Prius Headlight Class Action Update: Settlement Reached

I have a 2006 Prius, I've owned it for about a year and 6 months. I'd say ever since 6 months after I've got the car the right passenger light would go out randomly. I read about HID lights and I feared I would never be able to get it fixed without a few hundred dollars in the dealer's pockets. I heard about the settlement online, but I see the deadline was in May of 2011! Maybe they will still replace my lights? I didn't submit a claim. I will call them tomorrow and see what they can do.

Oddly enough I just had another issue (high pitched whine / noise when my Prius is on or off), so I need to call them anyway...

Any tips? I have about 43k miles

Thanks!

 

Call your dealer. It is not entirely clear what the May 2011 deadline means, perhaps applying to people that already paid for the repair and are seeking reimbursement. Recently someone in your situation had their bulbs replaced for free.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ooting/96076-2008-hid-bulb-out-49k-miles.html

 

I had my driver side HID replaced a few weeks ago. asked about replacing both when I had passenger side done a few months ago, but they declined.
As soon as I noticed the other go out I made the appointment, 48300 miles so I was close to the 50k mark.
Stilll, no questions asked, no charge, quick service.
Glad I got it done before 50k and Aug 1st.

Origional appointment: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...-update-settlement-reached-6.html#post1289880

 

I have a 2008 Prius that the passenger side HID headlight has gone out and the driver side is intermittent. It is under the the 5 years since purchase and only has ~40,000 miles on it. I made an appt. at the local dealership for today but when my wife arrived they said it was not under warranty. I couldn't go myself but should have. What do I need to do to get these replaced under the extended warranty??

Thank you, Shawn

 

Shawn
I had the same problem with my 2008. Dealer did not know about the 5yr/50k.

Call Toyoto Corp and open a case. They will give you a case number. Tell them your experience with the dealer and any hassle that you may have had.

Be sure to tell them that both headlights have worked intermittently in the past, and they will replace both. Print out a copy of the 5yr/50k warranty and bring it with you to the dealer. Show it to them if needed.

You should not have to pay and then wait to be reimbursed.
My dealer replaced both bulbs free of charge. Good Luck.

 

Do you mean the attached document?

I will call Toyota today, great idea. I tried calling the dealership but got voicemail??? Seriously, voicemail at a car dealership.

Thanks, Shawn

 

Yes that is the the correct document. Be sure to tell Toyota Corporate the name of the dealer that you are going to. In my case, within a day or two of opening a case with Toyota Corporate, I received a polite phone call from the dealer's service manager who confirmed that I was correct about the 5yr./50k.

Let us know how it works out for you.

 

Aren't the settlement checks being sent out?

 

I received my settlement check about a week ago. Frankly, this is probably one of the best class-action settlements I've seen. In the past, class-action cases haev always resulted in settlements of little value to the consumer, such as nominal vouchers, discount coupons, extra services, etc. This one is different.

 

Yes, I received my check recently and posted about it at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ion-settlement-award-letters.html#post1458323.

BTW, I agree w/Azipod. Although I wasn't reimbursed for the labor in DIYing (which was a disaster for me that took many hours...), I'm glad that the check I received covered the cost of the one bulb I used and the one that I will almost certainly need to use in the near future. All other class action lawsuit settlements that I've received notifications for have either resulted in awards of little or no monetary value to me. Sometimes the "award" or potential "award" is/was so low, it wasn't even worth my time to bother gathering the paperwork and submitting it.

 

Hey Guys,
I just had my 2007 Prius HID headlights replaced because they were defective (although Toyota won't admit it). I'm wondering if there is anyone else in the Kansas City area that has had this issue, or especially if you are still having this issue (where the headlights go off while driving).

Thank you,

Tom

 

I have a 2007 Pruis, 2nd owner. Noticed some issues back in September 2012, but don't think I have any documentation (but I'll look tonight). My mileage today is 55685 and I took it in to get the headlights looked at, knowing nothing about this class action settlement. The Toyota Service said $125 diagnostic and $360 plus tax to replace each of the two bulbs. So, over a $1,000! I pulled out and didn't leave my car. Am I out of luck here?

 

When I was back home in KS, I helped Russ out with his lights. Pretty similar issue.

 

A little late to the game here, but we have had problems since the first year we had it. We could never get the headlight to fail within the original warranty and we were offer the price of $350.00 per bulb to replace the HID's. We got the notification in the mail about the warranty extension and the replacement and again brought told the dealer as we did ever time it was in for oil changes and again they would do nothing since this issue could not be recreated. The headlights now go out consistently and it has become a major safety issue. So I went to the wed and Googled Prius headlight issues and find all of this info from hundreds if not thousands of people complaining and dealing with the same issues. I was led to understand from my dealer this was a one off issue. Needless to say I have not been back to the dealer in 3 years at this point with my last run in with them.

I called Toyota today to let them know how disappointed I am in their product with a safety issue that is no just one vehicle, but common among the Pius line and other with HID's. I was told that the dealer should have replaced them when we complained about the headlight not working because it was a somewhat known issue. She also said that they would still cover it if we complained about it prior to the 50,000 mile mark (which we did). However the records conveniently show a complaint to the dealer @ 56,000 miles. I talked to them on the phone and they were asked about it nearly every time we were there since we bought it.

I have been so happy with the car, but I am not sure I would buy another since my closest dealer just is not a dealer for the people. They did not care nor properly document my issues and here I am with an unsafe vehicle in which I will have to replace both HID control modules and possible bulbs. Disappointed does not cover how I feel about Toyota.

 

P

 

I have a 2008 Prius, that just started losing the lights right before 100,000 miles. Took it to my local mechanic (not Toyota dealer, gotten ripped off by them 1 time too many on their "services". He fixed the driver side light, new ECU ($250) and D4R bulb ($140), and then found that the passenger side also was failing. At this point, I recalled something about the HID recall (had gotten a letter years before, I think) and started doing research. Of course, you can buy the ECU on ebay for $140 and bulbs for $55, so definitely got screwed there. I had a New Platinum warranty going to 100,000 miles that I bought shortly after buying the car (used, in 2009), and they refuse to pay anything because the repair happened over 100K miles, although the problem manifested before 100K. They suggest contacting local Toyota service and see if any "goodwill" could be extended since it was right at the warranty expiration, and was also related to the recall. I've contacted my local Toyota dealer asking what they can / are willing to do. Any further ideas on how to address this problem occurring at such a late point? Ironically, had the same problem with a Sony 70-inch TV that had a design defect, that Sony addressed after a class action suit. But my TV lasted longer than the period that the problem was addressed in, even though it ended up failing the exact same way. Frustrating.

 

Another question - Amazon has HID conversion kits, with bulbs and ballasts, for $38 for the pair of lights. Is it possible to just dump the Toyota ballasts and use these setups?