rear window defogger indicator and VSC indicates

What did you use to check for codes? They bought turned off immediately when pushing recirculate mode? Now everything works OK? Maybe bad combination meter?

 

Does it matter if you change recirculate mode on the dash display or the steering wheel pushbutton?

I can only speculate that the defogger and recirculate switches on the steering column are closely connected via the spiral cable ("clockspring"). The spiral cable is a common failure on this model.

That does not explain the VSC problem. Though there is a steering angle sensor directly attached to the spiral cable housing, there's no electrical connection. I suppose if you have a major mechanical failure of the spiral cable, it could affect the VSC, but that would be very unlikely.

I agree, you need a Toyota scanner to read the VSC code. If the light came on, something's there.

 

I'm not sure if your scanner can read the hundreds of Prius-specific codes. I know the Mini VCI will work, or you can take it to Toyota. Without the VSC codes, it's a guess.

But you do have symptoms of a bad "clockspring" (spiral) cable. Especially if your cruise control doesn't work. There are threads here about that. You have to remove the airbag, which requires some basic safety measures, but otherwise is not a hard job. Be sure to use your car's VIN to get the correct part--there are different button options available for different packages.

And like I said above, the VSC steering angle sensor is attached, so it would be a perfect time to service that if the codes point in that direction, so to speak.