38 problems related to headlight switch have been reported for the 2004 Toyota Prius. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2004 Toyota Prius based on all problems reported for the 2004 Prius.
Headlight go out daily and happens while driving at night from work, they turn back on switch on and off.
When driving on the interstate in the dark, both my headlights went out. Luckily they came back on after I turned the switch off and back on.
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!!!.
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. . Read more...
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.
Headlamp fails intermittently. Usually corrected by switching the headlight switch off and then back on. Sometimes this does not correct the problem.
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.
Headlights (hid) intermittently go out regardless of speed or road conditions. Turning the light switch they come on again and it randomly occurs making driving dangerous. I have replaced the headlights yet the incident reoccurs randomly making it necessary to turn the lights completely out then on again.
Both headlights would cycle on and off. Turning the headlights off and on with the switch would make them both come on. Unpredictable how long before each headlight would turn off, but they are not in sync turning off and on.
Both headlights suddenly went dark. My wife and I are about 95% sure the entire dash went dark as well. We stopped and toggled the headlight switch, and everything came back on. The dealership recommended replacing the "high intensity discharge" headlights, but they do not know why the dash would have gone dark.
The right headlight keeps going out and after we turn the switch back and forth it goes back on. This past weekend in a driving rain storm at night, the lights went completely out on a windy mountain road. I flicked them on and off several times and they would go on and then go out shortly afterwards. Neither dim or bright would work. I ended up having to pull the bright signal on the column back manually and hold it while driving the last 45 minutes to home. It was very dangerous for about 20 miles in the rain at night the lights going in and out on curves or against on coming traffic, a head-on could have occurred easily.
Hid headlights turning off repeatedly, will go out randomly having nothing to do with movement, on time, the light will come back on if switch is turned off then on again but lights are unreliable. Condition is obviously dangerous during night, fog or poor road conditions. Random turning off has kept re-occurring until present time, where light will persist on for only a few minutes at a time. Toyota dealer wants 1,000 or more to repair, while light bulb only costs less than 50 dollars on amazon, stating the defect may have to do with a fuse and or ballast.
Both headlights go out without warning frequently now. The immediate remedy seems to be to turn switch off and on again to restore them. This has recently become a regular problem as I drive at night. Thankfully the 'fog lamps' are functional and now I am sure to have them switched on in addition to regular headlights so that I am still visible to other drivers.
Headlights go out randomly and only come back on by turning light switch off than on. Replaced bulb and problem continues.
2004 Toyota Prius has 160,000 miles. The left headlight has been failing intermittently for about a week. Two nights ago, on a dark road, the entire set of front headlights, fog lamps, all suddenly went off. I am happy to say the hazards were functional, because no amount of turning the switch at the stalk would bring the lights back. I pulled car over and turned it off. I had driven approximately 50 miles with them on prior to the event. I let the vehicle rest with power off for approx 5 minutes and the lights were working normally, and continued without further problems for the last 25 miles of my drive home. There are a great many registered complaints about this particular issue. I feel it is indeed a safety issue and would appreciate some help in getting Toyota to take a look at the root of this problem. Please.
The driver's side hid headlight, intermittently, unpredictably and inexplicably shuts off. It will occasionally return to service on its own, but usually requires a cycling of the light's power switch before full function is restored. After which, the length of time before the light shuts off again varies from a few seconds to not at all. After researching this issue, it seems to be a rather systemic problem with the 2004-2009 Prius. Obviously, the situation this condition creates is unsafe at best, can place me personally in an unexpected illegal position - and (should both lights go out together, as some have reported) could quite possibly be life threatening. For the safety of the driving public, I would strongly urge NHTSA to investigate this issue. Toyota must take responsibility for their design flaw, and engineer a resolution to this problem.
Headlights went out on my 2004 Toyota Prius while driving down i84 in new york. At night! flipped switches and turned on and off and they went back on. Had I been on a dark back road who knows what could have happened. Why!.
Car: 2004 Toyota Prius problem: intermittent failure of both headlights while driving. Last night while driving along an unlit country road, both headlights failed simultaneously. After stopping the vehicle the lights came back on by turning on and off the headlamps using the stalk mounted switch. This is a very dangerous situation, many others have had the same problem. See the Toyota recall website and try this search, "trouble shooting Prius hid bulb and hid ecu", and you will get this result,"found: 62255 results for "trouble shooting Prius hid bulb and hid ecu". But the site only allows you to see and access 45 other "other results", that are very generic and talk about other Toyota models. Why can't the public see the 62,255 search results. . Read more...
Headlights would go out, but come back on. At first, it was only one headlight, but one evening, when one headlight went out, I switched to high beams and both went out. I pulled off the road, turned the car off and back on and the lights worked for about twenty minutes. Dealer had replaced bulbs previously. On August 19, dealer replaced headlamp systems at a very high cost. Manufacturer sent me a check to repay part of this, when I complained. Now, tonight, December 22, 2010, driver side headlight does not come on, except for a brief flash when locking or unlocking the doors.
Intermittent headlight failure on my 2004 Toyota Prius. It first happened around 67,000 miles when both headlights went out at once (at night!). Flicking the switch did make them come back on. After that, the failure has been increasing, mainly with the passenger side headlight. Turning the switch no longer always works to turn the light back on. I can;t always tell that it is off if they are on for me to me seen (such as in rain) rather than to allow me to see. This is incredibly dangerous. I can;t drive the car at night reliably now and what about in rain (which is not as easily predictable as "day/night")? this is clearly not a rare occurrence. Toyota needs to step up here. By the way, I've already had to spend $800 to fix my multifunction display which failure is also well documented.
Both headlights went out on narrow winding roads at night. Almost crashed into tree. I turned the switch back off and than on and lights came back on. Since than, the right headlamp goes on and off at night and sometimes both go out. The dealer says it will cost over $1000 to fix. I have read many complaints. Am I entitled to some kind of help? my wife will take the car on occasion and it has happened to her. Is there a recall? I don't think it is a light issue if they go back on what is being done about this?.
This is an update to the complaint I filed on 2008/10/14, odi 10253642 about Prius hid headlight failure. Since that incident I have had the driver and passenger side bulbs replaced four times and swapped left-for-right for diagnosis twice. Even with those new bulbs, which my dublin, CA, Toyota dealer swears are the newer, "good" bulbs, the headlights always have failed again within one to four weeks. Actually, those are the intervals at which I have *noticed* the failures, but I'm sure the bulbs failed sooner than that, because sometimes it's hard to tell while driving, and the lights always relight when switched off and on. There would have been even more replacements and failures, but I have delayed taking the car in for repair until I could drive into the dealership while the light was out, as proof that it has failed. It's obvious to me and every other Prius owner that the bulbs are either not the problem or at least not the only problem--the electronic control module undoubtedly also or instead is faulty. Toyota corporate continues to refuse to acknowledge the severity, persistence, and breadth of the problem. Yesterday the dealer repeated the left-for-right swap because "Toyota corporate demands that diagnostic procedure. " but the dealer admitted that no more information will be gained than was gained the last time they swapped left for right, when the light worked there at the dealer, but failed on me subsequently (the same-side headlight with the swapped bulb). They are simply avoiding the expense and liability of replacing the control computer.
Hid headlights on 2004 Toyota Prius go out intermittently while driving without any warning. Turning switch on/off will turn them back on. Both have gone out creating extremely dangerous situation.
Hid headlight on 2004 Toyota Prius is intermittent. Goes off at random times when selected on. Comes back on by switching headlights off and back on. Headlight went off 7 times in a 30 mile trip.
I wrote this agency a few months ago regarding my 2004 Toyota Prius and the problems I was having with headlights alternating on/off. Turning the light switch on/off would turn it back on. Three or four months ago both lights started going out at the same time. Turning the light switch on/off intermittently 5-9 times makes them turn back on. So far I have had this happen to me 3 times within the last week traveling 40-55 miles an hour. I have just read that you guys stopped your investigation. How many accidents or deaths do you need before anything is done about this. When headlights burn out they don't come back on. This is obviously an electrical or computer glitch that Toyota has to be aware of. In all my years of driving, I have never had an experience as that of everything going dark and just having to hit the brakes. Luckily when it happened last night the car behind us saw our brake lights and came to a safe stop. They flashed their headlights not knowing why our car was stopped in the middle of the road. I request a reply to this complaint since no one contacted me on my prior complaint. Thank you.
Headlights turn off spontaneously, must be restarted by turning switch on and off.
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.
Driver side headlight failure. Spontaneously goes out. Will come back when switch off and on.
I have a 2004 Toyota Prius and the headlights go off without warning and this happens a lot. If I turn the switch to off and then back on the lights will work again but sometimes they go off again after a few minutes. This is very dangerous.
The headlights on my 2004 Prius intermittently go off. It is corrected by turning the switch off, then back on.
Beginning at about 60,000 miles one of the headlights on my 2004 Toyota Prius began to fail intermittently. Switching the lights off and on seemed to temporarily fix the problem. Now at 100k miles both headlights are failing, leaving me driving in the dark until I turn the light knob on and off several times. The lights are now failing every time I drive at night and several times per trip.
Headlights will go out intermittently. Either side will fail. If you turn the light switch to "off" and then back "on" the lights will come back on. No particular amount of on time or bumps in road cause the failure. Bulbs are hid type. Dealer wants over $630 to replace bulbs. Non dealer mechanic advised that it may be something other than the bulb, possibly the hid controller. Dealer is the only source and very expensive. This is a major safety issue, these are the headlights. This failure now happens every time the car is driven with the headlights on, varies from 5 minutes to an hour after the car is started. This has been going on for about 3 months. I have seen on line that other Prius owners are experiencing the exact same problem. No solutions have been presented.
I own a 2004 Toyota Prius. I just paid $332. 50 to have my 2 headlights' hib bulbs replaced - and that didn't include the parts cost because I provided the hid bulbs from an online auto parts supplier. The symptoms were the same as noted by so many other Prius owners: frequent loss of light from the headlight, and recovery by rotating the light switch off then on again. . . Only to have it re-occur a few minutes later. Each headlight had its own pattern of inconsistency, but both had the dysfunction. I have received two traffic citations for driving with a headlight out. The dealerships in glen burnie, maryland and in laurel, maryland both quoted me a price for one hid bulb of $351. 02 I was able to find the exact bulb online at partsquick. Com for a price of $57. 27 that's right, the dealership wanted to charge me $293. 75 more per bulb. I purchased two online, which - with free shipping - cost me $114. 54 for both. Do the math. . . For two light bulbs only (not counting labor) online I saved $587. 50 had I not purchased the bulbs online, the total out-of-pocket to replace both headlamp bulbs would have been: $ 702. 04 parts ($351. 02 x 2) $ 332. 50 labor $1,034. 54 total the dealership told me they couldn't guarantee that the bulbs were the problem, nor that replacing the bulbs would solve the problem, but that Toyota instructs them to replace the bulbs first. This is insane, and certainly unsafe.
2004 Toyota Prius has had headlight replacements five (5) times on the passenger side and now has the same problem on the driver side. 2006 Toyota Prius has had both sides replaced. Both cars suffer from intermittent operation which can be temporarily recovered by turning the headlight switch off then back on. All Toyota wants to do is replace bulbs when the bulb obviously is not the problem. I am sure they are being disingenuous with customers in an attempt to postpone the inevitable. It is way past time for a recall - please!.
Hid headlights go off intermittently while driving. Headlights can be reset by turning healight switch to off and back on again. A search of the NHTSA and other websites demonstrate that this same problem is widespread for several year models of Prius autos. The dealer estimates to replace the headlight bulbs is about $1000 per headlight, making this a serious problem because people will seek lower cost remedies which are not safe. Toyota thus far has not officially recognized or attempted to address this issue. Since a total loss of lighting can occur at anytime with serious consequences, a recall should be performed to correct this issue before fatalities occur.