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.
Intermittent headlight problem. Light comes on and goes off. Very dangerous situation. Taken to dealer, charged for repair, problem persists. This seems to be very common on many Toyota Prius cars. Now have 80,00 miles and problem is back. Internet shows this is common problem?
Both of my hid headlights needed replacement after less than two years (first the passenger side, then the drivers side). The lights went out while I was driving. If I flicked my headlight switch, they came back on. The longer I waited, the more frequently they turned off, so I'm forced to replace them.. these are extremely expensive replacements (in excess of 400 each). There is apparently a pattern of these problems with this make / model.
I have a 2006 Prius. While under warranty, my passenger headlight began to go out. If you cut the light off and back on it would work again. Eventually, the driver's lamp would go off as well, which happened at night. Turning the lights off then back on would get them both back working. The dealer replaced a computer to fix the problem. I do not know if they changed the bulbs also. My car now has 55,000 miles and the passenger headlight is doing the same thing.
I have a Toyota Prius 2006. Its headlight bulbs are not working. Lights go on and off. Sometimes we don't even know if they are off and other drivers blink us on the road to warn. Toyota dealership is telling us that we need new headlight bulbs. I have extended warranty through Toyota. Toyota denied coverage from my bulb replacement. This problem has been reported by many Prius owners. Toyota needs to recall the defective bulbs and take responsibility for this defective part. This is a dangerous neglect by Toyota and can result in serious injuries and damages to its customers.
I have a 2006 Toyota Prius with hid head lights go out while your driving, if you turn them off and back on they come back on. I just spent a hour at the local dealership and they could not tell me the real answer to the problem but were happy to suggest replacing the head lights at the cost of $500 a piece. This seams unreasonable to spend this kind of money to provide a safety feature.
- Golden, CO, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
2006 Toyota Prius both head light (bulbs) burned out, one the first year and now the other (2) total first cost $300 the second one the price has dropped to $150 this is not acceptable.
Hid headlight on 2006 Prius goes out intermittently. Turning lights off and on can make it go on again. Dealer is not motivated to find the problem. This is primarily a safety issue. It is not safe to have a headlamp that fails intermittently.
Headlamp on my 2006 Toyota Prius sporadically goes out while driving. Sometimes its own for 2 minutes, other times its own for 30 minutes. This is a safety issue. Had the lamp replaced for $300 and still having the same problem. Now Toyota is telling me it's the computer $1100. Many members of online forums are having the same issue and its determined that Toyota does not know what wrong. Average loss is $1500 for replacement parts and labor and the problem continues.
I've been having problems with my '06 (94K miles) for a couple of months. The headlights seem to go out intermittently. It was always the drivers side. It will work just fine when I start the car. If I make a stop (to get gas, etc.) and then turn the car back on, the light will work for a few miles, then it just cuts out. Yesterday (1/21/09) morning when I left the house, both headlights were working. I stopped and got gas. When I left the gas station, the lights were working. At some point about 10 miles down the road, I realized I had no headlights!! I was on I-66 at 5am (in the dark) with no headlights!!! luckily I had fog lights B/C I still had another 25 miles to go to get to work. I was able to get to the dealership later in the morning and they replaced my bulbs ($318 for the pair............and $147.15 for labor). I am not happy to say the least. My husband found a website (priuschat.com) and showed it to me. I find it quite interesting to see how many others are having this problem. I found out my mom had the same problem with her Prius. She fought it and Toyota paid for the bulbs and the labor costs. My boss had the same problem with her '06 Prius, too................and Toyota paid for it.
Hid lights turn off independent of vibration, heat, duration of time on. Occasionally both turn off at the same time. Turning brights has no affect. Turning lights off and then back on fixes the problem. Dealership has replaced entire headlight assembly, computer, and bulbs and then began to re-occur after 10,000 miles.
Right headlight failure and also intermittently flickers off and on. It occurs completely at random. New part has been ordered, but hasn't arrive yet and old part is available.
I've got a package 6 2006 Prius with multi-reflector halogan auto-off headlamps. The hid lamps on this model Prius are notorious for failing within three years. See priuschat.com/forums/care-maintenance-troubleshooting/34584-headlight-problem.html. the passenger side headlights keeps going out. I can't really tell when or how it goes out since I can't see it. I'll notice it when I see the reflection in the back of another car. When I turn them all the way off and back on the light comes back. Sometimes on long trips it will stay on the whole time, sometimes it won't. sometimes on short trips it will go out, sometimes it won't. it is not an event I can make happen. Very similar to other posted descriptions.
Purchased car in 5/2006. 11/2008 at around 45,000 miles noticed front left headlights would turn off intermittently. Turning headlights off and on would turn left headlight back on. Off again. Can't figure out what triggers it. High beams work.
Hid headlight defects on Toyota Prius 2006. Replaced both light on 2007 after one year I have to replaced again on 2008. The light did not die just goes out. I have to turn the headlights on/off and the work again for few hours or few day then happen again.
2006 Prius hid headlamps go out but can be recovered by turning switch off and then back on. Sometime just 1 light will go out and other times both will go completely off. Very dangerous when it happens at night time, you will be driving down the highway and all of the sudden both headlights go out. Have taken to the Toyota dealer 3 times. They have replaced bulbs and switch but it did not fix the problem, headlights still go out while driving. I have read hundreds of other complaints about the same problem on the 2006 Toyota Prius, something needs to be done. This problem could cause a serious accident especially when it happens at night.
The hid headlights on my 2006 Toyota Prius intermittently fail, but will re-start if I turn off, then on, the switch. This has happened at night, which is an extremely dangerous situation. Toyota does have a tsb out on this issue, and did replace both bulbs under warranty at 30K miles, but frequently this does not resolve the problem, according to complaints on mycarstats.
Hid right headlight goes out. After turning off and back on the light works for some time. The problem began after warranty was expired. Toyota dealer said it is a known problem but that there is no recall and wants $400 to replace one bulb. After researching the internet, it is clear that most of the affected cars were manufactured in 2006. A bad batch of bulbs/lamps is suspected. I am ordering bulbs from another manufacturer and having them replaced at a auto repair shop.
The headlights intermittently go out. They go back on when you turn them on and off a few times. It seems to be totally random. I was pulled over by the police last night because the light was out, but it went on when I turned the switch on and off so the policeman did not ticket me. The dealer is looking to charge me $450 to replace the headlight.
For the past several months the headlights on my 2006 Toyota Prius intermittently go out while driving. This occurs randomly, sometimes four or five times a day four days out of the week. Although it may be more often as I don't notice it in the daylight hours. They only come back on when they are turned completely off and then back on which is not very safe when you're driving on the highway in traffic. Now they've started "flickering", too. I went to the dealership the first week of December 2008 to have the problem fixed, but was informed by the service advisor the I need to return when I could leave the vehicle ( with the holidays was not able to return in Dec.) the problem continued and on the latest visit to the dealer 1/12/2009, I was informed by the dealership that they could not fix the problem because they thought it was a "contact problem "and that after the vehicle warmed up the problem would stop. After disagreeing with the service advisor I was told they would contact Toyota to see if this was a problem they had encountered before. Toyota's solution was to replace the light bulbs at a cost of approximately $600 but this was not guaranteed to fix the problem. This "fix" was refused due to the lack of assurance that it would fix the problem. After doing a small amount of research on the internet I found there appears to be a widespread problem with headlights on the Toyota Prius. There appears to be a bigger problem that the local dealer is willing to discuss.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Santa Maria, CA, USA