Headlights problems of the 2008 Toyota Prius - part 1

Dashboard speedometer, fuel gauge, headlight indicators, transmission status, cruise control do not show, are not lit up. Backup camera does not work nor do the back-up lights. This occured after the auxiliary battery was replaced and the dashboard lights and backup camera will occassionally spontaneously return when the car has not been driven for a week or longer but then will go out next time the car is turned off. There are problems with the car turning off consistently and at times the start button needs to be manually depressed for 5+ seconds to shut down.

Right side headlight goes out intermittently without a traceable cause. People have noticed the light out while at motion on a residential street at low speed, on a highway at 50 mph and at rest.

Primary headlights randomly go out while both parked and driving down the road. Sometimes both at the same time. Turning them off and on again manually resets them to work again. This seems like a huge design flaw and major safety hazard, since it leads to driving in the dark without headlights. Repair shops want $100s per bulb to replace hid bulbs that seem to not actually be burned out. The design choice for hid bulbs that exhibit this temporary failure mode seems to be a fundamentally flawed engineering choice compared to other, more reliable technology such as leds. No existing recalls were found when searching the dot. Gov website for this issue.

The driver's side headlight on my 2008 Prius goes out periodically when driving but, to date, not when stationary. I recently drove to texas and back and this didn't occur on the highway or country roads. It seems to only happen in city stop-and-go driving, but I can't be sure. If noticed, by turning the lights off and on it comes back on but it's not always noticeable. Information online indicates that costly hid bulb and ballast replacements, and/or other costly repairs, do not solve the problem. This poses a potentially serious safety risk and has gotten me pulled over by the police. The problem seems to be common with 2006-2009 Prius's which would indicate a design/manufacturing flaw that Toyota should address and correct. Please look into this matter and advise me on how to proceed to correct the problem. Thank-you, richard luellen richardluellen@aol. Com.

08 Prius headlights intermittently and without warning go out for up to about 1/2 hour at a time. Either one will do it almost every time they are used and so far, only one at a time. Untrustworthy and very dangerous.

My wife and I own 2 Prius 2nd generation models since 2014. The issue is with the instrument cluster randomly malfunctioning and not displaying when the vehicle is on and sometimes not being able to turn the vehicle off. It happens while driving, stationary, raining, just randomly. This has happened more than 10 times on my car alone, and my wife can contests to hers as well. What we both are experiencing is one of many situations. While driving the dash lights and interior lights will just not work: I'm unable to see driving speed, if my headlights are on. Even while stationary we experience the same thing. The main reasons for reporting this is because coincidentally it happens to both of us at random times in 2 different vehicles same model and year. From my own research this has been going on for a while with other owners with the same models. I don't know what constitutes as a safety concern for recalls, but I feel this is one. I'm fortunate to not have any accidents so far. But for others who are experiencing this can accidentally start speeding, or become startled because of the sudden loss of dash visuals, and result in harm of other's or property. This just happened again today and I just had to say something since this has been a persistent issue for my wife and I. Thanks for taking the time to read this and please look into this.

Right hid headlight keeps going out during short or long trips. It it's now October 2019. This same light was replaced for same problem in July 2018 and I was told by my mechanic that my ballast and electrical connection is fine. It should not be burned out by now. I only use the lights at night or during rain. I have read on several online forums with similar complaints from Prius owners. This is a safety issue.

While driving during the day or night, throughout the year (non-seasonal), both headlights (hid) flicker, and the passenger side headlight goes off completely and intermittently. Sometimes it comes back on if I turn the lights off and on again, but most of the time it doesn't. We have been pulled over twice for this and received two tickets from police. It doesn't work to exchange or replace bulbs. I know I'm not the only 2008 Prius owner with this problem and I believe Toyota needs to pay to have it repaired.

The dim headlight only, not the bright, only on the drivers side front goes out 4 or 5 times a year. The front brights are not affected and have never gone out nor has the dim headlight on the passenger side front ever gone out. The car is driven daily usually and on city streets only.

Headlights turn off or flicker while driving. It happens intermittently. It is a major safety issue when driving at night as it nearly caused an accident. Using the high beams helps for a short period but the headlights still turn off on their own. Turning them off and on brings them back on most of the time but only for a short period of time.

While driving at night, left headlight goes out intermittently (about every 3 minutes). I have to turn lights completely off then on again to reset. This is ongoing and appears to be happening more frequently with time.

Headlights shut off while driving at night. I received two warning tickets from highway patrol as I was driving back from ft. Worth to nacogdoches, but when I stopped, both headlights were working. Then as I was driving, both headlights (with bright lights on) turned off. Had to pull over and then they started working again.

The passenger side headlight turns off unpredictably, usually within 10 minutes of driving time. Turning the lights off and back on sometimes gets the headlight to turn back on, but not always. Then within 10 minutes it will turn off again. Not only is this a safety issue and driving violation, I also cannot sell the car with non-functioning headlights.

The lighting system has electrical markings on the relay and fuse blocks for daytime running lights, with no daytime running lights installed. Headlight and license plate light systems works intermittently. Causing bulbs to fail.

The right headlight intermittently goes out. Sometimes it takes repeated attempts turning off and on to get it back on. Both ballasts and hid lamps have been replaced, yet this intermittent problem persists. I know of many complaints but do not know if Toyota has an open recall on this important safety issue.

Tl the contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. While driving at night, the headlights failed to operate. Kalispell Toyota (2845 u. S. 93 s, kalispell, mt 59901, (406) 755-6060) replaced the bulbs, which cost over $600. The contact found a warranty that expired in September of 2018 after the vehicle was bought used on September 28, 2018. The dealer did not address the main issue of a possible computer board malfunction in the vehicle that may have to be replaced at an additional cost. The failure mileage was 71,000.

One headlight or the other or both go out randomly.

Headlights have been replaced more than once and now are flickering again and have gone out completely. This has been an ongoing problem since it was new. Dealer has not resolved the problem nor given us a reason why. This is becoming a very expensive problem, we were told that there was a recall but we were not notified. We love the Prius except for this,.

Electrical issue with headlight - drivers side front headlight turns off within 2-3 minutes. I've replaced the bulb and the issue persists, and many Prius owners have faced a similar if not identical issue. If you turn the lights off and on again, it turns back on but only for a few minutes. Seems like a wiring issue and there should be a recall.

The hid headlamps flicker and turn off by themselves randomly while driving. Sometimes only the drivers side turns off and then later the passenger side, but sometimes both sides turn off at the same time while the vehicle is moving at various speeds. This is very dangerous especially when it happens while driving at night at high speeds on a dark road. It happened at speeds of 60mph while on a 2 lane highway late at night and at lower speeds such as 30-45mph on city streets. The headlamps also flicker and randomly turn off while the vehicle is parked with headlights on. The only remedy is to completely shut off and turn back on the headlamps and then they work for a few minutes then turn off randomly again. This is a recurring issue. These cars should be issued a recall for this problem. This is a serious safety issue.

Both headlights in the front of my car have burnt out multiple times and it happened again today. One first went out in 2010 when the car had 35k miles on it and each light has been replaced at least twice since then each time costing $300-400. Most recently the replacement lights have not even lasted six months. This is not only expensive and a major annoyance but also a safety hazard when driving at night. I feel that Toyota should provide a proper fix for this problem and compensate me for the multiple times I have needed to pay for the repairs.

Driver's side headlight goes off after driving a few minutes. Turning off the lights and turning them back on resets the headlight back on, for a short time, and then goes off again. This is a serious safety hazard and Toyota should fess up to the design flaw and recall all the affected cars and fix the problem.

Driver side headlight randomly shuts off while the vehicle is in motion. Have replaced the bulb and fuses, but the problem persists.

Headlight will unexpectedly turn off, despite working bulb. This happens without warning when driving. Both headlights will work fine for a while and then one will turn off, even though the headlight bulbs are ok. We bought the car used around 2014 and has happened about 4 times a year since then. No other problems with car.

Headlight high beams and low beams sporadically stop functioning while driving. Toyota has known about this problem for years and failed to remediate problem or notify owners. Problem stems from a faulty ballast in headlight assembly.

For over a year now we have had major issues with our Prius headlights going out while driving at night on freeway, local streets and sitting parked. You can turn the lights off and back on and the lights will work again. The lights at this point will go out about every other minute or two. This is a serious and dangerous problem that needs to be recalled by Toyota.

The passenger headlight turned off and refused to go on so I removed it and put it back. It worked for a month longer, then blew up. I just put in a brand new bulb which turns on, then immediately goes out. After checking online, this appears to be an ongoing issue which Toyota hasn't addressed. I don't know what to do.

Had a blown right side headlight. I had it replaced and now headlight comes on and turns off and sometimes stays off. Only one dose it.

Replaced the headlight, after a few months the new headlight shuts itself off. Have to turn the headlights off and back on to get the headlight to come back on. This happens while driving and you never know when the light shuts it's self off.

The headlights flicker all the time - then both will automatically, randomly turn off during night driving. . . Extremely dangerous.

Right front light began failing sometimes recently, apparent at night, occasional. Left front light quit for awhile yesterday, then relit and worked for awhile. Both are unreliable and replacement is complicated, expensive, and does not work often it appears. We will try replacement of bulbs, it is unreliable and headlights are required at night to work, always! pure scam it seems, by Toyota and us governance, both for sale, so sad. Let us buyers beware.

The hid headlights go out while driving every couple of months and need to be replaced. This is a known issue to Toyota who has made no attempt to fix it. Consumers are being told by dealers that they need a new hid computer at their expense ($1800). It is dangerous to be driving at night and have your headlights go out! the only "fix" besides spending a ton of money on the new computer is to replace the bulbs every 3 months, which is crazy.

I had a headlight failure a few weeks ago. It came back on after a few days. Now the other one is out! this is dangerous.

Starting about a year ago, our Prius headlights have begun to fail while driving car. It first started with the left headlight going out occasionally while driving, and now it is happening to both headlights while driving. At first I thought I hadn't turn headlights on or I had a burned out bulb. Now it seems to happen all the time. If I turn headlights off and back on tends to temporarily resolve issue. However, problem seems to be getting worse as time goes by.

The passenger light keeps failing when it is on at night when I am driving. It has started to happen more and more. It is definitely dangerous. I have already been pulled over once for the headlight being out.