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.
Thank goodness nothing happened yet but my Toyota 2008 Prius has headlight issues. My passenger side headlight keeps going out. I find out that it costs anywhere between 200 to 300 dollars or more to repair. And fixing it does not guarantee it won't happen again! Toyota sent me a letter explaining the problem and that if I bring it in to a dealer that it will only cost me 150 dollars plus labor. Well thanx for nothing Toyota.
Feb 6, 2010 - purchased 2008 Toyota Prius with 40,940 miles. March 1, 2010 - passenger side headlight failed during night driving. Mileage approx. 42200. Light worked the next day, but only for a short time. Worked intermittently throughout that day. Contacted dealership. March3, 2010 - headlight replaced by dealership for cost of labor only. April 3, 2010 - new passenger side headlight again failed during night driving. Worked the next evening without incident. Will contact dealership 4/5 to address intermittent headlight issue.
I noticed the passenger side headline on my 2008 Prius start flickering, my car has 44K miles. According to my dealership, the fixture is overheating and will fail soon. Total cost to replace and install new bulb will be over $400 for a light bulb. I believe that this part or design is defective.
Toyota Prius - 2.5 years old, under full parts & labor factory warranty head lights hid bulbs work intermittently. Dealership response: Pay $771.43+tax for bulbs - got written quote
Prius 2008 headlamp: Both the passenger and driver side headlamps, one at a time, intermittently turn off. If I turn the lights of for a few seconds, the light comes back on and stays on, sometimes for a short while and sometimes for a longer period. I have not had both go out at the same time. This has been going on for at least one month.
- Merion Station, PA, USA
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I was driving to the airport one night and the headlights on my 2008 Prius turned off. I was able to turn them back on by reseting the light switch. This happen several times during my trip to and from the airport. I took the vehicle into dublin (ca) Toyota but they were unable to accurately diagnose the problem. Everything checked out ok to them even though the lights were turning on and off in their service bay. They suggested changing both lights for $600 which they said was a discount from Toyota. However they could not guarantee this would correct the problem. I decided to order the bulbs and change them myself. I understand this is a fairly common problem with the Prius. Need your help to force Toyota to find the root cause of the failure.
2008 Prius. At 35,000 miles the passenger side headlight burnt out, covered by warranty. At 40,000 miles the driver's side burns out, but it is not covered by warranty. $200 to replace. I've never been told by carson city Toyota that Prius cars have a problem with headlights.
Hello....I just received a notice from Toyota entitled customer support program..(no mention of recall). In it, they say that there is a problem with headlights going out...and while they've been charging for them at 300 dollars each, they now realize that it's some kind of electrical issue....that causes the lights to fail...now, in light of everything else, it seems that this is a potentially serious problem and should be a recall...not a "hide the problem" kind of customer support letter......someone should be monitoring this one too....if Toyota can hide something that is a recall-warranted problem, what next..? it worries me....
Toyota Prius VIN=[xxx] passenger hid headlight failed while driving at night. Stopped, shut off engine, restarted and headlight reenergized, but failed again while driving after a few minutes. Miles on car 35,499. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
2008 Toyota Prius hid headlamp has gone out on the drivers side...dealership in asheville only says its past the 36,000 miles and out of warranty. Going to have the dealership check out the light and what is wrong. Saw all the complaints with other owners and this is a problem, and a safety issue. There should be a recall on this or a lemon law put on it so Toyota will handle the costs. I am just wondering how much it will cost. The light alone is about $150 each.
Premature failure of hid light bulb on 2008 Toyota Prius with 49,000 miles on it. Then being told by the dealer it will cost $250 to replace it.I understand this a really common failure on Prius with hid light bulbs and it happens alot..
Both headlights went out periodically without warning making it unsafe to drive at night. Then noticed the drivers side went out periodically and had to flip the switch for light to go back on. This happened for month or so. Then it completely went out. Then about month later - the passenger light would go out without warning leaving me with no lights while driving at night. By flipping the switch, the light would go back on for few minutes and then again shut off. Car is a 2008 Prius. This should not happen to a barely 2 year old car. There seems to be some sort of malfunction with the wiring, etc because the lights should not be going out so soon...
I purchased a 2008 Prius with hid bulbs and they both started going out a couple weeks after owning it while I was driving home at night. In just a matter of minutes, I had no lights at all! I was in a urban area, so the street lights were there so that I could see. But if I were in the country, as I usually am about once a week, I would have been in big trouble.
The driver's side hid headlamp intermittently fails while the car is in operation. I have brought this to the Toyota dealers several times, only to be told the problem cannot be recreated.
Headlights often go out. If I stop and manipulate the connection, it will come back on. There is no guarantee the light will stay on. Primarily happens on the drivers side light but passenger side has also gone out. They have never(as yet) both gone out at the same time.
Approx. One month ago I noticed that the headlights on my 2008 Toyota Prius would intermittently turn off while I was driving. This has happened on at least 4 occasions. Three times only the left headlight would go out, and one time both headlights went out simultaneously. I don't do too much night driving so I don't know exactly when the problem began, but my best estimate is one month ago. Again, this is an intermittent problem as the vast majority of the time the headlights are working as they should. I know of no cause for this problem as the situation has occurred during freeway driving during clear conditions and rain conditions, as well on when driving on surface streets. When both headlights went completely out it was dusk and I was only a block from home. The 3 other times when just the left headlight went out I knew of no way to get the light back on and just continued my trip with one headlight functioning.
While driving my 2008 Prius at approximately 2 a.M.on a mountainous road with many curves and wildlife the passenger headlight went out in both the high and low beams. I was startled and swerved, but luckily I maintained control of the car. I did not feel safe driving while it was still dark. At the first opportunity I pulled of the road in a safe place and spent the remainder of the night in the car. When it was light enough to continue I drove to my destination and called the local Toyota dealer and was utterly shocked when I was told what it would cost to replace the bulb. I am on a fixed income and this posed a financial hardship. The car only had a little less than 20,000 miles. I have since learned that this is a common problem. Not only is the cost to replace a bulb (yes a bulb) ridiculous but this poses a safety hazard and Toyota should "be made" to correct this defect.
I have a 08 Prius. Several days ago someone told me that one day-time running light was out. Two nights ago I checked and both lights were working so I thought I was ok. Last night after driving about an hour, both head lights went out. I turned the switch off and on again and the lights came back on. About a minute later the right light went off. After another hour of driving the left light went out and I repeated the turn on cycle and it stayed another coupler hours. (I drove home with the flasher as this would have enabled me to see the road a little is case the light went out again., ) I made it home ok and am contacting my dealer today.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Glenmoore, PA, USA