Please contact Toyota Consumer office 1-800-331-4331 and explain your case. Let them know your problem and that you are aware of other Prius owners with the problem. This should be a recall and so far it has not been. I just had my lights fixed and they tell me Toyota is willing to reimburse me and come to find, it did not cost that much. I said I did not trust the dealer with these quotes. The actual charge was half the original estimate. So far, I have not received reimbursement although I expect to file for it as soon as I receive written agreement. I have also registered online with safecar.gov and filed a complaint for a recall. Not sure if it will happen. It is certainly not ok to charge owners this kind of repair cost. No headlamp is worth $400 a piece plus installation. I was also told to call the consumer office from the dealer which tells me they know more than they are telling up front. Good luck and let me know how it goes.

 

I you are having Prius headlight problems too, please call Toyota consumer office at 1-800-331-4331 and let them know exactly what is going on and that you are aware of others with the same problem. I was told they would reimburse me although I have yet to file for the reimbursement. Just had it fixed. Ask for the approval in writing. Hope I did not jump too quick. I needed the lights fixed asap as I commute daily and sometimes before and after dark. Plead your case. I also filed a complaint with safecar.gov to request a recall. Interesting cost was half the extimated quote. I was told the price on bulbs dropped??? Oh well, best of luck and please let us know your results. Connie

 

Sorry for the repetition in the threads, I am new at this......

 

Since I would never choose to have HID headlights due to the expense, I'll leave that question for others.This one I can answer. If you don't have a digital volt meter:

1. Put your Prius into Accessory mode (press power without touching the brake).
2. Put your MFD into Maintenance mode.
   • press and hold the INFO button on the dash
   • turn the lights on and off 3 or 4 times
3. In the menus that appear look for "signals"
4. You 12v voltage will show up and should read between 12 and 12.2 (below 12 is either a bad or a discharged 12v battery)
5. Now turn on the lights. The voltage should decrese slightly, but not below 12v again.
6. Now Press the brakes and press power to go into "ready" mode. The voltage should jump to about 14v as the battery is being charged. Below 13.5 is bad as the battery will nevr get charged up. Above 14.2 is bad as it will cook the battery over time.
7. Turning your car off resets back to normal use.

JeffD

 

I just had the right HID lamp replaced in my '06 Prius (at exakatikly 50,000 miles). I also was experiencing the problem described by jcampbell (original post) with the light going out and then coming back on when the switch was turned off and then turned back on.

My dealer diagnosed the problem as a HID lamp in the process of going dead and replaced the bulb. The problem seems fixed. The cost: $180 for the bulb and $135 for labor.

I knew these were expensive lights when I bought the car. The option package ran me something like $500 but I wanted these lights because I'm getting older and often have difficulty seeing well at night with conventional lights. My old '99 Taurus was particularly bad in this regard. The HID lights handily solved the issue for me, so, I have to say that in my case, they're worth it. But they ARE expensive. I don't have any real complaints, but I wouldn't recommend these lights unless you actually need them.

 

TOYOTA CALLED AND SAID THEY WILL PAY THE DEALER DIRECTLY AND THERE WILL BE NO OUT OF POCKET COST TO ME!!!!! ----- I have a 2007 Prius with 42k miles on it. My headlights have been going on and off for a while now. I recently got a fix it ticket in California so I took the car to the dealer. Guess what? Not under warranty! Both HID lights need to be replaced for a total of $450. I left the car at the dealer and called Toyota at 800-3331-4331. They opened a case file for me. The next day a case worker called me and told me that they would pay the parts and I would cover the labor. (they would reimburse me) I told her I did not have the $450 and would have to wait to do the repair. She told me she would check to see if they could pay the dealer directly and call me back. Within a few minutes, the dealer called me and said Toyota is paying for the repair and my car will be ready tomorrow. Right after that TOYOTA CALLED AND SAID THEY WILL PAY THE DEALER DIRECTLY AND THERE WILL BE NO OUT OF POCKET COST TO ME!!!!! I still love my Prius! Toyota came thru for me. I was ready for a fight, but did not have to at all!

 

I have been communicating the intermittent outages - one or the other, or both going out while driving, but coming back on if I turn the headlights off, the back on - to my local Toyota Service staff for the last two scheduled maintenance visits (40,000 miles last time), filed a complaint with Toyota and the NHTSA, since this problem happens while driving, at night. Toyota told me to work with my local Service Manager, and now, a couple of phone calls and emails later, I have an appointment, tomorrow, to have both HID capsules replaced, at no cost! Thank you, Toyota team - this is what I have come to expect from you.

 

Fixing this problem will be more important with the 2010 Prius. It comes with either HID or LED headlights. If they don't get it fixed, the resulting recalls would be terribly expensive.

Bob Wilson

 

I have a 2007 Prius 30,000 miles about 2 years old, with the headlight going out while driving down the road or just sitting at rest. It started with the passagner side head light about two months ago. Now both lights are droping out. Was pulled over this morning by the police. Luckly I had a toyota business card with a appointment to get them fixed for tomorrow. The person at the toyota dealship that took my information told me they were not having any problems with the headlights?????? Lucky I checked into your site. If they try and charge me for this repaire I will be writing my congressman and writing toyota and list my complaints on any web site I can fine. However if they resolve the problem under warrenty I will be their best add, for the prius. This has been the only problem I have had with the car. I love it otherwise, it's been a great car.

 

I had the same problem with passenger headlight not working intermittently. I took it to the dealer for repair. No problems. Covered by warranty. They replace both headlights and the computer component. No hassles at all.
07 and at the time about 35k miles.