2008 Toyota Prius Lighting Problems

On June 1st yesterday this issue happened again but it was the taillights. The uploaded document is from the most recent repair shop bill for the front headlight (under warranty since it stopped working so close to the previous repair) Intermittently without cause the front right head light goes out (seems like every 3-6 months). And every 12-18 months the tail lights go out (the brake lights still work). The mechanics can't tel if it's a circuit board issue (possible lack of cooling/fan), loos connections and or just poor design. No matter what it is dangerous as I I unexpectedly had to drive on hwys in the dark not knowing my lights all of a sudden aren't working. Thank you very much.

I had purchased this 2008 Prius touring model used on 4/8/22. The first time I drove it at night I was on the freeway traveling at 55 mph and suddenly had almost no visibility due to loss of headlights. It was terrifying and pure luck that I made it off and home. The headlights turn off one at a time. I took the car to Atomic Auto in Portland, Oregon and they said the type of bulbs in the car often do this when they are failing and need to be replaced. This shop put new bulbs in yesterday, May 12th. It was raining heavily when I left the shop and I turned the headlights on. They failed again in the same way. I had no idea there was a problem like this with any car. I have searched online and now know that this has been a problem with Toyota Prius.

This model car is equipped with HID headlights. The car has had numerous problems with the bulb not lighting on one side. The light could be cycled off/on and this would allow the lamp to stay lit for an unpredictable amount of time. Sometimes this cycling would allow the lamp to stay on for an entire trip and sometimes the headlights would have to be cycled off/on again. Replaced the lamps today with brand new bulbs. Both lit during the initial testing. Later in the day the left lamp does not light even when cycled off then on. The headlights on this car are unreliable. The trouble in changing the lights would have been fixed with traditional halogen lights but now further troubleshooting is required or replacement of the igniter or bulbs. Headlights on cars in the 21st century should be completely reliable especially after replacing both lamps with brand new bulbs. This is a safety concern while driving at night.

Headlights go out randomly. Have to turn them off and back on to resume normal operation.

RIGHT SIDE HEADLIGHT GOES OUT INTERMITTENTLY WITHOUT A TRACEABLE CAUSE. PEOPLE HAVE NOTICED THE LIGHT OUT WHILE AT MOTION ON A RESIDENTIAL STREET AT LOW SPEED, ON A HIGHWAY AT 50 MPH AND AT REST.

PRIMARY HEADLIGHTS RANDOMLY GO OUT WHILE BOTH PARKED AND DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD. SOMETIMES BOTH AT THE SAME TIME. TURNING THEM OFF AND ON AGAIN MANUALLY RESETS THEM TO WORK AGAIN. THIS SEEMS LIKE A HUGE DESIGN FLAW AND MAJOR SAFETY HAZARD, SINCE IT LEADS TO DRIVING IN THE DARK WITHOUT HEADLIGHTS. REPAIR SHOPS WANT $100S PER BULB TO REPLACE HID BULBS THAT SEEM TO NOT ACTUALLY BE BURNED OUT. THE DESIGN CHOICE FOR HID BULBS THAT EXHIBIT THIS TEMPORARY FAILURE MODE SEEMS TO BE A FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED ENGINEERING CHOICE COMPARED TO OTHER, MORE RELIABLE TECHNOLOGY SUCH AS LEDS. NO EXISTING RECALLS WERE FOUND WHEN SEARCHING THE DOT.GOV WEBSITE FOR THIS ISSUE.

THE DRIVER'S SIDE HEADLIGHT ON MY 2008 PRIUS GOES OUT PERIODICALLY WHEN DRIVING BUT, TO DATE, NOT WHEN STATIONARY. I RECENTLY DROVE TO TEXAS AND BACK AND THIS DIDN'T OCCUR ON THE HIGHWAY OR COUNTRY ROADS. IT SEEMS TO ONLY HAPPEN IN CITY STOP-AND-GO DRIVING, BUT I CAN'T BE SURE. IF NOTICED, BY TURNING THE LIGHTS OFF AND ON IT COMES BACK ON BUT IT'S NOT ALWAYS NOTICEABLE. INFORMATION ONLINE INDICATES THAT COSTLY HID BULB AND BALLAST REPLACEMENTS, AND/OR OTHER COSTLY REPAIRS, DO NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. THIS POSES A POTENTIALLY SERIOUS SAFETY RISK AND HAS GOTTEN ME PULLED OVER BY THE POLICE. THE PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE COMMON WITH 2006-2009 PRIUS'S WHICH WOULD INDICATE A DESIGN/MANUFACTURING FLAW THAT TOYOTA SHOULD ADDRESS AND CORRECT. PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS MATTER AND ADVISE ME ON HOW TO PROCEED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. THANK-YOU, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

08 PRIUS HEADLIGHTS INTERMITTENTLY AND WITHOUT WARNING GO OUT FOR UP TO ABOUT 1/2 HOUR AT A TIME. EITHER ONE WILL DO IT ALMOST EVERY TIME THEY ARE USED AND SO FAR, ONLY ONE AT A TIME. UNTRUSTWORTHY AND VERY DANGEROUS.

HEADLIGHTS ARE DEFECTIVE. I HAVE CHANGED THE RELAY SWITCH, COMPUTER HID AND HEADLIGHTS AND THEY STILL ARE NOT WORKING. I'VE ALSO HAD TO PAY A TICKET AS A RESULT.

WHILE DRIVING DURING THE DAY OR NIGHT, THROUGHOUT THE YEAR (NON-SEASONAL), BOTH HEADLIGHTS (HID) FLICKER, AND THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT GOES OFF COMPLETELY AND INTERMITTENTLY. SOMETIMES IT COMES BACK ON IF I TURN THE LIGHTS OFF AND ON AGAIN, BUT MOST OF THE TIME IT DOESN'T. WE HAVE BEEN PULLED OVER TWICE FOR THIS AND RECEIVED TWO TICKETS FROM POLICE. IT DOESN'T WORK TO EXCHANGE OR REPLACE BULBS. I KNOW I'M NOT THE ONLY 2008 PRIUS OWNER WITH THIS PROBLEM AND I BELIEVE TOYOTA NEEDS TO PAY TO HAVE IT REPAIRED.

WAS PARKED IN LINE TO PICK UP CHILD FROM SCHOOL. TURNED CAR ON AND PUT IT ON DRIVE, MOVED SLOWLY WHEN PARKING BRAKE LIGHT, ABS WARNING LIGHT, TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT ALL CAME ON AND THEN MY BRAKES WENT LIMP. HAD TO PUSH ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR AND STOPPING WAS STILL HARD TO DO. ALMOST HIT THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME WHEN SUDDENLY ALL LIGHTS WENT OFF AND BRAKES JERKED TO A SUDDEN STOP. I'M TERRIFIED TO DRIVE MY CAR AT FASTER SPEED KNOWING MY BRAKES BASICALLY WENT OUT. PRETTY SURE IT'S FAILING BRAKE ACTUATOR AND TOYOTA KNOWS ABOUT THIS PROBABLY BUT DIDN'T DO A RECALL ONLY EXTENDED WARRANTIES... I DIDN'T OWN THE CAR WHEN THOSE WARRANTIES WE'RE GOING ON IN 2016. HEADLIGHTS ALSO WILL RANDOMLY TURN OFF AND I HAVE TO TURN THEM OFF AND BACK ON CONSTANTLY DRIVING AT NIGHT.

HEADLIGHTS TURN OFF OR FLICKER WHILE DRIVING. IT HAPPENS INTERMITTENTLY. IT IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE WHEN DRIVING AT NIGHT AS IT NEARLY CAUSED AN ACCIDENT. USING THE HIGH BEAMS HELPS FOR A SHORT PERIOD BUT THE HEADLIGHTS STILL TURN OFF ON THEIR OWN. TURNING THEM OFF AND ON BRINGS THEM BACK ON MOST OF THE TIME BUT ONLY FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

THE HEADLIGHTS WILL SUDDENLY FAIL, EITHER ONE AT A TIME, OR MORE RECENTLY BOTH AT THE SAME TIME WHEN NIGHT DRIVING. I AM ABLE TO FLIP THE SWITCH TO TURN ONE BACK ON BUT NOW THE PASSENGER LIGHT WILL NOT COME BACK ON AT ALL. I AM DRIVING AT NIGHT WHEN I NOTICE THIS HAPPENING BUT IT PROBABLY ALSO HAPPENS IN DAY LIGHT.

WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT, LEFT HEADLIGHT GOES OUT INTERMITTENTLY (ABOUT EVERY 3 MINUTES). I HAVE TO TURN LIGHTS COMPLETELY OFF THEN ON AGAIN TO RESET. THIS IS ONGOING AND APPEARS TO BE HAPPENING MORE FREQUENTLY WITH TIME.

HEADLIGHTS SHUT OFF WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT. I RECEIVED TWO WARNING TICKETS FROM HIGHWAY PATROL AS I WAS DRIVING BACK FROM FT. WORTH TO NACOGDOCHES, BUT WHEN I STOPPED, BOTH HEADLIGHTS WERE WORKING. THEN AS I WAS DRIVING, BOTH HEADLIGHTS (WITH BRIGHT LIGHTS ON) TURNED OFF. HAD TO PULL OVER AND THEN THEY STARTED WORKING AGAIN.

THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT TURNS OFF UNPREDICTABLY, USUALLY WITHIN 10 MINUTES OF DRIVING TIME. TURNING THE LIGHTS OFF AND BACK ON SOMETIMES GETS THE HEADLIGHT TO TURN BACK ON, BUT NOT ALWAYS. THEN WITHIN 10 MINUTES IT WILL TURN OFF AGAIN. NOT ONLY IS THIS A SAFETY ISSUE AND DRIVING VIOLATION, I ALSO CANNOT SELL THE CAR WITH NON-FUNCTIONING HEADLIGHTS.

THE LIGHTING SYSTEM HAS ELECTRICAL MARKINGS ON THE RELAY AND FUSE BLOCKS FOR DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS, WITH NO DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS INSTALLED. HEADLIGHT AND LICENSE PLATE LIGHT SYSTEMS WORKS INTERMITTENTLY. CAUSING BULBS TO FAIL.

THE RIGHT HEADLIGHT INTERMITTENTLY GOES OUT. SOMETIMES IT TAKES REPEATED ATTEMPTS TURNING OFF AND ON TO GET IT BACK ON. BOTH BALLASTS AND HID LAMPS HAVE BEEN REPLACED, YET THIS INTERMITTENT PROBLEM PERSISTS. I KNOW OF MANY COMPLAINTS BUT DO NOT KNOW IF TOYOTA HAS AN OPEN RECALL ON THIS IMPORTANT SAFETY ISSUE.

HIGHLIGHTS GO OUT INTERMITTENTLY. USUALLY CAN RESET BY TURNING ON AND OFF. DEFINITELY A HAZARD. MAY HAVE CAUSED AN ACCIDENT. REGULARLY GETTING TOLD LIGHT IS OUT. STOPPED BY POLICE FOR LIGHTS OUT. DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE LOOSE CONNECTION OR BAD BULB.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA PRIUS. WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT, THE HEADLIGHTS FAILED TO OPERATE. KALISPELL TOYOTA (2845 U.S. 93 S, KALISPELL, MT 59901, (406) 755-6060) REPLACED THE BULBS, WHICH COST OVER $600. THE CONTACT FOUND A WARRANTY THAT EXPIRED IN SEPTEMBER OF 2018 AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS BOUGHT USED ON SEPTEMBER 28, 2018. THE DEALER DID NOT ADDRESS THE MAIN ISSUE OF A POSSIBLE COMPUTER BOARD MALFUNCTION IN THE VEHICLE THAT MAY HAVE TO BE REPLACED AT AN ADDITIONAL COST. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 71,000.