Headlight problem

Awesome!.. seems you could have gotten them on "Neglecting" to fix the problem the first time as if they knew the bulbs were failing prematurely, they should have assumed both bulbs were in the same lot or problems... anyway... good you got some results.

I have a feeling it doesn't cost Toyota too much to front the bill and have this issue fixed when they do it as compared to what the dealer charges us to get it fixed!

Financially, the dealer has little incentive to go to bat for us as they would rather have us pay out of pocket than have Toyota handle it!

 

This is very encouraging, as I'm just now confronting the same problem on my 2006 Prius. JUST a week after the 3 year anniversary of the in-service date, and with 38,000 miles, having already replaced the dealer-installed LRR tires, my R HID is intermittent.

It started flickering, then cutting out, and now, on occasion, BOTH HID lamps cut out, which is really scary. Even the R one will come back on if I rotate the smart stick off then on again, but it won't stay on.

My local dealer says there's a defect, and showed me other repair tickets for the same problem on Gen II cars. Indeed, it was OUT of the replacement bulbs. The Service Manager says he called Toyota to request a courtesy replacement but Toyota refused. I subsequently called Toyota "Customer Experience" but did not get a call back w/in the promised 24 hours. I'm still waiting.

Meanwhile, the dealer says it installed a new bulb to see what would happen, but that, too, didn't work, meaning the problem is with the Electronic Control Unit (ECU). The total cost to replace one ECU and one headlamp...Are you sitting down? $643.15.

In other words, while there MAY be environmental advantages to a Prius--at least in terms of fossile fuel consumption--and assuming those advantages aren't outweighed by the environmental cost of obtaining some of the other precious metals incorporated into the car's design, NOW, only now, do we learn that a) you'll have to replace the dealer installed tires somewhere before 40,000 miles, and b) you're going to have to make some VERY expensive repairs JUST beyond the warranty period, unless you spend the money on an extended warranty that happens to cover them.

I bought a 1999 Lexus RX300 that now has $150K miles. The extended warranty was a complete waste of money, and I've made only ONE expensive repair thus far to the car, to the driver door electronics package. In reliance on this, and on Toyota's reputation in general, I bought the Prius.

Now my fingers are crossed that I don't come to regret my decision. I love the car, but I will be VERY disappointed if Toyota does not help out in what is obviously a defect situation. Evidence that it is a defect can be found all over the web. Just google "toyota prius headlamp or headlight" and you'll be amazed how many share this problem.

 

I got ~60K out of mine, but I do agree with the basic idea. I also bought the $69 EBay bulbs and they have been working great. Honestly, even the 30-40K use would probably be OK if Toyota charged $69/pair for the bulbs. They are mildly irritating to replace (who came up with that silly wire retainer anyway?!?!) but worth the time and effort to learn how as I can now replace them whenever I want to. You also get to choose your color if you want to try something new, I went with 6000K and I like them. A little more blue, about the same brightness on the road.

The fact that the $69/pair bulbs seem to work at least as well and as long as the Toyota $300/bulb units is nuts.

 

Last month, I had my other headlight replaced after it blinked on and off. I called Toyota and got a case number. Then the dealership replaced it and I paid for it. Faxed Toyota the invoice and proof of payment. I was amazed that they paid it in full since they only paid half of it for the first one. I won't look a gift horse in the mouth! Thanks to everyone here in this chat that was so helpful!

 

I have this problem with my 2007 prius. The right headlight appears dim, flickers, and goes out. I have taken it for service twice already. First they replaced the bulb. Next they replaced the ECU. I had been taking it to a dealership that is about an hour from my house, but after four hours total drive time trying to get this fixed I decided to call the dealship that is closer to my house (I don't typically use them because they tried to screw me when I was buying the car in the first place)... Anyhow, they don't want to see it because this other dealership had looked at it.

Any suggestions?

 

Call Toyota customer service and explain that one dealer cannot seem to fix it and the other wont and maybe they can make some phone calls to help you.

 

On the subject of a possible recall, which some say should be happening "any day," but people have now been saying that for a long time, does anyone know if anyone has tried to get the media interested in the problem?

I just had the bulb replaced on my 2007 when it was in for the 40K service last week. I didn't know anything was wrong; service advisor pointed it out. I paid $335 for the repair. Over the weekend, i had a chance to read some of the threads about this; today i called Toyota and got a case number. I want to be reiimbursed, considering all the info in these threads. I've been driving for decades and have put 150K miles on some cars and have never had a headlight go out on any car. When i was at the mechanic last week and was told about the light being out, i thought maybe i just had rare bad luck but apparently not so. I have the extended warranty; the service advisor said they probably wouldn't cover it but he would try. I knew that wasn't going to happen, sounded like wear and tear at that point. But this seems to be a defect in the car.

Just wondering if anyone knows if the media has been interested in this safety problem that nothing is being done about.

 

I was having the same problem. The passenger-side headlight would go out after a few minutes and then eventually the driver-side headlight would go out too. Sometimes, they would go out at the same time (not good when you're doing 65+ mph on the freeway).
Before going to my local dealership, I called Toyota Corporate (1-800-331-4331) and got a case number. They asked me to take the car to my local dealer to have it inspected. When I got there, both headlights were out so it was easy to show them the problem. Even though my car is no longer under warranty, they offered to replace both light bulbs for free, so I said OK .
FYI, I went to Stevens Creek Toyota (1-800-984-8833) in San Jose, CA. My service advisor was David Hardin.

 

I called Toyota Corporate on Monday and got the case number for the headlight that was replaced last week. Today i reached my Toyota case manager. She asked if i already had the repair done. I said yes. She asked if i had it repaired at a Toyota dealer. I said yes, and she said good. Then she said "We want to make this right for you," and "We will reimburse you for the repair. I just need you to fax me the invoice from the repair." YES! She said "That's the good news. Now, the bad news...." and she said that "They told us to warn people that it might be 6 to 8 weeks to get the check in the mail. It might not be that long, but they said to tell people this."

So...i was relieved and happy that i didn't have to haggle with them and didn't have to stress and strain to make a case for reimbursement. It seemed that they accept that this is a real issue.
They earned my appreciation by how easy they made it on me. Now i feel better.

without PriusChat i would've just had to suck it up and eat the cost of this repair--thanks to all.

 

I just joined this forum this morning after finding this via a Google search of the headlight drama.

THANK YOU for the steps on getting this fixed! After getting a $1000 quote to repair the problem, we called Toyota customer service, called the dealership back and told them to hold off on the repair until we heard back from them.

Surprise, surprise this afternoon, when they called to tell us they were going to do a one-time "goodwill" replacement of the lights!

We've also logged a complaint with NTSA as well.

Have I said THANK YOU for this forum? THANK YOU THANKYOU!

 

I've got my 2006 going into the shop tomorrow for the bulb issue (for the 3rd time). I'm just off warranty for time not miles. I'll be calling that # in the morning but I'm in Canada now not the USA. It's an ex-US car so I wonder if they'll fix it for free or not?

 

Been reading through this thread and have yet to conclude whether this is a bulb/capsule issue or a headlamp computer/ecu component. I see one or both being replaced and sometimes fixing the issue and sometimes not

Can someone let me know which is the culprit? My certified preowned prius passenger headlight went out with 3 miles left on my 3000 mile comprehensive warranty.. I immediately called the dealer (service department closed) to report the problem. I took a picture of the odometer as some additional proof my headlight was out before the warranty was up... unfortuneatly I didn't get a picture of the headlight being out as I turned the lights off and back on and it came back on..
Already getting ready for a battle with the dealer.. but hopefully they will fix under warranty.. even though I have seen that the warranty doesn't cover bulbs..
if it is only a bulb that they won't cover then I will spend the $70 on the ebay bulb and switch it out myself.

But if it is a bigger issue then I hope they make good and fix it.

 

It began with one light going out. Not so unusual right? But before I could get it fixed I noticed that when I turned the lights on the burned out light would come on then dim slowly and go out. I also had my good bulb go out, leaving me with no headlights. When I turned the light switch off and then back on the good bulb came back on. Took it to dealer. They replaced the burned out bulb and told me they were interconnected and that is why the good one went out. I bought the story until this morning when the good one went out again and came back on after turning the lights off and on again. Got on this forum and noticed I wasn't the only one with the problem. All seem to be having the problem with 40K miles or more. Mine is at 47K. I called Toyota this a.m. and got a number. Will be contacted when they decide what they are going to do. I have already decided what I'm going to do. I'm contacted the NHTSB and going to the media. This is bull crap! It is a real safety issue. They had better jump on this faster than the accelerator pedal problem.

 

In general, the problem has been a compatibility issue between the capsules and the ballast. It appears that the ballast is barely supplying enough voltage to maintain the capsule, so as the capsule ages, it stops working reliably. In this situation it usually doesn't help to replace the ballast, since you will most likely get another one built to the same specs. It gets complicated because a replacement ballast might work at the upper end of the voltage range, and that would fix the problem. A replacement capsule might be more tolerant of lower voltages, and that would also fix the problem. In rare cases the ballast might actually have failed, which means a replacement would work. On the other hand, a replacement capsule might be less tolerant and will not fix the problem. All of these permutations make the problem confusing.

Tom

 

I think thats about it Tom.... that may be the reason the Chinese bulbs do better since they require less voltage as discussed here.

The quote below describes a push for genuine Phillips bulbs because the ballasts voltage it too high to support the "knock off" chinese bulbs without causing short life... but if the ballast is slightly "under powered" this would explain why the "knock offs" actually work better than the originals, and why it takes a second restrike to get the bulb going again, once it degrades a little from being underpowered.

 

When i was told by Toyota that they were going to reimburse the cost of replacing the bulb (that's what the invoice says was done), i thought they were openly recognizing that there is a problem, that progress is being made toward something being done about this. I called a few days later to follow up and make sure my fax of the invoice was received (having learned not to leave such things to chance). When i spoke to the same representative, there was something different in her manner, and this time she said "We have decided to pay for the repair on a one time only basis as a good will gesture" or something like that. The first time, there was no mention of "one time only" or "good will" and she had been warmer and friendlier. I was just calling to ask if she got my fax. She was making a whole new speech about why they were reimbursing me. I am left with a different impression from my initial one. I don't think the problem is being acknowledged at all, based on the second contact. I was pretty much told that if the problem recurs, i'm on my own, they are doing me a favor to reimburse me, because when it comes down to it, headlights repeatedly going out is just normal wear and tear. I hope you are able to get media attention to this. Reading this thread is not reassuring, about the future of my headlights.

 

The problem is now being acknowledged... just not officially for fear it would gender an onslaught of recalls.
They are oiling the greasy wheel hoping the problem with go away.

Don't worry, the Chinese ebay bulbs seem to do fine.... I hear they like the lesser voltage anyway.

I still have two GenII's and they both have the ebay bulbs for close to 40K miles now with no problems.

If defense of Toyota... they are a big target for lawsuits so they are trying to do good to the customer without attracting attention.

I reality, you would think they would "love" for the media to get ahold of honest good will gestures but reality is.. its not a good will gesture, but rather.... here's your cookie, now go away and be quiet and don't tell anybody!

 

Hi all,

I haven't read this entire thread since it's 62 pages, but that tells me this has been an issue for quite some time. My 2007 Prius has the same issue and is 2.5 years old at 41K. I just got a voicemail from the dealer that the cost to repair is $566!!! I called back and left a VM to not repair and that Toyota should repair at their expense. We'll see...

 

I just had my 2008 Prius in for this problem except i didn't think it was anything but some headlights that just needed to be replaced.

I didn't really think anything of it until they told me the cost of each bulb would be $150.00. To top it off they also wanted to charge me $45.00 to replace each one. So $390.00 just to put in 2 headlamps.

After talking with one of the service people they called Toyota and said they would pay for one of the bulbs even though the HID bulbs were not covered by any warranty. I am glad i declined the service after reading some of the posts on this page.

Lets hope Toyota will recognize there is a problem soon and do the right thing.

 

Thanks guys got my lights fixed 1-800-331-4331 and got a case # 2006 red 54000 miles