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.
This is the well known hid problem on my 2007 Prius. My car didn't reach the 90K miles yet and some cases the driver side hid buld sometimes does not come on after I turn on lights or sometimes it goes out while I am driving. One random way of fixing is to turn lights off and immediately on again. I am just about to replace the hid bulbs in pair first to see if this solves the problem, then maybe the ballast is the next on list as I figured out from the info available on the web.
While driving, at night, both headlights went out (went dark). Since I was near home, within my subdivision, I stopped the car immediately and switched the lights off and then back on again. The lights came back on, so I drove home and have not driven the car after dark, again.
56K on my 2007 Prius. Driving last night on a dark country road and the lights flickered then went out. Turned them off and on and they came back on but it repeated all the way home. Now I cant drive at night till I get this fixed. Come to find out its an issue with these cars. Does someone have to die to get this taken care of?
The trunk release latch on my 2007 Prius has deteriorated almost to the point of not being able to open the trunk. The same part was replaced about 4 years after I purchased the vehicle. And now, it's happening again. It's like the plastic stuff is melting and falling apart. We are having to purchase this same part, for the second time now. Love my Prius, but hate having to make repairs on the same issue 2 times. Also, I had the headlights repaired (from a recall) about 2 years after I purchased the car. The front headlights are still doing the same thing. The problem was never really fixed. While driving at night and in day time, the headlights go out. Usually they go out one at a time. Like the right side will go out. Then you can flip the switch to turn them on and off, and it'll work again for about 5 minutes. Then the left side will go out. This usually happens every night while driving and I have to flip the switch on and off about 9 times while driving short and long distances. I just usually flip the switch and they come back on again. Sometimes while driving at night, they both go out at the same time. Really a safety hazard when driving around with my 2 small kids!! brought it back to Toyota dealership in lake charles to be repaired. But they said they couldn't re-create the problem, so they couldn't fix it. How long do you think I can keep driving around in the dark with malfunctioning lights and kids in the car"???????????????" this happens daily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After a dealer service, my Prius' headlights started randomly going out. Sometimes the left, sometimes the right and sometimes both. If I turn off and back on, they will both work for a few minutes, then will again go out. This is dangerous and Toyota should recall the vehicles affected by this issue and fix for good.
- San Anselmo, CA, USA
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The headlights work intermittently and have needed bulb replacement 3 times so far. Also all the tail light and the tag lights went out at the same time recently and required bulb replacement. When driving we had no idea the lights were out and only found out when we were pulled over by police. This constitutes a very dangerous situation in my opinion. Also the hatchback handle sometimes fails to work due to the rubber cover deterioration.
While driving the passenger headlight will start to flicker and then go out. If I turn the lights of and then turn them back on they will come back on but then go back out again.
The drivers side headlight goes out on its own, a few minutes later the passenger side light will go out on its own. Leaving no lights, if I turn them off and on again the headlights will work again but not for long periods of time. I have replaced the bulbs in both and they will work for a few months with no issue and it starts all over again. This has happened numerous times since I purchased the car and now I learn they got out of recalling because both lights don't go out at the same time, well mine do.
The headlights on this car flicker and go our with very little warning while driving in the city and on the highway. We were almost in a very serious collision when the lights went out without warning while driving at night on the highway. Sometimes turning the lights off and on again will get them to work for a while, but is is happening so frequently that we cannot drive the car at night anymore. I have see many hundreds of complaints about this online. Would it take the death of my family to get Toyota to recall and fix this dangerous defect"?"
The right hid headlight on my 2007 Prius shuts off intermittently when the car is in motion. The failure is intermittent, and it is unclear when it first started and how frequently it occurs. The headlight turned off last week and made it dangerously difficult to see a pedestrian on the side of the road. There was no incident, but the experience was troubling. Toyota has disclosed issues with hid headlights in their "2006 through 2009 model year Prius hid headlight customer support program" and offered to reimburse the full cost per conditions in owners warranty. After a 30 minute phone call to the local Toyota dealer and them 60 minute call to the Toyota customer service experience center the discussion re-enforced that there was 'no way' to cover the cost outside of the 5 year 50K mile warrantee and thus am supposed to pay $300 to the dealer to fix the defective headlamp and ECU that is probably the actual source of the defect (lamps generally work a long time if they get correct/stable source current). For several years I inquired during annual state inspection checks to check the headlights as I sometimes had trouble seeing at night. The lights worked when the car was not in motion and hence always passed inspection. The Toyota five-year warrantee seems arbitrary and not relevant for intermittent failures that may or may not have been diagnosed within that time window. Toyota should be culpable for fixing the defect cars identified as having the problem. It seems unfair for Toyota to belatedly announce a known defect but limit responsibility to time or mileage of an owner's warrantee. Shouldn't potentially hazardous defects be serviced by Toyota regardless" why should Toyota collect service payments from customers to drive a vehicle with headlights that stay on all the time when they know they don't work and crap out"
I have endured the same headlight issue that I see endless numbers of people have commented on here on the NHTSA site. I have 110,000 miles on my 2007 Prius and have been experiencing regular outages of my right headlight for 80,000 of those miles no matter what the "fix" has been. Toyota dealerships I have taken my car to over the years all claim that this is not a typical problem and yet it appears from this website that it is most certainly due to some sort of faulty design/parts. My right headlight will be on and flicker off after a few minutes of driving. If I quickly turn the lights off and then back on as I drive, it will turn back on for a period of time before flickering off, once again. My cousin's 2007 Prius and my fianc's father's 2004 Prius had the exact same issue with a single headlight. Obviously, this has proven to be a highly dangerous problem when driving at night and in all kinds of weather-related situations and would appreciate the NHTSA's assistance in investigating this as a potential recall for us Prius drivers.
The headlights on my Prius randomly go dark. Sometimes 1 headlight and other times both. Turning off the light switch and then back on is a temporary fix. The problem comes back minutes later. This is very unsafe for myself and other drivers on the road. This happened while I was on the interstate going 70 mph last night!
Both headlights go out without warning..this is the 5th time in a month this has happened.. I've replaced the bulbs which are very expensive by the way twice now.....this is clearly a manufacturing problem and you people clearly know that it is and still aren't doing a dam thing about it is bs.....I have read hundreds of complaints on this issue and they all say the same dam thing....do something about this issue before someone is seriously hurt or killed........
The drivers side headlight goes off. There is no pattern as to when it happens. The lights must be turned off then back on for it to light again. The car was taken to the dealership for repair + 1 year ago. The service was paid for, to no avail. Thought continues to go out. We ha E been pulled over by police officers for ha ok nguyen a light out. I feel this is a salt F etc issue and it appears it is a problem with many Toyota cars. Something needs to be done.
Right front headlight goes out intermittently. Cycling lights off and back on used to correct problem temporarily, but now headlight stays on for only a minute or two. Had similar problem with left front headlight and had hid bulb replaced in 2012 at great expense. Problem occurs when lights are turned on or while driving. This is a safety concern and a known defect that Toyota should correct free of charge.
My wifes 2007 Prius headlights continue to flicker while driving at night. Then one side or the other will go out. The headlights have been inspected by 2 certified mechanics neither can find any faults in the headlights or bulbs even applying contact grease to assure electrical continuity. Attention NHTSA administrators ( this certainly could become a deadly problem.) we have had both lights go out simultaneously. The driver must immediately turn the light switch off then on to restore lighting. I hope they never fail to re-light!! of all the problems- attention surely must be given to these lights. Almost a thousand complaints here..how many people keep taking this problem to the dealers, only to have it repeat itself? immediate action is required by the NHTSA.
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the instrument panel lights failed to remain illuminated. The contact stated that the failure recurred several times. The contact also stated that when the failure occurred it was impossible to shut the vehicle off without removing the negative battery terminal. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.
Head light get turned off while driving. Left side head light goes off more often than right side. Right side headlight goes off while driving too but not often like driver side. I replaced hid light bulb and computer controlled ballast. But the symptom is not changed. The worst case frequency off was every 5 minutes.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Austin, TX, USA