About a month ago I noticed one of the headlights was out. I was able to bang on the light and get it to come on and left if for a while. After a few weeks of this, rather than hurt my hand any longer, I bought a new bulb from AutoZone for $15, then the damn thing kept on working so I didn't replace it yet. Then the other bulb started not coming on intermittently and the first bulb decided to work every time.

Finally last week both headlamps stopped coming on and I now have to beat on both of them each time I want to use them. They never fail once they come on, but rarely both come on any longer. So I went to replace one of them and because my hands are the size of a 9-year old girl, I'm unable to get in there to replace it. That's when I did a search and found you all.

While I hate to admit it, I find the solution to my 2008 Prius headlights going out is to slap the headlight fixture. The mechanics can't fix it and I don't even have the expensive HID bulbs. Cheap-O $11 bulbs but you still have to smack the thing to get it to work. Problem occurs on both headlights. Solution works on both headlights. Sigh. Not going to ask Mr Toyota to charge me to tell me there isn't a problem when there is! I keep a spare bulb in the glove box but continue to take my frustration out physically and it seems to work.

This is the known headlight issue 2008 and some other year Prius', where a single light might go off, but both come back on when you turn off and on the lights. I did buy 2 new bulbs online for $180, and replaced them myself by reaching around in the tight areas. They worked great for 2 weeks, and then a single light was off, and then the other one went off randomly on freeway (other cars were flashing lights at me).

I have already complained to Toyota and escalated to a Supervisor, but no fix over 50k miles.

My argument is that, similar to tires and windshield wipers, headlights (despite having to replace both for a high fee) should be replaceable. Unfortunately, there was something wrong with the design, and this isn't currently the case.

For my car, as well as many other Toyotas, if your lights start going out, and you replace them as you would any other kind of car, your lights still may go off intermittently.

For some reason, Senior Management at Toyota thinks this is safe and acceptable. The issue will only increase as these cars age.

2008 Toyota Prius-Left side Headlight went out repeatedly, went to dealer to have headlight replaced. There I learned that this was not only a headlight but a computer module issue and that it was well known to Toyota (according to the dealer) $900 out of pocket to replace everything realted to the headlight later it was working.

And less than a week later the right headlight began failing intermittantly. It fails without warning and it a safety issue for sure. Since this is a well known and well documented model year defect, Toyota should be doing this work at their expense and not hiding it till someone dies. Im already out $900-that seems like a ridiculous amount to fix a headlight-fix the second one for FREE.

Maybe one light goes out, maybe the right, maybe the left. Maybe BOTH lights go out. It all depends and there's nothing that stands out as the reason. It's happened on turns, going straight, bumpy roads, smooth roads, the light(s) will flicker for a second and then go out completely.

The only fix I've found that works some times and is extremely unsafe (as unsafe as it is to be driving a car that both headlights go out on at night) is to flip the lights off and then back on. Fingers crossed it fixes the situation. If not, I do it again. Then if it does fix the situation, it could fix it for 10 minutes, 10 seconds, or the rest of the drive if I'm lucky.

This is extremely unsafe and has happened for a long time now, I've owned the car for a year and have already replaced at least 3 bulbs. Besides being unsafe, it's becoming very expensive.

My lights have been going off intermittently for a few months now. I went to the dealership for a 12 V battery issue and a couple of recall items, including the hybrid cooling recall issue and the dealer thought this might fix the issue but it has not. What happens is that at any given moment, each and every day/night, when I am driving one or the other headlight will go out. Occasionally both will go out. The only way this is remedied is when I toggle the light switch off and on. Sometimes it takes 2-3 toggles to get the problem to resolve, the suddenly and again, and again the one or the other lights go out. Apparently this is an issue with Toyota Prius's of my year. I am astonished that this has not become a recall item. During the day it is not dangerous but it certainly is at night. Is Toyota waiting for a body count to be created before they remedy this situation. I am not a mechanic though you don't have to be one to see that this kind of issue is not the bulb, because when the bulbs are working they shine brightly. It has to be some other issue with the functioning of the lighting system. I think this needs needs to become a recall item immediately before people die due to this issue. What is their problem in not resolving this issue NOW?

Turning the HID headlights off then back on will cause the HID headlights to relight, but you never know when they might fail again, and they will fail again, but never when you want to show your mechanic or show the Toyota dealer. Like a number of other Toyota problems, this one is well known to Toyota, and they chose not to recall the affected cars, even though it is a safety issue. Several days ago I was pulled over by a traffic cop because one headlight was out. I turned the lights off then back on, and now both headlights work again...temporarily. Because of their faulty design, poor quality components, and the difficulty if replacing them, the cause to replace both HID bulbs and their ballasts runs into the thousands of dollars.

The headlights of my 2008 Toyota Prius randomly go off. Sometimes it is the right, sometimes it is the left and sometimes it is both of them. If I flick the lights off and back on the both return on. It happens frequently and is a huge safety hazard. (I just don't drive at night right now) From the research that I have done, it can cost anywhere from 400-1800 dollars to fix, but many others with the same problem said the issue continued after replacing the bulb. I am hesitant to have the bulbs replaced if it is not going to fix the issue. Why is this not a recall???