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Toyota Prius Headlights

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Brian of Carlsbad, CA November 9, 2009

I purchased a new Toyota Prius off the lot, 2007 model, with HID headlamps. Starting at ~32000 miles, 6 months ago, I found what I thought to be a headlight failure after a previous period of uncertainty about whether I had such a problem. I drove to the dealer after having spotted the faulty lamp, pulled up for service, and no trouble found. The dealership stated they had no knowledge of intermittency issues. Since then I've had intermittent failures of each headlight and one taillight. (The taillight may be a separate issue - I don't know.) I painfully extracted the HID bulbs and the taillight to inspect for corrosion and to feel for a possible loose connection, but found neither such issue on any of the three lights. I've had one incident where both lights went out on the freeway and could NOT be restored by flicking off and on the lights, which technique works most of the time. Since then, I've only had one at a time go out and flicking off and on the lights seems to fix it, but it now happens more often than not - i.e. > 50% of my nightly outings I've had to do a "flick-and-restore" to get a blinked-off headlight back on.

When can I expect a recall notice on this? Anyone?

I'm lucky: the only consequences so far are several (perhaps ~8) hours of wasted time around this issue, and a close call on the freeway where I drove a mile without lights to an exit whereupon stopping the car and flicking off/on together did the trick. And then there's the scolding from my wife to do something about this unsafe situation, and the worrying about what could happen.

Valerie of Shasta Lake, CA November 6, 2009

About a year ago my 2005 Prius' drivers side headlight went out. I noticed a 'pinkish' color to the light for about a week before it went out completely. I went to the local Toyota dealer and was told that it would be 135 for a diagnostic to decide if it was the bulb or the computer that runs the headlight.(each headlight has it's own computer). If it's the bulb, it will be about 400 for the bulb and an undisclosed amount to install it. If it is the computer I wasn't given a dollar amount but it would be much higher.

I didn't have the 400 so I drove around trying to hide from Police vehicles. I got very tired of being told by EVERYONE that I had a headlight out. No one believed me that it would cost 400 for the bulb. They said that I must be mistaken that would be for the whole headlight assembly. I had some body work done during this time and told that body man about the headlight and he checked it out. In order to get to the headlight bulb he had to remove the entire front of the car! Obnoxious!

When I told others about this they thought I was crazy. Finally, a friend helped me out and found an after-market bulb at NAPA for "only" 100. So I bought one and my friend installed it. Whew, no more dodging the police. Two weeks later the passenger side light went out. Talk about fuming! The people at the autoparts store told me that is why most headlight bulbs come in a set of 2 because they usually go out together. I told them with 100 bulbs getting 2 is a real big expense.

Replaced that one and now, 6 months later, my driver's side headlight is going out! What's the deal? Who is making all of the money? I bought my first Prius in Jan. 2001 and had almost no problems with it. I only traded it in for the "bells and whistles" on my 2005. Other than the Headlights there have been almost no problems with my car. I'm not sure that I can continue to afford my "money saving" car anymore. If I go to a dealership and get both replaced it will be around 1000 to 1500. Sorry, in this economy I just don't have it. Maybe I should trade it in on a 1971 Volkswagen. Those headlights only cost about 10.

I've driven for almost 50 years and owned many cars. I don't remember replacing more than one headlight bulb in all of that time. That one was after my husband hit a deer. I can't afford to spend a couple thousand dollars a year for Headlight bulbs since I'm on a fixed income. I've had to dodge the police until I can scrape up the money to buy the bulbs and beg a friend to take my car apart to put them in and put it back together again. I find this very stressful and it's bad for my blood pressure and my pocketbook.

Aurele of Central Village, CT October 7, 2009

2007 Toyota Prius. My drivers side headlight flickers and goes out. If I turn the light off and back on, it comes back on again. Sometimes it goes out completely. Last time I was on the highway during heavy rain at night. Very dangerous. I have an appointment with my dealership, who says it's likely a computer issue and will cost me 1200 to repair. They also said that Toyota Corp. has had many complaints and is thinking about a recall. I plan to have a diagnostic done tomorrow and am bringing copies of documentation from the Internet and tell them it's a product liability issue. If I don't get immediate free of charge action, I'm contacting the State Attorney General's Office, The Motor Vehicle Dept. Licensure Division, and Toyota Corp.

marlene of fayetteville, OH September 9, 2009

I am having trouble with my 2007 Prius and headlights. they come on and off. the dealer ship wants to charge me 75.00 to look at it, 150.00 to replac eeach bulb and if that isn't the problem it will cost me more money. plus I bought the extened warranty thinking that everything was covered. I am very up set with toyota.

Lisa of Tarzana, CA September 6, 2009

2007 TOYOTA PRIUS HID HEADLIGHT on passenger side goes out after 1 minute of driving. Will relight momentarily after power switch is turned off, then on. Issue began shortly after expiration of 36k mile warranty. Repair quotation: 950. Issue impairs driving visibility. 950 is a ridiculous cost to repair a headlight. Toyota needs to acknowledge the Gen II Prius HID headlight failure defect and repair the headlights for owners.

Mark of Scottsdale, AZ September 4, 2009

2007 Prius HID Headlamps. Have now had to replace headlamps twice since purchasing my new vehicle in November 2006. These HID headlamps are extremely expensive and rather difficult to remove and install. 150 each for 2 headlamps. Not including labor. Had I opted for Toyota to install, it would have been almost 400 each.

Sharon of Wilmington , MA July 22, 2009

This is a follow-up to my previous post regarding my driver's side headlight needing to be replaced as well as the computer. I did call Toyota headquarters and complain that there must be a manufacturing defect. I was told I would get a return call in 24 hours.

In that time period, I was driving my car in to have the work done, and the dealership called to say taht Toyota had called them and told them I would be reimbursed. Wow! Both I and the dealership were stunned, but thrilled. Later, when I tried to file for the reimbursement, the Toyota hq person said they made no such statement. But I pushed back and said the promise of reimbursement was noted on the work order by the dealership. They called the dealership and then agreed to a "goodwill" reimbursement, admitting to nothing.

Robert of Long Beach, CA July 16, 2009

I own a 2006 Prius. Great car. Except that about every 18 months the right headlight starts to fail erratically. Turning the lights off and on usually gets the headlight to burn for a time, but it will inevitably turn off within a few minutes. The first time I had it replaced, the Toyota dealership initially told me it was a faulty ECU under the dashboard that would cost 500 to replace, but that it could be the headlight, and they wouldn't know until they replaced the ECU. They would not guarantee that if it turned out to be the headlight and not the ECU that they would not charge for the ECU. After complaining to several levels of management, the service shop called with good news/bad news.

It was the bulb, they told me, but it would STILL cost 500 to replace it. 300 for the bulb, which comes with NO warranty, and 200 for the labor to remove the entire front end of the car just to replace the bulb. The 200 of labor would come with a one-year warranty against "defective labor," whatever that means. 18 months later, the car is back in the dealer's service shop. Same headlight failed. Same symptoms. Now the "good news" is that they will determine whether it is the headlight or the ECU for only 100, not the (alleged) 241 that it would "normally" cost to get the diagnosis. Amazingly, the service department STILL claims to have no idea whether there is a problem with the headlights in the second generation Prius!

Toyota has a problem with the Prius headlights and/or ECUs that it will not acknowledge. And the dealership is prepared to LIE about the problem by feigning ignorance about a problem that appears to have only grown in proportion in the last 18 months.

This is an ECONOMY car. 500 headlight replacements are unconscionable to begin with. But YEARLY 500 headlight replacements? That's consumer fraud, both on the manufacturer's part, and on the part of the dealer service departments.

I sincerely hope there is a class-action lawsuit in the works. I would gladly join, even though class members end up with next to nothing, and the attorneys become filthy rich. But if that's what it takes to punish Toyota and their dealerships, I would get more than 500 worth of satisfaction seeing them pay out several hundred million in damages.

Judy of Harpersville, AL July 15, 2009

I own a 2005 Toyota Prius with 111,000 miles on it. This is my second one. My 2002 which has over 100,000 has only given me minor problems. I had not experienced any problems with the 2005 until about 3 weeks ago. Driver's side headlight would just go off "unannounced". If I turned the lights on/off, it would come back on. Took it to the dealership and they said it would be over 400 with HID bulb and labor. New bulb would be under warranty for 12 months. I told them that the bulb was not burned out.

They took it to the back and checked the headlight. The service manager brought it back and said the light was working now. OK... so why would I want to replace a bulb that is working NOW.

In the following week, I was coming home at night and got pulled over by the police. Speeding? NO.. headlight out. I told the policeman I had been to the dealership and we were working on it. Two nights ago, was coming home in the dark and headlight went out 10 times in 48 miles. hmmm.. Turned off/on and headlight would come back on (for a while.)

Took it back to the dealership yesterday. I told the service manager to check for loose bulb or wire. He said they could find nothing and that the bad news was I would have to replace the bulb. I said..not going to do it. There is nothing wrong with the bulb. There is something going on between the on/off switch or computer and the headlight. He said he would call Toyota and see what they said. duh...

I am to call him back this afternoon. But I am not expecting Toyota to do anything for me... obviously from all the posts I am reading, they have done nothing for anyone else. Why would such a supposedly reputable company not have a recall and fix all these headlights???? I love my Prius.. but I hate the headlight problem. Not only is it a safety hazzard, it's a pain to have to keep turning your lights on/off. It's too bad that such a great car can have such an annoying problem that can't be solved with a simple recall.

Justin of Ringgold, GA June 22, 2009

10 Months ago my 2006 Prius passenger headlight stopped working. You turn the lights on and after 15 seconds it turns off. I've avoided night driving since, unless it couldn't be avoided. 7 months ago my DVD Voice activated navigation system decided to quit working. Now while out of town I needed to get to my inlaws house and night had just fallen and the driver side light decided to go on the fritz. So now I have a 2 1/2 year old car that is worthless at night.

As per all of the other stories here replacement will be out of pocket around 1,000.00 for the HID lights and the ECU computers (one for each light). I think this is a safety issue when a user can NOT replace just a light to fix their car.

When it comes to the DVD Nav system -- as per the dealership "Oh that's going to run some serious money". So I didn't even have that diagnosed. I will NEVER buy another Prius again.

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