Why does the Prius seem to blow tail light bulbs so often

I HATE coming up behind cars with only one (or NO!) brake lights working, and it happens regularly. I'm protective of my health and safety, and of Hal. Reading that a few peopel had multiple failures (at the beginning of this thread) I replaced all the brake, backup and turn signal lamps. I put the old ones in a tissue packed metal box as spares, and stored them in the "trunk". Combined with a weekly walk-around inspection, one less thing to worry about.

 

I just realized that the two times I've had to replace bulbs it was running light bulbs not brake lights.

 

Hi! I have owned a Prius for a year and a half. I love the gas mileage it gets! We have had tail light problems the last month or so. My husband has replaced them over and over and checked the fuses. They keep going out. Last night I was pulled over by a police officer letting me know that both of my lights were out! He had me drive the 12 miles back to my home with my hazzard lights on! My husband just replaced them the night before. I received a warning and took it in to our car repair place today. They checked the lights replaced one and checked the fuses. It didn't act up for them. They suggested that I check google and see if there were any recalls for the Prius for tail light problems. Found this sight and thought I would share my thoughts and frustrations! I will make sure that they work before I drive now. Hope you have found some solutions to the light problems!

 

my wrecked prius i just repaired had 1 tail light marker light blown out and one front marker light out....i found that odd for a 6yr old car with 83k.

 

Thanks for the help provided in this thread. I just had the tail lights go out on my '08 Prius. We spent 45 minutes messing around with the fuses (good luck trying to access the fuses under the steering wheel!) before we read the info posted here and tried replacing the bulbs. It worked! If the lights ever go out again, I'll replace the bulbs first before worrying about a fuse.

 

Knocking on wood, Pearl hasn't had a single bulb burn out yet.

Again, check the connection of the negative cable to the body in the right rear of the car. Remove hatch floor, remove cargo container, remove small floor piece in right rear. You can then see the battery and the negative cable (rear most one). It is bolted to the body just behind the battery. It may be loose or corroded causing rapid fluctuation of the system voltage as you go over bumps. That WILL burn out bulbs.

 

The right taillight on my 2006 Prius just burnt out for the second time in less than two weeks. What gives?!?!?

 

I just replaced all the Incandescent bulbs 22000 miles ago, 2.2 yrs approx, still going strong, NO failures to report!

 

Opening this thread has me scared and probably jinxed myself by doing so but....

I'll assume my 06 has original tail bulbs and seem to work just fine....should I replace for preventative purposes?

 

Not unless you were thinking of getting rid of all the incandescent bulbs for LED's. What I would do if I were staying with the incandescent route, just buy a couple of the different bulbs the Prius uses. Keep some spares in the glove-box. I do a walk around once every couple weeks or so in the morning at 5:30 am when it's still dark, when I go in to work, it takes all of 10 seconds. It's not like since your car is this old now, all the existing bulbs will fail tomorrow!
Caveat ..."If it works just fine, don't fix it! But, "Be Prepared"

 

Great because I planned on leaving it be anyway

 

My 2006 is at 68,000 miles with all original bulbs.

Tom

 

Both tail lights were out on my 2008 touring package Prius with 79,000 miles. Not the same day, about 3 weeks apart. I watched this 1 minute video here. I had not seen these compartments before, they are to the left and right just inside the hatchback behind the taillights. Good place to hide something.

Impressive easy access to the Prius taillight bulbs. NOTE: As soon as I barely touched / wiggled them they went on. Both driver side and passenger side did the same thing, pulled them out touched them and they turned on. You might want to try this first before replacing. So that was easy, I was expecting 30 minutes (that's what it took to replace both Prius headlight bulbs last year).

I thought maybe the contacts were corroded, they were still hot, so I put on a glove and attempted to pull out the drivers side tail light bulb so I could re-seat it and I accidentally crushed it . They are super easy to mash. The replacement was only $4.99 for a pair at Autozone for the Sylvania. I was going to get fancy LED, but decided to go with simple. I replaced one and put the spare in the "trunk" under the back carpet.

Semi-related: passenger side front running light above my headlight was out too, so I wiggled it and it came back on. Easiest maintenance I have done in awhile. All my lights are working now.

 

FWIW, I too have had to deal with the small 5 Watt Wedge Type Bulb that is used in the tail light and the front marker lamps. I too found if you tap the lens or wiggle the wires, the light will come back on. However, I have also found that the light will soon be out again. What worked for me was to replace the bulb with a new one. The Sylvania bulbs seem to work great for me. I have had to change two bulbs so far in the 21 months of ownership here. Part # for the bulb I am using is Sylvania 2825 LL - It is supposed to be a long life bulb and is rated at 5 Watts @ 13.5 Volts.

Buy Sylvania Long Life Incandescent Mini Bulb 2825 LL at Advance Auto Parts

I too have seen quite a few Gen 2 Pri with tail lights out running around down here.

Ron

 

I have about 86,000 miles on my 2009 and just last week replaced my first taillight. Just a thought - if you have had issues with replacement bulbs burning out quickly it could be related to touching the bulb with your bare hands during the replacement. The packaging the bulb came in does show that gloves should be worn (small icon on the back). It is my understanding that oils on your fingers can cause the bulb to overheat and fail quickly. I typically just use a paper towel or napkin and that seems to work just fine.