2004 TOYOTA PRIUS Complaints

2004 TOYOTA PRIUS. DRIVING AT 70 MPH ON I-57 NORTH. WHILE DRIVING THE GASOLINE ENGINE STOPPED FUNCTIONING, TRIGGERING SEVERAL WARNING LIGHTS. I PULLED THE CAR OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY AND MANAGED TO EXIT THE HIGHWAY ON BATTERY POWER. THERE WAS A RECALL IN 2005 FOR A SIMILAR CONDITION. MY PRIUS HAD THE RECALL WORK PERFORMED IN OCTOBER 2005 FOR THE SOFTWARE PROBLEM. THE TOYOTA DEALER IS UNABLE TO FIND ANY REASON FOR THE PROBLEM AND CAN NOT REPLICATE THE ENGINE FAILURE. AS A RESULT, THEY WILL NOT PERFORM ANY FURTHER INVESTIGATION OR MAINTENANCE ON THE VEHICLE FOR THIS PROBLEM. I HAVE A CASE PENDING WITH TOYOTA CUSTOMER CARE, BUT DO NOT EXPECT ANY FURTHER ASSISTANCE FROM THEM. I AM ALSO BEING CHARGED LABOR FOR THE DEALER TO INSPECT THE VEHICLE. THERE WAS NO FIRE OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, BUT IF I HAD NOT BEEN IN THE RIGHT HAND LANE, I VERY WELL COULD HAVE BEEN IN A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. SUDDENLY LOOSING POWER AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS IS UNACCEPTABLE. IF THEY ARE UNABLE TO REMEDY THE SITUATION, I WILL BE RETURNING THE VEHICLE TO THEM. *TR

HID LIGHTS FAIL IN MY 2004 PRIUS AND HAVE FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW - INTERMITTENTLY WITH NO WARNING. AT TIMES, BOTH LIGHTS FAIL AT THE SAME TIME, LEAVING ME ON A DARK ROAD UNEXPECTEDLY. I HAVE ONE REPLACED AT THE DEALER, ONLY TO HAVE IT FAIL AGAIN. THIS IS CLEARLY A SAFETY ISSUE. HUNDREDS OF THESE HAVE BEEN REPORTED. *TR

BOTH HEADLIGHTS TURN OFF INTERMITTENTLY AND TWICE BOTH HAVE GONE OUT AT THE SAME TIME WHILE DRIVING. THERE WAS NO WARNING. TO REPLACE ONE HEADLIGHT, TOYOTA OF MELBOURNE TOLD ME IT WOULD BE OVER $600 (LABOR NOT INCLUDED). (BULB AND HARNESS) *TR

AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF USE, THE HEADLIGHTS, MOST OFTEN THE RIGHT, BUT SOMETIMES ALSO THE LEFT, SPONTANEOUSLY TURN OFF. THIS HAPPENS ABOUT EVERY 15 MINUTES WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT. WE HAVE TO TURN OFF THE LIGHTS AND TURN THEM BACK ON TO GET THEM TO LIGHT AGAIN. THIS SOMETIMES DOES NOT WORK, AND WE ARE STUCK FOR A SOME TIME ON THE FREEWAY WITHOUT HEADLIGHTS. PEOPLE ON FORUMS SAY IT WILL LIKELY COST $1000 - $1800 TO REPAIR, WHICH WE CANNOT AFFORD. *TR

2004 TOYOTA PRIUS. BOTH HID HEADLIGHTS WILL OCCASIONALLY TURN OFF LIKE THE BULB BURNS OUT, BUT IF YOU TURN OFF THE HEADLIGHTS AND TURN THEM BACK ON IT TURNS ON AGAIN. MOSTLY RIGHT HEADLIGHT, BUT OCCASSIONALLY THE LEFT WILL DO THIS. NOT A LOOSE CONNECTION. ACTS LIKE A RELAY IS TRIPPING ON OVERTEMPERATURE OR OVERCURRENT AND RESETTING ITSELF AFTER THE HEADLIGHTS ARE TURNED OFF. THIS HAS BEEN OCCURRING IN MY CAR SINCE I PURCHASED IT IN MARCH 2007. TOOK IT TO REPAIRMAN, BUT IT WAS GOING TO COST OVER $2000 TO REPLACE A CIRCUIT BOARD AND HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY. I DON'T HAVE THAT MONEY AND FROM WHAT I'VE READ ON PRIUS OWNERS WEBSITES THIS IS A COMMON ISSUE. *TR

DRIVER SIDE HEADLIGHT GOES OUT INTERMITTENTLY. SOMETIMES TURNING THE CAR OFF AND BACK ON SOLVES IT. NOW, THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT IS OUT. LAST NIGHT, THE PASSENGER SIDE WAS OUT, SO I SWITCHED TO HIGH BEAMS. THAT TURNED OFF BOTH HEADLIGHTS! I WAS ON A LONG, DARK WINDING ROAD, UNDER TREES, SO HAD NO AMBIENT LIGHT. THE HEADLIGHT CONNECTION HAS BEEN FIXED TWICE BY THE DEALER. *TR

PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT FLICKERS VERY DIMLY. I JUST NOTICED IT TODAY, ON MY MOTHER'S PRIUS. DID SOME RESEARCH, AND WAS AMAZED AT THE COST TO HAVE THE DEALER FIX THIS. IF IT WAS JUST THE COST OF THE BULB ITSELF, I COULD SWALLOW THE RATHER LARGE $130 PRICE (AT KRAGEN) AND DO IT MYSELF, BUT THE NOTES HERE, AND ON MANY OTHER SITES INDICATE THAT BULB REPLACE SOMETIMES FIXES THE PROBLEM (FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME), AND AT OTHER TIMES, IT DOES NOTHING. I WOULD HATE TO THROW $130 DOWN THE TOILET. THE PRIMARY ISSUE THOUGH, IS THAT THE HEADLIGHT GOES DIM/OUT INTERMITTENTLY, WITHOUT WARNING OR PATTERN, AND THERE IS NO WAY TO RELIABLY GET IT RE-LIT. I DON'T FEEL SAVE ASKING MY 69 YEAR OLD MOTHER TO TURN THE HEADLIGHTS ON AND OFF IF IT'S DARK OUT SIDE (AND IF IT'S NOT DARK, HOW WOULD YOU KNOW IT WAS WORKING OR NOT). I AGREE, IT DOES SOUND LIKE A DEFECT AS MANY MANY PEOPLE ARE HAVING THE ISSUE, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. HOW LONG MUST WE WANT BEFORE SOME ACTION IS TAKEN BY THE NHTSA? *TR

LEFT HEADLIGHT OF MY TOYOTA PRIUS 2004 WILL TURN OFF WITH NO APPARENT CAUSE, YOU CAN TURN OFF THE LIGHTS AND IMMEDIATELY TURN ON AND IT WILL COME BACK ON AGAIN, THIS ACTION IS DANGEROUS SPECIALLY DRIVING AT NIGHT SINCE YOU?LL HAVE TO BRIEFLY DRIVE WITHOUT THE LIGHTS ON. THIS ISSUE HAS A NON-HARMONIC FREQUENCY BUT IT JUST KEEPS REPEATING, SOMETIMES ON A TRIP FOR 10 MILES IT CAN GO OFF UP TO 5 TIMES AND SOME OTHER TIMES ON THE SAME TRIP IT WILL NOT GO OFF. BY NOW THE FAILURE HASN'T?T BEEN CORRECTED SINCE DEALER WILL CHARGE OVER $1500 TO FIX IT, WHICH I DON'T AGREE TO PAY SINCE THIS IS THEIR FAILURE. *TR

LEFT HEADLIGHT WILL TURN OFF WITH NO APPARENT CAUSE. YOU CAN TURN OFF THE LIGHTS AND IMMEDIATELY TURN ON AND IT WILL COME BACK ON AGAIN. THERE DOESN'T APPEAR TO BE ANYTHING THAT TRIGGERS. DANGEROUS WHEN DRIVING AT NIGHT SINCE YOU HAVE TO BRIEFLY DRIVE WITHOUT THE LIGHTS ON .. TO TURN OFF AND BACK ON AGAIN. WHEN SPOKE TO DEALER ABOUT REPLACING WAS QUOTED $600... "BECAUSE WE HAVE TO REMOVE THE FRONT BUMPER TO GET TO THE HEADLIGHT" (TOYOTA DESIGN FLAW?) BUT THE BULB ITSELF COSTS $400!! THIS FIRST STARTED OCCURRING IN JANUARY 2008 AND WE "LIVED WITH IT" FOR A YEAR BEFORE SPENDING THE $558.15 THAT IT COST TO REPLACE THE ONE BULB IN FEBRUARY 2009. WE WERE PROMPTED TO DO SO ESPECIALLY SINCE OUR DAUGHTER WAS LEARNING TO DRIVE AND WE COULD NOT ALLOW HER TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS SAFETY ISSUE. THE LIGHT IS WORKING PROPERLY NOW, BUT I AM NOT CONVINCED THAT IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN ...IF THE BULB WAS THE PROBLEM YOU WOULDN'T THINK TURNING IT OFF AND THEN IMMEDIATELY BACK ON WOULD FIX IT TEMPORARILY. WHEN I SPOKE TO TOYOTA TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE COST AND APPARENT DEFECT THEY GAVE ME NO INDICATION THAT THIS WAS A REPORTED PROBLEM. SHE MADE IT SEEM LIKE I WAS THE ONLY CASE.. DECEITFUL I THINK. AFTER SEARCHING ONLINE I DISCOVERED ON MY OWN THAT THIS WAS A KNOWN PROBLEM THAT MANY OTHERS HAD. *TR

THE HEADLIGHTS ON MY 2004 PRIUS KEEP GOING ON AND OFF. TOYOTA WILL NOT COVER THESE UNDER WARRANTY AND CHANGE $875 TO REPLACE 1 BULB. *TR