Headlights problems of the 2004 Toyota Prius - part 1

My left headlight goes off but if I turn the headlights back off and back on it comes back on. The headlight is not burned out. This happens while on the freeway in the dark while raining. This happens intermittently and not all the time.

The passenger side headlight goes out while operating the vehicle. It begins to operate again after turning headlights off and on again. This happens multiple times during vehicle operation in a single drive. For example, three times today within 15 minutes. The headlight was replaced within the last 6 months, but we now believe it is a systemic issue, unrelated to the bulb assembly, because it has occurred with two bulbs in a row. This occurred both when the vehicle is in motion and when stationary (idling).

Over the past few months my headlights would randomly turn off while I'm driving. Sometimes it's one head light, other times it's both. Usually they turn back on if I turn them off then back on. The other day they turned off for about 20 seconds while I was driving 70mph down the interstate at 10pm. I saw my life flash before my eyes. They would not turn back on for 20 seconds approximately. Upon further research on a Priuschat forum, I saw that lots of other people have had this issue. There was even a class action lawsuit against Toyota because they knew about the issue but did not recall. I'm a single parent and I depend on my car and my son needs his mom. Toyota needs to fix there error and recall the head lights.

Hello team, one of the headlights keeps going out. I can't really tell when or how it goes out since I can't see it. I'll notice it when I see the reflection in the back of another car. If I turn the bright lights on and off it has no effect, but when I turn them all the way off and back on the light comes back. Sometimes on long trips it will stay on the whole time, sometimes it won't. Sometimes on short trips it will go out, sometimes it won't. It is not an event I can make happen.

3 days after buying my 04 Prius both of my low beams and one of my high beams went out. A few months after replacing them my driver side low beam went out, the high beam was fine. 2-3 months after re replacing the driver's side low beam the passenger side low beam went out. I have had to replace my headlights about 5 times each (10 times total driver+passenger side) I had my ground wires checked, I constantly check my fuses, mechanics say nothing is wrong with my lighting, but here I am with this reoccurring issue. I have been using the same kind of bulbs because I can't imagine spending more money on a bulb to have it blow out in a couple of months (xtravision 9003 12. 8v,55/60w halogen). Apparently my reverse lights aren't working either, and one of my license plates lights is out (I think the plate light is probably not connected to the other lights going out) zi do think the reverse lights are a related problem though. My lights go out both in motion and stationary (I couldn't tell you if it happens on turns or not, but it can happen on highways), sometimes I can get them to come back on by giving a little smack, but usually a few days after that they officially burn out. I've researched this problem on Prius forums and apparently I am not the only Prius owner experiencing this with the same frequency, there are no recalls for this issue, yet so many of us are experiencing this, which is quite detrimental to ours and others safety. Sometimes I can't tell my lights have gone out til I get pulled over or am able to see my headlight reflection on another vehicle, even worse is when I'm wondering why I can't see anything when it's so dark out just to found out one of my headlights blew again. I still own this vehicle and still trying to figure out why this is a continuous problem.

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.

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.

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.

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).

I noticed that my passenger side headlight was out while driving home at night. Two days later, again while driving at night, my passenger side headlight was working perfectly. I have done nothing to repair the light.

Sometimes my left front headlight works and sometimes it doesn't. I have not been able to identify any consistent cause of the intermittent failure. Sometimes if the left headlight is out and I flick the high beams on and off, then the light works again, but this doesn't always seem to fix the problem.

Left headlight turned off intermittently. If I turned the light off and back on the headlight would briefly work but then turn off again.

A driver in front of me told me about one week ago that my headlights were going on and off while I was driving. Then yesterday while stopped at a traffic light, another driver got out of his car to tell me that my lights had gone off. I hadn't noticed a change myself, but then I pulled into a parking lot and cut my lights all the way off and cut them back on and then the light was much brighter. This is not a consistent problem. Sometimes the lights stay on fine and then they go out randomly. There doesn't seem to be a pattern to when this is happening. But if I cut the lights off and then back on, the problem will fix temporarily. I have seen on several forms that many people with 2004-2006 Priuses are having this problem.

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.

While driving on the interstate at night, both headlights suddenly went out. Neither the high beams nor the low beams worked. I had to pull over, and turn the car off. When I turned the car back on, both headlights worked fine. This incident occurred about 4 weeks ago, and I took it to the dealership. The dealership could not find a cause, and I don't think that they believed me. I had no problems with the headlights for almost 4 weeks. Then 3 days ago, the exact same thing happened again. I was driving on the interstate at night and both headlights suddenly went out. Again, I pulled over. When I turned the car off and back on, they worked fine. This is extremely dangerous and frightening. I have called two dealerships and neither of them have heard of such a thing. However, in researching the internet, I easily find that this has been the subject of a class action lawsuit involving Prius model years 2006-2009. So there should be information out there that Toyota should be telling their dealers. I don't know if it's an electrical or computer problem.

Hid headlights intermittently failing.

Same intermittent headlight problem posted here hundreds of times. Why is Toyota only fixing 2006+ model years? the same problem plagues all model years.

My 2004 Toyota Prius's hid lights are going off intermittently and coming back on when I turned them off and back on again. The driver's side is going off again and will come back on again when I turn it off and then back on. Also, my headlight leveling system warning light is coming on. When I drive on the highway light goes off, I feel very unsafe. I have to turn them off and back on in seconds to avoid a possible accident. Dealer can't find the issue. They recommend to change the bulbs but it doesn't solve problem.

Starting last year my passenger side headlight intermittently turns off and will turn back on once I turn lights off and on. Passenger side light continues to periodically shut off for no specific reason throughout the duration of the trip. This issue has caused numerous lighting safety issues as well as instances of being pulled over for headlight being out. After extensive research on internet I have discovered that this is a very common issue that Toyota has failed to address. I petition for the NHTSA to please look into the issue described above. I seek a favorable and just decision in regards to urging Toyota to do the right thing and address the popular defect in not only. 2004 models but several other Prius model years. Toyota has previously issued a recall for 2006-2009 Toyota Prius'. This precedence indicates that Toyota is well aware of this problem and has neglected to take accountability and action in establishing a recall.

A couple of month ago, I thought I noticed that the front drivers side hid headlight was off when the passenger side was on. I was driving in my other car while a family member was driving the Prius. When I looked at the the Prius a short time later, both light where on. Over the past couple of months I have noticed that the driver side headlight has been intermittently off when it should be one. Cycling the lights off then on appears to turn both headlamps on for some period of time. There is no indication in the car when the failure occurs, and I am concerned that this creates an unsafe situation while driving at night. While trying to determine if this is a known problem, I came across owner chat groups where others where complaining about the same problem. I also read that there might be an ntsa investigation into similar complaints. I would like to know if an investigation has happened and if so, what was the outcome?.

The passenger side headlight goes off every 10 to 15 minutes of driving. Toyota settled a lawsuit on this issue for 2006+, but not my car.

Passenger side headlight goes off intermittently.

I purchased this vehicle in December 2012. Ever since I have had this Prius, I have had issues with the front drivers side headlight turning off randomly. Whenever I turn the car on, both headlights are always on, but while driving, the drivers side headlight turns off. I took it to carfix in garner, nc and they thought that it could be the headlight, so they recommended changing it. I ended up having it changed by a family friend because it was cheaper to do it that way. The headlight was still giving me problems after being changed, so I took it to the leith Toyota dealership in raleigh, nc and they said that the headlight that I purchased from autozone was not the correct type of headlight, so they changed it again. Even after they changed it, the headlight was still going on and off randomly. I took it back to the Toyota dealership today and they said that it sounds like some kind of wiring issue. I have done some research on the issue and have seen recalls for 2005-2009 Prius' for the same issues, but since mine is a 2004 it does not fall into the recall category. I believe that it should based on my issue compared to that as well as the number of other complaints on the internet and blogs that I have found.

My passenger side hid headlight goes out a few minutes after turning on. When turned off and on again comes back on only to go out a few minutes later.

Both headlights turn off and on intermittently without warning while driving. It is very dangerous driving in the dark.

While driving my 2004 Toyota Prius home at night on a dark, winding road, both headlights suddenly went out!!!! there was no light! pitch black! crazy! I couldn't believe that my lights were out. My brights were not working either. I didn't know what happened to the car! I thought I was going to wreck/crash. I was about 18 miles from home. As I drove, I turned on my dome lights so the oncoming traffic could see me. After turning the car lights on and off, they came back on, but what a nightmare!!!!! I found out that other Toyota Prius owners had the same problem with there cars. Toyota needs to fix this problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Toyota needs to recall and replace these faulty headlights!.

Consistently a single headlight on my 2004 Toyota Prius would flicker and go out. "it may go off again, in another five or 10 minutes, but I could get them to work again by turning them off and turning on again.

2004 Toyota Prius with hid headlights is used as a taxi cab. On September 25th, 2012 the drivers side headlight would begin to flicker and turn off after around five minutes of operation. The hid bulb replacement did not resolve the matter. Headlights must be turned off and then on again in order to resume their operation.

The headlights go out randomly while driving at night. You have to turn them off and then turn them back on for them to work and they only last a minute after that. Huge safety issue!!.

Passenger side headlight began to turn off intermittently and has continued since.

Had the hid headlights replaced 6 months ago because they were intermittently going on and off. Same thing is happening again.

Headlights dont work, overheating bulbs $800 to replace, you go Toyota your car sucks.

Intermittent headlight problem. I purchased the car with 111,500 miles on it, and almost immediately noticed that the passenger's side headlight is intermittent when viewing my reflection in the bumper of the car in front of me. Sometimes it runs fine for over an hour, other times it doesn't last 5 minutes. Turning the headlights off, and immediately back on relights the headlight. This is not only happening at night, but also during the day when they are used as daytime running lights. . Read more...

The driver's side headlight went out while driving at highway speed. Turning the lights off and then on restored the headlights. It happened a couple times in 2 hours of driving. At the end of the trip it was happening about every mile. I took the car to the Toyota dealership and they replaced the driver's side lamp. Last night 1/2 hour into a 2 hour night trip the headlights went out. It appeared that both lights went out this time. The lights went out every 30 seconds thereafter. Upon arriving at the destination, I left the car running and checked out the light situation. The driver's side headlight would go out and the passenger side side appeared to dim. The running lights remained on. It appears that other Prius owners have experienced similar problems. It also seems that replacing the lamp is not the solution to the problem. It may be an electrical or computer problem. I shall take the car back to the dealership next week. This is a safety issue during night driving.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Prius. The contact was driving 35 mph when both headlights failed intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who confirmed that the ballast failed for the headlights. The manufacturer was contacted but the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 90,000 and the current mileage was 96,000.