2006 TOYOTA PRIUS Complaints

HEADLAMPS NEEDED REPLACEMENT A TOTAL OF 4 TIMES- 2 EACH SIDE. PASSENGER SIDE REPLACED 9/2008, 8/2010; DRIVER'S SIDE REPLACED JUST UNDER 1 YEAR APART: 1/2009, 1/2010. *TR

I'M AMONG THE MANY WHO HAVE DEFECTIVE HIGH INTENSITY HEADLIGHTS IN MY 2006 PRIUS. AROUND 20K MILES I STARTED HAVING PROBLEMS WITH FLICKERING AND INTERMITTENT OUTAGE. THE DEALER WOULDN'T REPLACE THEM FOR FREE AND I COULDN'T AFFORD THE $1000 IT WOULD HAVE COST TO REPLACE. WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT ON A TREACHEROUS COUNTRY ROAD I ALMOST WENT OFF THE ROAD WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT COMPLETELY WHILE ATTEMPTING TO TURN ON THE BRIGHTS. *TR

2006 TOYOTA PRIUS HID HEADLIGHTS STOPS WORKING (TURNS OFF) WILL DRIVING. STARTED OUT WITH THE RIGHT SIDE (PASSENGER SIDE). NOW BOTH SIDES OF THE CARS WILL TURN OFF RANDOMLY. PROBLEM IS AT NIGHT, YOU MUST TURN OFF & ON HEADLIGHT SWITCH FOR THE HID HEADLIGHTS TO COME BACK ON. THIS HAS BEEN AN ON GOING PROBLEM, HAVE REPLACED THE HID HEADLIGHTS BULBS TWICE AND THE ECU HEADLIGHT COMPUTER AND THE PROBLEM STILL PERSIST. *TR

I OWN A 2006 TOYOTA PRIUS. THE HEADLIGHTS HAVE BEEN SHUTTING OFF, SOMETIMES SECONDS AFTER TURNING THEM ON. SOMETIMES THE DRIVERS HEADLIGHT AND OTHERS THE PASSENGERS HEADLIGHT. I'VE EVEN BEEN PULLED OVER BY AN OFFICER , TOLD HIM ABOUT THE ONGOING ISSUE WITH TRYING TO GET TOYOTA TO OWN UP TO IT, AND WAS TOLD THAT HE HAD RUN ACROSS THIS BEFORE. HE LET ME GO WITHOUT AS MUCH AS A WARNING. THIS PROBLEM IS ALL OVER THE INTERNET. TOYOTA REFUSES TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. HELP. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

DRIVING AT NIGHT WITH HEADLIGHTS ON. LEFT HEADLIGHT FLICKERS, A FEW SECONDS LATER THE RIGHT HEADLIGHT GOES DARK. LESS THAN A MINUTE LATER, THE LEFT HEADLIGHT GOES DARK. NO HEADLIGHTS WHILE DRIVING ON HWY 85 IN SAN JOSE. I SLOWED AND THEN CHECKED TO SEE IF THE LIGHT SWITCH WORKED. I TURNED THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH TO OFF, THEN BACK ON AND THE HEADLIGHTS CAME BACK ON. AFTER LESS THAN A MINUTE, THE LIGHTS REPEATED THEIR FAILURE PROCESS AGAIN. I REPEATED THE SWITCH OFF/ON, MULTIPLE TIMES UNTIL I REACHED MY DESTINATION. I CANNOT OPERATE THE VEHICLE WHEN IT IS DARK. *TR

ON MY 2006 TOYOTA PRIUS, THE HEADLIGHTS RANDOMLY SWITCH OFF, SOMETIMES ONE AT A TIME, SOMETIMES BOTH. THE LIGHTS WILL BOTH TURN BACK ON IF I SWITCH THE LIGHTS OFF AND BACK ON. THE LIGHTS SWITCH OFF AGAIN ANYWHERE FROM A FEW MINUTES TO A FEW DAYS AFTER THIS 'RESET.' THE CAR HAD BEEN DRIVEN FOR ONLY 20,000 MILES WHEN THE FIRST INCIDENT OCCURRED. *TR

THE HEADLAMP IN THE 2006 TOYOTA PRIUS WORKED INTERMITTENTLY. I AM UNSURE OF THE DURATION OF THIS BUT SUSPECT IT LASTED FOR APPROXIMATELY SIX MONTHS BEFORE TAKING IT TO A DEALER. THE HEADLAMP APPEARED TO DIM WHILE DRIVING BUT STOPPING AND CHECKING REVEALED THAT THE HEADLAMP WAS WORKING PROPERLY. WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS TURNED OFF AND IMMEDIATELY BACK ON, THE HEADLAMP WORKED. IT WENT OUT WHILE DRIVING AND, JUST AS SUDDENLY, CAME BACK ON. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT THE HID NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. BECAUSE OF THE HIGH LABOR COST TO REMOVE THE BUMPER (APPROXIMATELY $300) FOR HEADLAMP REPLACEMENT, BOTH LAMPS WERE REPLACED AT A COST OF ABOUT $700. I DID NOT ASK FOR THE REPLACED PART AND THE DEALER DID NOT OFFER IT. (THE TRIP TO THE DEALER WAS DELAYED UNTIL ALL OTHER POSSIBILITIES HAD BEEN EXPLORED BECAUSE THE COST INVOLVED.) THE UNSAFE CONDITION OF DRIVING WITH ONE FUNCTIONAL HEADLAMP AND ONE INTERMITTENTLY FUNCTION HEADLAMP WAS NECESSARY UNTIL THE MONEY FOR REPAIRS COULD BE OBTAINED. *TR

TWICE IN ONE WEEK, ON THE HIGHWAY, WITH ONE LED SEGMENT REMAINING ON THE FUEL GAUGE, THE CAR QUIT DEAD AND ROLLED OUT LUCKILY TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. OUT OF FUEL. LOW LEVEL LIGHT CAME ON EACH TIME. GENUINE HASSLES GETTING TO A GAS STATION ON FOOT ON THE INTERSTATE TO GET A CONTAINER OF GAS TO GET RUNNING AGAIN. TWO DIFFERENT TOYOTA SERVICE MANAGERS INSISTED NOTHING IS WRONG WITH THE MEASURING SYSTEM AND THAT ONE SHOULD NEVER TRUST A GAUGE OR ALLOW THE LEVEL TO GET NEAR ZERO. NOT EVEN ONE SEGMENT LOW! NEVER, IN ALL MY YEARS OF DRIVING HAVE I HAD A CAR RUN OUT OF GAS WITH FUEL INDICATED ON THE GAUGE. WE ADDITIONALLY OWN ANOTHER PRIUS (2005) WHICH CAN RUN SAFELY AND NOT QUIT SHORTLY AFTER THE LOW FUEL WARNING COMES ON OR ALL SEGMENTS VANISH. THIS IS UNSAFE AS ONE IS FORCED TO DO EMERGENCY EVASIVE ACTION TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, THEN RISK LIFE WALKING ON THE INTERSTATE. OUR SOLUTION THE LAST FEW YEAR IS NEVER DO WE LET FUEL LEVEL GET BELOW 2 LED SEGMENTS SINCE. *TR

THE HID HEADLIGHTS ON OUR 2006 PRIUS WILL FLICKER OR COMPLETELY TURN OFF WHILE DRIVING. IT HAPPENS SEEMINGLY RANDOMLY,, ONE SIDE WILL GO OUT THE OTHER WILL STAY ON AND VISA VERSA OR BOTH WILL GO OUT AT THE SAME TIME. THERE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ANY CONDITION THAT CAUSES IT TO HAPPEN. IF I TURN THE LIGHT SWITCH OFF AND THEN BACK ON THE LIGHTS WILL COME BACK ON AGAIN, SOMETIMES SECONDS OR MINUTES WILL PASS AND THE LIGHTS WILL FAIL AGAIN. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 TOYOTA PRIUS. WHILE DRIVING AT 65 MPH, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE DRIVER SIDE HEADLIGHT WAS SLIGHTLY DIMMER THAN THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT. THE DRIVER SIDE HEADLIGHT THEN FAILED. AFTER TURNING THE LIGHT SWITCH ON AND OFF, THE HEADLIGHTS RESUMED NORMAL OPERATION. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED BY THE DEALER OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 42,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 45,000.