This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
2006 Toyota Prius with hid headlights. I have had problems with the headlamps going out intermittently. My wife was stopped by the police because the left headlight went out the other night. The dealer replaced the bulb on the right side in June 2009. Now I just had to replace the left side bulb, the Toyota dealer will not cover under warranty due to the vehicle being out of warranty by 5 months. There are many, many Prius owners with headlight problems. This is a safety issue that Toyota knows about but refuses to help once the warranty expires. I request that NHTSA investigate the Toyota headlight problem. We Prius owners feel this is a defect and a very important safety issue that Toyota should correct or reimburse Prius owners that have paid for repairs after the 3 year/36,000 mile warranty period.
Same intermittent problem as expressed by countless others on this site and beyond: 2006 Prius hid headlights blink out randomly. Turning switch off and on again restores light until next occurrence. History: Driver's side headlight intermittent after 30,000 miles. Repeated complaints to dealer, finally replaced bulb at 38,000 miles. Handled under warranty. Passenger side headlight intermittent around 50,000 miles. After repeated complaints to dealer, "starter bulb" was replaced at 54,000 miles - also handled under warranty. Moved to new address - so new dealer. Received lame Toyota letter that pretends to address the situation by lowering the cost of the part, while not addressing that this part should not be failing in this way or as quickly as it is! present situation: Driver's side headlight again intermittent - around 80,000 miles. Asked dealer to investigate at last service (87,000). "no problem found" "bring it back when it's totally out" "if headlight is the same one that falls into special category of lights, it'll be $150 plus labor" "but it could be 1 of 2 different lights which will be $300+ or $600+ - we won't know until we pull it apart." Even though I purchased extended warranty coverage, the headlights are excluded. Even though previously-replaced bulb is only slightly older than original problem. Problem is that Toyota is not taking real responsibility for the level of problem that this is. They should be covering labor costs, extending warranties and providing a new replacement light that actually works! I believe new Prius uses leds. Charging less money on an already exorbitantly overpriced part and requiring customers to pay more out-of-pocket for a part that doesn't work properly to begin with is outrageous! the investigation must be continued. Toyota is not serving their customers and it is unsafe and at an unreasonable cost. There is absolutely no excuse for this behavior. Do not let them get away with this.
Recently both headlights on my Prius began winking off at random. Turning the lights off and then back on again will result in both headlights being but moments (sometimes seconds) later one of them will turn off. (so far neither have both turned off at the same time.) I took my car to the Toyota dealership after being told by my usual mechanic that they did not have the tools to "get to" the Prius headlight to replace it. The Toyota dealership informed me that the cost of replacing both front headlights (only) if $475. $170 per light and the rest of that is for the labor as they have to remove the front bumper, etc. After doing a little research online I see that this same issue (the headlight "winking") seems pretty common and so I'm reporting my experience.
Several weeks ago, I noticed that the hi headlights on my 2006 Toyota Prius were intermittently cutting out while driving. Both headlights have had this happen but not at the same time. Turning the lights off and on again seems to correct the problem. Problem happens occasionally (once or twice a week). Vehicle at dealership now for diagnostic and headlight replacement. This has been reported to Toyota. Case number with them is 1001131933.
- San Francisco, CA, USA
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2006 Toyota Prius. First my passenger side headlight flickers and goes out. I get it fixed at the dealer and then the drivers side headlight does the same thing. About a year later and again my passenger side light is out (yes if I turn the light off and back on, it comes back on again, but only for a few minutes). Then again sometimes it goes out completely. The car was under warranty the first two times... now it's not! yes I got the notice about the price change for the headlight.... but I think this is a defective equipment issue and has to be a safety issue! I know other owners have reported the same type problem!
2006 Prius headlights fail while driving. First just one, then the other. Do I have to have an accident before I can report this absurd safety failure. It happens every day when I'm driving in or driving home.
2006 Toyota Prius with approximately 46,000 miles. For the last year, the headlight on the driver side has worked intermittently & have to turn the headlights off and back on to make it turn back on again. The same thing is now occurring on the passenger side. It appears that this is a widespread problem that Toyota is more than aware about.
Was pulled over by a policeman in August 2008 for having a headlight out. The headlight had been working earlier that day. By the time we arrived home, the headlight was on again. This happened intermittently for eighteen months and now happens with increasing frequency, therefore I am attempting to have it fixed. When I turn off the light and then turn it on again, it works for a moment or a while.
Passenger side headlight goes off intermittently. If I notice the headlight is out I can turn my lights off then back on and the headlight that was out will come back on. I noticed it for the first time a couple of days ago. Updated 02/13/10 updated 02/16/10 updated 03/18/10 updated 09/21/10
Every couple of weeks, the front passenger side headlight goes out on my 2006 Prius. Sometimes both lights go out. This is terrifying at night and is a serious safety hazard. I found many similar complaints online and am very concerned and anxiously awaiting your response and action on this problem.
2006 Toyota Prius headlights go out randomly creating an unsafe condition when driving at night. The headlight(s) will come on after turning off the switch. This has been a recurring problem since the vehicle was one year old. In one instance, both headlights went out which required and emergency stop. Both headlight have been previously replaced under warranty. The problem in now occurring most times the vehicle is operated at night.
The headlights on my 2006 Prius will turn off by themselves intermittently. They can be turned back on by turning them on and off. The issue started happening from about 30K miles, but when I took it to the dealer, they were working okay. This was about 2 years ago. It has continued to happen since then.
Both hid headlights failed simultaneously on 2006 Toyota Prius with 43K miles while driving. Headlights had been on for about 5 minutes at the time they shut off. I pulled off into a parking lot, stopped the car, got out to verify that both headlights were off, and verified that the headlight switch was on. I turned the headlight switch off and back on, and the headlights re-illuminated. Driver's side headlight continues to fail randomly. It re-illuminates when the switch is turned off and back on again. Prior to both headlights failing simultaneously, the headlights had not flickered, turned off, or given any other sign of failure.
2006 Toyota Prius, both high intensity display (hid) headlights fail intermittently, headlight on drivers side replaced at 35,000, same problem with intermittent failure at 55,000 miles. There is no warning when the headlights go out, this is dangerous when driving and oncoming cars cannot see headlights from the other direction.
Both headlights were going off intermittently. This is the 2nd time in less than 13 months that both lights had to be replace at previously a cost of $500 each and now at a reduce cost of approximately $300 each.
My driver side headlight automatically turns off randomly. And it is getting more frequent. Both headlights turned off when I was driving on a freeway the other night. If I turn off the headlight on and off, it will work normally for a while.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lorton, VA, USA