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Water pump failure on a Toyota Prius - is this rare?

I have a 56 Prius. In late 2013 the water pump was replaced during a Toyota main dealer service. Only 15 months later, also during a Toyota main dealer service, and after less than 10,000 miles, it was replaced again. It has been hinted that the failure could have been caused by other factors than a problem with the pump itself. Since I would expect a replacement to last rather longer are there any other factors that could have caused this failure?

Asked on 30 September 2015 by andrew123

Answered by Honest John
Any failure in a Prius is rare. Never heard of this one before. However, it is not beyond the reals of possibility for a waterpump to be replaced with another water pump that proved to be faulty. That happened to me, once, a long time ago. Coolant itself does not last beyond 5 years because even in the best coolant the corrosion inhibitors eventually degrade, so that could be another factor.
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