Headlight problem

I thought I would add my winking lights to the pool.
I am a second owner. I purchased the car with 96K on the ODO. Around 105K the left Hid winked out while I was driving on the freeway. The standard Turn off the headlights and then back on restored it. It did not have another episode for months. Then it was out again, but restorable. Then at 115K Both went out at the same time on a dangerous mountain road. Off and on again restored them both for another couple months. Now were up to 121K The left one is out completely. It will try to start, but will not stay on. I drove home with my fog lights this time as I can't have the right light go out on that mountain road (Highway 36 in the coastal range if you have ever driven it you know what I am talking about)

Ok now for something completely different. One day My wife tells me the head lights in the car are on. This is about 14 hours since they were last used so I was abit concerned and went out to check right away. The right headlight was on and switching from high beam to low beam randomly and rapidly. It sounded like Morse code. I turned the car on and played with the switches. It stopped right away. It has not happened since hehe. That was back around 105K. Very weird.


I appreciate all those that contributed to the thread so far. As a result I will be replacing my own bulbs and I will give an update as to how they fair and if that resolves the problems. Crosses finger...
patrick

 

Got my new bulbs, took only a couple of days. Couldn't ask for better service. The new ones BOTH have a cloudy look, not white like the original, but a light tan. I guess the 'cloud' isn't pertinent in deciding if a bulb might be bad.

Had to wait until Fri afternoon to install them. They took 10 to 15 minutes EACH, some amount of that being careful not to yank too hard on things with wires connected and making sure the bulb was in the proper orientation in the housing. I didn't disconnect the white electrical clip that connects to the round 'headlight assembly cover' this time as I previously found there was plenty of wire 'play' and the one on the driver's side is especially hard to access. There isn't a lot of room to move the round 'headlight assembly cover' out of the way especially with the source wire still connected so this can be a little time consuming.

Didn't drive it until my normal Monday trip to MA. Lights on 1 hour 15 minutes, no wink out. At least 8 passenger side 'wink outs' in two episodes the prior week with the original bulb. At this point, I am optimistic that my problem is solved without a COSTLY trip to the dealer.

 

It is also almost certain that if you replace only one, the other will go shortly so you might as well get your hands dirty just the one time I'm pretty sure it was in this thread that someone posted the dealer refused to replace both under warranty when just one was going out, only to have to do the other side a short while later.

Besides, the guy on EBay only sells in pairs so you might as well use both.

 

I had the same problem with each of my headlights going off unexpectedly. I have 29,000 miles on my 2006 Prius. I took it to a dealer, and they replaced both ECU's and hid lights. The service guy he had heard about this before, and there were instructions they had received from Toyota about this problem. My car is still under warranty, so it was free. I haven't driven at night, yet, so don't know if this was the actual fix.

 

As an addendum, I did replace the left headlight previously, but it didn't resolve the problem. Hence the hid light/ECU replacement.

 

well, toyota only sent me half the money they promised me (after I'd spent $1000 they sent me $500 - - - and if you aren't under warranty and your headlights and computers go it's EIGHTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR A PAIR OF HEADLIGHTS!!!!)

anyone up for a class action suit?

I'd be happy to see any web resources to this end. They could have had a friend and now they have an enemy....

 

Steve, I've mellowed a bit on this. Yes I am surprized to find a headlight lamp might cost from $400-1000 to replace. I've had the Prius and by extension Toyota up on a pedistal. I tell folks that my Prius is "very honest"...if the book says it'll do xyz, it'll do exactly xyz.

Now we went after the HID headlights, and they are great. They're brighter & safer. I am positive that HID lamps were just as expensive in Jan06 as now so the thought about ease & cost of maintenance was something I did not research. Well..no; that's untrue. When I bought my Prius I knew it'd been out for several years and I did know it was one of the most dollar-for-dollar sophisticated cars on the market. I mentally planned on the $8000 battery going out at exactly 100,000 miles (I have 115,000 now). I knew because of all the computer control that it'd be likely that many repairs would have to be done at the dealer where prices were highest. That this cost popped up in the headlights is surprizing considering the engineering expertise of Toyota.

To me, this is sort of like finding out your girlfriend was seen riding around with another guy. You do not know if she was just catching a lift or if there's something new going on. With Toyota, I am not upset that they wouldn't replace my bulb with over 100,000 miles, I'm surprised that my dealer didn't have the SB, that Toyota Customer service couldn't help me determine the vintage of my ECU's vs the lamps (they turned out to be matched - all 06's). But I must add that this is the third time for me on my Prius that the dealer was not up to the technical challenge. I reckon Toyota may be "evolving" a bit wrt Service level.

The second set of tires we got were garbage. They were put on by my small-town dealer and were low-ball tires...very loud and cost us 1-2mpg's. So when they got used up, my son and I went on a quest of "the quietest" tire for the Prius. In the process of that we discovered LRR (Low Rolling Resistance) standards and Michelin Primacy tires. The dealer was "way behind" just as they were on the HID's. He finally agreed to order the tires for me but they priced them over $200 above the price I paid for them at a non Toyota. I went to a great tire store and got a great deal on the tires. Wow, how much quieter and we got 4 or so MPG's that same day. My dealership still doesn't get it about how important the tires were to quiteness etc, same way they didn't get it on the HID's.

My learning here is to be on-guard from here on out.

Related to the price of the HID bulbs...and this last comment may expose hypocrisy on my part. Some of the cost of the dealer bulbs is truly (IMHO) the quality, certification process, and environmental impact of the bulbs. I would encourage folks here to read the FAQ's on the website carefully and then to ponder why such a price delta exists.

What a great forum...jfo

 

I agree, they are cheap enough off of ebay.. better to replace "both" to get perfect color match and use your old good one as an emergency backup for safekeeping.

 

my problem is that i was flat-out lied to by Toyota

the headlights cost $351 each and they sent me a check for $500

In fact, they told me they would send me a check for the full amount, but then I stepped into an alice-in-wonderland-like hall of mirrors where they said something like

"Well, originally we said we'd pay for the parts, but then when the price went up to $1800 because of the headlight computers we said we'd cover what the warranty didn't cover but then the warranty paid $800 so when we said we'd pay $1000 that was our mistake so we paid the amount you paid minus all taxes and labor and the labor was $400 and the taxes were $100 so in fact we are only paying you $500 so $351 plus $351 equals $500 and you are selfish if you don't understand this"

that's right, I was called "selfish" by Toyota because I'm upset about paying $500 for headlights (in spite of relying on them to cover the price), when, sheesh, other folks have paid $1800

It was definitely a Kafka-esque morning, and a lesson learned.

a) Buy aftermarket parts
b) Tell ANYONE who is thinking of buying a Prius that they can expect even the most minor repair to cost thousands and thousands of dollars, and let them know that even though the sticker price it low, if you aren't rich you should consider something else
c) let's see about class-action suits....

 

LOL!.... exactly why I didn't want to mess with the dealer when I found another way out... and I have the comfort of knowing I could spend another 70,00 bucks and completely redo it again, but faster next time since I already did it once.

Yea.. Steve, you should be ashamed for being so selfish and wanting your car fixed for a "several thousand dollar" part that went bad prematurely.

They didn't mind taking the money from us when we bought the car, but they sure mind giving it back when the part is garbage.

The worst that could happen is that my 70.00 pair of lights would go out and I have to buy the others at full price and be able to install them myself.

But even the OEM bulbs are much cheaper online than from Toyota....

Maybe Toyota should be ashamed and be called selfish for taking our money and not wanting to help out unless you show up with your dentist to pull their teeth!

 

So I just heard from Georgina, who will be taking care of my case.

To back up a bit, my driver's side headlight went out one evening, but who knows how many other times it was out. We immediately went to our Toyota dealer to pick up a bulb (not realizing the type of "bulb"), but the parts dept was closed. The next morning the light was on again, so I checked this message board, and found this thread. I have a 2006 #7 with 36,000 miles.

Georgina told me that I would have to pay the diagnostic fee, and if there is a problem, Toyata will see if they can "help" me out, but refused to say how she would "help". At first she mentioned the warranty, so I asked if she spoke with the other 2 people I dealt with during her vacation as it is JUST out of warranty. She was unaware of that. It seems wrong that I would have to pay for a defective part!

So I made it clear that she was telling me to wait until the light goes out, a dangerous situation, and bring it to a dealer. She said that it would not be dangerous as I would have the other light!!!!! HOW STUPID!!!!

She was unaware of other problems with the lights, or other reps taking care of the lights.

Since that day, my light has been working, so we'll see what will happen. It's too bad I ended up with Georgina as my case manager.

 

Well for the record, my ebay lights are still hangin in there on both of my cars.... thats 4 bulbs total... we use both cars everyday and at least one direction to work or back involves lights on both.

 

It does amaze me just how much 'extra profit' Toyota dealers want even for non Toyota parts. The local carries several models of Hakkapeliitta winter tires but you can get them from ANY local tire store for a lot less. It seems they just snag people who bring the car in for 'one stop shopping' while they get normal service done and don't realize how much money they are wasting.

 

Well, I've been having the same problem with both of my headlights on my '07 Prius. I have been scouring this website all morning picking up ideas on what could be the problem, and I've also talked to about half a dozen dealerships.

I was worried (like everyone else) about the huge expense. However, I just got off the phone with an experienced Prius mechanic at one of the leading dealers here in the Maryland area. He stated (as windstrings as stated multiple times) that it is simply the bulbs.

I asked him about the control units as well. he said that early on with the problem, they were replacing both the bulbs and control units, but found there continued to be a problem. Through time they found it was simply a huge batch of "bad bulbs", and now that is all they replace with no problems afterwards. They started replacing the bulbs only, and that confirmed that the control units were fine after all. Just a QC issue on the bulb. They overheat, which causes the flickering and intermittent cut-out.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope this helps someone. I know it gives me a little piece of mind. For the record, I did open a service ticket with Toyota Customer Care about the issue. I intend to try and have them replace them for free!

 

Second week on mine and I can report the same. No 'wink out' last night on the way back from MA. AND no 'passenger side light out' when I arrived at the ice rink last Wed, Thur & Fri mornings just past dawn. Early enough to have them on, but too light to notice if they ARE on from inside the car. That is where my wife first noticed it a month ago. We take both Prii since she monitors the first 2 hours and I go to work after the first hour.

 

175 posts regarding intermittant HIDs????? Boy am I glad I got halogens

 

yup, I wish I'd been given the choice

unfortunately, in 2004 you took whatever package came to the dealership, because of the giant waiting lists, etc.

I would happily pay to switch to halogen

the whole HID thing is a scam and Toyota's behavior is unconscionable. I used to tell everyone to buy a prius. Now I am telling them to wait until they get their design together better.

 

It'd be interesting to see the candlepower of the HID's compared to the Halogens.

Driving a lot in the country at night, excellent lighting is a requirement for me, the HID's really do a great job. So for me its not the HID's, its the cost of replacement parts...jfo

 

I have halogens in my Jeep grand cheerekee and I feel like I Have a candle burning in each lamp after being used to my HID's.... there is no comparison.
My HID's light up all 4 or 5 lanes of the freeway.... in fact they are so bright, when you do have one go out.. you don't even know it until the police officer lets you know! :>

 

Well I finally got my car in to the dealer, and they replaced both bulbs and on the work order just noted that both were "burnt" as they put it.

The case worker from Toyota followed up with me the next day and said he would leave the case open for a week to make sure it was good.

I have driven it for 2 days now since then and no problems so far. Before they replaced them it was a daily occurrence, I could count on it. So, at least so far, things are looking up.

And being I was under my 36K yet, I got it all done for free, thank gosh on that. I will also say the new bulbs look much brighter than my old one's did.

Phil