Prius Headlight Class Action Update: Settlement Reached

Great News, I will go to the local Toyota dealer and get it done for under $80 ($54 + a few minutes of labor)!

 

Both of my headlights went out around 60K miles. Napa had the headlight for $140 each.

 

The mailing I received today from US District Court (Central CA) says the car has to be within both 5 years and 50,000 miles to get a rebate OR to provide proof such as a sales receipt from within 5 years and 50,000 miles.

 

I just received the same thing in the mail today.

 

If I get my headlight assembly replaced at the dealer (water spots inside) am I still covered under this class action lawsuit? I would think so, but do not know, maybe there's some fine print I missed...

 

I got my letter today. I have about 61k miles, just past five years, and the HIDs have been fine.

Naturally, all that verbiage doesn't mention this condition: The HIDs have not had a problem and I'm past the warranty limit.

I assume I just throw the paper away...

 

i got my letter this week.

i'm over 50K now, but replaced them myself while under 50K.

i dont know how to prove anything. that is, at the time of failure...the dealer wanted to replace both bulbs and ballasts for $1200. i didn't get a written quote from the service manager. instead i just "stomped" out and cursed.

i then purchased bulbs on e-bay and installed them myself (thanks to Priuschat.com).

i'll probably write Toyota a nice letter detailing all the problems i had with the on-off, sometimes on, sometimes off, flickering, etc B.S.

at a minimum, the attorneys will make some additional money.

 

I'm still a little uncertain about something in the settlement. I had a bulb replaced by the dealer at 49K miles, and just under 2 years old for no charge. That was 1.5 yrs and 30K+ miles ago. What happens if the other side (or even the same side) goes out? Even though I'm beyond 50K miles, am I eligible for any future coverage given the documented problem from before? I tried to wade through the verbiage to no avail. However, I found this paragraph:

"If your vehicle is outside the 5 year or 50,000 mile warranty period, but you can provide proof that the headlight problem began within 5 years and 50,000 miles, you will be entitled to warranty repairs."

That could mean they would cover only that what I would call the pre-existing headlight problem, or it could also mean they would cover another future incident.

Has anyone else had this question?
Thanks!

 

Freaking lawyer talk just confuses the masses. Why can't they just write these things in plain English?

Our 2006 has had issues where one of the headlights doesn't come on, but cycling them seems to bring it back. Never took it to a "Stealership" or replaced the bulbs on our own.

Our other 2007 seems to have no issues with the headlights.......yet, but then again it has under 11k miles.

Does this paperwork we received in the mail, do anything for us or not?

 

About a week after my warranty was up on my 08 Prius the left headlight went out. Called Toyota of the Desert in Cathedral City and got a quote for $367 to replace. Was not happy about that and got a local gas station to replace for $197. It was the first one they had ever done but figured it out (took some time, though.)

The people at Toyota of the Desert were pretty pretty rude when I challenged the outrageous price. This happened just last week and evidently they don't know or don't care about the class action.

Jim
Idyllwild CA

 

I am having the same issues, passenger side light. A visit to my Canadian Toyota dealer with the Class action suit papers in hand, caught them off guard, they had not heard about this yet. They posted the question to their head offices to get clarification.
Even though the warranty is supposed to be North America (not US vs CAN) they would not cover, even though the car is a US import. Offered a pair of lights at his cost, $159 ea.
I may take a drive to Seattle Wa. for shopping and head lights.
Or Go the eBay way
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004H2N46O?tag=priuschatcom-20
thank PC for preventing me from spending big $$$ on OEM replacements.

 

The prius sold in canada doesn't have hid lights due to the drl laws, so i'm not surprised they didn't know much about it at a canadian dealer.

 

I received the law firm's letter last week and didn't really think much of it since my hid's were working fine. Although, I have to admit, it made me conscious about checking the lights every time I drove at night for the past week! Lo and Behold! The driver side headlight went out yesterday! Thankfully, I'm only in my third year and 41k miles! So I called my local dealer and scheduled to bring my car in this afternoon. I told them my Prius needed a warranty hid bulb replacement. Brought it in just before 6pm, signed warranty work order, done just a little after 7pm!:rockon:

 

obviously, the dealer doesn't need to take off the entire front end to replace a bulb.
it's a simple process, takes less than 15 minutes, and they should be ashamed of themselves for ever charging the $400/bulb fee that was the norm prior to the settlement.

 

I have an appointment Monday at a Bellingham Toyota dealership.
Their indication is that the light replacement is under warranty and they should only need my car for an hour or two.
***Work completed, NO Charge, took less than an hour, no questions, they had the details and info at hand. Wilson Toyota Bellingham, fast service, Coffee and WiFi in waiting area, quick drive across the border.
http://www.wilsontoyota.com/service/index.htm

 

This is John from Girard Gibbs LLP, one of the law firms for the plaintiffs in the Toyota Prius HID Headlights Class Action Settlement.

A BRIEF REMINDER:

The deadline for mailing claims is May 30, 2011.

Everyone will be considered for reimbursement who paid to repair an HID bulb or electronic control unit (ECU) on their 2006-2009 Toyota Prius and who submits a timely, valid claim:

(1) For repairs within 5 years & 50,000 miles of the car’s original sale or lease date, the reimbursement will be in full. This includes repairs after 5 years or 50,000 miles, if you can show the problem began within that time frame.

(2) For repairs after 5 years & 50,000 miles, YOU SHOULD STILL SUBMIT A CLAIM if you want to be reimbursed. These claims will be paid on a case-by-case basis, based on factors listed on the Toyota Class Action Claim Form.

Keep in mind that this is just a brief reminder -- not a complete list of the details of the settlement. Please visit GirardGibbs.com/Prius and read the Toyota Class Action Notice for more information about deadlines and eligibility requirements. The settlement requires final court approval (a hearing is scheduled for August 1, 2011), before it will go into full effect.

 

I'm pretty disappointed in this settlement. I have been changing these bulbs out myself at least every two years. I am over the 50K warranty mark, but can show all my receipts for bulb purchases maybe I will get a reimbursement, but that's no solution. I was hoping for a recall and replacement with Halogen bulbs if they are unable to solve the HID problems, but this settlement is no solution any I guess until someone dies because of this, there will be no solution.
Shame on you again, Toyota!

 

That seems odd. How many miles are you at? Are you using your HIDs as daytime running lights or something? Are you cycling the lights a lot, esp. when they're still hot? What are you replacing them with? Are you touching the bulbs w/your fingers? Perhaps you have a bad ballast/ECU as well?

The passenger side HID on my 06 (which was bought new) started winking out a few months and ~800 miles past the 5 year/50K mile mark. The bulb I removed was a German made Philips D4R and that's what I replaced it with (bought it fom Amazon for ~$50 + tax). The driver's side HID is still fine, but I suspect it will go out soon.

Maybe some of the shame should go to Philips.

 

Instead of paying to replace bulbs over and over you may want to consider just adding an aftermarket HID kit. If the bulbs keep blowing then it is likely a ballast issue and changing bulbs when they blow is just a waste of money IMO.

HID Component Kits from The Retrofit Source Inc

 

I thought HIDs were really "cool" to have. Guess I will stay with my clunky old technology Thomas Edison invented incandescent light bulbs for my car headlights. Sometimes old is better.