Headlights Turn Off While Driving problems of the 2010 Toyota Prius

My cars low beam headlights fail quite often; sometimes lasting less than two weeks. At other times, the bulbs put out very little light. The failures most often happen when the lights are first turned on, or when switching between high and low beam.

We purchased the car used from a Toyota dealership in spring of 2013. We had never had to replace the headlights until one side had stopped working in may 2015. As we always have done with our vehicles, we went to an auto parts store and bought the correct head lights for our make, year & model. We replaced both of them in may and in August (3 months later), both had gone out with the initial outage having occured while I was using them in the dark on a freeway. Luckily I had brights that still worked but I have since had to replace both lights again and they still remain un-working. I am scheduling repairs, however, this seems to be a major defect either in the electrical engineering or possibly related to fuse shortages. We have made several phone calls to repair shops, other Prius owners, as well as read many safety concern forums regarding this very popular issue even with 2010 models. I understand Toyota seems to take no responsibility for the high-risk headlight failure in Prius models up to 2009 but this seems flat out ridiculous and I should not be required to return home before dark or be forced to drive with my brights while oncoming traffic flashes at me as if I'm being inconsiderate.

After returning to vehicle, low beam headlights failed to properly illuminate. I replaced both bulbs with new ones, and they still fail to cast enough light. The bulbs appear to be on, but are too dim to be effective.

Driving home at night going approximately 40 mph both low beam head lights went out at the same time. Turned on the high beam and they worked ok. Bought new bulbs the next day and installed but did not resolve the problem.

2010 Toyota iv Prius: returning home at night in a dark, rural country area of pennsylvania. Windy, two-lane road with frequent opposing traffic. Left front headlight goes out making it very difficult to see with remaining headlight. Switched to high beams which worked ok until opposing traffic appeared and had to switch back to low beam (singular). A dangerous situation with opposing headlights in your eyes and not enough light from my own car to illuminate the road in front of me. Later, it turned out that the headlamp bulb was ok and "something" was making it either intermittent or go out completely. Sometimes striking the headlight lens assembly with the heel of your hand would get the light to come back on. My wife recently was cited for driving with a headlight out in our local area. This is not a safe situation and the local dealer says he can't help us.

The problem that is causing the head lights to burn out simultaneously needs to be resolved. It is a safety hazard for this to continue. Purchased a Toyota Prius 2010 in December 2010. Since that time, the head lights have been a problem. Each time there is a problem, both head lights burn out simultaneously. The first time the head lights failed was August 7, 2012 when there were five of us in the car driving 15+ miles with about a third of the drive on many residential streets that were not well lit. The dealership in florida was called and it was explained that both headlights burned out at the same time and that it must be something other than the bulbs because headlights do not burn out together at the same time. The service representative quoted that the cost of the repair to replace the head lights was about $150. He did not ask if the car was under warranty and he did not acknowledge that it could be something in the electrical system. He did not suggest that the car be brought in to have them put it on diagnostic machines to verify where the problem may be. We opted to replace the bulbs ourselves. The second time both head lights burned out simultaneously was October 21, 2012 and we again, replaced the bulbs ourselves. The cost of the bulbs including tax is $54. 36. This morning is the third time both lights have burned out at the same time again. The Prius has 35,840 miles. This is not reasonable. We have already spent $108. 72 to replace the bulbs twice. It is unreasonable. It is extremely unsafe not knowing when and where the head lights will burn out. We have teenage drivers and it is upsetting to know they are not in a safe vehicle.