Headlight Switch problems of the 2006 Toyota Prius - part 2

Headlight (driver's side only) sometimes turns off while driving. If I turn the lights switch off and back on, the light will turn on and work properly for a while.

Headlights go off without warning while driving. One light bulb going off is common, however, both lights have gone off at the same time repeatedly during driving, leaving me without any lighting. Lights come back on after turning the switch off and then on again.

2006 Prius. 62k miles. One headlight started going out intermittently about 3 weeks ago (Jan. 2010) now a minute or so after the first one goes out the second one goes too leaving me in total darkness. The fix is to turn the switch on and off. A bulletin I received last year says you can kill the hid by turning off and on while still hot. This the only way to keep the lights going! I got a ticket last week for a light out and of course I made it come back on for the officer but he wasn't impressed. Now I have to get it fixed and I have read all the blogs and clearly replacing the bulb is not way to correct this.

I own a 2006 Toyota Prius. I have had a problem with my passenger headlight working intermittently. I thought the light was failing until one night I was driving home and all the lights turned off and it was pure darkness. I quickly corrected the immediate danger by turning the light switch off then on and they came back on. This has happened two other times. I received what I thought was a recall notice on the hid lights. When I took the notice to my local dealer, they informed me that the recall was on the price of the hid bulbs and not on the actual bulbs. They had reduced the price from $300 to $150. Now, after looking into it further, it seems that I am not the only one experiencing this same problem.

2006 Toyota Prius - my hid headlights have been randomly, unpredictably flickered on and off, sometimes the left, sometimes the right and sometimes both completely unexpectedly. The light switch must be flicked on and off multiple times to bring them back. Within minutes - or even seconds - they may fail again repeatedly. I do not drive at night very often but others who do are at great risk. Can you imagine the reaction of the cars in front of me while I a flicking my headlights at them repeatedly! potentially volatile. The repair is replacement of hid lights at almost $600. 00 and is not covered by their warranty, which is wrong! this has been going on for a couple years and mechanics have not been able to trace issue other than faulty headlights or faulty computer controls. There are tens of thousands of Prius owners affected. Check the online blogs like Priuschat and you will see. This is a significant safety issue which while I have had not accidents I have had numerous incidents of concern and need for quick sudden evasive action when the lights would fail unexpectedly. We who have been forced to spend hundreds for repair should be reimbursed and a full scale recall must be instigated for the safety of Prius drivers and our companions in other vehicles on the road.

The hid headlights on my 2006 Toyota Prius (40k miles) go out whenever the car accelerates (braking, speeding up, turning, go over a speed bump). The lights turn back on if I flip the headlight switch on and off. This appears to be a widespread issue affecting thousands of Toyota Prius owners.

2006 Toyota Prius with the hid headlights. The headlights randomly turn off. At first I thought I was seeing other things, like neighboring cars switching in and out of lanes, causing the amount of light to diminish. So far, it is either one or the other headlight, not both simultaneously. Through the random process, which would be initiated each time the lights are turned on, it is only a matter of "time" before both lights extinguish at the wrong time, at highway speeds.

2006 Prius. Within first 18 months of owning the car (I am original owner - took possession of car in March of 2006) experienced headlights going off by themselves. Took the car in for service thinking headlight needed replacement. Was told by service rep (at greentree Toyota in danbury, CT) that it was not the headlight but a problem with connection that Toyota recognized but was not sure how they would address. I waited for solution. As time goes on, more frequent incidence of headlight spontaneously turning off. I received a notice from Toyota company approx. 4 months ago stating the problem was a defect/connection problem. My Toyota dealership/service dept. Told me it was not and refused to fix the connection problem. Both headlights will go out at exactly the same time, leaving me in complete darkness. If I quickly switch the headlights off then back on again they will illuminate. The headlights going off at the same time happens at least once every 20 minutes.

Both hid headlights failed simultaneously on 2006 Toyota Prius with 43k miles while driving. Headlights had been on for about 5 minutes at the time they shut off. I pulled off into a parking lot, stopped the car, got out to verify that both headlights were off, and verified that the headlight switch was on. I turned the headlight switch off and back on, and the headlights re-illuminated. Driver's side headlight continues to fail randomly. It re-illuminates when the switch is turned off and back on again. Prior to both headlights failing simultaneously, the headlights had not flickered, turned off, or given any other sign of failure.

2006 Toyota Prius headlights go out randomly creating an unsafe condition when driving at night. The headlight(s) will come on after turning off the switch. This has been a recurring problem since the vehicle was one year old. In one instance, both headlights went out which required and emergency stop. Both headlight have been previously replaced under warranty. The problem in now occurring most times the vehicle is operated at night.

I have the same problem as many, many other Prius owners, with my 2006 Prius's hid lights going out while driving. When I realize that one or both lights have gone out, I flip the headlight switch and they come back on, only to go out again within seconds! Toyota says this is a dealer-only item and the hid bulbs cost $300 a piece! these bulbs are not available at auto parts stores. The price is exorbitant and very unaffordable for many people. This is a serious safety issue! Toyota should recall their Priuses and fix this issue once and for all instead of ripping people off and putting their lives in danger! please help put some pressure on Toyota to do the right thing.

I have a 2006 Prius and the headlights keep going off. One or the other or both go off while driving. Flipping the switch gets them back on for a while. The dealer tells me $420 to change the two bulbs. How can this happen in a two year old car?.

I recently both a used 2006 Toyota Prius from a private seller and in more than one occasion, the headlights would go out intermittently while I'm driving - sometimes one at a time, but sometimes both would go out. I had to cycle the switch to turn them back on. Out of curiosity, I went in the internet to find out how I can fix this problem, and that's when I found out that there had been numerous cases of Prius headlight problems, particularly with 2005-2008 models. I also found out that Toyota dealerships are charging on average anywhere from $400 to $1,000 just to replace headlight bulbs, and I'm not about to fall for that. I don't believe this is a lightbulb problem because the headlights would come back on after cycling the switch. This appears to be a design problem common to '05-'08 models - something with the electrical system. This is definitely a safety issue that needs to be addressed and resolved by Toyota ASAP. I'm surprised that no recall has been issued yet. Is Toyota waiting for someone to die or get badly injured before they send out a recall? one can easily drive off a cliff while driving in the dark with no headlights on. (fyi, the incident date I have below is the most recent occurrence of this problem. ).

2006 Toyota Prius headlights went out without warning about 65,000 miles. Turning switch off then on again restored light for a very short while. Then it went off again. Happened first with the right headlight 3 months ago now recently last two weeks the left headlight same problem.

At 42,000 miles, my 2006 Prius headlights will switch off while driving. The driverside hid headlight will turn off between 1:30 - 3:00 minutes of driving. The issue can be corrected by switching the lights off and turning them on again; however, the headlight will turn off again after a few minutes. At one point, the driverside headlight went out and then a few seconds later the passenger headlight went out meaning I had no running headlights on the interstate at night. Turning off and turning on the headlights corrected the issue - only to have it happen again. The headlights will turn off at any speed - 10-75 mph. The driverside headlight was replaced by the dealership as part of my used car purchase. This defect was found 4 days after purchase; the car is going back to the dealership for hopeful repair.

I have a 2006 Toyota Prius with 61,000 miles on it. At about 48,000 miles, the front headlights started going out unexpectedly. At first, by turning the switch for the lights off and back on would fix the problem and the dark headlight would illuminate again. A few weeks ago, both headlights and the taillight all unexpectedly and suddenly went out while I was driving. The California highway patrol pulled me over on the freeway to find out why I was driving without any lights on. Now, the lights come on when I start driving and every time I drive the car at night, all of the lights (both headlights and both taillights) suddenly & unexpectedly go dark all at once. I was driving with my 10 year old niece in the car when this happened last week. This is an extremely dangerous defect. I have been reading that this is a known defect with Toyota Prius vehicles - I am amazed that the NHTSA has not required Toyota to recall the vehicles for this very dangerous safety defect. I have tried to take the vehicle to the Toyota dealer for repair, but they told me they didn't have a way to figure out what was wrong and they sent me away without any repairs. Today I called the Toyota national customer service number and they opened a case. I will be taking the vehicle to the dealer again today and insisting on repairs since it is completely unsafe to drive the vehicle.

Hid headlamps self-extinguish while driving, requiring power switch to be cycled on and off to restart. The consequences are reduced visibility and the possibility of driving with no headlights at night. Hid headlamps are well under their design life expectancy and should not be failing. Replacement is expensive and time-consuming and according to other owners, the fix is only temporary. Been pulled over several times due to defective headlights.

I have a 2006 Toyota Prius with only 39000 miles on it. The passenger side headlight keeps going out and I need to keep switching the headlights off and on to get it working. It's a hid headlight and they said it would cost me $375 to change the bulb. A bulb that expensive should last more that just 39,000 miles. It's dangerous.

1. The events leading up to the failure: many people told me that one of the headlights on my Prius 2006 was out - when I checked everything was working. 2. The failure, how often it occurs, its consequences: I was driving on a poorly lighted road last night (10/13/09) and almost got into accident because both of my headlights went out at the same time. This was very dangerous and scary with my whole family and children inside the car. I started to pay attention to the reflections of my headlights on the backs of other cars and noticed that the headlights go out quite frequently - one or both at a time. 3. What was done to correct the failure; I. E, parts repaired or replaced (and if old part is available): I brought the car to a local dealer and they recommended replacement of both hid bulbs. I do not believe that the problem is with the bulbs themselves because they actually work fine but some defect causes them to switch off. I called Toyota main customer service number and they agreed to open a case #0910122928 and told me that a case manager will contact me sometime at the end of this week. This is unacceptable because I only have one car and have to drive to work and take my children to and from aftercare after dark. Toyota explained that they have such a long waiting time because they get many complaints like this. So, instead of hiring more case managers and investigating the issue they just tell people to wait for the next accident!.

Hid headlight shuts off while driving in the dark. Flicking the switch off, then on turns it back on but later shuts off again.

I own a 2006 Toyota Prius. The driver's side headlight has been going out intermittently for about a year. It comes on just fine, but after driving a short while, it sometimes (not always) goes dark on its own. Turning the light switch on & off completely usually gets it back on. Recently, both headlights went dark all on their own after I had been driving a short time. The police noticed & pulled me over - very dangerous situation. I turned the lights off & on and they both came back on, so the police let me go. This happens almost every time I drive the car at night. I don't always notice when they've gone out - this is very dangerous. I've taken it to the dealer, but they cannot figure out what is causing it. They told me they could replace the bulb, but that might not fix the problem. I have read about this happening in many other Toyota Priuses year 2006-2008.

My 2006 Toyota Prius with hid headlights has had a problem since about 25,000 miles where the left headlight will periodically go out. I can get the light to come back on by turning the lights off and they come back on. Last week I was driving on a dark country road with my bright headlights on and they both went out. It was completely dark and I applied the brakes while trying to hold the car straight so I did not strike a tree or pole at the side of the road. I fumbled with the switch and was able to turn the lights on by turning the switch completely off and then back on. I had to turn the lights off and back on every couple minutes to keep them working. It was very dangerous and frightening. I understand that your investigation into other complaints ended without a recall because both lights did not go out with some of those surveyed. I will tell you that both of my lights went out completely with no forewarning.

The driver's side headlight simply goes out. This started after approximately 37,000 miles. The headlight was replaced under warranty once and now it is happening again. Once while on vacation in new mexico on a two lane road at night it happened and when I turned off and on the headlights, both lights remained out. I stopped and was very close to the edge of the road and switched the headlights on and off again and they came back on. This was a very scary incident. I'm tired of going to the dealership and having them propose solutions that cost from hundreds to over a thousand dollars to resolve. Within the past month, I have been stopped by a state trooper because of the headlight being out. When I explained the situation, cycled the headlights off then on, he saw that both headlights came on and gave me a verbal warning instead of a citation. This is a hazard that is well known, but Toyota chooses not to deal with it. That attitude and situation needs to be resolved before people get hurt. Below, I'm providing today?s date because it is constant and ongoing.

The hid headlights on our 2006 Prius will flicker or completely turn off while driving. It happens seemingly randomly,, one side will go out the other will stay on and visa versa or both will go out at the same time. There doesn't seem to be any condition that causes it to happen. If I turn the light switch off and then back on the lights will come back on again, sometimes seconds or minutes will pass and the lights will fail again.

Headlight bulbs turn off intermittently, usually the passenger side. When light switch is turned off then back on the light will work. At least one time both lights went off at night leaving no visibility for several seconds while I turned off then on the switch. This was very hazardous at 55 mph. It appears there is a wide spread problem with these lamps and should be recalled by Toyota. Dealer replacement of the two bulbs will run more than $400.

I have a 2006 Prius with approximately 68k miles on it. Both headlights simply go out without warning. The first time this happened, I was on a back road and nearly went off a corner into a ravine. It was my presence of mind to brake quickly and cycle the headlight switch that prevented a serious accident. Based on my research, this is a known problem yet there is no bulletin or announcement of any kind being sent out to Prius owners. When the dealer said that it would be nearly $700 to simply replace the bulbs and that might not be the end of repairs to correct the actual problem, I was speechless. I'm unemployed at the time and such a costly charge to do something that won't even address what is clearly a defect is simply not acceptable. I had to sleep in my car on a business trip that I just returned from because I didn't want to take a chance on being pulled over at night for defective equipment and incur even more expenses. Will someone actually have to die in order for this issue to get the response that it deserves from Toyota? your agency, without full review of data that Toyota was to send to you, has prematurely decided to not treat this as a safety defect. You have made a mistake and leaving this as a civil court matter is a complete cop out.

2006 Toyota Prius headlights problem. The front passenger headlights shot off by itself and I have to turn the headlight switch on and off several time and the headlight will turn back on again. I feel it was very dangerous when driving at night when the headlight turn off by itself and I got a fixed ticket by policy because of defected headlight.

Intermittent hid headlights of Toyota Prius 2006-2009: the hid headlights tend to fail intermittently after the vehicle is 2 -3 years old. These lights can be restarted by switching the headlights off then back on. It is only a matter of time before both lamps will fail in a serious situation and serious injury or death will occur. I highly recommend that Toyota be made to recall these vehicles and either change out these lamps or replace them with some other lamps that have definite failure so that the owner knows they must be replaced. The cost to replace the headlights is very expensive and Toyota should also be forced to modify these vehicles to encourage headlight replacement ASAP.

Hid headlight on driver side started randomly turning off at about 50,000 miles on my 2006 Prius, unbeknownst to driver. If I happen to notice the light has gone out, and I turn the light switch all the way off and back on, the light will usually relight. I am constantly watching the reflection of my headlights in car bumpers on traffic traveling in front of me as well as making notice of my headlights' reflection in store windows, etc. To see if they are both on. This is extremely distracting and dangerous. Toyota dealer here in n. C. Appeared to be totally oblivious to the complaints Toyota has received and said he can fix control module for $450 and replace light bulb for $135 since it is "normal wear and tear. " this is not normal wear and tear. The Prius hid headlamp installation is defective. As more 2006 Prius owners like me approach the 50,000 mile mark, this defect has the potential to become far more dangerous and deadly than a loose floormat.

2006 Toyota Prius hid headlights stops working (turns off) will driving. Started out with the right side (passenger side). Now both sides of the cars will turn off randomly. Problem is at night, you must turn off & on headlight switch for the hid headlights to come back on. This has been an on going problem, have replaced the hid headlights bulbs twice and the ecu headlight computer and the problem still persist.

For no apparent reasons, both my right and left hid headlights (2006 Prius) intermittently will go off independently and at random times. Sometimes while night driving I cannot see the road very clearly at all because only 1 light will be on. Turning the switch off and back on will temporarily re-light them, but during the 'off' time I've almost no visibility for a second or two.

My Toyota Prius 06 had issues with the hid headlights. They started to flicker off at about 35,000 miles until eventually, they stopped working entirely. The warranty covered the replacement of the bulbs and so I was satisfied. Unfortunately, the issue has surfaced again, this time I'm at 57,000 miles and only 1 year and 6 months later. Now they are saying the warranty is up and I need to pay almost $1,000 dollars to fix this problem. Details of issue: the lights would flicker and dim, then eventually produce no light. It happened on both sides left and right the first time. Switching them off then on would make them work again at first, but eventually, that did not work. The second time, it is happening on my passenger side headlight. Same exact issue.

I have drive a 2006 Toyota Prius, package 7 with hid headlamps. I have noticed over the last few years that my headlamps inconsistently fail. Sometimes when I turn my car on and switch on my headlamps, only one or the other side will illuminate. Other times, both headlamp sides will turn on, but after some time, one or both will turn off. All of this with the dash indicator showing that the headlights are on. While driving, I have remedied this problem by flipping the on-off switch to re-illuminate the lights. However, in the course of a drive they will fail again and I periodically have to flip the on-off headlight switch to have my lights work. I do feel this is unsafe and am uncomfortable driving at night or in dark places.

Intermittent alternating hid failure that until last night had not involved both headlights at he same time until last night. Something faulty since replaced hid bulbs already. Safety issue when headlights go out the same time and you are driving on the highway. Luckily I was in town so pulled over and turned off switch and turned again and lights turned on for five minutes and then blinked out again.

I drive a 2006 Toyota Prius with the hid headlights. I read that my problem has been happening to a lot of Prius owners and their is an investigation started, so here's one more case to add to the books. One headlight would go out randomly. It would alternate between the passenger and drivers side, but would never happen to both lights at the same time. It would happen about every other day. There were no particular events that led to this problem starting, but I did notice that sometimes braking hard correlated with the light going out, but they went out without braking hard as well. Whenever one light went out, flipping the lights off and immediately back on would make both lights function again. I took it in for work 3 times. The ballasts got changed, then the bulbs got changed and the wiring harness checked, finally both the bulbs and ballasts were switched out with brand new ones of a different brand. It appears to be working so far. My mechanic probably still has the old parts if you wanted them. Consequences: I got pulled over twice for lights being out that I thought I had fixed, very irritating, luckily they understood and gave me warnings.