2008 Toyota Prius: headlights failing or too dim

Filed Jul 7, 2025 · Electrical · 90,000 miles · FL

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the instrument panel failed to function as intended. The contact stated that the instrument panel went blank. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent at first but had become a permanent failure. In addition, the front headlights and rear taillights failed to function as intended. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, no cause for the failure was found. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while driving at various speeds, the front headlights failed to work as intended. Upon inspection, the contact noticed that the bulbs had melted into the wiring harness. The contact stopped driving the vehicle at night. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.

Filed Jun 2, 2023 · Lights · WA

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.

Filed Jun 3, 2022 · Lights · TN

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

Filed May 13, 2022 · Lights · OR

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.

Filed Mar 22, 2022 · Acceleration, Electrical · OH

Dashboard speedometer, fuel gauge, headlight indicators, transmission status, cruise control do not show, are not lit up. Backup camera does not work nor do the back-up lights. This occured after the auxiliary battery was replaced and the dashboard lights and backup camera will occassionally spontaneously return when the car has not been driven for a week or longer but then will go out next time the car is turned off. There are problems with the car turning off consistently and at times the start button needs to be manually depressed for 5+ seconds to shut down.

Filed Sep 10, 2021 · Lights · UT

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.

Filed May 20, 2021 · Airbags · AR · crash

Air bags did not deploy Driver's side Seat belt adjustment did not go low enough Seat belt tightened so tight my pelvic bone could have broke and killed me The reflection of the dash lights on the windshield at night The battery replacement(s) being way too expensive and explosive Needs the blind spot mirrors The undercarriage needs to be more secure The cost of amount of public knowledge for muffler Needs lifted up a bit Easier ways to add covers to seats I guess the whole Navy missed coach buzzer a little more than we did lol Headlights t Center vents air flow Speedometer change delay by maybe .2 seconds Not enough charging ports Nor were they real None of my hands free electrical safety features worked properly Gas guzzler My boyfriend thinks I tried to kill him Backseat adult who doesn't listen really just didn't listen or care Driver remembers everything Braking should always be left up to the driver No too close warnings or nothing Security system failed when my car and tires were not left untouched Back hatch will still open if keys are locked in the car Other drivers hit me and ran Needs a more sturdy beam to use for the jack to jack up to change a tire

Filed Mar 19, 2021 · Lights · 198,000 miles · MA

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.

Filed Mar 18, 2021 · Acceleration, Electrical · 146,500 miles · AZ

Instrument cluster in my 2008 toyota prius completely went dark while driving from phoenix to my home in tucson. I was travelling on I-10 at a speed of approximately 70mph. Terribly frightening when all gauges fail at the same instant. This happened in jan 2021. Speedometer, fuel gauge, headlight indicators, prndl, lcruise control, lights that indicate engine emergencies do not light. Back-up camera does not work nor do the back-up lights. These all are extremely dangerous safety issues. Having researched this problem it is evident that toyota knew about this problem as they have recalled thousands of prius' for this issue. They issued an extended warranty for this issue but mine expired before I purchased this vehicle in february, 2020. I firmly am convinced that toyota should honor the warranty for this dangerously common failure which happens to many different model year of the prius. It's, in fact, irresponsible of toyota to not repair these vehicles as they have known how massively prevalent these failures are. The local toyota dealers is charging over $1000.00 to fix the problem. I, for one, cannot afford such a cost for a malfunctioning, critical for safely operating their product, that should be remedied into perpetuity, since they have unquestionably been fully aware of the problem and it's severity. I should not be excluded from repair simply because the failure happened later in this particular vehicle than others.

Filed Feb 10, 2021 · Lights · 190,000 miles · CO

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.

Filed Oct 17, 2020 · Lights · 261,000 miles · MI

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).

Filed Jul 14, 2020 · Lights · 65,700 miles · CO

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.