This issue of the lights randomly going off on their own is dangerous when driving at night. I have to continually turn the lights on and off while driving. While reading various complaints, the cost to remedy the problem can be as much as $1000, which I do not have. I have been waiting for Toyota to recall and fix the problem but to no avail.
I bought my 2007 Prius brand new. I put on 75 miles a day. I started having headlight problems a couple years after purchase. One light would go out and then come back on when shutting on/off. I took it to the dealer and they said nothing about it to me accept for it would cost me $225.00. I had them do it and shortly after that the other started doing the same thing. I started reading all the complaints of exactly what I was experiencing. Today (2/1/2012) I took it back to the dealer in hopes of getting it replaced an reimbursed for the otherside. I told them to check the recall on the headlights. He told me there wasn't really a recall but they extended the warranty from 3 yr 36000 to 5 yr 50000. Of course I was out of warranty. So now will have to pay another $225.00 for the other side. After reading some complaints I realized that it started happening agai and the dealer told them it was the computer causing the problem and it would cost $100.00 per side. I bought a Toyota for reliability.This is ridiculous!! This problem needs to be RECALLED!!!
DUE TO THE FACT THAT IT IS SO UNSAFE AND SUCH A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE OF THE DISTRACTION, LOSS OF VISIBILITY AND STARTLING TO THE DRIVER, I AM SURPRISED THAT NO ACCIDENTS AND RESULTING DEATHS HAVE OCCURRED YET WITH THIS RANDOM LOSS OF HEADLAMPS AS THE ROOT CAUSE. TOYOTA HAD BETTER STEP UP AND RESOLVE THIS AS A RECALL BEFORE THE LAWSIUTS START TO PILE UP AND THEN THERE WILL BE A CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT. I HAVE HAD 4 TOYOTAS, THE FIRST 3 WERE GOOD CARS, NO MORE, I AM GOING BACK TO GM OR FORD. AFTER THE LAW SUIT, TOYOTA WILL BE PAYING FOR MY NEXT AMERICAN CAR!!!!
- Sarah S.,
Tower, MN, US
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I just got the car from Carmax and I noticed the problem on the first night of driving it. The passenger side headlight would turn off for no apparent reason and when I reset it will turn back on again. I tried bringing it to Carmax but the light was working fine. It's been going on for the past days but not sure how to fix the problem.
driving on freeway both headlights went out . lucky it was late at night not much traffic
pulled over waited tried lights again came back on. down the road stopped by police for only having one headlight. officer was nice only gave warning but could have been ticket
arrived home both headlights were now on... try not to go out at night, cannot trust headlights
this problem is ongoing, i have been stopped twice by the police and pretty soon i will get a ticket. i have heard of other people fixing the problem only for the problem to come back 2 weeks later. even though i have over 100000 miles on this vehicle toyota should still have to pay. this problem has happened at least once a week for over a year.
The Toyota Prius headlight problem where they go off (one or the other or both) but come back on when you cycle the headlight switch is unsafe. To have to take a second mortgage out on your house to get it fixed is ridiculous. Toyota needs to step up and take ownership of this fiasco and do right by the owners (i.e pay for it).
I see this is not a new problem. Many Prius Owners are experiencing this issue. My Head lights randomly go off. Left, Right or Both; They will come back on if I turn the switch off and on. I think Toyota needs to acknoledge that this is a design poblem and should fix it.
Both headlights went out while driving 65 at night. I pulled over and turned the light switch off and on a few times and eventually the lights came back on.
There was a class action suit against Toyota on this problem. They never did a recall. The settlement was for Prius under 50,000 miles. Mine now has 75,000 and Toyota will not help. Now both head lights are going out and I don't think it is right that I pay $600.00 to fix head lights that have a known problem. The most I have ever paid for a head light on a car I owned was maybe $20.00. I even purchased the 100,000 5 year extension on the waranty when I bought the car. The lights are not covered.
With all the problems Toyota has had with recalls I think I will look for a Ford or Chevy next time I buy.
A class action lawsuit for Prius vehicles with HID headlights covered all years for the Iconic 2nd generation EXCEPT 2007, yet it has statistically the most problems with HID headlights on this site. WTF?!?
Absolutely ridiculous that a recall has not been submitted for this problem. Having your lights turn off while driving at night on the interstate doesn't constitute a safety hazard?! I love my Prius, but this issue is extremely annoying and even more dangerous.
The dealership had no way to test the lights to see if they were bad and assumed that the intermittent turning off of lights was the bulbs going bad and never checked to see if it maybe something else like the switch or a short,etc....for a two year old car to need new head light at a cost of 430.00 is costly. What if it was not the bulbs that were bad .How would I know? I had them both replaced for safety reasons. I did not want both the lights going out one night.
While driving down the interstate, raining, going 70 miles an hour both headlights went out. The dealer said it was not a safety issue so I had to pay the $800.00.
Looking at the various forums on the Prius, this is a common problem with the Prius 2 type - the HID headlamps will turn off - one side or the other, while driving. If you turn the headlights off and then back on, they may both work, or switch status, i.e. the one which stopped working might work, while the other lamp is out. If you turn on the foglights, sometimes the headlights go out. And, sometimes, both headlights go out. Toyota service claims no knowledge of this issue (which is amazing, since it has been reported on Prius forums since 2006, and simply wants to change out the currently non-working lamp (at around $400). Since I cannot identify a current, non-working lamp, they can do nothing...
Since both headlamps will occasionally stop working while driving,
but one or both might work when I turn them off and back on, it is a real pain, and dangerous.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
This issue of the lights randomly going off on their own is dangerous when driving at night. I have to continually turn the lights on and off while driving. While reading various complaints, the cost to remedy the problem can be as much as $1000, which I do not have. I have been waiting for Toyota to recall and fix the problem but to no avail.
- dsmithnm, Portales, NM, US