r/Toyota

I am looking to buy into the Prius line due to their reliability/repairability, mpg, and most importantly long support life.

I love subcompacts, so I am considering a Prius-C. However, I have been avoiding them due to the line being discontinued as of 2019. I worry the parts will become harder and more expensive to find.

Is a Prius-C worth it in 2026, or would I be better off buying a normal Prius of the equivelant year?

EDIT for additional question: Should I avoid gen 3? That's what is most obtainable for me, but I am reading they have some issues with oil and the headgasket.

Have a budget of 81.5K total price for a new car. Including delivery tax and all. Not a dime more. Can’t decide between X5 or Highlander. Which is better

I leased a 2025 Toyota RAV4 Prime in Connecticut and absolutely loved the vehicle. The lease incentives and EV credit made it an incredible deal, and overall it was one of the best vehicles I’ve owned.

Last year, life changed quickly and my family relocated from CT to Texas. To help with the move, I scheduled an appointment at a Toyota dealership in New York to have an OEM Toyota tow hitch and wiring harness installed so I could use a cargo carrier for the drive down to Texas.

The installation was completed in October 2025. Everything seemed perfectly fine afterward, and we completed the move to Texas without issue.

Fast forward to about three weeks ago. I suddenly received a “Charge System Malfunction – See Dealer” warning on the RAV4 Prime.

I immediately scheduled an appointment with a Toyota dealership in Texas. The next day, I received a diagnostic video from the technician, and honestly my jaw dropped.

The rear spare tire/tailgate area had massive water intrusion — enough that water had migrated forward under the carpet into the second-row passenger area. During the inspection, the technician noticed broken taillight mounting brackets and overtightened fasteners around the driver-side rear taillight area. They explained that this section had clearly been previously disassembled and that the leak did not appear to be a factory defect or normal warranty issue.

They then ran the vehicle through a car wash while monitoring the exposed rear interior panels, and water could literally be seen pouring into the rear body cavity from the driver-side rear area.

At this point I was panicking because I’m thinking:
“How is a nearly brand-new vehicle not covered under warranty, and what could possibly have caused this?”

I went to the dealership in person, and honestly the service manager at the Texas dealership was incredible throughout this process. He had my entire Toyota service history already printed out and walked through everything with me step by step.

He said:
“This vehicle is basically brand new. No accident history. No third-party modifications. This shouldn’t be happening.”

Then he found the key detail:
the OEM tow hitch installation performed by the New York Toyota dealership in October 2025.

He pulled up the official Toyota installation procedure and physically showed me that the installation requires removal of the taillights and multiple rear interior/body panels in order to route the wiring harness.

He told me:
“I think this is your issue, but we need to do a more extensive teardown to confirm.”

I approved the teardown.

The second diagnostic video was honestly infuriating.

Broken clips.
Damaged mounting points.
Evidence of improper reassembly.
And finally the main culprit:
a rear drain hole plug left completely out of the vehicle.

According to the Texas dealership, the plug was never reinstalled after the tow hitch wiring installation, and since October 2025 water had been pouring directly into the rear body cavity every time it rained or the vehicle was washed.

At this point:
- corrosion had begun affecting wiring/components,
- mold was discovered under the carpeting,
- and the repair estimate climbed to roughly $27,000.

I was honestly speechless.

The Texas dealership advised me to contact Toyota Corporate and the New York dealership that performed the installation.

Initially, the New York dealership’s service manager acknowledged that it was possible the issue originated during the hitch installation and said Toyota Corporate would likely need to mediate reimbursement between dealerships.

So at first I thought:
“Okay, this should be straightforward.”

Unfortunately, things became much more complicated after that.

Toyota Corporate has actually been professional overall and has stayed involved, but because the issue was allegedly caused by dealer workmanship rather than a factory defect, they explained it technically falls outside traditional warranty coverage.

Even so, both dealerships indicated Toyota Corporate needed to stay involved to coordinate the process.

The first corporate case manager I was assigned was honestly amazing. She reviewed the videos, investigated the history, and repeatedly attempted to contact the New York dealership.

According to her, they stopped responding to multiple calls.

I also emailed and called myself trying to start a productive conversation regarding repairs and responsibility.

Eventually I traveled from Texas back to New York myself to try speaking with them in person.

When I arrived, I was told they could not speak with me further based on advice from legal counsel.

As I was leaving, my Toyota Corporate case manager happened to call me back. I asked if she wanted me to go back inside while she remained on speakerphone, and she agreed.

So I went back in with Toyota Corporate actively listening on the call.

At that point, the New York dealership stated they rejected the findings of the Texas dealership — despite also acknowledging they had not reviewed the diagnostic videos yet. They also stated their technicians are trained professionals and “would never make a mistake,” and that they wanted to inspect the vehicle themselves.

My case manager was honestly stunned by the interaction. She specifically commented that she had never handled a case quite like this before. The videos show the issue very clearly, and the overall response from the dealership felt immediately hostile and defensive rather than solution-oriented.

The case has now been escalated to a senior case manager, and the process is essentially beginning another review phase while they get up to speed on everything.

Meanwhile, I’m still paying a lease on a vehicle that is currently torn apart undergoing mold remediation and investigation.

I honestly don’t even know what to think anymore.

I’ve owned Toyotas my entire life. My first car was a 1996 Camry. Between my family and I, we currently own multiple Toyotas including this RAV4 Prime. I’ve always trusted the brand, which is why this situation has been so shocking and disappointing.

Has anyone here dealt with anything remotely similar involving dealer workmanship, water intrusion, or Toyota Corporate escalation?

Any advice would genuinely be appreciated.

More MY2024 Tundras have been added to the list, hybrids haven't been recalled so far

My friend bought a brand new Toyota Camry about 3 months ago, and the passenger side started smelling really bad. He brought the car back to the dealer where he bought it, but they refused to fix anything and blamed him for parking or driving through floods. We live in city Chicago, and the last real flood I remember was probably 5 years ago. However Just 20 days before this flooding happened, the exact same dealership performed a full multi-point inspection on my friend car and text me saying the vehicle was in "Great Condition."

We then took the car to another dealer, but they also refused to help and told us to take the car back or they would start charging daily parking fees. After my friend emailed Toyota corporate, they finally allowed the car to stay for diagnosis. They found that the AC drain was clogged, causing water to leak into the interior. Now they want to charge more than $8k to replace the floor and other damaged parts.

What’s crazy is that the car is only 3 months old, and he already had a few other issues before this, including brake and steering vibration problems.

Meanwhile, I’ve been driving a used 2016 Prius for almost 8 years with basically no major problems. During the pandemic, I even used it for food delivery for 2 years, doing constant stop-and-go city driving, and it still held up great. Honestly, I don’t even take care of my car as well as my friend takes care of his new Toyota (he bring his car to carwash every week)

So now I’m wondering: has Toyota quality and dealer service gotten worse recently, or is this just an unlucky case? I was actually thinking about buying a new Prius this year because I really love my current one, but this situation honestly scares me a bit.

And if anyone have any advice or similar case please share here. Thank you

We took our car to a mechanic to do the brakes and it has to be put into service mode. He was able to get it into service mode but now cant get it out. We've watched a million YouTube videos and nothing is working. He has a scanner but it apparently isn't new enough for this car. Can anyone give accurate info on how to manually remove it from service mode?

Need to buy both oem CV axles so need real deal

A new 5th-gen Prius owner was told by a salesman that changing the first oil before 10,000 miles could void the warranty.

Been shopping around (I’m in US, bay area), I’ve gotten one dealer to agree to 4k off MSRP for an XSE trim, others are at 2k or 1k off (haven’t haggled them, those were their initial prices). I’m wondering what others in the US have paid for the new C-HR? Any data points would be helpful!

I'm a college student and my budget is around the 14K mark.
I don't need a crazy car, just something reliable for commute and that can handle a road trip every once in a while.
I would love a two-door car but it doesn't have to be. What year and model would you recommend?

I was driving my 2022 Toyota Corolla with only 50K miles and got a check engine light. The error reads, "A malfunction in the electronic control of the engine, throttle, or automatic transmission has been detected. Contact your Toyota dealer in order to have your vehicle inspected". What is wrong the the new Toyota cars? Does anyone have issues with their newer Toyota? This car has had a lot of problems. I actually called Toyota corporate to complain awhile back and they gave me a free 5 year extended warranty. Thanks good because what do you know, I need to fix something else. I may just sell this thing and buy an older car who does not use a CVT transmission. I also don't understand why newer cars are adopted CVT transmissions. Did they learn anything from Nissan vehicles? Anyhow, if you have had this problem, please let me what was wrong or Toyota fixed it.

/Toyota

Picked up my brand new 2026 Yaris Cross Luna, bought in Ireland. It has everything I could want.. Except maybe parking sensors? There is a reversing camera and when the front of the car comes close to something, red lines come up (this is something to do with pre collision?) but there is no 'beep beep'.

I scoured the Internet and the settings on the car. It seems there are no settings to adjust volume, hence why I'm thinking there are no traditional sensors to begin with.

I would really prefer to have them, so I might query it with the dealership and see if I can get an add-on. Have other people encountered this issue? ​