I bought my Prius about 4 years ago and over the last 2 years I have had to replace the low beam headlights at least 6 times now. I replace them myself, even after destroying my hands on the passenger side light, and I make sure to wear brand new vinyl gloves. The bulbs touch nothing and are pretty easy to change so it is not from me touching the bulb that is causing them to burn out prematurely. I have tried expensive bulbs and cheap bulbs to see if there is a difference and there is not. I just replaced the passenger bulb 3 weeks ago and now the drivers side just went. I last changed them both just before the summer. I do not drive with my lights on during the day so they are not getting the "extra" workload. I am hoping before I go out and buy MORE bulbs if there is a repair for this. I have seen the 36k warranty that toyota put out but I am WAY over that now and many of the discussions list wiring kit replacement. It is just a little confusing to what will actually work so any help is appreciated. Thank you. Jamie OZ
Hi. Perhaps there is moisture inside the headlight housing causing this problem if it's wiring I am not familiar with that issue. You could get hid off the Internet or Led. The Led is very bright and durable and better made vs hid.
There is a technical service bulletin addressing this issue: Date Reported OCTOBER 17, 2012 NHTSA Reference #10050839 TSB Reference #TSB-0204-12 Description: TOYOTA: TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF HALOGEN LOW BEAM HEADLAMP BULB SHORTAGE OF LIFE, THE WIRING HARNESS WAS MODIFIED AND IS AVAILABLE. MODELS 2010-2011 PRIUS.
There's also been more extended discussion here on PC of the details of the issue and the fix, summarized here. -Chap
With your help I discovered I wasn't losing my mind and there is a Headlight issue. So now what to do about it. I'm really ticked. I replaced the headlight bulbs.....AGAIN. Burned my finger on it, in fact. The burn hasn't healed yet and would you believe it, the light is out again. Worked for all of 2 days maybe. I've had it! I know you have too. I reached out to two dealerships, but not being on drugs or have won the lottery, I wouldn't take it there because it's $140 an hour. All they tell me is well it's not on recall. I reached out to Toyota Corporate and had an EXTREMELY nasty call from someone who could basically care less. Told me since I don't have a record of service with the dealer (because I'm not insanely stupid) they can't do anything. Yeah, really. So here's the thing. I've got the emails of all the execs at Toy Global and N.A. I'm going to escalate this and if that doesn't work I'm going to find a lawyer. I can't drive the car at night. It's not road-safe. They need to do something. It wouldn't have gotten this far if they had just dealt with it. But this phone call was the tipping point, it was that bad. So what does this have to do with you. If you would like to be cc'd on my correspondence with them and, if need be, join up with a lawyer, please get in touch. This has got to stop.
With your help I discovered I wasn't losing my mind and there is a Headlight issue. So now what to do about it. I'm really ticked. I replaced the headlight bulbs.....AGAIN. Burned my finger on it, in fact. The burn hasn't healed yet and would you believe it, the light is out again. Worked for all of 2 days maybe. I've had it! I know you have too. I reached out to two dealerships, but not being on drugs or have won the lottery, I wouldn't take it there because it's $140 an hour. All they tell me is well it's not on recall. I reached out to Toyota Corporate and had an EXTREMELY nasty call from someone who could basically care less. Told me since I don't have a record of service with the dealer (because I'm not insanely stupid) they can't do anything. Yeah, really. So here's the thing. I've got the emails of all the execs at Toy Global and N.A. I'm going to escalate this and if that doesn't work I'm going to find a lawyer. I can't drive the car at night. It's not road-safe. They need to do something. It wouldn't have gotten this far if they had just dealt with it. But this phone call was the tipping point, it was that bad. So what does this have to do with you. If you would like to be cc'd on my correspondence with them and, if need be, join up with a lawyer, please get in touch. This has got to stop.
What kind of headlights are you installing? My 2010 is supposedly one that has the issue, but I've had it two years this month and haven't changed the headlights yet. That's with Sylvania H11 "basics". I still have the headlight repair harnesses sitting right here ready to install, but I don't know that I'll ever bother; I was worried I might be changing bulbs a lot more often than this. I can only surmise the previous owner was using aftermarket "extra bright" bulbs, which start out with a heavy tradeoff of longevity for brightness. -Chap
i installed aftermarket hids. about 4 years ago in my 2010... no issues.. also leave the lights on 90% of the time.. no auto lights but they turn off when the car shuts off. PH-1 ?
