Problems with 2006 Toyota Prius EXTERIOR LIGHTING

I own a 2006 prius- the headlights do not function properly. while driving in the dark (and day) either the right or left headlight turns off. this is so unsafe. first the dealer explains there are some issues with other customers; then they admit there are many issues. when searching online i come to release there is a big issue. to date toyota has not recalled this safety issue. *tr

While driving at night in heavy fog on a single lane road, my right hid head light went out. by very quickly turning the headlight switch off then on, the headlight came back on and stayed on for the rest of my trip. if they did now come back on, i would undoubtedly had a crash. *tr

Purchased brand new fully loaded toyota prius in june 2006, the head lights are hid d4r and they keep turning off multiple times even during short drives, i have tried changing bulbs multiple times but to no avail, got it checked at the koons tysons dealership and they say nothing is wrong with ballast, the car has now crossed 100,000 miles everything else works except for the lights. *tr

My passenger side hid headlight began to go out intermittently. flicking the light off and on restarted it. on one occasion both went out at once while on the freeway in the rain---very scary. the dealer just changed the bulbs yesterday. the passenger side went out with in 10 minutes. when i flicked the lights on and off, it only stayed on for a few seconds. then today, it was dusk driving home, and the divers side went out. i now have no light. this is a safety issue, especially since they go out so fast, are hard to replace and not readily available. i see from posts on the internet that many 2006 prius with hid lights are having similar problems. my dealer is clueless on the cause. *tr

I own a 2006 toyota prius with hi-intensity headlamps. on several occasions the passenger-side lamp has gone off while i am driving. this is a dangerous situation (especially at night). i have just returned from the dealer, where they recommended replacing the bulb at a cost of $424.24! i have since done some web searching and i have found a 'pattern' of many 06 prius owners with the same problem, or more severe, with both lights going out! from the dialog that i read on sites such as priuschat.com, it has been traced to several components of the prius hid light system. there also is evidence of technical bulletins being generated through toyota about this problem. this is clearly an emerging and dangerous situation of recall proportions. i urge you to investigate and act on this situation as soon as possible. *tr

The headlights on my 2006 prius suddenly go off while i am driving at night. i asked the service department at toyota of morristown in morristown, nj to inspect the headlights at my 60k mile service and i was told there was no problem found. i continue to experience this problem. the driver's side light seems to only operate at 50% capacity when it does work. *tr

The drivers side (left) headlight will extinguish itself after being turned on and running for a varying amount of time. if, when this happens, i turn off the headlight switch and immediately turn it back on the light comes on as normal. the amount of time between these failures varies and does not seem to conform to a regular pattern however it has happened numerous times over the past month or so. *tr

Headlights turn off randomly. both left and right headlight turn off by itself or both will turn off together while driving. paid $385 for new hid light as it is not covered by warranty, but issue still occurring. prius in shop for the third time and dealer says most likely i will have to pay for another new hid light to ensure that it is not simply a headlight issue. we have been pulled over three times for this issue and given a fix-it ticket once. definitely a safety issue as the headlights turn off in the middle of the night on dark roads. *tr

I have a 2006 toyota prius, package 6. the passenger side front headlight intermittently turns off while the vehicle is in motion. there are no specific antecedents. the headlight may stay on or may not during any time driving. if i turn off the headlights and turn them back on, the aforementioned headlight will come back on and stay on. or not. again, there is no way to tell when this will happen. i have reviewed the discussion boards and this appears to be a known problem among several prius drivers. toyota has no tech sheets or recalls on this issue. they say to bring it in and they will check it out, but since it is an intermittent problem, it is impossible to predict whether the problem will occur during an appointment/diagnostic time. this is a safety issue, particularly at night, and i am certainly at risk of getting a fix-it ticket for it. however, i am having trouble "fixing" something that manifests so unpredictably. i am wondering if there are other complaints about this problem with the prius? i first noticed this problem in 1/2008, at about 35,000 or 36,000 miles, just after the warranty period expired. *tr

Hid headlights on 2006 toyota prius go off whenever. turn light switch off then back on, lamp lights back up. very random anytime anyplace any speed. left side light goes off the most but the right one goes off sometime. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. the contact stated that the vehicle was equipped with hid bulbs for the headlights which burned out prematurely. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealership where the bulbs were placed on four different occasions since owning the vehicle. the dealer told him to avoid driving with the headlights on unless conditions called for it. the contact called the manufacturer and filed a complaint; the manufacturer also paid some of the costs to replace the bulbs. as of may 9, 2010, another bulb had blown out and the vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. the current mileage was approximately 104,000. the failure mileage was approximately 37,000.

In january of this year, the driver side headlamp on our 2006 prius began shutting off after a few minutes of operation. it would come back on if the switch is cycled but would then shut off again at what appeared to be a random interval. the dealer replaced the lamp under warranty in january. now the passenger side is doing the same thing. after several visits to the dealer, we were told that this is a "known problem" but it is not being covered by toyota nor under our extended warranty. the price to replace the headlamp is in excess of $700! this is a known defect with significant safety implications. the dealer tells us it affects 2006+ prius headlamps. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. while driving at any given speed, the front headlights dim without warning. the contact has to turn the headlights off and then back on; however, the failure recurs. the headlights have failed intermittently on multiple occasions. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and they determined that the light bulb failed. the light bulb has been replaced. the contact is in the process of notifying the manufacturer. the failure mileage was 25,000 and current mileage was 45,000.

Hid headlights fail without warning. both my headlights failed before 36,000 miles. they were replaced within warranty, and now at 70,000 miles they are failing again. they work fine when they are first started, but can "turn off" at any time without warning. *tr

Periodically the right front xenon headlight goes out on my 2006 prius. this has happened several times over the past 3 months. had a diagnostic done at the dealership, but could not isolate the problem. *tr

On our 2006 prius, the headlights will randomly turn off. you must cycle to headlight switch to off and then back again to on to get them to work again. it happens to both headlights. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. while the vehicle was parked, the contact attempted to activate the headlights. however, the headlights failed to operate. the contact replaced the driver side headlamp. the failure occurred on three separate occasions which included the replacement of the driver and passenger side headlamps. the vehicle had not been diagnosed at the time of the complaint. the failure mileage was approximately 35,000. the system rejected the vin which will be update upon receipt of the complaint.

Drivers side hid headlamp fails while driving, can be restarted only by shutting off headlamps and restarting. failure impairs nighttime vision. *tr

I have a toyota 2006 prius that the hid headlights fail after a variable amount of time. failure varies from just one light (both passenger and driver side show symptom) to both lights failing at the same time. current solution is to turn lights completely off and turn them back on. this solves the problem temporarily although the light(s) will eventually go out again. so far i have not crashed into anything once my headlight(s) fail but that is obviously a concern i now have when driving at night. current repair recommendation is to replace both bulbs and cost for ~$1000. the car is just over 2 years old and has 44,000 miles on it. *tr

My 2006 toyota prius intermittently loses one or both of the hid headlights. turning off the lights, and back on, will usually bring both of the lights back on... for a little while. this has caused me to have one 'near-miss' accident when going around a curve, in unfamiliar areas. both of the headlights failed within a few tenths of a second, helping me to run off of the road. no damage was done to the car, but it was a very frightening experience, that i don't want to repeat. it seems apparent from the this site, that it is a wide-spread problem that toyota does not want to admit to. even my toyota brand platinum warranty doesn't cover this, since they say that 'light' bulbs are an 'expendable' item... they meant 'expensive' item... that they do not want to pay for. my local dealer states that they want to 'troubleshoot' it for a few hours at about $90/hr... then 'probably' check the bulbs, at 1.5 hours/each, since they say the front bumper must be removed to remove/replace the lights. then, order the bulbs at $359/each, and a week or so later (after they order the bulbs/receive them), install them for about 1.5hours/each. this is totaling well over $1000 for a car only about 15.5 months old, and just barely out of warranty (at the time about 39,000 miles). with all of the complaints established on this site, as well as the dealership(s) records of 'troubleshooting' and /or repair efforts, toyota needs to be forced into a recall for repairs to this safety related problem that they are currently choosing to ignore. i have requested to speak to a regional toyota service representative, but those efforts were apparently ignored, since several months have elapsed, without any contact. *tr

I own a 2006 toyota prius. my right headlight will randomly shut off. i am able to turn my lights off/on and the light will restart. there is no initiation factor such as bump or movement. there is a random time frame for this to occur. i can be sitting still prior to moving the car and the light will go out. this has first happened 4months ago and continues to happen. the problem seems to be occurring more frequently and could pose a serious safety issue. so far, only the right headlight has gone out, however, i am concern this may happen to both. i will be scheduling a service repair at my local dealership asap. *tr

Hid lamps intermittently flicker and go out. sometimes one or the other, sometimes both. turning the light switch off then on corrects the problem. does not matter if it is low or high beam, experiencing the same issue. *tr

One or both headlights fail with no warning at increasing frequencies. now almost every night. when i turn them off and back on they will work again for a period of time as short as five minutes. this has been occurring for about one year now. *tr

Both headlights on my 2006 prius go out intermittently (not necessarily simultaneously). began noticing this about 5-6 months ago. shutting lights all the way off and then on again usually brings the light(s) back on, but not always and they don't always stay on. this occurs almost every time i drive the vehicle. i mentioned it to my dealer at my last oil change and they advised they could find nothing wrong (bring it back in when it's happening) . . . it had just happened on the way over to the dealer, but shutting lights off and on brought it back on. *tr

Beginning february 2008, both hid headlights on my 2006 prius would randomly turn off -- sometimes both at the same time if i'm not careful watching them. turning the hid headlights off and back on will turn the headlights back on, but they will randomly turn off again. i've asked toyota to investigate and they told me that it would cost $800 to replace the hid bulbs, as it requires removal of the front bumper to replace. they told me that they could not guarantee it would fix the problem, and that some other parts might need replacing as well. i believe this is a manufacturing defect as there are now over 500 complaints of this nature. in addition, one of my rear positioning lights is out. i've received fix it tickets for one headlight out and also this rear positioning brake light. please issue a recall! as this is very unsafe that headlights can randomly turn off!! *tr

The car headlights go in and out all the time. we've already replaced both the left and right side twice. when a light goes out, you can turn it off then on again and it will work for a few minutes (and sometimes hours). i have researched this and it is a major complaint of the 2006 toyota prius. why hasn't this been recalled yet! this is very dangerous, as you don't know when your headlights will work or not. *tr

Before my 2006 prius was out of warranty i noticed intermittent problems with one of the headlights, the dealer never could find the source of the problem. once out of warranty i again mentioned the problem to the dealer and they said the headlight bulb was bad and it would be over $400 to replace. i said this was a problem when the car was under warranty but was never fixed, they replaced for free. i later searched the internet and discovered this is a common problem on the toyota prius. a headlight should not be over $400 to replace and if it is going to cost that much, it shouldn't be going out after such a short time. *tr

I have a 2006 prius with hid headlights which will not stay on. when i am driving, one, or both, of my headlights will go out. i will notice this when i'm at a stop and i look for the reflection of my lights in the car in front of me, or when i get home and i look to see if both headlights are shining on my garage door. if i turn the lights off and then right back on again, the headlights come back on. i have googled this and many other prius owners are having the same problem. my independent mechanic said that toyota is not even selling a headlight for my vin number. i took my car to the dealer i purchased it from and they are telling me that to replace the headlights will cost $1,050 and if the ecus which control the headlights are bad, they will cost an additional $650. i said that i felt this was a safety issue that toyota should pay for. they offered me half off the cost of the parts, but want me to commit to paying all the labor. i am going to go pick up my car from the dealer and plan on filing a complaint with toyota usa. i think a problem like this with a car less than two years old should not be my responsibility to pay for. *tr

For the last 8 years i have had the headlights intermittently go off independently of each other. now they are going off or dimming more consistently. they have been replaced thinking that it was a bulb or headlight issue but it has become clear that it is a wiring issue. the replacement headlight is more than $600 each and i know that replacing another one will not fix the issue. there needs to be a recall because problems are all over the internet with this issue. this happens while driving at any time or sitting in the driveway with or without the motor running. *tr

Hid headlights intermittently go off. turning the headlights completely off and on again will make the headlights turn back on. one or both headlights will then go out again within a few minutes. i do not know of a way to correct this failure. others have reported spending thousands of dollars at the dealership trying to have this fixed. *tr

Headlights that arbitrarily shut off. one at a time or both at same time. recycling the headlight switch returns the lights to normal. happens more often in the cold. dealers repair shop quotes $850 to replace the headlight assemblies. *tr

I own a 2006 toyota prius. the front headlight on the drivers side, which is an hid lamp, works only intermittently. there is no pattern as to when it works and doesn't, and often i do not know when the problem is occurring because i can't see the headlamp (unless i can see the reflection on the back of another car). obviously, this is a safety concern. i took the car in for service at my dealer and they said that toyota knows about the problem but refuses to fix it as a defect in the headlamp. *tr

The hid headlights on my 2006 toyota prius has a problem where it would randomly, without warning turn off, either at the same time, the left will go out, or the right, some times one then the other. there is no reasoning to it. i can most of the time get them to come back on by switching the switch off and then back on again. this has been occurring for about two years and seems to be happening more frequently. dealer once quoted me close $800 for replacing the bulbs but declined since it was so expensive and i found out from other people that had the work done than it did not really fix the problem. *tr

While driving the car, locally or long distance, one or the other of the headlights will just go out. turning the lights off and on gets it to work again but this is dangerous at night while driving over a mountain pass while visibility is low due to precipitation such as rain or snow and it confuses other drivers. *cn

2006 toyota prius driver side hid headlight will intermittently go out. manually turning both off and on will sometimes turn it on again, but sometimes not. *tr

Hid headlights on 06 toyota prius defective, go on and off intermittently, dealership unable to correct problem on reliable basis. multiple other lights (parking/tail ect.) also going out. *tr

The factory installed hid headlights periodically turn off. the first incident occurred two years ago, and i thought i had imagined it. i noticed dim lights and corrected the problem by quickly switching to bright lights. i was later told one head light was out while driving, but when i checked by exiting the vehicle both lights were on. the problem was very intermittent for two years primarily because i rarely drive at night. the problem is much more frequent now occurring multiple times per trip. i discovered that i can temporarily resolve the problem by cycling the head light switch ? not a safe tactic. an internet search today revealed this to be a common problem. surprisingly, we have not received a notice from toyota. this is clearly a dangerous factory defect. if toyota will not issue a recall, please demand that they at least acknowledge the problem and issue a notice listing the parts needed to correct the problem. please take immediate action before the problem causes serious accidents. *tr

Hid headlamp bulbs failed within weeks of each other and with less than one year of service on the vehicle. it took almost three weeks to get a replacement bulb after the first failure. during that time the second bulb failed while i was driving at night. after the bulbs were replaced i realized that the hid headlight "shutters" in the headlight assembly system intermittently failed to properly shift back to low beam from high beam. this problem occurs on the drivers and passenger side. this can result in blinding oncoming traffic and to avoid the problem i can only drive with low beams. toyota advised that both headlight assemblies are defective and must be replaced. toyota has not acknowledged that other 2006 prius owners are having problems with their headlights although many customers have posted similar complaints on the internet. *tr

I own a 2006 toyota prius with high intensity discharge headlights. after less the a year and a half of ownership both headlights go dim and then go out while driving independent of each other. many times both will go out one right after the other. they do this often, but on a random basis. when the switch is turned off then on the come back on for a short period. the toyota dealerships i have taken the car to say they think it is the bulbs, however they can not guaranty it. they also tell me that toyota has a long back order on the bulbs. in reading a few hybrid web sites and blogs, i have read numerous other owners complaining about the exact same problem. when driving down a dark highway it is very dangerous and scary to all of a sudden have no headlights on a car that is less then two years old. and then to be told that it will be over $750 to "maybe" fix the problem. *tr

Tl* -the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. the contact stated that intermittently the head lamps fail. an impairment of visibility while driving, increases the risk of vehicle crash.the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the frontal bulbs were replaced. after the repairs the failure resurfaced. as of current date the failures have not been properly remedied. the failure mileage was 34,000. the current mileage was 84,800. the vehicle identification number was not available.

My 2006 toyota prius began experiencing sudden headlight failure after 20,000 miles. i would be driving at night and suddenly both headlights would go out, i would switch them off and on again, and they would come back on. sometimes i would be driving on city streets, not aware that they had gone off, and other drivers would stop me and tell me that my headlights were off. i would check the switch, see that they were supposed to be on, toggle the switch and they would come on. i took the car to my local toyota dealer where i have all my maintenance done. after investigating for a few days, they replaced both h.i.d. headlights and corrected the problem. now, 20,000 miles later, i'm experiencing the same problem. my left headlight suddenly will go out and have to be turned off and then on again to light. this happens every few minutes, most alarmingly on crowded freeways at night. i took the car back to the dealer, and they replaced the left headlight. they didn't charge me for the light because of my previous experience, but i did have to pay the labor fees, since the car is no longer under warranty, but exhibiting the same problems that it did when it was. i'm very concerned that this is going to continue to be a dangerous and costly problem. i don't feel confident that my car is safe to drive at night, because unless you are looking for the problem, headlight failure is something that you might not realize has occurred until it's too late. also, it doesn't seem reasonable that i'm supposed to replace a very expensive part every 20,000 miles or more to continue to operate my car safely. *tr

The head lights on my 2006 toyota prius go out after a period of time driving. if you turn them off and then back on they come back on for a while then go out again. i have had both the bulbs and control module replaced ant the tune of $500 but the problem still persist. *tr

Failure of both hid headlamps while driving over a two week period, and after only 2 years and 75,000 miles on the car. needed to stop driving at night due to the safety risk until i could get them fixed. it turned out to be an hid computer malfunction and both the computer and headlamp needed to be replaced. the cost was about $750 for each computer/headlamp combination; ie, $1,500 total. the make of my car is a 2006 toyota prius, purchased in late '05. *tr

At approximately 50,000 miles left headlight started to blink out after 10 minutes to one hour operation. light could be re-lit by turning out and turning on headlights again. cost of replacement of light, lamp housing and ecu, in excess of $1000.00 at 60,000 miles, right headlight showing same problem. replacement cost of bulb in excess of $400.00. loss of headlamps one at a time or both at the same time makes night time driving hazardous. unexpected repeated loss of lights is unacceptable. *tr

2006 toyota prius with hid lights. at 30,000 miles, in december 2007, the passenger side light began to turn off by itself. it would turn back on if we turned the lights completely off, then on again (dangerous at night, of course). at 35,000 miles, the dealership estimated $350 to replace the bulb, but then replaced bulb under warranty. at 50,000 miles the drivers side headlight began to do the same thing. we could not afford to pay for the replacement so have been turning off and on to remedy. last week the passengers side headlight started doing it again, even though it is only 1 year old. there are times we have one headlight, and times we have no headlights other than the fog lights. we have been stopped by police and given a warning about a headlight being out. this is a dangerous situation and we think that it cannot be the hid lamps themselves, as they come back on again when we recycle the switch. it must be a computer or relay. we have discovered that there are many other prius owners with the same exact issue: see the forum at http://www.hybridcars.com/forums/replacing-headlight-bulb-t910.html . *tr

Head lights and rear lights suddenly went out while driving on the freeway at night. a tractor trailer almost killed me as a result of the light failure. i took the vehicle to the dealer where the vehicle was purchased. they told me to call corporate. " it is not covered under warranty" was the comment made. i called corporate and was given a reference number.200712041057. i was told that someone from the dealer, atlanta toyota would contact me and assist me with this problem. no one has called. the corporate office also stated someone would call. i am still waiting. i will hold toyota liable if i am injured as a result of light failure while driving at night. this is a safety issue and should be addressed immediately!!!!. the dealership, atlanta toyota does not give a ?!@#$% about my safety. they did not offer to repair the problem and randy penland states he " thought it was a relay problem. i also filed a complaint with the customer relations manager carole newcomb. i told them exactly what i am telling you. frankly their response was unacceptable. all they wanted was my money when i purchased it. no customer survive at all. please let them know. needless to say i will not be returning to that dealership. never. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. the contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the driver's side headlight intermittently failed. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the failure was unable to be duplicated. the contact mentioned that the vehicle was taken to the dealer for the same failure on numerous occasions and on one occasion the driver's side headlight was replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure was not corrected. the approximate failure mileage was 29,580 and the current mileage was 132,855. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. while driving approximately 35 mph, the exterior lights on the passenger side lost power. as a result, the contact could only drive with the high beams activated. he stated that the exterior lighting on the passenger side has been losing power intermittently for the past year. the vehicle was driven to the dealer on three occasions. the first two times the mechanic stated that the failure could not be duplicated. on the third visit, the dealer stated that the computer that controls the hid headlights was defective and needed to be replaced. the mechanic also stated that the hid headlamp needed to be replaced. the vehicle has been repaired, but the manufacturer has not been notified. the vin was unavailable. the current mileage was 51,056 and failure mileage was 38,000.

Headlights on 2006 toyota prius intermittently shut off. first right side, than left. once lights shut off, the switch can be turned off and on and thereafter lights will stay on for a short while than shut off again. from my reading on the web, this is not an isolated case, as other owners of the 2006 are having the same identical problem. *tr

Continual problem with headlights on my 2006 prius going out. i took my car into cabe toyota in long beach a few times and they could not find the problem or recreate it. i have been have trouble with it for 6 months , finally on my las vists toyota tech departments told them to check grounding and if not at fault just to replace the lamp assembly now the other headlight s going out randomly. replacing the headlight i do not believe will solve this safety related issue. i am starting to hear that this is a wide spread problem with the 2006 prius, toyota is rather silent on this issue. *tr