2004 TOYOTA PRIUS Complaints

HEADLIGHTS WOULD RANDOMLY GO OUT COMPLETELY AND WOULD VERY QUICKLY HAVE TO TURN THEM OFF AND THEN BACK ON TO GET THEM TO WORK. THIS DID NOT HAPPEN VERY OFTEN BUT THEY DID OCCUR UNEXPECTEDLY AND CAUSED EXTREMELY UNSAFE CONDITIONS WHILE DRIVING. ADDITIONALLY, THE HEADLIGHTS WOULD BARELY ILLUMINATE THE ROAD AT NIGHT ALL THE TIME WHILE DRIVING IN ALL CONDITIONS AND ON ALL ROADS, AND THE AREA THEY ILLUMINATED WAS ONLY A VERY SHORT DISTANCE IN FRONT OF THE CAR SO THIS ALSO CREATED UNSAFE CONDITIONS AT ALL TIMES. TO COMPENSATE I WOULD TURN ON THE HIGH BEAMS AND THEN THE PROPER AREA OF THE ROAD WOULD BE ILLUMINATED. THIS MADE ME HAVE TO SWITCH FROM LOW TO HIGH BEAM ON A REGULAR BASIS AND WAS EXTREMELY DISTRACTING HAVING TO DO SO WHENEVER AN ONCOMING CAR APPROACHED! I RECENTLY PAID ABOUT $350-375 TO HAVE THEM RELAMPED AND THAT HELPED BUT ONLY A VERY SMALL AMOUNT. THIS IS STILL A BIG PROBLEM AND MAKES ME NOT WANT TO DRIVE THIS CAR AT NIGHT!!! *TR

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM: THE H.I.D. HEADLIGHTS ON MY 2004 PRIUS FAILS UNEXPECTEDLY (THEY TURN OFF RANDOMLY, ON THEIR OWN). THIS PROBLEM AFFECTS MAINLY THE RIGHT HEADLIGHT. THE RIGHT HEADLIGHT FAILS VERY FREQUENTLY (HUNDREDS OF TIMES DURING THE LAST 12 MONTHS). THE LEFT HEADLIGHT FAILS SPORADICALLY (LESS THAN 10 TIMES DURING THE LAST 6 MONTHS). THIS ISSUE AFFECTS BOTH LOW BEAM AND HIGH BEAM HEADLAMPS SIMULTANEOUSLY. WHEN A HEADLIGHT FAILS, I TURN OFF THE LIGHTS THEN I TURN THEM BACK ON. THIS BRINGS BACK THE LIGHTS. THEN THE FAILURE OCCURS UNEXPECTEDLY AFTER SECONDS, MINUTES, OR HOURS. THIS ISSUE HAS OCCURRED WHILE MY VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY, IN MOTION, ON A CITY STREET OR A HIGHWAY, TURNING, BRAKING, ETC. THIS ISSUE ALSO OCCURS REGARDLESS OF ROAD CONDITIONS (SMOOTH FLAT ROADS & SPEED BUMPS / POTHOLES) OR WEATHER CONDITIONS (SUNNY, RAINY, SNOWY, WARM & COLD OUTSIDE TEMPERATURES). THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN, ESPECIALLY WHEN DRIVING NIGHT TIME ON COMPLETELY UNLIT ROADS.

RIGHT HID HEADLAMP INTERMITTENTLY GOES OUT WHILE DRIVING AND DOES NOT GO BACK ON. HOWEVER, WHEN YOU SWITCH THE HEADLIGHT TOGGLE SWITCH OFF THEN ON AGAIN, RIGHT HID HEADLAMP GOES BACK ON. WHILE DRIVING FOR A DISTANCE OF 120 MILES LAST NIGHT, THIS HAPPENED 6 TIMES ON BOTH CITY AND HIGHWAY AND ROAD CONDITIONS IE. BUMPS ETC IS NOT A FACTOR SINCE IT HAPPENS ON A SMOOTH PAVED HIGHWAY AS WELL. THE OUTAGE CAN OCCUR A FEW MINUTES AFTER TURNING THE TOGGLE HEADLAMP SWITCH ON OR IT CAN STAY ON FOR 20 MILES THEN OUT AGAIN. SINCE THE CAR IS NEVER LEFT IDLING WITH THE HEADLAMPS ON, IT IS UNKNOWN WHETHER RIGHT HEADLAMP WILL GO OUT WHILE PARKED. HAVE READ IN THE PRIUS CHAT SITE THAT MANY OTHER DRIVERS HAVE EXPERIENCED SIMILAR PROBLEM AND DESPITE THE DEALER REPLACING THE HID BULB OR EVEN THE ENTIRE HEADLAMP ASSEMBLY WHICH IS OVER $1,100 THE PROBLEMS WERE NEVER FULLY RESOLVED. PLEASE REFER TO: HTTP://PRIUSCHAT.COM/THREADS/HEADLIGHT-PROBLEM.34584/

DRIVER'S SIDE HEADLIGHT WAS INTERMITTENT. I COULD JIGGLE THE SWITCH AND IT WOULD COME ON. THIS OCCURRED STATIONARY AND MOVING. I HAVE REPLACE THE HID BULB TWICE WITH SYLVANIA D2R. THE HEADLIGHT DOES NOT WORK NOW. DEALER WILL CHARGE OVER $500 FOR HEADLIGHT AND BALLAST REPAIRS--HIGHWAY ROBBERY. THIS PROBLEM STARTED AUGUST 2014.

THE LEFT HEADLIGHT HAS BEEN GOING OFF WHILE DRIVING. I'VE GOT THE 'SAFETY' PACKAGE #7 WITH SPECIAL HID HEADLIGHTS. WHEN I TURN THE LIGHTS OFF AND ON AGAIN, IT COMES BACK ON FOR AWHILE. TWO NIGHTS AGO BOTH HEADLIGHTS WENT OUT WHILE DRIVING. VERY SCARY! I WAS ON AN ON RAMP AND COULDN'T SEE AT ALL. THEY BOTH CAME BACK ON AFTER I TURNED THE SWITCH OFF AND THEN ON.

HEADLIGHTS TURN OFF WHEN DRIVING FOR ABOUT HALF AN HOUR. I HAVE TO TURN THE HEADLIGHTS OFF THEN BACK ON SO THEY CAN START WORKING AGAIN. I DO SEE THIS TO BE A SAFETY ISSUE SINCE I DRIVE OUT OF TOWN OFTEN AND USE THE FREEWAY MOST OF THE TIME AND IT IS JUST VERY HARD FOR ME TO BE TURNING ON AND OFF THE HEADLIGHTS AT A HIGH SPEED. THIS HAS OCCURRED SEVERAL TIMES AND IT'S NOT SAFE AT ALL. THIS HAPPENS AT ANY SPEED USUALLY WITHIN THE FIRST 30 MINUTES AND IT CONTINUOUSLY TURNS OFF.

WE'VE NOTICED THIS PROBLEM ONLY A FEW TIMES IN THE CAR SINCE WE'VE OWNED IT. THAT'S BEEN ABOUT 3 YEARS. WE SELDOM DRIVE AT NIGHT BUT WHENEVER WE HAVE IT'S ALWAYS BEEN AN ISSUE. USUALLY JUST THE LEFT GOES OUT AND RESETTING THE LIGHTS BROUGHT IT BACK ON. THIS PAST WEEK THE SAME THING STARTED TO HAPPEN AND RESETTING IT WORKED A FEW TIMES BUT THEN BOTH HEADLIGHTS WENT OUT AND RESETTING THE SWITCH DID NOTHING. THANKFULLY DAWN WAS ON THE WAY AND WITH THE FOG LIGHTS ON WE JUST KEPT GOING. ONCE I FELT COMFORTABLE TURNING THE LIGHTS OFF COMPLETELY AND AFTER WAITING 3-5 MINUTES WITH THE SWITCH OFF I TRIED THE LIGHTS AND THEY CAME BACK ON. THERE IS DEFINITELY A PROBLEM WITH SOMETHING; MAYBE AN OVERHEAT ISSUE WITH THE BULBS, WIRING OR CONTROL BOX. THIS IS A HUGE DEAL. IF WE'D BEEN DRIVING INTO THE DARKNESS INSTEAD OF DAWN COULD EASILY HAVE HAD AN ACCIDENT.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 TOYOTA PRIUS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE COMBINATION METER FAILED, WHICH CAUSED THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND DASHBOARD LIGHTS TO NOT ILLUMINATE WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS STARTED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS INTERMITTENT. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO BE DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 170,000. ...UPDATED 02/19/16 *BF

AT AROUND 145,000 MILES THE RIGHT (PASSENGER) HEADLIGHT STARTED TURNING OFF RANDOMLY. IT WOULD COME BACK ON WHILE DRIVING IF I TURNED MY HEADLIGHTS OFF AND BACK ON. FREQUENCY HAS INCREASED OVER THE LAST 10,000 MILES. RECENTLY, THE LEFT HEADLIGHT WENT OUT WHILE ON THE FREEWAY AND THE RIGHT WAS ALREADY OUT, LEAVING ME WITH NO HEADLIGHTS. I HAD TO FLICK THEM ON AND OFF MULTIPLE TIMES AND FLICK THE BRIGHTS MULTIPLE TIMES TO GET THEM TO TURN BACK ON. I HAD NO HEADLIGHTS FOR AT LEAST 30 SECONDS WHILE ON THE HIGHWAY- THOUGH IN AN URBAN AREA WHERE OTHER LIGHTS ALLOWED ME TO SEE. TWICE, I HAVE BEEN LEFT WITHOUT HEADLIGHTS WHILE ON THE ROAD- ONCE ON THE HIGHWAY AND ONCE AT A STOP LIGHT (TURNING MY CAR OFF AND THEN BACK ON REVIVED THE LIGHTS).

HEADLIGHTS INTERMITTENTLY FLICKER AND SHUT OFF. IF HEADLIGHTS ARE TURNED OFF THEN BACK ON, BOTH HEADLIGHTS WILL WORK AGAIN. PROBLEM HAPPENS WHILE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION, AS WELL AS WHEN PARKED. THIS HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT, ON RURAL/POORLY LIT ROADS, AS WELL AS HIGHWAYS. USUALLY IT IS ONE LIGHT OR THE OTHER THAT GOES OFF, BUT ABOUT 5 DIFFERENT TIMES BOTH LIGHTS HAVE GONE OFF AT THE SAME TIME WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT. ONE OF THESE INCIDENTS RESULTED IN A TRAFFIC STOP BY A POLICE OFFICER, WHO PROMPTLY ISSUED ME A TICKET FOR DRIVING WITH NO HEADLIGHTS ON. BOTH HEADLIGHT BULBS HAVE BEEN REPLACED; ALL FUSES HAVE BEEN CHECKED AND/OR REPLACED;12V BATTERY REPLACED - NONE OF WHICH HAS SOLVED THE PROBLEM.