2007 Toyota Prius Exterior Lighting

2007 TOYOTA PRIUS, PROBLEM FIRST OCCURRED AROUND 36,000 MILES. DRIVERS' SIDE HID HEADLIGHT GOES OUT WITHOUT WARNING. IF THE LIGHTS ARE THEN TURNED OFF THEN BACK ON, THE HEADLIGHT WILL TURN ON AGAIN AND WORK FOR A RANDOM AMOUNT OF TIME BEFORE FAILING AGAIN. CAR WAS BROUGHT TO A TOYOTA SERVICE SHOP, WHERE THEY REPLACED THE DRIVERS' SIDE HEADLIGHT WITH A NEW HID LIGHT. THIS WAS EXPENSIVE AND DID NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. THAT NIGHT, THE SAME THING HAPPENED: BRAND NEW DRIVERS' SIDE LIGHT WENT OFF WITHOUT WARNING AND ONLY CAME BACK ON AFTER THE LIGHTS WERE TURNED OFF AND BACK ON. THE CAR IS GOING BACK TO SERVICE NEXT WEEK. THIS OCCURS VERY FREQUENTLY AND IS A SAFETY ISSUE. REPORTED INCIDENT DATE REPRESENTS TODAY'S DATE- PROBLEM IS ONGOING AND HAS BEEN OCCURRING FOR ABOUT 15,000 MILES. *TR

MY 2007 PRIUS HEADLIGHTS GO OUT. AT FIRST IT WAS THE PASSENGER SIDE. YESTERDAY BOTH WENT OUT. BELIEVE ME I KNOW THINGS BREAK, BUT FOR THE PRICE THEY WANT FOR THESE BULBS, THEY SHOULD OF USED A DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGY FOR THERE LIGHT BULBS . MY 2001 CHEVY TRUCK HAS HAD THE SAME BULBS SINCE NEW. IF THE BULBS ON THE PRIUS DO NOT LAST, THEY SHOULD MAKE IT CLEAR BEFORE SOMEONE BUYS THE VEHICLE. KEEP IN MIND MOST PEOPLE WHO BUY THE PRIUS ARE DOING SO TO SAVE COSTS. WELL IF I HAVE TO SPEND600 BUCKS TO REPLACE BULBS IT NEGATES THE REASON I BOUGHT THE CAR IN THE FIRST PLACE. *TR

I AM ABOUT TO REPLACE THE SECOND HEADLIGHT ON MY 2007 PRIUS AT A COST OF APPROXIMATELY $600. THE HEADLIGHT, WHICH COSTS APPROXIMATELY $175, HAS REPEATEDLY FAILED WHICH FAILURE IS APPARENTLY CAUSED BY A DEFECT IN THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE HEADLIGHT. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD WHICH TOYOTA SHOULD REPLACE IMMEDIATELY. IN ADDITION THE CAR IS DESIGNED SO THAT THE FRONT BUMPER HAS TO BE REMOVED IN ORDER TO REPLACE THE HEADLIGHT (A LABOR COST OF APPROXIMATELY $400). THE COST ALONE IS SOMEWHAT OF A DETERRENT TO REPLACING THE HEADLIGHT. *TR

PASSENGER HEADLIGHT LOW BEAM FUNCTIONS INTERMITTENTLY. AT SOME TIMES THE LIGHT IS AT FULL INTENSITY, AT OTHER TIMES THE LIGHT IS COMPLETELY DEAD, AND SOMETIMES THE LIGHT OUTPUT IS A FRACTION OF FULL OUTPUT. HID LIGHTS SHOULD LAST 150K PLUS MILES. TOYOTA DEALER WANTED $400 TO REPLACE BULB AND WOULD NOT GUARANTEE THIS WAS THE PROBLEM. INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP WANTED $190 FOR SAME REPAIR. THIS IS AN ENORMOUS SAFETY HAZARD AND SORT OF CRAZY THAT TOYOTA HAS THIS DEFECT AND HAS NOT DETERMINED THE ROOT CAUSE. *TR

MY 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS HAS A SAFETY RELATED DEFECT WITH THE HID LIGHTS. THESE LIGHTS WILL GO OUT SPORADICALLY WHILE DRIVING. OFTEN TIMES IT TAKES LESS THAN 10 SECONDS FOR BOTH LIGHTS TO BE OFF WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT. I HAVE REPLACED BOTH LIGHTS, TWICE WITH AFTERMARKET BULBS AND THE PROBLEM REMAINS. TOYOTA IS CHARGING $450 TO REPLACE THE BULBS A THIRD TIME, WITH NO WARRANTY IF THEY FAIL. THIS SAME REPAIR CAN BE DONE ONLINE WITH IDENTICAL BULBS FOR $50. ADDING TO THE DIFFICULTY IS THAT THE BULB HOUSING IS LARGELY INACCESSIBLE FOR A NORMAL USER. MANY OWNERS, BASED ON HUNDREDS OF DESCRIPTIONS ON THE INTERNET, HAVE TAKEN TO REMOVING THE ENTIRE BUMPER JUST TO REPLACE THE HEADLIGHT BULB (WHICH IS WHAT I HAVE TO DO SINCE MY HANDS AREN'T TINY). THIS DESIGN FLAW EXACERBATES THE REPAIR OF A SAFETY RELATED DEFECT. THE HID LIGHTBULBS IN QUESTION ARE DENSO D4R'S, WHICH ACCORDING TO JD POWER SHOULD HAVE AN AVERAGE LIFESPAN OF 90,000 MILES FOR AN AVERAGE USER. MOST USERS ARE EXPERIENCING HALF OF THIS VALUE. INDICATING THE ECU OR BALLAST IS AT FAULT DESPITE THE INITIAL RESEARCH DONE ON THIS PARTICULAR TOPIC BY NHTSA, MY HEADLIGHTS DO BOTH FAIL WITHIN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME OF ONE ANOTHER - CONSTITUTING A LEGITIMATE SAFETY CONCERN. ONE WILL FAIL UPON TURNING THE CAR ON WITHIN A FEW SECONDS, LEAVING THE 2ND TO EITHER FAIL SHORTLY AFTER, OR AT ANY PERIOD OF TIME AFTER THIS POINT. THIS IS WITH NEW BULBS THAT ARE AT SPEC FOR THE CAR ACCORDING TO THE MANUAL. I HAVE NO COURSE OF RESOLUTION FOR THIS MATTER, AND TOYOTA IS UNWILLING TO HELP. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT MY SAFETY WHILE DRIVING THIS CAR, ESPECIALLY IN THE RAIN, OR AT NIGHT. I WOULD HOPE THAT THE NHTSA TAKES LIGHT FAILURES AS SERIOUSLY AS THEY DO BRAKE AND ACCELERATOR FAILURES, AS THEY'RE ALSO LIKELY TO LEAD TO ACCIDENTS. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH AT NIGHT, AND OBSERVED THAT BOTH HEADLIGHTS FUNCTIONED ONE AT A TIME INTERMITTENTLY. THE FAILURE RESULTED TO LIMITED VISIBILITY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON SEVERAL SEPARATE OCCASIONS FOR THE IDENTICAL FAILURE. THE TECHNICIAN STATED THAT THE BULBS REQUIRED REPLACEMENT WHICH INVOLVED THE REMOVAL OF THE FRONT BUMPER TO INSTALL THE BULBS. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED AT THIS TIME. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 20,000. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 59,000.

I'VE GOT A PACKAGE 2 2007 PRIUS. ONE OF THE HEADLIGHTS KEEPS GOING OUT. I CAN'T REALLY TELL WHEN OR HOW IT GOES OUT SINCE I CAN'T SEE IT. I'LL NOTICE IT WHEN I SEE THE REFLECTION IN THE BACK OF ANOTHER CAR. IF I TURN THE BRIGHT LIGHTS ON AND OFF IT HAS NO EFFECT, BUT WHEN I TURN THEM ALL THE WAY OFF AND BACK ON THE LIGHT COMES BACK. SOMETIMES ON LONG TRIPS IT WILL STAY ON THE WHOLE TIME, SOMETIMES IT WON'T. SOMETIMES ON SHORT TRIPS IT WILL GO OUT, SOMETIMES IT WON'T. IT IS NOT AN EVENT I CAN MAKE HAPPEN. *TR

DRIVERSIDE FRONT HEADLIGHT INTERMITTENTLY WENT OUT. TOOK MY AUTOMOBILE TO ORIGINAL DEALER ON MARCH 9, 2010 AND IT WAS REPLACED. DURING MY CONVERSATION WITH THE SERVICE ADVISOR, HE INDICATED THAT THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT MIGHT EXPERIENCE THE SAME PROBLEM. HE WAS CORRECT. ON MARCH 10, 2007 THE PASSENGER SIDE BEGAN HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM. THIS IS THE SAME PROBLEM DESCRIBED IN NHTSA -PE09019. I AM CONCERNED FOR MY SAFETY AND OTHERS WHO WILL BE AFFECTED. IN ADDITION I HAVE NO ASSURANCE THAT THIS REPLACEMENT WILL NOT BE REQUIRED OVER AND OVER AT A VERY HIGH DOLLAR COST. PLEASE ADVISE. *TR

PREMATURE AND SIMULTANEOUS FAILURE OF 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS HEADLIGHTS. FIRST EXPERIENCED IN FALL OF 2009 (LOW MILEAGE), BUT NOW DANGEROUSLY FREQUENT. TOYOTA CLAIMS THIS IS NOT A DEFECT, BUT HAS NO EXPLANATION FOR THE SIMULTANEITY OF FAILURE AND IS ONLY REPLACING THE BULBS WITHOUT SHARING ANY COSTS. TEMPORARY REMEDY IS TO SWITCH THE LIGHTS OFF AND BACK ON AGAIN. *TR

NOTICE HID HEADLINE ON MY 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS STARTED TO TURNOFF AUTOMATICALLY. LIGHTS DO NOT STAY ON AT ALL. THEY TURN OFF AFTER A MINUTE OR SO. I HAD TO ORDER NEW HEADLIGHT. NOT SURE IF PROBLEM WILL CONTINUE. I'M NOT ABLE TO DRIVE MY CAR AT NIGHT DUE TO THIS PROBLEM. ESTIMATED COST TO REPAIR IS $500.00! *TR

TOYOTA PRIUS HEADLIGHT SYSTEM FAILURE. LIGHTS FLICKER ON / OFF. NO APPARENT CAUSE. VERY DANGEROUS. FREQUENCY IS DAILY AND MULTIPLE TIMES PER DAY. MANY OTHER OWNERS REPORT THAT REPLACING THE HID BULB AT $500 - $1,000 IS NOT THE SOLUTION. PROBLEM RETURNS. APPEARS PROBLEM IS IN BALLAST OR COMPUTER. DEALERS WILL NOT REPLACE BALLAST UNTIL THEY HAVE ALREADY COLLECTED $500 FOR BULB REPLACEMENT. THEN WANT ANOTHER $500 FOR BALAST REPLACEMENT. TRUE SYSTEM CAUSE HS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED. *TR

THE HID HEADLIGHTS ON THE 2007 PRIUS BEGAN TO FAIL JUST AFTER 36K MILES ON THE CAR. THE DRIVER SIDE LIGHT TURNED OFF, BUT CAM BACK ONCE THE LIGHTS WERE TURNED OFF BRIEFLY. THE LIGHT WOULD ALSO FLICKER ON A REGULAR BASIS. NOW AT 50K MILES, THE PASSENGER SIDE LIGHT DOES THE SAME BEHAVIOR. WHAT MAKES THIS A HAZARD IS THE REPLACEMENT COST OF THE BULBS. I WAS QUOTED $400 FOR A SINGLE BULB REPLACEMENT. CLEARLY UNREASONABLE, BUT THEN DOING SOME RESEARCH ON THE WEB INDICATES MY DEAL WAS OFFERING ME A GOOD DEAL. THUS FAR I HAVE NOT REPLACED THE BULBS, BUT WILL HAVE TO DO SO SOON. IN MY MIND TOYOTA HAS A SIGNIFICANT DESIGN FLAW IN THEIR HID HEADLIGHTS IN THE PRIUS, AS THESE LAMPS SHOULD OUTLAST THE CAR... CONSUMERS EVERYWHERE REPORT OTHERWISE. *TR

HID HEAD LAMPS GO OUT AT RANDOM TIMES ON MY 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS. CAR HAS 67000 MILES ON IT. DEALER SAYS BULBS ARE ABOUT TO FAIL AND NEED REPLACED. COST IS OVER $500. THE LIGHTS WILL WORK FINE FOR SEVERAL DAYS OR WEEKS THEN WILL JUST STOP WORKING. I HAVE BEEN ON A DARK ROAD AND BOTH LIGHTS WENT OUT. YOU HAVE TO TURN THE LIGHTS ON AND OFF TO GET THEM TO WORK AGAIN. THIS SEEMS ODD THAT THE BULBS WILL WORK FOR A PERIOD OF TIME THEN STOP WORKING. ONE OR BOTH WILL STOP WORKING - NO CONSISTENCY. *TR

RIGHT PASSENGER HEADLIGHT FAILS TO COME ON CONSISTENTLY. IT STARTS AND STOPS. SOMETIMES IT COMES ON, AND THEN WITHOUT WARNING, IT WILL FLICKER OFF. TURNING THE LIGHTS ON AND OFF WILL OCCASIONALLY REMEDY THE SITUATION, BUT ONLY TEMPORARILY. HAVE DONE RESEARCH AND THIS SEEMS TO BE A VERY BIG PROBLEM WITH TOYOTA PRIUS MODELS AROUND YEAR 2007. *TR

I OWN A 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS AND HAVE RECENTLY EXPERIENCED THE HEADLIGHTS FLICKERING AND THAN GOING COMPLETELY OFF IF YOU TURN THE SWITCH OFF AND THAN BACK ON THEY WORK AGAIN. IT FIRST STARTED WITH THE PASSENGER SIDE AND THAN WENT TO THE DRIVER SIDE AND THAN BOTH LIGHTS WENT OUT TOGETHER. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD TO SAY THE LEAST AND TOYOTA NEEDS TO AT BEST NOTIFY THEIR CONSUMERS OF THIS PROBLEM AND AT LEAST ASSIST WITH THE COST TO REPAIR IT. *TR

PASSENGER HEADLAMP, TURNS OFF AND HAVE TO TURN LIGHTS OFF AND ON TO GET IT TO COME BACK ON. THIS HAPPENS CONSTANTLY. THE DRIVER ONE DID THE SAME THING WAS REPLACED BECAUSE OF WARRANTY BUT NOW MY WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED. OBVIOUSLY THIS IS A DEFECT BUT THEY WANT $300. TO REPLACE BULB. RIDICULOUS PRICE SOUND BE COVERED BECAUSE THEY SAID FIRST ONE WAS A FAULTY BULB AND NOW THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE OTHER ONE. I HAVE VEHICLES 10 YRS OLD AND NOT CHANGED ANY OF THE HEADLAMPS. CLEARLY THIS IS NOT NORMAL. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS. SINCE JANUARY OF 2008 THE RIGHT HEADLIGHT FAILED INTERMITTENTLY WHEN THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH WAS TURNED OFF FOR A FEW SECONDS IT OPERATED NORMALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHO STATED THAT THE LIGHT BULB ASSEMBLY NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE CONTACT WAS CONCERNED THAT THE LIGHT BULB FAILURE WAS A MANUFACTURERS DEFECT; THEREFORE, HE SHOULD NOT PAY FOR THE REPAIR. THE MANUFACTURER WILL BE CONTACTED. THE HEADLIGHT WASN'T REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 20,000. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 95,000.

DRIVER SIDE HEADLIGHT INTERMITTENT. HEADLIGHT FLICKERS AND GOES OUT. TURN HEADLIGHTS OFF AND BACK ON AND IT COMES BACK ON AND WORKS FINE FOR A FEW DAYS. THEN IT STARTS ALL OVER AGAIN, GOES OUT AND I HAVE TO CYCLE ON AND OF THE HEADLIGHTS TO GET IT TO WORK AGAIN. NO IN DEALER AND THEY CLAIM I NEED A NEW HID LAMP AT $280 FOR REPLACEMENT! *TR

I HAVE A 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS. ABOUT SEVEN MONTHS AGO THE HEADLIGHT ON THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE CAR STARTED GOING ON AND OFF. AT MY LAST 5,000 CHECK UP, I WAS TOLD THE LIGHT WOULD EVENTUALLY GO OUT COMPLETELY, AND THAT TOYOTA KNEW THERE WAS A DEFECT AND THEY WOULD REIMBURSE THE $350+ THAT IT WOULD COST TO REPLACE IT. BUT AT THAT TIME I COULDN'T AFFORD TO REPLACE IT AND IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN SEVERAL MONTHS TO GET REIMBURSED. I TOOK MY CAR IN LAST WEEK, THE LIGHT NOW IS OUT MORE THAN IT'S ON AND I WAS TOLD TOYOTA NO LONGER REIMBURSED FOR REPLACING THE DEFECTIVE HEADLIGHT. I FEEL THIS IS A GREAT SAFETY HAZARD, IT'S DEFINITELY DEFECTIVE AND VERY EXPENSIVE TO FIX. TOYOTA ISN'T DOING ANYTHING TO FIX THE PROBLEM, BUT EXPECT THE CUSTOMER TO PAY FOR THERE DEFECTIVE PRODUCT. *TR

I HAVE A 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS WITH 98,000 MILES AND THE RIGHT HID HEADLIGHT GOES OUT INTERMITTENTLY. IF YOU TURN THEM OFF AND BACK ON THEY WORK AGAIN. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE BULB IS NOT BURNT. IT APPEARS TO BE SOME TYPE OF ELECTRICAL PROBLEM WITH TOYOTA. *TR

HEADLIGHTS TURN ON AND OFF INTERMITTENTLY - 2007 PRUIS. FOR EVENING HOURS DRIVING, AT THE START OF THE TRIP THE HEADLIGHTS ARE TURNED ON AND THERE WERE TIMES THAT THEY REMAIN ON FOR THE ENTIRE TRIP. OTHER TIMES, THE LIGHTS WILL BE ON AT THE START OF THE TRIP AND THEN THEY JUST TURN OFF AND DO NOT COME BACK ON. YOU CAN MANUALLY TURN THE LIGHTS OFF AND ON AND THEY WILL COME BACK ON. BOTH HEADLIGHTS TURN OFF TOGETHER. I JUST NOTICED THE OCCURRENCE AT THE END OF THE MONTH OF AUGUST 2010. I HAD TO STOP DRIVING THE CAR IN THE EVENING HOURS. THE CAR HAS 32,000 MILES, I CALLED TOYOTA AND ESTABLISHED A CASE NUMBER. I TOOK IT TO MY DEALER. THEY SAID THAT THEY HAD SEEN THIS PROBLEM. THEY STATED THAT THE HEADLIGHTS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. AFTER A DISCUSSION, THEY WENT AHEAD AND REPLACED BOTH HEADLIGHTS AT THEIR EXPENSE. THE HEADLIGHTS APPEAR TO BE WORKING FINE SINCE THE HEADLIGHT BULBS WERE REPLACED AND IF THEY DID ANY OTHER WORK RELATED TO THE PROBLEM IT DID NOT APPEAR ON THE DOCUMENTATION THAT I RECEIVED. SINCE THE LIGHTS TURNING ON AND OFF WERE INTERMITTENT AND BOTH LIGHTS WENT OFF RATHER THAN JUST ONE DUE THE BULB BURNING OUT, I BELIEVE THAT THEIR IS A STRONG POSSIBILITY THAT THIS PROBLEM WITH THE LIGHTS WILL RE-OCCUR. *TR

THE THIRD HEADLIGHT BULB HAS JUST FAILED ON MY 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS...I'VE HAD IT! UNDER 60,000 MILES! 3 BULBS? RIDICULOUS. *TR

I HAVE A 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS. THE HID HEADLIGHT PROBLEM STARTED WITH ONE HEADLIGHT TURNING OFF AND ON UNEXPECTEDLY. THEN, WHILE MY WIFE WAS DRIVING AT NIGHT, BOTH HEADLIGHTS WENT OUT! DRIVING AT NIGHT WITHOUT HEADLIGHTS IS INCREDIBLY UNSAFE AND SCARY. THIS IS CLEARLY A SAFETY DEFECT IN THE HID LIGHTING SYSTEM. TOYOTA HAS REFUSED TO COVER ANY REPAIR COSTS. *TR

ONE HEADLIGHT ON 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS GOES OUT WITHOUT WARNING. TURN LIGHTS OFF THEN ON AGAIN AND COMES BACK ON. I HAVE BEEN STOPPED BY THE POLICE TWICE FOR THIS PROBLEM. *TR

OVER THE LAST APPROXIMATELY 6 MONTHS, THE HIGH-INTENSITY HEADLIGHTS ON MY 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS WITH LESS THAN 45,000 MILES ON IT (BOUGHT NEW, ALL SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE DONE) BEGAN RANDOMLY GOING OUT. SOMETIMES JUST ONE, SOMETIMES THE OTHER, SOMETIMES BOTH AT ONCE. TURNING THEM OFF AND BACK ON MAKES THEM WORK, SOMETIMES FOR A LONG TIME, SOMETIMES ONLY FOR A FEW MINUTES. IT IS VERY FRIGHTENING AND DANGEROUS TO BE GOING DOWN A DARK ROAD AND HAVE YOUR HEADLIGHTS GO OUT! MOST RECENTLY THIS HAPPENED TONIGHT ON I-215 SOUTH IN RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. *TR