Both of my cars headlights turn off intermittently and for no reason (the bulbs and ballasts have been replaced and are in working order). I will be driving down the road at night (interstate 70mph) and occasionally both headlights will just turn off. I have almost gotten in a wreck multiple times due to the fact I'm driving at night and out of nowhere my lights go out. This is a huge safety issue. When looking this up online, I'm not the only person with my year/make/model that is having this issue. This has been happening on and off since my vehicle was at 75,000 miles. Last night specifically I almost got in a wreck going 70mph on the interstate because of it. Many times I can turn the headlights off and back on again and one or both will work again.
2008 Toyota Prius electrical complaints
Page 6 of 9: complaints 131 to 160 of 235, newest first, as owners wrote them.
On the hatch, the exterior switch to open the hatch is covered by a rubber seal to prevent moisture. Unfortunately for me (and apparently hundreds of other consumers I've spoken to online), the rubber eventually dissolves and destroys the switching mechanism, leading to an inability to open the trunk/hatch. This has potential safety implications as if there were a battery fire, I'd have no way to open the hatch to try to put out the fire or retrieve anything.
I was driving my 2008 prius on highway and warning light came on. In 2 minutes all power gone and I have had to towed to the dealer. They said, water pump failed and because of that hybrid inverter fried. Car was out of guaranty and there was no recall about water pump. I paid nearly $5.000.00 for water pump and hybrid invertor. I have seen there is a recall about water pump now. Is there any way I can get my money back?
Low beam headlights have failed . Drivers right headlight fails mostly, but left headlight fails about 33% of the time. I have lost both headlights after a while and is extremely dangerous at night! We have had to stop driving at night because headlights will not stay on past 5 mins. I have looked into the class action lawsuit and at 60000 miles I do not qualify for the settlement. I am very concerned with the safety of my family. I hope toyota finds a real fix for this problem, or the 1000+ dollar fix will be for nothing. At this point I have lost faith in toyota and I hope this issue is addressed properly.
The dashboard light will not come on and I could not read mileage or how fast I was going. Eventually, car shuts down in motion. Took it to keyes toyota in van nuys, ca. They acknowledged there was a defect and recall and would fix it after a few days they are telling me I have to spend about $4000 to get it fixed because there are fuses burnt and cannot determine what is causing this.
I was leaving a store parking lot when the driver in front of me stopped and told me my driver's side headlight was out. It was getting dark so I had to postpone my plans and go straight home. When I arrived home the headlights were both on, but then on parking in the garage I noticed the passenger side headlight was off. The next morning I drove to my mechanic and the headlights were both on when I left, but on arriving there they were both off. I as shocked when my mechanic said to go to the dealer because this was a known problem with my vehicle and toyota was sued for it. He said the dealer needed to report it to toyota, however, the dealer denied knowing anything about the issue or that there was a lawsuit until I showed it to them online and then they admitted it. When I asked them if toyota has changed anything about the headlight problem they said "no!" the estimate was $485. I called toyota and complained because many people with this problem said replacing the bulbs doesn't fix the problem and that it may recur or more expensive repairs might be necessary. The toyota customer service said they would cover the cost to replace the headlamp bulbs just this time only because I've been a toyota customer for 17 years and not because of any negligence on their part. And like the dealer, basically lied and refused to admit they knew anything about the issue or the lawsuit but at the same time mentioned the 50,000 mile/5 year extended warranty from lawsuit for same issue, which excludes me. I do not feel safe driving this car anymore. My headlights could go off again while I'm driving at night and I could be involved in an accident. It's irresponsible and totally unacceptable to ignore dangerous safety issue like this and lie to cover it up, not only by toyota but any government agency paid by taxpayers to look out for the safety of the public.
Headlight will go off when driving, sometimes one only. Then the other. There is no set pattern. Headlights will come back on when the on/off switch is turned off then back on, then will go off again. Three oem bulbs have been replaced in one and a half years. I understand that I am not the only person that is having this problem. Toyota does not acknowledge that there is a problem. They say that it is just a bad bulb and just replace the bulb only to have the same thing happen. This is a safety issue as we cannot predict when bulbs will go out!
Every few weeks (even several times in the same week), the dashboard lights on the car go completely dark, without warning (no, the dimmer switch is not turned to "low" or "off"-- that is the first thing we tried). Simultaneously, or sometimes at different times, the car refuses to turn off, even when the "off" switch is pressed constantly or intermittently, for up to a half-hour. Obviously, it is extremely dangerous to leave a car running, so one cannot leave the car; when driving, the loss of all the dashboard information is terrifying, especially at night when it is so distracting as to be potentially crash-causing. The toyota dealer first claimed it was the 12-volt battery, so we replaced it. This did not fix it. At the dealer's request, we left the car with them for a long weekend, and they claimed that since they weren't able to reenact the situation, they could not help us. After some back-and-forth, they agreed to replace a "combination meter," which toyota had apparently found troublesome enough to offer free "out-of-warranty" repairs of. However, the dealer first said toyota would not pay for it unless the dealer was able to independently verify the trouble, and they were not able to recreate the distressing situation. As if we would lie in order to receive a new combination meter! We just want to car to work and be safe. Now we are waiting five-plus days for the part to come in, and not even sure if it will fix our problem. There's plenty of discussion of this exact same issue all across the internet. Why has the company not figured this out, and trained its mechanics accordingly?
I purchased my prius new. I have had a chronic & constant issue with my head lights & tail lights not working properly. I have had this issue checked by mechanics and have been told this is a "toyota electrical issue". There is no problem with the bulbs or components that can be found by mechanics. This is a dangerous problem, and occurs randomly without notice. My head lights or tail lights just "go out"...any time, anywhere! I have spoken with other toyota prius owners (other years too), and they have the same problems.
This is in regards to the electrical fuel pump that is already being recalled. I had my vehicle shut off while driving in traffic. I had it towed to the toyota dealership at the time and they replaced the electric water pump, the water pump, and the battery. My invoice came out to $1213. I sent this to toyota for a refund when the recall notice came out. They refunded me a mere $428 (this is for only the electric water pump) claiming that they do not have anything that shows the battery or the other water pump could be effected by the recall condition. It seems strange that I brought my vehicle in when I experienced exactly the same condition described in the recall and ended up needing multiple parts replaced when toyota claims only the electrical water pump may be effected. I had no other issues with my vehicle leading up to this so it seems highly unlikely that the water pump and battery just went bad at the very same moment the electrical water pump stopped.
When I started the car the dash lights didn't come on. This has happened 3 times. Doesn't really sound like a big deal until you realize you don't know how fast you're driving, don't know how much gas you have - not to mention, if anything goes wrong with the car while this is happening the warning light will not illuminate. Also when this happens the car doesn't turn off.
There is a leak inside the 12v battery compartment that houses the battery and the electronic brake controller. The car's hatch leaks water in from rain and car washes and it collects around the 12v battery. In this prius, this area has the battery, electronic brake controller, and further back is the hv battery. There should not be any water that can leak into this area with the electronics. There are many google threads regarding owners experiencing this problem with water leaking inside the car's back area. This is a major safety issue that needs to be addressed because the battery and brake booster is in this exact area where it can affect the safety of the car when driven.
When I was on the freeway, one of my headlights just went out. I had the same exact headlight replaced only one year ago. A few days later, both of my headlights had the same problem. They would flicker and then just go out while I am driving at high speeds. If I turn the light switch on and off while I am driving they sometimes come back on. Sometimes I have to pull over and restart the car for them to come back on. This issue is not safe! Please help.
Was driving to nova scotia 10/18/13. Stopped for coffee after 2 hrs of driving. Car would not restart. Returning to maine10/20/2013 was passing a tractor trailer truck with another trailer truck passing behind me as well. No check engine light had come on at any time during the trip. Suddenly,all the warning lights on the dashboard lit up and the car stopped working while driving at 75 MPH. Tried not to slow too quickly with truck bearing down behind me ,but could not accelerate either. Car had popped into neutral . Got off on left of two lane highway .car was dead. Would not start. Had towed to toyota dealer in amherst. Diagnostics found no cause. Had to drive 4 hours back home next day not knowing if it would happen again. Took car to toyota dealer 45 miles from my home in us. The following week .no cause found. Happened again shortly after on main street, blocking traffic . Towed to local mechanic. Was there one week. Unable to diagnose. Towed 45 miles to toyota again. There another week. I was told it was a problem with fuse box assembly. Shortly after, the master warning light came on, as well as a warning symbol on the touch screen meaning 'malfunction in hybrid system.' towed again to toyota dealer. Front battery replaced. Noted today that prius recall on '09-'14 models for exact same thing that happened to my '08 model. Total cost $600.00 plus $270.00 towing and $120.00 for hotel .
I was driving down the highway at night at approx. 70 MPH and both headlights turned off. I then slowed down and shut the headlights off manually and then turned them back on. Both headlights turned on and worked properly. Within that week I brought the car to a shop and had him replace both headlights at a crazy cost. Thinking that this fixed the problem I continued to drive the car, I have had one other time that both headlights went out but have had multiple times where one head light would go out. I have been pulled over by the authorities at least twice by having the headlight out. In order to fix the lights I have to shut them off and then turn them back on. This is very unsafe, my life, my family members life, and possible other lives are at risk!!!
Pulling away from home after starting car, I noticed dashboard lights were out, no speedometer, etc. Although blinker lights worked. Later, backing up, I noticed the camera image did not work. Big problem was when I got to work and car would not turn off. I tried for 20 minutes including that I made the mistake of putting smart key into slot thinking that would help only to realize that key could not be removed without car being off. I absolutely had to go to my office; had to leave car unattended in downtown. When returned a few hours later to go to dealer, I tried it again and it turned off.
While driving my car the headlight go off without any warning. This is extremely dangerous. I have already filled one complaint. I thought I had fixed the problem when I replaced my headlights but that only worked for about a month and the same thing started to happen again, now I cant drive at night with out my headlights going out.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota prius. The contact sated that while driving less than 10 MPH on a wet road surface, the brakes failed to respond when engaged and went straight to the floor. In addition, the brake pedal became stuck to the floorboard when depressed. The contact was able to coast to the shoulder where the brake pedal was released. The vehicle resumed normally and was later taken to the dealer, who advised that the battery failed and caused the brake actuator to fail. The dealer replaced the battery. The failure and current mileage was 61,000. Updated 02/11/2014 *bf the consumer stated there was no resistance and the pedal did not get stuck, but it had no effect in stopping the vehicle. After several seconds, the consumer coasted to the shoulder at which time, the brakes started to work. Also, the battery was replaced. A month after the incident, the instrument cluster failed again, with no warning lights and it had to be replaced.
I rear-ended the car in front of me in a very low speed accident, listed on my ticket as 1+ MPH by the police officer who witnessed my accident while at the scene attending to an already-occurred accident. When I was 2-3 car lengths behind the car in front of me, going approx. 5-10 MPH, I saw their brake lights go on, and I pushed the brake pedal and nothing happened. I pumped the brakes, and nothing happened. When I realized that my car's momentum was not slowing in the slightest, and that I was going to hit the car in front of me, I tried to maneuver into the vacant right lane, but the failure of the car to even slow down made accident avoidance not possible. When I struck the car in front of me, the blow was primarily with the left front corner of my car contacting the center of their bumper. My car was totaled; their car need a new rear bumper but only for cosmetic purposes. I will testify under oath in a court of law that the brakes in my 2008 toyota prius failed, and that is why I had this wreck.
My headlight keeps going out. I know its a known problem but there has not been recall and it did not occur until recently, so it does not fit in with the toyota 50,000 miles and under rule. However, I have been stopped a couple times and its happening more and more every day. This should be recalled!
This happened when I was driving in sfo city on an uphill street. It was bumper to bumper traffic and the car was going just fine (stop-and-go), and at one point it just stopped on the uphill and won't pull up. I had half+ tank of gas, battery was showing 4 bars, the car was on (all electrics okay) but won't pull up even when pressing hard on the gas. There was a emergency warning light that came (system malfunction or something). I even restarted the car, but no help. Finally aaa came and towed the car and brought it back to the normal road and it started running fine?? Not sure what caused this? I strongly suspect that this has something to do with the hybrid switching. My car service (dealer) says the 12v battery (not the hybrid one) could be dead/low.
Rear hatch release cover melts off switch. My prius rear hatch release rubber cover became sticky a year or so ago. Then started melting off the switch this year. I left the car sit for a week in high 90 temps and the rubber cover was nearly melted to my license plate. It was no longer attached to the electric switch. I researched on line and found several people complaining about this issue. Toyota wants $200 plus for the switch. This should not breakdown like this. Would like to have toyota fix the problem since it has a hard time keeping this part in stock. That shows it's a problem.
While driving home, friends who were following me passed me then calledto let me know that my car's right front light and left rear light was not working. For the last week or so people coming towards me blinked their lights .. I have regular checkups at the toyota place, so I ignored it. Looking back on it, they were probably trying to tell me about the headlight. I took my 2008 prius to the toyota dealer to replace the bulbs. The repair representative said that the front lights were working but the left rear light wasn't . When I told him both lights were definitely not working the previous night, he said if I wanted, they could replace the rear light with a bulb, but the right headlight was more difficult due to removing the bumper and changing the light assembly (not just a bulb!). This would cost me about $300. I thought that a bulb replacement would do it but not so, this car has blue lights that require bumper removal to even get to the light. Since the light was working at that time and $300 is a lot for a retired single woman , I told him I would think about it. Not knowing if the light will work or not, I quit driving after dark. However, unexpected rain storms forced me to turn the lights on a couple days ago. It worked. However, the problem is I am not sure if they will come on or not. Maybe the left headlight is doing the same thing: going off and on when I have no indication that this is happening. I bought the prius to save money on gas and called it my "last" car and have taken care of it as prescribed. Now I don't feel safe to drive it at night or when it rains.
Left hid headlight flickers on and off, then turns off. If I turn the headlights off and then back on again, the light will stay on for a bit, but then will eventually flicker out again. Also, the bulb is very difficult to access and replace, and toyota reportedly charges a lot to replace and install these bulbs.
All lights suddenly went black, front, back everything. I was going 50 MPH on a mountain road and was on a straight road section out of the curves when everything went black. It was night-time at about 9:30 pm so very dark. I went into shock immediately slammed on brakes, just glad no one in back of me and carefully tried to feel to the side of the road. This is a road with alot of 18 wheelers as it is a major route. Also very curvy, and I was lucky not to get killed!!!!!
Intermittent headlight failure. Headlight will go out. Usually, if lights are turned off and back on, headlight will come back on. Sometimes the headlight will turn on, sometimes it won't. This has happened several times (3 or 4) since I have noticed the failure two months ago.
My car had hesitation issues since shortly after I bought it. It would bog down, and almost die in traffic. I would lose speed on the hwy/road & nearly get hit. Previously, the dealer replaced the gas tank because its "bladder" was bad @ 54,057 miles on 08/05/2011. The factory split the cost on this repair (which appears to occur more than they are admitting). The performance improved for a little while, but there has always been funny noises coming from my vehicle and the car would not power on at times. Other times, it would freeze or power off. The maintenance warning lights would come on and then turn off. Infrequently, air would come through the backseat vents like it is supposed to. Frequently, I would smell unusual smells after stopping my car. My car ate up the inside of a new set of tires very quickly despite being properly aligned. The HVAC blower motor was cutting on and off at times and making funny noises. Many times when it would cut off, I could open and slam the hood and the HVAC blower motor would engage, as if there was an electrical short in it. When the HVAC blower motor quit altogether, I took my car to the dealer. The dealer said that the mower had gone out. There was an actual problem with the hv electric water pump as well as a factory recall. Interestingly, the dealer discovered tat the engine motor water pump was also leaking. What a coincidence! Now that all of these components have been replaced, my car appears to work normal again like it has not worked since I first bought the car.
On three separate occasions I started my prius by using the electric start button without the key. The car starts and runs but the instrument panel does not light up. Once I arrived at my destination the car will not shut off. It take approx. 1 hr of running before it will turn off. My dealership indicated they had not heard of this issue but after a diagnostic test, discovered that a computer chip communicating with the start button was the issue. The part is not available for 4 to 6 weeks and they will not release my car to me since they consider it a safety issue. They indicated its part of a recall issue..never heard of it! Hummm. No cost for the fix since it is part of the recall and toyota has provided me with a rental car.
Both headlights go out without warning, I can turn the headlights back on by turning switch off and then back on. In doing research I have found this is a common defect with the toyota prius years 2006-2009. Why isn't this a recall? When getting an estimate to fix is up to a $1,000. I feel like toyota needs to step up before someone is hurt or dead from an accident pertaining to this issue.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota prius. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start unless a particular warning light was cleared by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery. The contact was unsure of what light illuminated. In addition, the vehicle stalled when speeds exceeded 50 MPH. The contact also stated that the failure may be due to the engine plug-in battery add-on kit that he personally installed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was informed that there was a low battery indicator problem that caused the failure. The technician informed the contact that once the add-on was removed, the failure ceased. The failure mileage was 60,000 and the current mileage was 70,000. Updated 02/12/13*lj the consumer stated his complaint was against the makers and distributors of the phev conversion kit, he had installed in his vehicle. The battery kit was used to provide additional electrical battery power to the built in battery of the hybrid. The consumer stated occasionally, the phev kit would cause the engine to shut down while driving on the highway at speeds of 45 -65 MPH. When the incident occurred, there was a warning beep and the general warning triangle would appear on the dashboard. Once it happened, the consumer was unable to re-start the vehicle, until the general warning triangle was cleared. He had to clear it, by disconnecting the 12 volt battery for a minute and the re-connecting the 12 volt battery. The consumer stated after the engine shut down for a third time, he removed the phev battery kit. Updated 02/13/13
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