Problems with 2006 Toyota Prius ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Headlights constantly go out. research online proves prius vehicles with hid bulb systems have ballast issues causing constant blowing of either bulbs or ballast failure. not only is safety constantly compromised, but it is illegal when a headlight goes out driving down the road.

I was driving on a highway 95 south, almost to delaware, at night in the rain, after 4 hours on the road, everything stopped working. i couldn't accelerate, i had no brakes, and eventually even my lights went out. the entire electrical system was out. i was in heavy traffic, and don't even know how i got off the highway, and to a gas station. the tow truck driver couldn't even jump the battery enough to get the car in neutral, and had a difficult time getting it up on the flatbed to tow it home. i couldn't even lock the doors. i had a new key made at the dealership on 10/17/19 and i was using that key for hours driving to ct and a couple of days later i was half way home when everything in the car stopped working. i was towed to my home in md because i needed to be able to unpack my car and computer before taking it to the dealership. when the second tow came the next day, i handed him the key by the front door, which was my old key, and he was able to get the car in neutral right away, and at the dealership the car worked just fine. the only difference was the new key. the technician found that "the immobilizer ecu has an intermittent open circuit failure, causing the key to be seen as unauthorized and stall the engine." from jim coleman toyota. apparently there is a part of the computer system that shuts off all systems if it detects an "unauthorized" key--i.e. if it believes the car is being stolen. it seems to me that this is a very dangerous program in this car. i had been using that new key for several days, and had no problem, but for it to decide in the middle of the highway after hours on the road that the key was a fake, i could have been killed or i could have killed someone else. i would much prefer that my car be stollen than that someone might get killed but shutting off everything while it was on the road.

Toyota refuses to replace the combination meter in my vehicle although it only has 110k miles on it. they have acknowledged my vehicle was included with the batch of models that have this known issue under 2004-2009 toyota prius combination meter warranty extension ztv, but will not cover. this is not right for a consumer to be on the hook for toyota's quality issue. this is a significant safety issue and should be under a formal recall.

My hv battery has a problem. the red triangle showed when the car millage was only 118000m. i checked with servco and replaced one cell of the hv battery. however, the red triangle showed again, and code reader found another damaged cell. that would be a possibility that the whole hv battery was damaged.

Known problem with combination meter - found it searching online once i realized this was the problem. i bought my car used and since it is no longer covered by toyota, it didn't come up in search. having issues with there being no display on the dash and vehicle not shutting off for the entire time i have had the car. it only happens intermittently. this is a safety issue for sure! can't see speed, gas, gears...anything about car whether car stationary or moving.

I was driving normally and suddenly a continuos beep was there,i tried to stop a no brakes.i was able to steer my car to a safe place.then used a toll service and took it to my toyota dealer.in a short time they told me they told me the computerized brake system was defective and the job will cost me $2250.00 i can not afford. i tolled the car back to my house .later i found that there had been a recall from toyota.i was never notified although i took my car there for regular checkups. note: my car was in motion and previous to incident i had descended a steep hill. i consider myself lucky on that date,three minutes earlier i would have been in great distress trying to stop my toyota prius.

Sometimes as i drive the vehicle, after a while, either one of the headlights turns off randomly. i don't always notice when it happens, other than when pulling up behind another vehicle at a stop light and notice that there is only 1 headlight reflection coming from my vehicle. they both work normally if i turn them off and on again.

Combination meter is going out on the car. this controls the dashboard lights, meaning that i cannot see how fast i am going or if there are any gauges or sensors lit up alerting me to a problem with the vehicle. toyota had an extended warranty on this but it has now expired and they want $1000 to fix it.

Combination meter stopped working in cold weather. know problem for toyota and a very dangerous one. they did one repair and warranty extension but vehicles now hitting higher miliage are having issues and it is documented by toyota in a warranty bullentin no. pol12-05 from toyota

Headlight intermittently shuts off. it will later come back on again. same with a tail-light. there are lots of complaints about this please come up with a solution. it seems to be an extremely expensive fix at a dealership due to defective parts.

When vehicle is started no dash lights for fuel gage, speedometer, odometer inoperable due to faulty combination meter. no recall just extended warranty that toyota will not replace.

I believe its a glitch in the car's computer. at unpredictable and intermittent intervals the electronic heads up display does not operate. this leaves me with no speedomoeter, no fuel level indicator, no bright or dim indicator for the headlights, and the cruise control does not work. during the incidents the car also might not respond to the power off button, so it keeps running. this problem might last for a day or two and then it starts to work again.

As i was reversing and my foot was on the gas pedal a loud beep came on, all of the dashboard warning lights lit up including the brake light. i checked to see if my parking brake was on and it was not. i put the car on park and turned the car off and on. my car worked i drove a few minutes and as i was approaching the freeway i luckily came to a stop on a red light. suddenly the same loud beep, warning lights, and break light came on and this time because my foot was on the brake pedal i felt the brake extremely hard/stiff. because i was at a red light i quickly put my car on park turned the car off and then on again and made a right turn to avoid going on the freeway. i decided to carefully drive to a family member's house close by going no more than 25 mph with my emergency lights on i did not want to risk my brakes stiffening up and failing but i was in a congested area with no parking. i was fortunate enough not to get on the freeway and i was fortunate enough that this failure happened on occasions where i was either going very slow or already stopped. i don't know what could happen if i had to come to a stop and could not because my brakes were stiff. toyota will not cover this manufacturers abs actuator defect that they know about because the deadline was dec. 2017. this is dangerous and can lead to accidents and even death.

Afternoon 07/11/17 while driving downhill @ 50 mph my 2006 toyota prius turned off- no steering, exterior lights, dash/computer lights, radio- except for front interior dome light. no warning lights prior to or after car turned off. i was able to brake (very stiff brakes) & pull over. replaced 2015 12v battery hoping for quick fix. car still would not turn on, could not be towed on flat bad for fear of damaging transmission. car was towed to closest mechanic. on 07/12/17 independent mechanic said both coolant pumps failed and the leaking shorted a fuse and turned off the car. every time they attempted to replace fuse it would pop fuse again. mechanic replaced water pump (including coolant/antifreeze) & inverter electric pump (including inverter cooler water) & changed auto transmission fluid & filter ($1,115). early morning 07/14/17 dash display would not light up when car was turned on- no speedometer, odometer, gas gauge, reverse camera. (happened couple of times in past but could not duplicate for dealer.) while driving to toyota dealer i noticed computer screen stuck @ 48 mpg & 61 miles driven, but never increased miles as i drove 18 miles or updated mpg calculation. refused to turn off car until someone from toyota dealer looked @ dash to verify condition. toyota dealer says combo meter (combination meter) failure, which is not recall but "campaign" that expired & repair costs $1,111. motherboard part can take up to 3 weeks but car cannot be driven while toyota "burns" my computer's information into new computer part. toyota dealer provided loaner car until repair is completed. on 07/14/17 called toyota & filed complaint about water pump & combo meter. toyota says hybrid electric water pump campaign did not affect my vin, which i do not believe. toyota says combination meter campaign expired for my vin. pending call back from toyota at this time.

The passenger side headlight intermittently turns off and on. the lightbulb is still functional. this will happen wether i'm driving or stationary.

Car was brought to toyota of hollywood, florida for a new battery. when it was returned none of the dashboard was working: no speedometer, no gear shift indicator, no fuel gauge, no engine warning lights, no backup indicator beeper. additionally it takes many tries over minutes to turn the car off and it locks the rear hatch which cannot be opened with the inside door unlock button. obviously this is a dangerous and hazardous situation which i expected that the dealer and manufacturer, toyota, would take care of immediately. they claim that the car is out of warranty and won't fix it. it should be part of a vehicle safety recall.

The problem first started in winter of 2016, only when temperatures were below 30 degrees. the trunk hatch release switch would not fully release, causing me to have to work the switch several times and pull up hard on the hatch in order to open it. the problem slowly got worse and weather no longer played a role in affecting it. it stopped working completely and no longer would open the hatch so it needed to be replaced.

Drivers side headlight intermittent

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. the contact stated that the instrumen panel failed causing the contact to be able to view the reading levels. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the combo meter failed. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer advised that the instrument panel warrenty repair had expired and that the repairs would be at the contacts expense. the failure mileage was 150,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. while driving 45 mph, all the gauges, meters, and lights on the instrument cluster failed to function. the failure recurred on numerous occasions. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 142,000.

Letter from senator murphy on behalf of constituent regarding his 2006 toyota prius warranty coverage (attn: katie agati). *smd the consumer stated work needs to be performed on the hybrid battery pack. toyota refused to cover the work under warranty, because the vehicle is out of the country.*jb

Without warning the dashboard stopped working. the car was stopped and power button was pushed at the time when fact occurred in a very isolated place with no cell phone service an little chance of any other car passing by. the car does not display anymore speed, mileage, fuel level and gearbox position, although the car was otherwise driveable. warning lights are not working anymore also. backup camera and lights also stopped working. car also does not turn off most of time (the power button might work at random with some insistence). according to information gathered this could have been caused by a faulty combination meter, which toyota was servicing for free for some time owing to a high failure rate.

The car was at a stop light when all the dashboard lights went out (nightime). when i tried to turn the vehicle off, the car would not shut down. this is a known problem to toyota especially on high mileage vehicles. the car has 217,000 miles (original owner). toyota issued t-sb-0172-09 as a "warranty enhancement program" in order to avoid an official recall of the problem. unfortunately, i missed the deadline by 3 months.

While driving, the instrument panel combination meter that displays the vehicle speed and other information went blank. after pulling over car, i tried to turn it off using the power button but it would not turn off. after a few tries, i held down power button for 5 seconds and it finally did go to accessory mode, but did not turn off altogether. it took several presses of the button to finally get the car to shut off. i talked to my local toyota service center who told me that this is a known issue and toyota extended the warranty for the combination meter to 9 years (t-sb-0172-09). unfortunately, i was 4 months past the 9 year mark, so it would cost me $1500 to replace the part. i have since talked to two other people i know who have the same model prius and they have had the same issue in the past year, one of which was replaced under warranty as he had the problem before the 9 year mark. the other was in the same situation as me as it happened after the 9 year mark. an online search shows that this is becoming a very common issue and happening to many just after the 9 year warranty expires, resulting in a lot of upset owners. i did check my files and see that a warranty enhancement notice was sent to me a couple of years ago that states that this issue has been reported by a limited number of owners and that if it does has happened to my car, i did not need to take action at this time. in hindsight, i should not have followed the instructions and instead took my car in and insisted on a warranty repair. i believe that this is a serious safety issue that should be handled as a recall rather than with a warranty enhancement with a limited warranty period. the car has less than 34000 miles on it.

The insturment cluster ( speedometer, backup camera, etc) failed one night. a system reset restored things the next day, but now it has started to fail routinely. this is a safety issue y incapacitating the speedometer and the backup comera. toyota states they have extended the warranty once and will not fix it, even though this car has never had this issue before. the car has 60,000 miles. the car also fails to turn off leaving a major potential for an unavoidable accident.

Hid lights fail while driving , at night it is very dangerous and can cause an accident. where do i go to get them repaired / replaced without paying for the manufactures defective equipment ? i live in san jose, ca. 95111

Dash board disabled .caint see totally black.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. the contact stated that the combination meter failed and the instrument panel became inoperable. the failure occurred once. after several attempts, the vehicle shut down. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 130,000.

The combo meter on my car went dark this morning. i called toyota and was told that my warranty expired 2 months ago. this is not safe because there is no indication on what the vehicle is doing. also this feature causes the car to not shut off.

Toyota is aware of a widespread issue regarding the electric dashboard going out. they have refused to replace mine due to it being past the "time window". this should be a safety recall. drivers are unable to determine if there are any warning lights, what the fuel tank reads, mileage, or any other information. this affects more than just the 2006 model, as well.

The combination meter on my 2006 prius has an intermittent electrical short. this results in the dashboard lights going out while the car is moving. this problem with the electrical system on the prius can result in the brakes on the car failing. in addition the car often continues to stay on after we turn it off. this is also a safety hazard. toyota has refused our request to replace the defective combination meter, even though this is a widespread problem.

The headlights flicker and then go out. it is necessary to turn off all lights and then turn them back on. the same thing happens after a short period of time. this happens when the car is moving and i have been pulled over because i was unaware that the lights were out while driving in the city.

One of the headlights worked sporadically. it happened the same day i purchased the car used from a toyota dealership, but i didn't notice it right away because it was daytime. the next day i went to the service department and they said i needed to replace the hid bulb which costs $300!!!!! after complaining to the dealership they replaced it at no charge, but i am concerned that this might be a recurring problem. i don't know if they replaced any associated parts or not, since the invoice they gave me just listed "engine elecrical concern" without an itemized list.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. while driving approximately 55 mph, the instrument panel seized without warning. the vehicle resumed normal operation the next morning. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to diagnose the failure. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 147,000.

I was driving my husband to work when i noticed the instrument panel was completely dark. tried turning the car off and then on again with no effect -- panel was still dark. it's particularly worrisome that i had no speedometer to tell how fast i was going, nor would any of the other indicator lights come on. when i tried to turn the car off a second time, it wouldn't power down, and i couldn't extract the key. i couldn't even lock the car so i could leave it there to seek aid. in doing research, i found that this is a known fault with the combination meter and toyota knows this is a problem and issued a warranty extension. however, their warranty only covered cars currently experiencing the problem when the letter went out and during a specified date range, irregardless of mileage. they would not have replaced the part during the warranty extension because i had not yet experienced the problem, and now they refuse to replace the defective part because my experience happened 4 months after their arbitrary cut-off date. a faulty part is a faulty part and should be replaced when they know it's a problem. this is a serious safety issue that should not have a time limit. the car is not safe to drive if you don't know how fast you are driving, how much gas you have, etc. and you can't shut it down or lock it either....updated 08/25/15 *bf updated 12/3/2015 *js

My headlights keep going off while driving. i have to turn them off then on again to get them to work. sometimes one, sometimes both, not always at the same moment. you know about this! nhtsa: i am going to hold you responsible if i am injured!! issue a recall now!! nhtsa action number : pe09019

On the morning of may,04,2015 upon entering the car and starting it up the instrument panel fails to display. not certain what the issue was i performed various check including the the accessory battery and attempted multiple times starting and stopping the car to no avail. i left the car where it was and a few hours later when i returned everything worked fine for a few more weeks then the issue occurred again. however, i have noticed that the issue is occurring now more frequently including when driving (stopped then go). furthermore, whenever this issue occurs it becomes almost impossible to power the engine off and since their is no cluster display to let you know vital safety information, including speed, gas, mileage, gear (d-r-n) this creates an unsafe and hazardous condition for operators of this vehicle. toyota motor corp. is very much aware of this hazard which results from a manufacture defective combination meter.

The right headlight turned off while the vehicle was in use and now the fog lights aren't working. sometimes it would turn on and sometimes it wouldn't work at all. you just don't know when it will happen. *tr

Combination meter failed leaving the vehicle without instrument cluster information. there is a manufacturer warranty extension which does not cover vehicles on the road over 9 years. this represents a hazard to the public which has a documented solution and replacement components. *tr

Parked car at night in colorado in february, 2015. outside temperature was approx 25 degrees farenheit. we ate dinner at a restaurant, came out and started the 2006 prius. instrument cluster panel showeing the fuel gauge, odometer, shift position and speedometer failed to come on. turned car off and on numerous times - no instrument cluster panel lights. the following morning, the instrument cluster panel worked fine. this has happened occasionally since the first incident in february. this is a safety concern; one is unable to tell which gear the vehicle is in, the speed of the vehicle, or how much fuel the vehicle has. after contacting toyota, they told me the extended warranty had expired in december 2014. as a safety defect, toyota should still be covering a known problem.

On very cold mornings the combination meter (speedometer and dash lights) fail to come on. this first began in december 2014 shortly after having the ice replaced at the dealer, but it has been very intermittent. a few tries and the problem usually corrects itself. it is rarely very cold here so getting it to repeat the problem is difficult. toyota issued an extended warranty on the known defect but it expired 4 months ago and i was never notified of the warranty extension. toyota is aware that there is a defect. when this happens, the car will drive but there is no speedometer or fuel gauge and the odometer ceases to work. i did not take the car to the dealer last winter because for one thing i couldn't make it repeat the problem and also because i suffered a grand mal seizure and was unable to drive the car for a year. now i can drive again and everything has been fine until now that it is winter again. toyota claims they notified me of this warranty extension but i never received a letter from them. i think it is a dangerous and known defect that should be repaired by toyota. i do not like driving without instruments!

My 2006 toyota prius headlight goes off when driving. it flickers first and then goes off. sometimes one light goes off and sometimes both of them. when i turn the light off and turn it back on headlights work again. but after a while they turn off again. they stay on steady after i drive for more than an hour in long trips and after turning it off and then on again several times. *tr

On july 20,2014, i noticed my passenger side headlight is out. i started the car and put the light on, it came on fine.. while driving on high way at night all the sudden the light went out again passenger side. i pulled it on the side and inspect driver side light was working fine but the passenger side was out. i turn the light off and on again it came back on. at this time i am scratching my head that what is going on. i take my car to the mechanic he tells me the bulb is fuse. it cost me $300. to change the bulb. after few days after the bulb goes out again. i take it back to the mechanic he checks every thing is fine, tell me the bulb went out again. scratching my head again "bulb went out again after few weeks" i went to amazon and bought another bulb.. and it went out again. i was pulled over september 20, 2014 buy cops to fix my headlight. headlight are still going out and i have to keep buying the headlight bulb. *tr

This complaint has not been qc'd. the contact submitted an email and requested that the official ivoq be written verbatim to the email. kmj i have multiple situations with my toyota prius 2006 in the beginning of may 2014 i a loud beeping noise filled the car. the system had multiple lights displaying showing including the emergency brake light ( while i was driving), abs,vsc, a red triangle with an exclamation point in the middle, etc. as, this was happening car immediately started slowing down and i was forced to pull it to the side of the street. this same thing happened to me three other times while i was on the freeway. one time i was driving home from work and my car again started decelerating while i had multiple cars around me on the freeway. all of the lights were displaying, i put my hazards on and was forced to move to the side of the road while i was almost hit by the car behind me because my car was rapidly slowing down. i took the car to the dealership service center and they didn't know what the problem was. they did a diagnostic test, multiple test drives, but at that time they didn't know. so they told me to drive the car home and come back if it happens again. within the week i was exiting off of the freeway with my children when i start hearing the loud beeping noise, all the lamp lights came on, and as i am waiting in line to exit the freeway onto a busy street the car stops. i panicked, put on the hazards, the car wouldn't allow me to shift it into drive it had moved to neutral on its own. i turned off the car, turned it back on and was slowly able to move the car. this time i took pictures of the lamp display to show the service members as well. my children, myself, and other drivers could have been seriously hurt! the toyota service center told us we have a bad computer, the problem is with the ecu, and the car went into a fail safe mode. *tr

2006 prius multifunction display defects, manufactuer wants $8,000.00 to repair. the mfd controls ac distribution. it affects my health. i have a skin condition, that requires cooling of my legs. the air will come on, but only from dash area, there is no other control method, because touch screen does not work. also window defroster is inopperalble, from screen. there is a defroster button on steering wheel, it works only part of the time. i have had car into dealership 3 seprate times (at 2 different locations) they can not find the problem with steering wheel defrost buttom. i was told, there is no diagnostics for the electrical on this vehicle, the other dealership, just said " the tech found out defroster problem, is somewhere under here" as he reached under the dash area. the touch doesn't work at anytime, parked or going down the road. $8,000.00 dollars for this repair is way out of my reach. from what i understand it is a widespread problem, or a bad design. the defrost comtrol on steering wheel will come on/off when i hit a bump in the road or a rough railroad crossing. driving without proper defrosting is very dangerous.

Headlights, go on and off on their own. sometimes only one will go off, sometimes both. happens with high beams as well. lights come back on if i switch them completely off and then on again. may stay on for 30 minutes, may only stay on for a couple minutes. very dangerous as the lights have gone off at night time causing loss of visibility. *tr

Both of my hid headlights went out (turned off) during normal highway driving. since then, the lights have continued to turn off randomly during normal driving. when i turn the switch off and then back on, the lights operate fine for a while, then go back off. this is a very dangerous issue and i see it is a common issue. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. the contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the vehicle stalled. the contact was able to restart the engine and had the vehicle towed to a dealer where a diagnostic test was performed. the dealer stated that the battery was dead and replaced the battery. the failure mileage was 160,000. the vin was not available.

I purchased a new 12v battery at about 30k miles. at about 59k miles the 12v was discharging at random times. at first i thought it was because i was leaving lights on, but it began happening more frequently. i did some research and learned that when the key is in smart mode and it is within 10 feet of the car it can discharge the 12v. i turned off the smart key but the 12v discharged again a few more times until i could no longer get a charge when i jumped it. i had it towed to a local mechanic who installed a new 12v and 2 fuses ($500!!), but there were 4 or 5 warning lights that couldn't be reset so i drove it to the toyota dealer. for some reason the toyota service rep asked if i had all the recalls serviced. i was told i could not drive the car because it needed a new electronic converter unit ($5800!!!) and there was a real danger the car would die while i was driving. however, the mileage is only 62000! i called another shop that is hybrid certified and their expert said he sees the ecu going at 100,000 but not at low miles. all hybrid owners are aware of the potential risk of needing to replace the hybrid battery toward the end of the life of the vehicle, but that is nothing compared to the major expense and potential danger of the ecu failing. why was i not told about this? i wonder why toyota's first question was to ask if i had all the service recalls, is there a recall coming on the ecu? *tr

This is my 10th headlamp replacement. the dealers did most of them over the time i have owned the car. i am also an owner of a 2011 toyota prius. no problems with that one. *tr