Headlights problems of the 2005 Toyota Prius - part 2

When I drive my right headlight just goes out. Then I turn off my lights then turn then on and it chines back on.

The passenger side headlight has gone out 3 times in a 3 year period. Each time the bulb has been replaced at significant expense ($300 at the dealership), but has gone out again after a period of several months. The last time it happened was 11/2014. Since then we have been unable to use the car at night due to the obvious safety issue it presents. We cannot and will not continue to spend hundreds of dollars to replace these bulbs when there is clearly a defect in the system. Based on the hundreds of similar reports I have seen online about this very issue, I know my story is not unique. I request that a recall be issued for the affected model years, which includes 2005!.

The right side headlight goes out multiple times for no apparent reason. I have to turn the lights off- then back on--it will come back on--only till it goes out again.

2005 Prius hid headlights go out while driving and continue to go out intermittantly as they will relight if cycled on and off. Relaced bulb and issue continues.

Front left headlight turning off and on intermittantly.

Intermittent drivers side headlight failure. Light will work for a short time, and go out while driving. This has been a chronic problem with this car. I bought it from a friend and it has been a problem for them, and other pruis owners that I know.

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the headlights failed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 204,000.

The headlights on the Prius turn off. When I notice this while driving, I can turn them off and then on again. They only stay on for a few minutes.

The headlight just turned off. In reading up on this issue, it has become apparent that this is a known issue with hid lights in a Prius. Fortunately it only happened to one headlight and not both.

After a short period of time headlight flickers then goes out. Have to turn off then on, only to last a short time. Brand new bulbs.

While crossing the bridge of the gods, cascade locks, oregon at about 9pm the toll collector told me my drivers side headlight was out. I turned on my high beams and had two lights on. On low beam only one light. . . Driving with high beams at night is dangerous to other drivers on the road; driving with one or no headlights at night is also dangerous. The next day I turned on the lights (low beam) and they were both on again. . . . I checked Priuschat. Com forum and read 56 pages of Prius owners with the same problem. . . That either one or both headlights will turn off intermittently and randomly, often at night. I called Toyota customer service and [xxx] the service rep I talked to looked up my car and said there is no remedy Toyota recommends other than take it to a dealer and have it "repaired" for approximately $800-1200 dollars. Further, reading about the Prius owners headlight experiences posted on the forum suggests that more than often this very dangerous vehicle defect is not "repaired" by what the dealer service department does and the lights continue to turn off randomly. . As a retired police officer I consider this product design defect to be extremely dangerous and that Toyota corp. Will not stand behind their product. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the driver's side headlight intermittently failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the failure could not be diagnosed. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was not available.

Intermittent failure of headlight (left and right, though not simultaneously). Problem can be temporarily corrected by turning headlights off, then on. This issue occurs while driving (twice within a one hour drive) and when the car has just been started. Fuses have been checked and headlight bulbs have been replaced with no resolution.

Last Friday night both right and left headlights burned out within five minutes of one another. Thankfully I could limp home with the help of street lights. I discovered today at Toyota dealership that the cost of two new hid osram xenarc d2r 35 w 66050 ($ 175/bulb) and labor ($ 113/hr) plus sales tax was $ 467. 31. I checked the cost of the hid bulbs online. Amazon offers a pair of these bulbs for $ 159. 99 plus free shipping. Toyota's genuine part mark up is an astounding 217% in this comparison. Further, the Toyota parts/service said that they need to take off the bumper - unlike the owner's manual instructions from the side of the headlights - to replace the bulbs. Toyota headlights can be dangerous if they burn out simultaneously and replacement cost is ridiculous at the dealership!.

My front passengers-side headlight keeps going out every 5-10 minutes but will turn back on if I turn the headlights lights off and back on again. This has caused me to get pulled over & nobody seems to know how to fix it. . .

Driving down the freeway 70 mph both headlights went out! turned them off and then back on they did not work. Turned them off and back on once again and they worked. Both lights should not go out at once!.

My vehicle lights spontaneously go out. It used to be one headlight, then I had a mechanic take it out to diagnose and he said it may be the ballast. After that, it is now both headlights go out spontaneously, and therefore sometimes at the same time, leaving in the dark at night on the road. Flicking them off and back on usually fixes it on the first try, but sometimes it takes a couple of tries.

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the headlights failed to activate. In addition, the headlights powered off independently. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 125,000.

The first time happened about a year ago and the issue gets worse. I took the car into the shop to replace a headlight as I thought it had burnt out. When I arrived, the passenger side light was working again. The issue has been so bad now that both headlights may turn off with no warning and cause complete darkness while on the road. From what the shop told me is that I will have to possibly replace the hid headlamp cpu in order to ensure no further issues. This is a severe safety issue that seems to plague the make and model of Toyotas.

My passenger headlight shuts off by itself after a few minutes. When I shut off the lights and turn them on again, they both stay lit for several more minutes or sometimes longer. We took it to the dealer, and they charged over $100 to replace the bulb and there has been no change. I noticed that there was a recall on the 2006-2009 models for a similar problem. I suspect this might extend to the 2005 model. At times both lights go out in an unpredictable manner. This does not seem safe to me. Thank you.

1. Driver's side hid-type headlight went out while driving at night. Went on & off intermittently for several days. Required a replacement headlight computer and bulb. Ridiculously expensive to get headlights functioning properly. 2. Headlight leveling system malfunctions & warning light goes on intermittently, generally during & right after rain storms. Ongoing problem since car had appromately 32,000 miles.

I was driving home on the highway at night when both headlights shut off. The right headlight has been turning off periodically, but this is the first time both lights have gone out. By turning the lights off and then on, the headlights returned to working order. This is a persistent problem, which both Toyota and NHTSA know about. Replacing the lightbulb appears to be only a very temporary, and costly, solution.

Left hid headlight on my Prius keeps going off at random, sometimes it happens fast, sometimes it doesn't happen at all. By cycling the headlights on/off turn the light back on. This seems to happen to more than just my Prius because I have personally seen many Priuses with their passenger side (left) headlight out.

I had an accident in March 2013 which caused front end damage. The car was repaired with the headlights being replaced. Every since the repair the headlights have been going out for no apparant reason. At first just the right headlight, now both lights shut off at the same time and I have to turn them off and back on to get them to emit light. The dealer said it was the headlights themselves but why do both of them go out at the same time and why do they come back on and continue to work. At first this occured maybe once a day but it is occuring frequently. I do not think it is the bulbs becasue they keep shutting off at the same time which suggest it is something else.

When I started my 2005 Toyota Prius, I got a warning on the dashboard and the multi-function display that the automatic headlight leveling system had malfunctioned. This is a safety feature that corrects the aim of the headlights if you are driving with an unusually heavy load, so that your lights do not momentarily blind oncoming drivers. Unfortunately, when the sensor in the headlight leveling system fails, the headlights aim themselves to a default postion that is unsafe; the headlights aim downwards, and illuminate the ground 20 feet in front of the car and no farther. It is not safe to drive in the dark faster than 20 miles an hour with the headlights like this. The problem begins with the sensor in the 2004 and 2005 model Priuses, where a gasket fails and the interior parts of the sensor corrode and fail. Toyota knows about this problem and now offers improved replacement parts and has issued the technical service bulletin below. However, replacing this part at a dealer can cost upwards of $500, discouraging many owners from making the repair, leading to unsafe driving conditions for Prius drivers and everyone else on the road. There is no manual override to make it safe for a driver to drive in the dark. It seems like poor engineering that Toyota has implemented a safety device that, when it fails, creates a more unsafe condition than if the safety device were not there. Not to be overly dramatic, but it was a failed gasket and failed sensors that brought down the space shuttle. A repair suggested online involves springs from ballpoint pens, but this is ridiculous. A repair with the improved Toyota part ought to be made affordably, if not for free. Us TSB el004-06 April 28, 2006. Automatic headlight leveling system warning light "on" or flashing. 2004-2005 Prius w/hid headlights. Replace rear vehicle height control sensor with improved one.

Starting in approximately March and occurring daily through present day, one or both headlights sporadically go out. We started noticing this in March when driving at night. Our own tests indicate that it can happen when the car is at a complete standstill or at any speed. It can happen zero to multiple times during a single use of the car, sometimes up to every minute and a half while driving. Turning the headlights off and back on again cause both headlights to come back on. As far as we know, this did not start happening until this last March. We have had no other troubles with this car and love the car, aside from this issue. This has caused us to stop driving the car at night, which is extremely inconvenient.

Headlights will randomly turn off and on. Sometimes the left headlight will go out, sometimes the right, and occasionally both lights will go out at the same time. The hid bulbs are not to blame. These bulbs, when they do go out, they burn out and never come back. This issue is a control problem/design flaw of the vehicle. If the NHTSA would look in its database it would see this is not an isolated incident. If you are waiting on a body count you will not have to wait long. My wife was driving on hwy 66 at 7:30 pm on March 4th when a loose cow entered the road, then the lights blinked out. A 2,000 lbs animal and a 2,600 lbs car do not interact well together. I suspect you will keep ignoring this and be a patsy for Toyota. I plan on filing a small claims against Toyota and, if I can find a lawyer who will take you on, sue the NHTSA for not doing their jobs.

The headlights started going on and off intermittently. Both bulbs were replaced recently. The car has an hid headlight system.

Around 105,000 we started getting intermittent headlight loss. It usually comes back on if we turn the lights off then back on. It only did it on the passenger side for about a year but now it does it on both sides.

The passenger side hid headlight went out. The next time I used the car, the headlight was working again. Since the first occurrence, either headlight has gone out intermittently (I have not been aware that both have gone out at the same time). Each time, the headlights are found to be working again later. I don't know how often the problem is occurring. I don't do a lot of night driving, but I keep my lights on all the time. I suspect there are many daylight failures that go unnoticed.

Left side headlight quits working then you have to turn off headlights and turn back on then it comes back on. After a while it goes out again then same procedure has to be repeated again. I believe this is a safety issue and needs to be recalled. What if the light on the right side decides to go out especially in the dark where there is no street lights? I ask you nicely please recall the car and fix the issue what may be causing it.

My husband was driving our recently purchased Prius and was pulled over by a police officer. One of his headlights was not working. Following that event, the other light has gone out as well. Both headlights go on off when in use. This is disturbing to us because it's a safety issue when driving at night. After doing research, we discovered that this can be an issue in 05-08 Toyota Prius.

In mid June 2012, while driving on the freeway I noticed the left side headlight was not on, initially I thought the bulb was bad since I had already had to replace the right one. I had planed to take the car to elmore Toyota of huntington beach, CA to have the bulb replaced but the following day the light was working. After after a few days it started happening again. I found that if I turned the lights on and off the headlight would come back on, I have had this problem for over a year now. Today I decided to take the car to the dealer's service department, now they can't seem to tell me what is the true nature of the problem, all they want to do is sell me a new bulb. After doing some research on my own I now understand that this has been an ongoing problem since 2007 and that the NHTSA has investigated this and has decided that this is not a safety issue. I would like to see if the persons responsible for this decision would like to go on a long night drive with me on a mountain road. Right now I want to officially file a complaint about this problem, my 2005 Toyota Prius is unsafe to drive because the headlights are not dependable and there is no telling when they will stop working.

Last September we noticed the driver side headlight was out. When we turned the car off and on, the lamp came back on. We took the car to the dealer who could not find anything wrong. We have seen a lot of similar complaints on the internet with no resolution. Others have spend big $$$ to fix, however after spending the money, the problem remained. Please advise.

The left headlight unexpectedly goes out. If I turn the lights off and on again, the headlight comes back on, but soon repeats going out.