that are known but less reported? I never saw the head gasket / cold start knocking issues listed on well known sites like Kelly Blue Book when I initially bought the 2011, so I'm a pretty nervous about getting another car and then ending up blind-sided by a known, but hard to find, problem again.
     
  2. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2018
    3,118
    2,172
    0
    Location:
    Taylors, SC
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Two
    Only time will tell, when the Gen 4 accumulates high mileage.
     
    jerrymildred likes this.
  3. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2016
    11,491
    14,099
    0
    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    It's not like all the windshields crack. But more than should be. I have a friend who has gone through three of them. Otherwise, no real problems.

    Many Gen 4s make a ticking noise from the left front axle area when gently decelerating under about 20 mph. So far, Toyota doesn't seem to have a solution but I haven't seen any reports yet of it causing anything other than irritation from owners. Our '17 Prius and '17 Prime make the sound. Been doing it forever and it doesn't seem to get worse.

    But, as @Georgina Rudkus said, it's still a pretty new car. Time will tell. But so far, so good. There's at least one member here with over 100,000 miles on his Gen 4.
     
    MrMischief likes this.
  4. mitunsFed

    mitunsFed Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2020
    1
    1
    0
    Location:
    Deutschland
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Business Edition
    Ich bin gegen covid 19. Was ist deine Meinung? mituns
     
    Georgina Rudkus likes this.
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,629
    38,194
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Some of the early 2016 had speedometer that couldn’t be switched to alternate units, say mph to kmh, or vice versa. Can’t recall if it was some month during 2016 model year. Maybe @Prodigyplace would know.
     
  6. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2016
    11,696
    11,317
    0
    Location:
    Central Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    If I recall correctly, it was all US 2016 Prius cars produced before February 2016.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  7. thomassster

    thomassster Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2015
    238
    80
    0
    Location:
    Colorado, US
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius
    Model:
    XLE AWD-e
    Time will tell. And all dependent on how well the previous owner took care of the car, similar to any other car. Gen 3, people who didn't change spark plugs in a while, haven't done consistent oil changes, or left EGR filthy encountered knocking during startups. This is probably related to head gasket issues as well. I know my Gen 2 faced burning oil, but I will admit that my oil changes weren't as consistent, maybe related to head gasket issues. My 10 years of owning the Gen 2, I only had to replace the windshield once. I made it to 12 years with my Gen2 before I had my battery go bad and filling up a quart of oil every month.
     
  8. MrMischief

    MrMischief Active Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2008
    426
    443
    0
    Location:
    Denver CO
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    My 2016 has done this, left side only, since a few months after I bought it. I brought it to the dealer's attention several times, they could never hear it. But, as you said it never seems to get worse and it doesn't seem to be impacting anything. 70,000 miles on the clock so far.
     
    jerrymildred likes this.
  9. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2016
    11,491
    14,099
    0
    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Good to hear. I'm only at about 48k now.
     
    alanclarkeau likes this.
  10. roadwarrior28

    roadwarrior28 Member

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2016
    68
    69
    1
    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    A while ago mine did this, did a demo ride with the dealership tech, and they replaced the front left axle under warranty and not a peep after that. When I did the demo ride I made sure to fully warm up the car, and slowly braked in the left lane of a one-way street, so the sound could bounce off adjacent parked cars.
     
    jerrymildred likes this.
  11. Thorsc400

    Thorsc400 New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2021
    1
    1
    0
    Location:
    Sacramento
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    Back when the GR Supra first hit the dealership showroom floors I went to go check it out in person. While there I also browsed through their used lot and saw a 2016 Prius with almost 180k on the odometer. I actually wanted to buy the prius if the price was right but the dealership still wanted like $12k for it. Lol.

    I wouldn't worry too much about the longterm reliability of the 4th gen Prius.
     
    PaulDM likes this.
  12. PaulDM

    PaulDM Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2016
    616
    317
    2
    Location:
    UK
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius
    Model:
    Excel
    Drove 52k miles in my gen4 2016. Zero faults.

    I had one of the first 100 gen4 2016 imported to the uk and one of the first 50 gen4 2019 in the uk and this problem was not evident.
     
    #12 PaulDM, Mar 26, 2021
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 29, 2021
    jerrymildred likes this.
  13. krmcg

    krmcg Lowered Blizzard Pearl Beauty

    Joined:
    May 15, 2008
    2,592
    2,388
    0
    Location:
    Whittier, CA
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Just us early birds in the US suffered this diminished capacity...
     
    PaulDM likes this.