They have no idea what's wrong with my car

As mentioned in this thread...

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...bleshooting/66582-new-headlight-computer.html

... my 2007 (with less than 22,000 miles on the odometer) started having headlight problems last month. They changed the HID bulbs but it still had problems, so after more diagnostics they determined the computer needed to be replaced. That was on backorder for a week, and after it came in on Tuesday 8/11 they installed it and found that it did not solve the problem. At 7:05 pm yesterday (8/13), they left me a message telling me they are still trying to figure out what's wrong with the car.

They consider it unsafe to drive until it is fixed. I've been driving a loaner (2009 Matrix) since 8/4, which is frustrating because it's costing me more in gas money than the Prius would cost.

But most importantly I just want my car to be working properly. I don't know what else to do besides wait as patiently as possible and trust that someone at Toyota will figure this out.

Does anyone out there have any advice?

Thanks

 

Yes, but they've already replaced the lights and the computer, and the problem is not fixed. And they have no idea what to do next.

And this is a large dealership that has sold and serviced many Toyota hybrids, so it's not like I'm dealing with someone who rarely services them.

 

Well I have an update. The problem is that they are not able to reset the system after installing the new computer. They have basically consulted with everyone in the service department at this dealership, which as I mentioned is large and has worked on many hybrids over the years, so lack of experience or knowledge is not a problem here. They have also been in consultation with people at Toyota HQ in California. So far nothing has worked.

There is one more thing they are going to try, and if that doesn't work, they may have someone from California fly here to Virginia to look at the car. And/or they might wind up replacing the entire computer/inverter system.

(I hope this all makes sense - I was not able to take notes during the conversation.)

So, this sounds like it might be an epic fail for the car. At least it's still under warranty. I'm just hoping it will all be resolved soon.

 

When I brought it in last week, I explained the issue with the lack of brightness in the distance and said that the auto-leveler probably was the problem. They expected to have it fixed and back to me in a couple of hours, so I think they thought the same thing. But late that afternoon they called and said that further examination showed that they needed to replace the computer that controls all the lights, and that the car was unsafe to drive because the headlights could fail at any time. Since it costs them more to give me a loaner and install a new computer, I would think they looked at the leveler first and determined that was not the problem.

 

I've searched for other threads on HID problems, and I haven't seen anything like this. It seems like it is a beyond just a headlight problem. Everyone in the service department has looked at the car. Engineers from Toyota are involved. I'm pretty sure someone already looked at the leveling sensor.

They're spending a lot in man-hours on this so they really want to solve it and get my car back to me. They've dealt with HID problems before and they've told me that they've never encountered this anything like this.

Thanks.