Wiring Problems of Toyota Prius - part 1

I am having problems with rodents getting into my car. I fear that they are chewing on electrical wiring and there is possible distraction to the driver. When I was driving (car was moving) a mouse crawled up on my shoulder. These problems appear to be a problem with this model Toyota and could cause a distraction to the driver and a driving issue with wiring.

See all problems of the 2013 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Both the low beam lights are of a problem with recall which Toyota expired the recall on 10/31/2019. I tried few times last 3 years to get it fixed with Toyota portland but they always said 1) don't have parts will call back once available 2) if you have issue we will fix it otherwise now now. Now that both were off and I had to use high beam, I took to Toyota beaverton, or. They said recall is expired. Why will recall expire if it is safety issue? I called Toyota customer support they said expired and you have pay fo yourself. The cost is not just bulbs but internal wiring kit which starts from $600. I am taking it to Toyota portland today as my student daughter needs the lights to drive. We are both in different states (CA and or). Csp info - "customer support porgram zhb certain 2010-2011 model Prius coverage for halogen low beam headlamp bulbs).

See all problems of the 2010 Toyota Prius 🔎.

I've had to replace the light bulb on my passenger side headlight constantly over the past couple of months. I heard that there was a recall on the wiring harness of the 2012 regular Prius and I'm wondering if the issue has been looked at in the Prius c models.

See all problems of the 2012 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Headlights burn out in less than 6 months due to degradation of the wiring harness. As the vehicle ages, headlight life decreases dramatically. This is a safety hazard. In the most recent bulb failure, both bulbs failed on the same day - and only became apparent that night. .

Mice invading inside of car and air conditioning systems. Destroying interior and air filtration system. Can spread disease including hantavirus with droppings. I think this is due to using soy based wire coverings that attrach rodents. Can also affect wiring inside the car.

See all problems of the 2014 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that rodents chewed through the air filter and wiring in the vehicle. The contact stated that this issue occurred three times. The contact took the vehicle to an unknown dealer where it was diagnosed that the air filter and wiring needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer stated that it was an outdoor issue and provided no further assistance. The failure mileage was unknown.

Rodents were attracted to the soy-based wiring used by Toyota and caused expensive damage by chewing wires. Toyota has had problems with this wiring and rodent damage for 4 years and I was unaware of this when I bought the vehicle. They refuse to pay for my damage and also refuse to replace the wiring with non-soy wiring, which means it could easily happen again. Many other customers, I discover, have reported rodent damage to wiring because of the soy-based material.

See all problems of the 2016 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Seat belt light stayed on, swerve light occasionally. Proved to be rodent damage on wire instruments and blower, panel instrument, antenna assemblies reaching $3,900. Vehicle parked outside residential building on public street in cold rainy weather. Vehicle in excellent condition. Never had such a problem with any other vehicles while living here over 20 years. Could soy based encasing around wiring contribute to this?.

Toyota soy wiring class action lawsuit! the wire harness contain soy wiring materials that are very attractive to rodents, resulting in costly repairs. Parked my car at work (on January 18 2017) in a full parking lot at a dealership with dozens of other cars but only my car had the wire harness chewed by rodents, and of dozens of cars around my car, the rodents chose my car, the 2015 Prius because the wiring in the engine bay are made of soy which attracts rodents. . Read more...

See all problems of the 2015 Toyota Prius 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2005 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Rodents chewed electrical wiring making the vehicle unsafe to drive. The electronic sensors were rendered inoperable. The vehicle was parked in my garage for the week end. Never had this problem with my other vehicles parked in same garage! repair cost,not covered under warranty was $ 1100. 00.

Rodents chewed through majority of the wiring under the hood and build nests in the engine. This has happened twice and I have only owned the car for 5 months and cost me a lot of money for repairs which Toyota will not cover and said it is not their responsibility for using these soy based wires that attracts rodents.

Driving on a rainy day, abs and vsc lights on dash came on. My car violently fishtailed almost 180 degrees, back and forth 6 times on a curve getting off a freeway (about 45 mph) nearly crashed. I proceeded very slowly to side street. Car shimmied to right making a left turn. Felt like I was driving on ice. Called a tow truck. Dealership found rodent damage to wires to wheel speed sensor. I discovered manufacturers using soy oil on wiring. $1300 repair.

See all problems of the 2007 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The coating on the wiring system attracted rodents to my car, the rodents ate through the electrical and tried to nest in the engine bay. The results were massive systems malfunctions and the car wasn't safe to drive. I had to get it towed to Toyota and they stated that this is a common problem. "they've seen alot of this recently".

Rodent damaged wiring and casings by eating/damaging both at a cost so far of $2700. I have owned this vehicle for one month. I've been told the warranty does not include the damage. I asked about where the dealership stored the vehicle prior to its delivery to me. I wasn't satisfied with their explanation.

Headlights go off without warning, sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes both. Inconsistent and notice only at night. Can't fix and can't find solution. Headlights don't need to be replaced - there is something wrong with car wiring or other. I've had this car since 2009 and only had problem last six months or so - probably starting 1/2016. Car has approx. 65k miles on it. Very unsafe - especially at night in city when I can't follow another car and I can't tell if my headlights are on or not!.

See all problems of the 2009 Toyota Prius 🔎.

The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the radio, turn signals, interior lights and dashboard lights functioned intermittently independently. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who was unable to diagnose or repair the vehicle. However, the failure persisted. The vehicle was then taken back to the dealer who diagnosed that the wiring harness in the vehicle was coated with soy and that an animal chewed on it causing the failure. The technician diagnosed that the entire wiring harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 114,413.

I was pulled over by the police, (while on a village street) because my headlight bulb was burned out. (again!) I have had 4 headlight bulbs replaced on the 2011 Prius and it is only 4 years old! Toyota has a technical service bulletin on the wiring harness, that shorts out the bulbs prematurely, but no recall. Please recall the Prius for the wiring harness, so I can stop getting pulled over by the police! 09\15 thank you!.

See all problems of the 2011 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Driving home (approximately 100 mile journey) - the "check hybrid system" light came on and car warnings indicated needed to stop driving and have car taken to service immediately. Had car taken to dealer for "warranty" service - was told a rodent had eaten the high voltage wiring insulation - not covered by warranty. Have had no evidence of rodent activity at our location, and other vehicles parked here have not had any problems. Being told $2700 repair not covered by warranty that I need to claim on my car comprehensive coverage. Concerned that if it is rodent damage, is it due to materials used that are attractive to rodents (wouldn't this be a problem for all Prius owners), especially in areas that have more of a visible small rodent population? also, don't know how to prove it was manufacturer or design defect - asking dealer to document how they came to believe it is a rodent problem.

Over the last nine months I have had to replace the bulbs in my 2012 Toyota Prius 6 times. When I brought it to the dealer they stated that it was because I was not using Toyota certified bulb and I paid over $150 to have them inspect the headlights and replace the bulbs. After I had the certified bulbs installed, a bulb went out again. When I returned to the dealer, I was told that I needed new wiring for a cost in excess of $250. 00. The technician stated that TSB-0204-12 was issued for for 2010-11 Prius for this problem and that the 2012 Prius have the exact same wiring harness, but that Toyota was not going to fix that problem for teh 2012 models and that I would have to absorb the cost myself.

On may 30, 2015, our home burned to the ground. The firefighters are certain the cause of the fire was my 2010 Prius - they know the fire started in the rear of the garage, the only other item in that area was a bicycle. Arson, faulty wiring and accidents were ruled out. Investigations continue, but they have identified an arc between the battery and the relay switch. My homeowners insurance carrier (erie) is trying to decide whether they should expend the additional $1,500 to open the relay switch box to see if they can determine if the arc was the cause of the fire, or a result. From the video footage, it is obvious that the water being poured onto the garage increased the intensity of the fire, which was due to the magnesium battery. Thestarpress. . Read more...

I recently replaced one of the low beam headlights, only to discover a few weeks later that both of the low beams had burned out. I've never had two headlights burn out at the same time! tonight I discovered that another of the low beams has burned out. That means that this bulb burned out in less than two months and only about 1000 miles. I am afraid to use my headlights during the daytime for fear that they will burn out and not be available when I need them to see again at night. This must be a wiring/configuration defect! please do something about this!.

I went to start my Prius v. After it was started, a number of the warning lights came on including the abs and stability control. I was stunned since I had my 30000 mile check up in may with no problems. When I took it to the dealer for repair, the dealer determined that rodents had eaten through a number of the electrical systems because of the soy based wiring. (I understand now that it's "biogradable soy based wiring insulation. ) I generally park my car at only two locations - my home and my work. I had never seen any rodents of any type! I can't imagine what would have happened if one of the wires to the engine, or airbags, or any system for that matter separated while I was driving. Apparently, Toyota is aware of this problem but is trying to downplay it! I was told it's not a warranty item. My car requires two new wiring harnesses, the alarm wiring, and the airbag harness plus other repairs.

Tl- the contact owns a 2014 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the wire harness wiring was being damaged by animals biting the wiring. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection and diagnosis and they had the vehicle at the dealers for longer than a month. The VIN was not available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and they provided no remedy. The approxiamte failure mileave was 7,000. Dyd.

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. While driving at approximately 25 mph, the air bag warning light illuminated on and off. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the main wiring harness needed to be replaced and not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000.

The contact owns a 2013 Toyota Prius. While driving at an unknown speed, the contact noticed a rat inside the vehicle that was eating the wires. The wires were coated with oil, which attracted the rat. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or mechanic. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was unknown.

(40) fleet 2010 Toyota Prius. Consumer writes in regards to vehicles headlights malfunction. The consumer stated he had to routinely replace 7-8 headlamps per week on the fleet of 40 vehicles. The dealer informed the consumer the frequent burnout of the bulbs was likely due to wither security officers not properly caring for the vehicle or the vehicles being used more frequently for personal use. Also, the wiring harness failed on the vehicles. The consumer stated there is currently 1 vehicle in the shop now, and the dealer quoted a price of $8,000. 00 to replace the wiring harness.

My 2010 Prius has had an ongoing problem with the main headlamps blowing, becoming inoperative and effectively leaving me with diminished visibility. This has happened approximately every 3 months since March 2014. Either one or both headlamps will blow. This is due to a known problem with this model and is covered under a Toyota/NHTSA service bulletin (tsp-0204-12). In my case, I purchased the car used, from a Toyota dealer with the Toyota certified car warranty, but this failure of the wiring harness is apparently not covered. Judging by the percentage of complaints in the safercar. Gov database for this model, this is a common problem and my experience has been typical. In the most recent incident, it was raining heavily and I ended up driving 150 miles with a blown headlamp, unsafe for me and unsafe for those whom I shared the road with.

On 2/27/14 the srs indicator light in our vehicle lit up causing us to review the owner's manual, which recommended immediate service. Per technical service bulletin t-sb-0042-11, this issue was caused by failure of the wiring harness, which was diagnosed with scanner code b1826. According to the TSB, the design/material fault can occur in 2004-2009 Priuses. The fault, according to a Toyota service advisor, results in a failure of the air bag system. To address the condition, "an updated wire harness must be installed. " the cost to repair this design fault is $2,500. And up depending on if one or both sides of the wiring harness has to be replaced. Because this safety related defect needed to be addressed at once we paid to have the vehicle repaired but expressed our view to the Toyota personnel that the defect should have been covered by Toyota. We feel that this defect should have been the subject of a recall. Calls to the gm of the dealership have not been returned.

I purchased this vehicle in December 2012. Ever since I have had this Prius, I have had issues with the front drivers side headlight turning off randomly. Whenever I turn the car on, both headlights are always on, but while driving, the drivers side headlight turns off. I took it to carfix in garner, nc and they thought that it could be the headlight, so they recommended changing it. I ended up having it changed by a family friend because it was cheaper to do it that way. The headlight was still giving me problems after being changed, so I took it to the leith Toyota dealership in raleigh, nc and they said that the headlight that I purchased from autozone was not the correct type of headlight, so they changed it again. Even after they changed it, the headlight was still going on and off randomly. I took it back to the Toyota dealership today and they said that it sounds like some kind of wiring issue. I have done some research on the issue and have seen recalls for 2005-2009 Prius' for the same issues, but since mine is a 2004 it does not fall into the recall category. I believe that it should based on my issue compared to that as well as the number of other complaints on the internet and blogs that I have found.

See all problems of the 2004 Toyota Prius 🔎.

Water intrusion caused corrosion of the main engine wiring harness which caused a fault in the auxiliary 12v battery and has made the vehicle undriveable. Toyota cannot determine the source or cause of the water intrusion even though I have brought in the vehicle for routine maintenance since I purchased it and I have complained about a problem which is related to the auxiliary 12v battery several times in the past. This seems to be a flaw in the 2004 Prius design.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Prius hybrid equipped with an aftermarket 10kw kit. The contact was driving 10 mph with the 10kw plugged in when it caught on fire causing the standard hybrid vehicle to become an electric vehicle. The electrical wiring caught on fire which was located in the rear passenger side of the vehicle near the tail light. The fire was extinguished by the contact and there were no injuries. The fire department was called but the fire had been extinguished by the time they arrived. A fire report was not filed and the vehicle was towed to a mechanic shop who was unable to repair the vehicle. An authorized dealer was then contacted and they stated that because the 10kw was an after market part, they would not provide any assistance. The manufacturer was contacted and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 33,126.

My windshield wipers stopped working for a short time. I have an idea of what could cause this issue among other problems. I had a problem with a vehicle I once owned that the engine would stop for no reason. The dealer could not find a problem but as a precaution he replaced the small wiring harness. My car never failed again. About 6 months later amc came out with a directive to replace the small wiring harness on all of these cars. The problem was that the two ends of the harness were manufactured by different companies that used different plastic. The plastic in the connectors would react with one another and produce a gas. The gas would coat the contacts and cause them to go open. In my case when I restarted my car the contacts would arc and it would run okay until the contacts got coated again. I think this condition could cause almost every problem Toyota is having. I don't know if this condition is related to any of the problems they are having but it might be worth looking into it.

Multiple occurrences over the past 3 years of headlights (one or at times both) going out unexpectedly without warning. You go into partial lighting or total darkness. After a few minutes you can turn the headlights back on and they may stay lit for few minutes or several hours. I have had dealerships look at the car and say that it is just the bulbs failing (bulbs that are suppose to last 10 times longer than conventional bulbs). The car is now 4 years old and I have had to replace the bulbs yearly. Dealership costs that was originally $350 plus installation per bulb. Toyota has now dropped their price to $150 per bulb. Aftermarket bulbs now available but you still only get a life of 7 months to a year per bulb lots of talk from dealers but no solution. I went to after market bulbs thinking that the problem was Toyota bulbs. The same problem occurs. The problem is not the bulbs, the problem is in the vehicle wiring. This is a severe problem that must be looked into in that it putting a lot of Prius owners along with others on the highway at risk.

See all problems of the 2008 Toyota Prius 🔎.

My 2007 Prius started having right headlight failure when I would drive on a rough road it would turn off then back on some 6 months ago. My husband checked the wiring and it came back on. The car had 45000 miles on it at this time. About 3 weeks ago both of them started turning on and off and 2 nights ago while driving home I had to turn them on and off 22 times and they would come back on and then get dim and then turn off. I took it to them at the dealership and they stated the left light was bad and the light and ballast were replaced for the tune of 614 dollars. They did nothing for the right light. I called and opened a case with Toyota who will not pay for ay of it. This should be in a recall!.