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.
I have a 2006 Prius and the headlights keep going off. One or the other or both go off while driving. Flipping the switch gets them back on for a while. The dealer tells me $420 to change the two bulbs. How can this happen in a two year old car?
The hid headlight on the passenger side of my 2006 Toyota Prius randomly goes off. Some times it comes back on by itself while I'm still driving some times not. It doesn't happen by any particular trend like a bump, turn, or anything else. It just goes off. Nothing I do seems to make it come back on, it just comes back randomly. It's been doing this for a while now. When it goes off my visibility at night along the roads righthand side is greatly reduced. In particular, I'm concerned that the reduced light on that side may increase my chance of not seeing a pedestrian or a deer along side the road until it's too late. I took it to the Toyota dealer and they said they don't know what's wrong but they would likely replace some headlight computer and bulb which they said would cost about $800! it shouldn't cost that much to fix a headlight that randomly goes off due to some defect in the vehicle which causes such a safety hazard for me and pedestrians on the road.
2007 Toyota Prius with hid headlights that intermittently go off. This is a problem with many Prius with the hid headlights. We had one replaced on 11/28 at a cost of $240. The other has problems also but we could not afford to get it replaced at this time. Toyota repair says light system overheats, maybe. They aren't sure.
Issue: 2006 Prius with hid headlights work intermittently 1. events: No specific events leading up to the event other than regular driving and usage of the headlights 2. failure: The passenger-side headlight goes out every time I drive the car now and reduces night time visibility. 3. corrective action: I replaced the light bulb, but the issue still remains the same. From research online, it appears that this is a common issue with Prius models between the years 2004-2007 and is linked to defects in the control units.
- Hebron, KY, USA
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Head light on driver side- intermittent operation. Headlight would go off during driving, come back on later. Occasionally both headlights would go off. Took car to Toyota dealer for replacement of driverside light. They found nothing wrong with car/wiring passengerside headlight. With new driverside headlight car worked fine for 8 months. Then driverside headlight started with above problem. Old headlight is still available.
The left headlight on my 2006 Prius goes out, but will come back on if I turn the lights off and back on. This occurs randomly while driving, often being undetectable until a reflective situation comes up and the light is noticed.
2006 Prius high-intensity discharge (hid) lamps cut out - turning the lights off and on will temporarily fix the problem. First passenger side in September 2008 at around 50K miles, now driver side November 2009 at 60812 miles - vehicle is at dealership right now so I do not have access to the VIN. Both times the dealer replaced at no charge (lawrenceville Toyota, 2871 rt 1, lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648 609-883-4200). I just wanted it reported because it seemed a safety hazard and there appears to be others experiencing this issue as well.
Hid headlights on 2006 Prius fail at random. Auto purchased in May 2006. First failure in November 2007 at 29,015 miles; right headlight. Bulb replaced by dealer at no charge. Second failure in August 2008 at 42,930 miles; left headlight. Computer sub-assembly replaced under extended warranty, bulb replaced at cost of $375 by consumer. Third failure in October 2009 at 67,183 miles; left headlight. Not repaired at this time. Sub-assembly will still be covered by extended warranty but bulb will not. This is same light that failed a year ago. I believe this is a serious safety issue. Headlights failing at night are not a good thing.
Hid headlight on driver side started randomly turning off at about 50,000 miles on my 2006 Prius, unbeknownst to driver. If I happen to notice the light has gone out, and I turn the light switch all the way off and back on, the light will usually relight. I am constantly watching the reflection of my headlights in car bumpers on traffic traveling in front of me as well as making notice of my headlights' reflection in store windows, etc. To see if they are both on. This is extremely distracting and dangerous. Toyota dealer here in N.C. appeared to be totally oblivious to the complaints Toyota has received and said he can fix control module for $450 and replace light bulb for $135 since it is "normal wear and tear." This is not normal wear and tear. The Prius hid headlamp installation is defective. As more 2006 Prius owners like me approach the 50,000 mile mark, this defect has the potential to become far more dangerous and deadly than a loose floormat.
2006 Toyota Prius headlight problem. While driving at night there was an obvious click and the headlights shut off. Turned the car off and restarted it and the headlights come back on and work for a period of time (length undetermined but this happened on more than one occasion). One or another of the head lights work intermittently.with no obvious pattern. Last night the left head light was out. I backed up the vehicle and it came back on. The same thing has happened with the right head light on occasion. There appears to be no identifiable pattern to the issue. Since this is a safety issue and my web search has indicated others are experiencing the same issue it would seem to be an item of interest that should be corrected by Toyota via a recall. The seriousness of the issue cannot be understated. Driving down the highway and having the lights go totally out for no identifiable reason is dangerous. I called the Toyota dealer and they said the head lights need to be replaced. It seems impossible for me to believe that this is the issue as the dash panel light also went out..this is not going to be corrected one customer at a time dealing with Toyota. Replacing the head lights on the Prius is a $ 450 job. $300 for the bulbs and $150 labor. I would not be concerned about the $'s if I firmly believed it was a high light issue. I was driving the vehicle and heard the click and the lights go out. I pulled of the interstate. Turned the power off and restarted the car and the headlights worked for the remainder of the trip (about 45 minutes) with no issues. This does not sound like a head light problem.
I recently both a used 2006 Toyota Prius from a private seller and in more than one occasion, the headlights would go out intermittently while I'm driving - sometimes one at a time, but sometimes both would go out. I had to cycle the switch to turn them back on. Out of curiosity, I went in the internet to find out how I can fix this problem, and that's when I found out that there had been numerous cases of Prius headlight problems, particularly with 2005-2008 models. I also found out that Toyota dealerships are charging on average anywhere from $400 to $1,000 just to replace headlight bulbs, and I'm not about to fall for that. I don't believe this is a lightbulb problem because the headlights would come back on after cycling the switch. This appears to be a design problem common to '05-'08 models - something with the electrical system. This is definitely a safety issue that needs to be addressed and resolved by Toyota asap. I'm surprised that no recall has been issued yet. Is Toyota waiting for someone to die or get badly injured before they send out a recall? one can easily drive off a cliff while driving in the dark with no headlights on. (fyi, the incident date I have below is the most recent occurrence of this problem.)
2006 Toyota Prius headlights went out without warning about 65,000 miles. Turning switch off then on again restored light for a very short while. Then it went off again. Happened first with the right headlight 3 months ago now recently last two weeks the left headlight same problem.
I own a 2006 Toyota Prius. One of the headlights flicks off, and then turns off while driving. I have to completely turn off both headlights and turn them back on to have the defected one to work again.
Failure of hid headlights. Starting at about 15,000 miles my driver side headlight starting going out on occasion, I figured out I could turn the headlights off and on and it would reset. Other Toyota vehicles that are equipped with hid's all have on auto sensors on the headlights so one can't turn them off, not so on the Prius. I find that interesting, because if one can turn the lights off and on, one would be able to "easily" and quickly remedy the situation of not having headlights. Seems to me that Toyota knew about this problem before the car was even in the market. The problem got increasingly worse over the next 3000 miles, at times my passenger side would go out at the same time leaving me with no headlights, that's both dangerous for me and other motorists. I was going on a night drive from St cloud Minnesota through Montana in winter so I went to the dealership in St cloud mn to fix it. They told me since the light/S wasn't out at the time they couldn't do anything. I had to drive I-94 in the snow, wind, and ice with my headlights going out! I got back after the trip without the headlight on for about 50 miles just to show the dealership. After a lot of noise at the dealership they agreed to pay for the "repairs" (over $400). But since the problem didn't appear with the passenger side light they couldn't fix that. When I went back the dealership after I got pulled over for not have headlights they informed me that my manufactures original warranty was up I would have to pay the $450 it was going to cost, and my extended platinum coverage would not cover it either. The "fix" on the drivers side only lasted to about 28,000 miles which was about 5,000 miles after the "fix". ever since then I have been driving with or without headlights (it's hard to tell at night in a city!) there is so many reasons why this defect is against the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard that a recall should be issued immediately!
I purchased a new 2006 Prius in July 2006. Prior to the warranty expiring (about 30,000 miles), I noticed that one or the other head light would turn off. Turning the head lights off and on again caused the light to turn on again. I was driving to work at night on a very curvy road and both lights turned off at the same time. Turning the lights switch off and on caused the lights to come one again. The Toyota dealer admitted that there had been a batch of defective bulbs. I had the lights replaced under warranty. At 59,000 miles the same problem is starting over. Only one light at the moment, but I expect the other one to start doing the same thing. Driving with one head light is very dangerous as well as subjecting you to an equipment violation ticket.
2006 Toyota Prius hid head lights are suddenly turning off while driving, and to correct the problem I have to turn the lights off then back on again. But they will fail at least 30 times in a hour, while driving.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Carmel Valley, CA, USA