Headlight Switch problems of the 2005 Toyota Prius - part 1

Headlights intermittently go out while driving. Immediately will come back on when switched off and then on. .

Passenger headlight goes off intermittently. Turn switch off and on and comes on again. Have had bulb replaced x2 and now Toyota dealer says that Toyota has a bulletin about it. Note to the tune of $500 to fix. In researching this seems to be a common problem. It's a hazard at night or in rain or inclement weather and evidently something Toyota has had complaints about enough to put out a bulletin. Vehicle in motion, highway miles. I believe some sort of short but certainly not mechanic. This has been happening since January 2017. Two new bulbs plus labor and now told wiring mechanism. Help. If Toyota knows a problem, address it in a recall.

One headlight or both will randomly go out while driving. Has happened sporadically 6 or so times over the last 6 months, including this evening when both headlights failed. Totally random, can happen on short or long trips, city streets or highway. So far lights have come back on by cycling the light switch on and off.

Head lights turn off after being on for a while. Turning off headlight switch and turning it back on turns the light back on. High beam stitch does not affect the light which is off. This happens while in motion on both highways and city streets. This occurs frequently.

Intermittent hid/xenon headlight operation. Must cycle power using headlight on/off switch to reignite headlight. Happens occasionally during cold starts in the morning as well as during vehicle operation.

I was driving at night on the freeway 280 and suddenly both headlights went out, it was so black you couldn't see anything on the road. Talk about scary, try driving at 65 mph on a road that curves when you all yo can see is black. I was able to jiggle the switch the headlight switch off and on several times and the lights finally came back on. With my heart pounding I continued to drive home only to have both headlights again go out together. This happened 6-7more times until I reached home. I was actually shaking by the time I got out of my car. Why were both headlights malfunctioning at the exact same times? I took the car to the dealers the next day and after inspection they told me I simply needed new headlights. I thought it was an electrical malfunction, but they insisted that it was just the headlights going out and that this happened all the time. Why would they be using headlights that they know both go out at the same time??this is highly dangerous. People could have a heart attack if not an accident! I spent $500 to replace the two headlights. However, I just recently experience the exact same problem of both head lights going out. My car is at the dealers this very moment for the same problem. I hope my 2005 Prius gets recalled for this headlight problem so other people to not have to experience this trama and dangerous situation. I was surprised to learn that this headlight problem is common to the Prius. Outside of this dangerous headlight problem I love my Prius.

Me and my family traveling down the interstate at 70 mph in the dark when a tractor trailer all of a sudden started to change lanes when we were directly to the left of it. Luckily the lane to our left was open and we were able to quickly change lanes to avoid collision. It turns out our 2005 Prius headlights were not working and the truck did not see us. Had to turn lights off then on again to get them to work. The rest of the way home one light would go out, then the other would go out. Had to turn switch off then on again to get them to turn on again. This is definitely a major safety issue with this car. Why is there not a recall.

Head light will intermittently go off. I can turn the light switch to off and then back on and the headlight will come back on. Usually this happened on a street or highway when the car is in motion and lights are switch on. This happens off and on when the car is being driven. Usually it is the left headlight, but occasionally the right headlight goes off as well. This has been happening for several months. The Toyota dealer quotes $500. 00 to make repairs! I did research on internet and found that this problem is pretty common for certain years of the Toyota Prius automobiles, 2005 included.

Headlight on the driver side keeps turning off every couple of minutes. The only way to turn it back on is to flip the headlight switch. It looks like this is a defect in many Toyota Prius 2005 models. I would like the dealer to fix the issue even if tye car is beyond the manufacturer warranty as this is clearly a manufacturing defect.

The passenger side headlight randomly turns off while the switch is still in the on position. It is temporarily fixed when I flip the switch for the lights off and on again. The last three times I have driven in the night it has unexpectedly turned off.

For the past 200 miles or so, the left front headlight has begun to turn off after a couple of minutes when switched on. The hid bulb and ecm was replaced, at considerable cost, but has not yet been resolved. I have an appt for Toyota dealership service in a week.

One of my front headlight always goes out once I make a turn by using a turn signal. If I switch the headlight off and on again, the head light will come back. I read similar post from website, and found some people have the same problem with me. We all suspect this is a design problem by the manufacturer.

First passenger side then drivers side headlights failed within a month of each other. Able to relight headlights by turning on and off switch, but then they would go off again. Both replaced by Toyota dealer at over $300 per light! now, the drivers side headlight is off again several months later, still able to switch it on for awhile, but it fails as I am driving.

Multiple failures of hid lights going out. It will switch from one side to another. Sometimes results in both headlights going out. Most of the time a quick flip of the headlight switch will bring them back on. It is completely random. Instances when both lights go out, each time had to make a quick pull over to wait for a moment, as the normal quick flick to get the lights back on fails, thus causing a quick panic to get to a safe place on the side of the road in the complete dark and hope that other vehicles around you can see you and let you over.

Initially it was the drivers side headlight that went out. Turning the switch off and on reset the headlight to illuminate again. I took the vehicle to my mechanic to replace the driver side headlight. The mechanic said the headlights worked fine and to continue to drive until it failed or other issue reported. After a couple weeks the issue progressed to both headlights going out. Turning off and on would restore illumination. This would happen randomly sometimes recurring again after 5-10minutes. Finally the passenger side headlight went out completely and would not illuminate. I took the vehicle to my mechanic and had the passenger side headlight replace. A few days later the drivers side headlight started turning off again. My next step is to take the vehicle into the dealership and see if they can fix the issue. I've researched the issue and have seen plenty of complaints regarding this issue. I'm concerned this is a persistent defect, light shutting off randomly, will have a devastating effect once my luck runs out.

My hid headlight turns off, it can be turned back on by toggling the light switch. I had previously replaced the bulb, however it cost over $400 to get it fixed. It is dangerous to drive like this, Toyota does not seem to assume responsibility that there is a defect. There was a cash support but only for 2006 to 2009 models. There should be an investigation into this problem.

While driving my vehicle at night the right headlamp suddenly went out. I turned the headlight switch on and off and the headlamp came back on. Approximately 7-8 minutes later both headlamps went out. Once again I turned the headlamp switch off and on and both headlights came back on. This continued to happen every few minutes until I finally reached my destination. Since then it has continued to happen sporadically. I feel that this is a very serious safety issue that needs to be addressed. I purchased new bulbs thinking that this was the problem but discovered that the design of the vehicle does not give adequate access to the bulbs for changing. It appears that it must have to be done by the dealer. I feel that this is also something that needs attention.

Driving down the freeway and the headlights went out. I flipped the switch and they turned on. This now happens every time I drive and it requires numerous flipping on and off of the lights to make them come back on.

Passenger side hid headlight goes out sometime after start up. If you switch the lights off then on again it runs for a period (approx 4 min) then goes out again. Replacing bulb has no effect. When searching for solutions appears to be a chronic problem among 2005/2006 Prius.

Driver headlamp turning on and off while driving. Lamp will turn on if I switched control off and turned it on again, but will turn off again within 10 minutes. Replaced both lights bulbs, then passenger headlight started doing the same thing with in a month of replacement. I replaced bulb again in the passenger headlight and with in 5 days light started again doing same thing. Headlight turns on if I switch control on and off. Found similar complains about Prius 2005 on line.

Both hid headlights went out at the same time. I can toggle the light switch off and on and one or both lights came back on. Then went out again within a few seconds to a minute, over and over. Makes no difference if car is not moving at all or going 70 mph. I was able to drive the 15 miles home at night without incident. Went to dealer next day and they say all that is wrong is that the headlights are burned out. Estimate to replace both is $474. 31. I do not believe that they would burn out at exactly the same time. And if they are burned out then why do they come back on and off. I have done research and found the class action settlement for 2006-2009 models. I also found that you have had hundreds of complaints about the 2005 model yet you have not considered this a safety matter. I disagree. Even if you don't help me, I want my complaint included in your database.

Both headlights went out during night time driving. I immediately braked because I could not see anything in front of me. It is a very dangerous situation in that my 9year old and 12 year old panicked. When I switched the lights on and off they came back on. The incident re-occurred an additional 3 times on the way home. I contacted the manufacturer as well as the dealer. Both said they could not do anything about this type of failure since it is outside the warranty period. I could understand a lightbulb going out, but both going out at the same time is a horrific dangerous situation. I believe there is an inherent defect from the manufacturer.

Originally the passenger headlight would shut off randomly. I would flick the lights on and off and it would turn back on. Then this past new years eve both headlights turned off and I flicked the lights on and off and that did not work. I shut off the headlights with the switch for a few seconds and luckily they turned on again. However the kept on shutting off more consistently. First the passenger then both. This is riculous. And the car was not safe to drive. I replaced both headlight bulbs at my own expense. The bulbs worked great for 2 days. Now both headlights will not stay on for more than 45 seconds. My 16 yr old son also drives this car and this is unacceptable. If something were to happen to him because of this known defect that Toyota is not willing to fix. This is terrible! fix this problem! new bulbs is not the fix. There is something else seriously wrong here.

While driving the passenger headlight goes out at unexpected times. Trying to activate the high headlights does not make the light come back on. The only way the light comes back on is by turning them off and on from the switch, and most of the time the light goes out again in a very short time.

My 2005 Prius began to have problems with the driver's side headlight. When I first turn my lights on, the headlamp works, but after a few minutes of driving, it goes out. Switching to high beams doesn't make any difference, but if I turn off my lights and turn them right back on, the headlamp works for a short while. I have researched this on Prius forums, and it is a very common problem. The dealer wants $2600 to fix it. I think it is a manufacturing defect and should be recalled and fixed at no charge.

While driving, both headlights would go off. They would come back on when turning the light control off then back on. A few minutes later, they would go off again and to get them back on I had to switch off/ then back on. It did not seem to be dependent on fast I was driving or if a bump in the road caused the headlights to go off. We took car to dealer and was told everything checked out and both headlight bulbs needed to be replace @ $175. 00 each for parts plus labor to drop font bumper so headlights could be installed. Total bill came to $485. 00 to replace two headlights that worked intermittantly.

Front right headlight is intermittently going out. I can get it to go back on if I turn switch off and back on but it may fail again within 10 or 80 minutes. Replaced bulb, but still have problem. Dealer said it was the bulb but replacing it has not fixed the issue.

Headlights turn off unexpectantly. Turning switch off and then back on temporarily resets and they work for 5 to 10 minutes then go off again.

While driving at 6:35 pm in paso robles on hwy 46 both headlights went dark. I rotated the light switch several times, then both headlights lit. Within 5 minutes, it happened again. 2 minutes later, it happened again. Thereafter it happened about every 2 minutes until we got to the hospital emergency room to which I was taking my wife. She died there about 10pm of a heart attack. At about 2 a. M. On my return home with my daughter, the same thing happened within 5 minutes. When it happened next in about 2 minutes, I flipped the light switch and one headlight lit. Despite flipping the switch several times, only one light (the left one) lit. Have not used the car at night since then.

Headlights (one or both) will randomly turn off while driving. Turning the switch off and back on will turn them back on.

First my left headlight went out. Within a minute my right headlight went out as well. I turned the light switch off, then on again, and they both re-lit. This happened four times in the course of 20 miles. The is a regular occurrence now.

Both headlights turned off simultaneously. Turning the headlight switch off, and back on restored illumination. This happened twice within 45 minutes.

Since June. . I have had one or both headlights go off. I have to flick them on and off to get them to go back on. I have run off the road. I have been pulled over by police only to then find my headlight was on. Sometimes when they both go off it will takes many on off of the switch to get them to finally go back on, and I usually have to make my way of the road. This is a terribly dangerous situation. I have had many vehicles and not ever seen anything like this!! I truly believe there needs to be a recall. I looked on line and now know it is not just me, but many Prius are having the very same issue. There is a guy I saw interviewed that said he does not believe that they both go off simultaneously. I can assure you that they do, and it happens quite frequently. I have become very scared to drive at night. I do not do it unless I just have to. .

My drivers side headlight flickers then goes out. I was able to get it on again by manually turning the switch on and off. Then it will happen again. I replaced the headlight ($175 for the part alone) in may of 2012. It is now March of 2014 and the same light began doing it again, flickering. I was able to get it to go on by manually switching it on. Now it is out again.

The headlight operation became erratic. Sometimes one would work and sometimes the other one would be the only one to function. Sometimes neither headlight would come on. Repeated operation of the headlight switch eventually would get one or both headlights turned on. The light bulbs were replaced in 2012 and again in 2013. There was little or no change in performance. When I have asked my Toyota dealer's service department about it, they simply said they weren't aware of any problem. I cannot believe that is true. This is a much discussed and not uncommon problem. We are always concerned that the headlights might fail while we were driving. This has not happened yet, but I have no confidence in the headlight reliability.