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.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. While driving 45 mph, the driver side low beam headlamp failed to illuminate without warning. The failure was rectified by turning the light switch off and on. The failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed, but the cause of the failure was not found. The vehicle was not repaired. In addition, both the driver and passenger side headlamps failed to illuminate without warning. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 110,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the driver's side headlight intermittently failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the failure was unable to be duplicated. The contact mentioned that the vehicle was taken to the dealer for the same failure on numerous occasions and on one occasion the driver's side headlight was replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure was not corrected. The approximate failure mileage was 29,580 and the current mileage was 132,855.
The first incident happened as I was driving the highway both of my headlights completely failed. The headlights would come back on after turning them off and back on. First Toyota told me it was caused by a bad auxiliary battery and charged me over $200 for the battery. But that very night I had the same issue again, Toyota tried to tell me that the bulbs are just burnt out. I am not an idiot, light bulbs do not burnout at the exact same time and a burntout lightbulb does not come back on. After fighting with Toyota and them wanting to charge me almost $2000 to fix this issue (I have a 100,000 mile warranty) they repaired it free. Now 2 years and 24,000 miles later they are going out again. I have five days left on my warranty that I had to fight to get to cover it before. It is extremely dangerous driving at night and having both your headlights go out on you!
Cpsc#I1230059. 2006 Toyota pruis computer assembly. Consumer stated the hid head lamps and associated controller computer used on the Toyota pruis have a design flaw that makes them itermittently, and without warning, quit working. The consumer stated he experienced the failure three times while driving at night
- Fenton, MO, USA
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I have drive a 2006 Toyota Prius, package 7 with hid headlamps. I have noticed over the last few years that my headlamps inconsistently fail. Sometimes when I turn my car on and switch on my headlamps, only one or the other side will illuminate. Other times, both headlamp sides will turn on, but after some time, one or both will turn off. All of this with the dash indicator showing that the headlights are on. While driving, I have remedied this problem by flipping the on-off switch to re-illuminate the lights. However, in the course of a drive they will fail again and I periodically have to flip the on-off headlight switch to have my lights work. I do feel this is unsafe and am uncomfortable driving at night or in dark places.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. The contact stated the passenger side headlight would illuminate intermittently when the automatic headlights were in activation. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where they stated that the headlight assembly would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.
The contact owns 2006 Toyota Prius. The contact stated was driving 30 mph when the headlights failed. The headlights would fail intermittently and the manufacturer advised that the bulb failure was random. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the light bulb was replaced. The failure mileage was 79,000 and the current mileage was 86,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. The contact was driving approximately 45 mph when the driver side headlamp would no longer illuminate. After approximately twenty minutes, the headlamp resumed normal operation before repeating the failure. The failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for inspection where the technician informed that the failure was caused by the headlamp wiring overheating and blowing out the bulb. The failure recurred. The bulb was replaced. The failure mileage was 137,000. Updated 12/01/10. Updated 12/09/10
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. While driving at 65 mph, the contact noticed that the driver side headlight was slightly dimmer than the passenger side headlight. The driver side headlight then failed. After turning the light switch on and off, the headlights resumed normal operation. The vehicle was not diagnosed by the dealer or repaired. The failure mileage was 42,000 and the current mileage was 45,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. While the vehicle was parked, the contact attempted to activate the headlights. However, the headlights failed to operate. The contact replaced the driver side headlamp. The failure occurred on three separate occasions which included the replacement of the driver and passenger side headlamps. The vehicle had not been diagnosed at the time of the complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000. The system rejected the VIN which will be update upon receipt of the complaint.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the vehicle was equipped with hid bulbs for the headlights which burned out prematurely. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealership where the bulbs were placed on four different occasions since owning the vehicle. The dealer told him to avoid driving with the headlights on unless conditions called for it. The contact called the manufacturer and filed a complaint; the manufacturer also paid some of the costs to replace the bulbs. As of May 9, 2010, another bulb had blown out and the vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. The current mileage was approximately 104,000. The failure mileage was approximately 37,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. While driving approximately 40 mph at night, the headlights suddenly shut off. The contact turned the light switch off and on and the headlights began functioning normally. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer but the vehicle had not been repaired when the complaint was filed. The failure and current mileages were approximately 53,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. The contact was driving approximately 45 mph with the headlights activated. Suddenly, the driver side headlight became inoperable without assistance. The headlight functioned after engaging the headlight switch. The failure occurred at any given speed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and repaired for the malfunction. The identical failure occurred on a separate occasion. The vehicle has not been repaired at this time. The manufacturer was notified and informed that the service repair would be at the owners expense. The failure mileage was 49,000. The current mileage was 74,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. While driving at various unknown speeds, the headlights would fail to illuminate intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however they were unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was contacted but would take no liability claiming a defect did not exist in the vehicle. The failure and current mileages were 53,945.
I own a 2006 Toyota Prius with hid headlights. In May 2008, around 45K, I noticed that my headlights were dimming and at times turning off at random intervals. I was only able to correct this by turning off my headlights and then turning them back on. I took the car to Toyota where they replaced the bulbs and some other items. This lasted for a while and the problem re-occurred. Again, I replaced both bulbs but the problem continues. The bulbs are very expensive and to replace them one has to completely remove the front bumper of the car, which is also very expensive. I recently searched the web and found that there are many Prius owners experiencing this same problem. This is a very dangerous condition. Just last night, while traveling on highway 270 in gaithersburg, md, both my headlights went out at the same time. The dealership tells me that there are "no" known problems and that Toyota has "no" recalls or bulletins on this issue. This is quite troubling considering the number of complaints. Some have spent a lot of money and have yet to resolve this life threatening problem.
2006 Toyota Prius with hid headlights. One or both headlights fail repeatedly. Dealership claims "unable to duplicate concern, " and adds "working as designed." An investigation into this matter was precipitously closed before the company had even fully answered the complaint, on the grounds that only one headlight was failing which would allow customers to reach a service facility. Both headlights regularly fail, often concurrently, and others obviously have this problem as well. Clearly had this information been available to investigators, the investigation would not have been closed for this reason. Toyota has lowered the price on replacement, but took the position with investigators that this was an item that would require regular replacement. The literature on the product however, indicates that these products should last for the life of the vehicle, which considering that portions are warrantied for 100,000 miles, is a milestone we have obviously not reached. This problem is continuing, so the date and mileage are taken from the invoice when the headlight problem was reported to royal palm Toyota, royal palm beach, fl. I pray the NHTSA will reopen its investigation in light of new evidence.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the front headlights shut off intermittently; however, after the switch was turned on and off they remained on. The dealer stated that the contact would be responsible for paying $300 per bulb to repair the vehicle and $200 in labor.. there were no related recalls. The contact is concerned about the safety risk while driving at night. The failure mileage was 70,000. Updated 03/01/10. The consumer stated both lights go out at the same time while driving at night. The dealer could not guarantee the consumer it wouldn't not happen again. Updated 06/15/10.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. While driving 25 mph the driver and passenger headlights would randomly shut off. The dealer informed the contact that the headlight assembly needed to be replaced. The dealer cannot guarantee if replacing the headlight assembly would completely remedy the failure. The contact is concerned about the safety risk while driving at night if both headlights shut off since a crash could occur. The failure mileage was 28,000.
I have a 2006 Toyota Prius, while driving home the other night my headlights dimmed so low that I could not see while exiting on a ramp and drove so close to the edge I almost went over into the ditch. It was very close. I am now scared to drive my car at night not knowing if my lights will fail.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Scottsdale, AZ, USA