Headlight OUT in FOUR months.......

:angry: While my Wife was backing out of the garage this morning in our '07 Prius Touring I was standing there saying goodbye when I noticed the passenger's side HEADLIGHT was completely OFF but driver's side okay. I asked her to put the lights on-and-off, still out.... tried the high beams, still completely out although the highbeams worked on the driver's light just fine. She was running late, it was too dark for me to probe around to look for a loose connection. Very shocking a bulb would burn out in FOUR MONTHS and I hear the HID's are EXPEN$IVE !!

I have read several other Forum posts here and now realize it could be an HID Controller or even a ballast problem and the bulb could be just fine. Getting the headlight to be "off" when I bring it to the Toyota Service Dept. is another problem, since I have read this is an "intermittant" problem many times and if the bulb is ON when the Service Dept. tries to analyze the problem, they just send you off without doing anything or changing the module, bulb or ballast. Sounds like this will be a VERY frustrating problem, especially when the closest Toyota Dealer (and the dealer we purchased the new Prius from) is about 45 miles away from our home !!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(The Annoying One @ Sep 10 2007, 08:01 AM) [snapback]509976[/snapback]</div>

Half way to work, as my Wife got off the interstate (I-4) and was traveling down city streets I was speaking with her on the cell phone. I asked her if the passenger's light was still out, she said yes, so I told her (while she was at a stop light) to shut off the headlights and put them back on....... NOW the passenger's headlight was working as she saw it in the reflection in the rear bumper of the vehicle in front of her. She continued to drive to her parking garage and once inside and parked, she got out (with engine running) and BOTH headlights were on (I was still on cell phone with her). I asked her to shut engine off, wait a couple of minutes and then put lights back on. BOTH came on....... naturally when you open driver's door they would shut off so she determined that both were on by waiting for a passing vehicle and saw the reflection as well as seeing both on garage, cement wall ahead of her.

So............... it sounds like an "intermittant" problem that I will have to be going back-and-forth to the Dealer many times as another person in a forum post here has done for a total of 2 1/2 months, 'till it was finally OUT for the Dealer to actually "see" and THEN they serviced it ?? :angry:

By-the-way........ VERY interesting info about the hi-lo shutter and not dual filaments like a regular lamp !!

One more question........ WHERE is the HID Controller located in an '07 Touring ??

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(h2photo @ Sep 10 2007, 09:36 AM) [snapback]510001[/snapback]</div>

Yes, I found those posts right after I posted this one.... there are actually THREE, one with 172, one with 177 and another with a whopping 3,576 VIEWS (and 69 replies). I spent about 45 minutes reading them all and now I am worried.... as we probably all do, or at least as "I" do, we HATE taking the new vehicle to the Toyota Dealer Repair Shop, especially if it's an "intermittent" problem and the Dealer is 45 miles away.
At least YOUR situation described above gives me a feeling I can just "goose" the lights on (if one does not come on) by flicking the headlight switch on-and-off a few times............. Thanks !!