2007 Toyota Prius visibility problems

Filed Mar 13, 2023 · Visibility · 90,000 miles · VA

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving at 60 MPH, the front windshield became foggy while driving at night. The contact stated that the defogger was operational; however, there was an extended period before the windshield was cleared. The contact stated that the vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that a dealer informed him that the windshields were made of cheap material. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000.

Filed Jul 15, 2019 · Electrical, Lights · 111,300 miles · CA

One headlight on my car keeps shutting off, while the other is fine. I am able to "fix" the issue by turning my headlights off and then turning them on again. Dealers initially told me it was because the bulb burned out, but I replaced both at the same time, and it's always the driver's side bulb that "burns out." upon further review on public forums, it appears the bulb is perfectly fine and there's some type of electrical issue/connection problem that causes problems with the bulb. This happens when the vehicle is on and in-motion on any street.

Filed Jun 22, 2016 · Visibility · 75,000 miles · VA

For the past 6 months my left headlight will randomly go off. One time after it turned off the right light also extinguished. I was driving at night each time this happened . I quickly turned off the light switch and turned it back on and the headlights came back on. I was driving on local city streets when this happened and was not turning.

Filed Jun 19, 2014 · Electrical, Lights · 121,653 miles · FL

The right headlight had to be replaced. It would turn off and if I turned the lever on and off while I was driving it would come on for a while. On a dark night it was dangerous. I replaced the right headlight and it cost a total of $229.55 which I thought was outrageous. Now the driver's side headlight has gone out too. I might have to drive it only in daylight unless I can find a cheaper way to replace the headlight. I was stopped by the police for the first headlight out, but given a warning. I bought the car to save money but headlight replacement costs are way too much in my estimation.

Filed Feb 22, 2014 · Electrical, Lights · 100,023 miles · IN

We own a toyota prius and have had the dealer replace the headlight 4 times. The first time we simply got in the vehicle and when we turned it on we realized it was not working. After we had it fixed about 2 months later we got pulled over and given a warning to get it fixed. We did so again and again with no solution. Since our last time the dealership has advised us to go to the toyota dealership but there telling us that is simply a bad headlight and it will cost about 200 to fix it. I showed them where in 8 months it was changed 3 times and they simply said it must be human error because everything else looks fine.

Filed Oct 22, 2013 · Electrical, Steering · 147,000 miles · TX

After the car has been parked for awhile, the dashboard was completely black. The car powered on, but there was no speedometer, no fuel display, and no odometer. The car will drive and gas engine and hybrid system works as usual, but there are no power steering, the turn signals do not work, and the wiper does not work. After driving for 5 to 15 minutes, the dash would light up and car drives like normal again and the problems mentioned go away. Based on internet research, this seems to a common problem. There are almost identical complaints on this site including the federal safety agency id number 10544698. Significant safety concerns exist due to the temporary lost of power steering, no turn signals, and no wiper during a rain.

Filed Sep 23, 2013 · Visibility · 90,000 miles · TN

When driving the driver side headlight will go out. When you turn them back on the headlight comes on just for a minute or two. There have been several people complaining about the issue and is very unsafe. Toyota needs to fix the problem before someone gets hurt especially at night.

Filed Mar 21, 2013 · Engine, Lights · 30,000 miles · NV

I have been having problems for about a year now with my prius 2007 when I apply the brakes. The car stutters when it changes from hybrid to gas. Serviced only by toyota. When I brought the car in for a recall I asked them to fix the problem . They could not identify the problem and called in a specialist and subsequently was told that this is typical wear on a car this old (5 years, 59,000 miles). This was from a repair specialist sent from toyota when the regular service department could not identify the problem. I drive on highway s everyday to work and home and I am a nervous wreck, worrying that the car will just come to a stop in the middle of traffic. Over the past 2 years when I go thru a car wash the front driver side headlight gets moisture inside. When I brought this to the attention of the service dept at toyota I was told it would cost approximately $600 to replace the headlight. This was way before it had fallen out of warranty (36,000) but of course they did not tell me that it was covered, in fact they told me what it would cost to replace! Now the bulb is also flickering on and off in this same headlight. Definitely a safety issue. Toyota quoted me $270.00 to change the light bulb. The reason I was given was that they have to take off the entire front bumper to change an $11.00 bulb at autozone. We were told that if my hand was small enough I could try to do it myself. I called toyota corporate, and was told that toyota was discounting the bulb, it normally should cost $420.00. They were aware of the problem and extended the warranty to 50,000 miles but did not issue a recall for this issue either. I only found out because the service department was dragging its feet in diagnosing the problem with the braking system so I called corporate and mentioned the moisture problem and that was how I found out that it was not only my car.

Filed Oct 15, 2012 · Visibility · 104,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. The contact stated that the weather strips on the front and rear passenger windows were peeling from the bottom. The vehicle had not been inspected by a dealer or an independent mechanic. The manufacturer was contacted and advised the contact that there was a similar issue with another model. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was concerned that water could possibly enter the vehicle and cause damage. The failure and current mileages were approximately 104,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Filed Dec 12, 2011 · Electrical, Lights · 57,900 miles · VA

No one injured. Minor problem, but toyota refuses suggestions "for legal reasons", so I have to report it to you, and hope that you will relay to toyota. Good car, good dash lighting system, nice rheostat to dim the instrument panel lights at night, to assist in night road visibility. The problem is that as you dim the instrument panel lights, the lighted symbol for the emergency flasher light switch goes completely dark before the instrument panel lights do. So, on a dark night, you dim the lights to make the instrument panel lights just bright enough to read, without excess reflection or distraction, and the emergency flasher switch becomes invisible because its light went completely out before the other instrument panel lights did. This increases distraction and reduces reaction time when you need to find and turn on the emergency flasher light switch. I doubt this problem is limited to just my car. The simple solution (everything seems simple to the guy not doing the work) would be to design and wire the dash panel lights so that the emergency flasher switch light stays a little brighter than all the other lights, as they all dim. That way, the switch you might most need in a hurry will be visible, even if you have dimmed your instrument panel lights. Quicker turn-on of the emergency flasher alerts following drivers sooner, increasing their safety, and mine. Thanks for working to keep us all safer on the road, and to improve the vehicles we drive.