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.
2008 Toyota Prius lights complaints
Page 2 of 21: complaints 11 to 40 of 583, newest first, as owners wrote them.
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.
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.
My wife and I own 2 prius 2nd generation models since 2014. The issue is with the instrument cluster randomly malfunctioning and not displaying when the vehicle is on and sometimes not being able to turn the vehicle off. It happens while driving, stationary, raining, just randomly. This has happened more than 10 times on my car alone, and my wife can contests to hers as well. What we both are experiencing is one of many situations. While driving the dash lights and interior lights will just not work: I'm unable to see driving speed, if my headlights are on. Even while stationary we experience the same thing. The main reasons for reporting this is because coincidentally it happens to both of us at random times in 2 different vehicles same model and year. From my own research this has been going on for a while with other owners with the same models. I don't know what constitutes as a safety concern for recalls, but I feel this is one. I'm fortunate to not have any accidents so far. But for others who are experiencing this can accidentally start speeding, or become startled because of the sudden loss of dash visuals, and result in harm of other's or property. This just happened again today and I just had to say something since this has been a persistent issue for my wife and I. Thanks for taking the time to read this and please look into this.
My wife and I own 2 prius 2nd generation models since 2014. The issue is with the instrument cluster randomly malfunctioning and not displaying when the vehicle is on and sometimes not being able to turn the vehicle off. It happens while driving, stationary, raining, just randomly. This has happened more than 10 times on my car alone, and my wife can contests to hers as well. What we both are experiencing is one of many situations. While driving the dash lights and interior lights will just not work: I'm unable to see driving speed, if my headlights are on. Even while stationary we experience the same thing. The main reasons for reporting this is because coincidentally it happens to both of us at random times in 2 different vehicles same model and year. From my own research this has been going on for a while with other owners with the same models. I don't know what constitutes as a safety concern for recalls, but I feel this is one. I'm fortunate to not have any accidents so far. But for others who are experiencing this can accidentally start speeding, or become startled because of the sudden loss of dash visuals, and result in harm of other's or property. This just happened again today and I just had to say something since this has been a persistent issue for my wife and I. Thanks for taking the time to read this and please look into this.
Right hid headlight keeps going out during short or long trips. It it's now october 2019. This same light was replaced for same problem in july 2018 and I was told by my mechanic that my ballast and electrical connection is fine. It should not be burned out by now. I only use the lights at night or during rain. I have read on several online forums with similar complaints from prius owners. This is a safety issue.
The 2008 prius has a digital display. Sometimes when the vehicle starts up there is no information displayed on the screen. Nothing shows what gear (reverse, neutral, forward) it is in. There is no speedometer display. No odometer display. No fuel level display. At the same time that the dash does not light up, I have noticed there is no backup camera or backup lights when the vehicle is in reverse. In addition to the above, the start button will not fully shut down the car. It will cycle between accessory mode and full start when the button is pressed. I have noticed that when the problem is happening the vehicle is also not keeping track of the miles driven while the dash is not displaying - so when the dash does start working again, the odometer is not showing true mileage. After getting the vehicle to finally shut down, I have sometimes had the issue not present the next day at startup. Other times it will last through several starts and stops. I have read online that this problem is consistent with a faulty combination meter. And I feel it is a safety issue.
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.
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.
The dim headlight only, not the bright, only on the drivers side front goes out 4 or 5 times a year. The front brights are not affected and have never gone out nor has the dim headlight on the passenger side front ever gone out. The car is driven daily usually and on city streets only.
For the third time I have had to replace my brake light switch, this is a safety issue as it affect how the brake lights work. The break light switch, when malfunctioning prevent or inhibits the vehicle from starting properly. If the switch fails while driving, it can cause problem with the battery regeneration, this is in addition to causing a driving hazard while driving.
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 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.
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 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.
I bought my 2008 prius used in 2016, the headlights worked for a little while, then they started to randomly shut off. Sometimes just one, sometimes both at the same time. I have replaced the headlights twice and it is still happening. I have googled this problem and there are several people saying their prius' are having the same problem. Toyota refuses to fix the issue.
For several years our toyota prius has exhibited the following issue: intermittently, and without warning, when you start the car the dashboard does not light. As a consequent, you cannot not see the speed you're driving at, the fuel level of the car, any warnings such as check engine, low tire pressure etc, and you're not able to use a number of other important features such as cruise control. In addition, you are not able to turn off the car when you reach your destination. Because you cannot turn off the car, you cannot lock it. Undisclosed to customers, there has been for several years an extended warranty being offered by toyota, to the dealerships, to fix this problem (warranty policy bulletin, pol 12-05). This information is provided only to dealerships. As I customer, I never received information about this extended warranty. I only found out about it via other customers. Our local toyota dealership (toyota of olympia) has refused to apply the extended warranty and fix the problem. We contacted the dealership several years ago about the issue, which they have a record of. Toyota customer service also refuses to help us get this issue fixed and apply the extended warranty. The case number with customer service is 1812072507. Both toyota and the dealership state that the customer most replicate this intermittent issue to a dealership mechanic before either entity will authorize fixing the issue. Several weeks or months may go by before the issue appears and it appears only for an unpredictable duration before "going away", so this is an impossible burden of proof for the customer -- the customer has to take the car to a dealership at the moment the intermittent issue occurs, and must arrive at the dealership and get the mechanic to immediately drop their other work in order to hopefully witness the issue before it "goes away".
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.
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.
The headlights turn off randomly as I'm driving. It happens at any speed (even when I'm stopped) and on any road, in any condition, in any weather. Sometimes just one, sometimes both at the same time. It makes driving at night both a hassle and hazardous.
Electrical issue with headlight - drivers side front headlight turns off within 2-3 minutes. I've replaced the bulb and the issue persists, and many prius owners have faced a similar if not identical issue. If you turn the lights off and on again, it turns back on but only for a few minutes. Seems like a wiring issue and there should be a recall.
The hid headlamps flicker and turn off by themselves randomly while driving. Sometimes only the drivers side turns off and then later the passenger side, but sometimes both sides turn off at the same time while the vehicle is moving at various speeds. This is very dangerous especially when it happens while driving at night at high speeds on a dark road. It happened at speeds of 60mph while on a 2 lane highway late at night and at lower speeds such as 30-45mph on city streets. The headlamps also flicker and randomly turn off while the vehicle is parked with headlights on. The only remedy is to completely shut off and turn back on the headlamps and then they work for a few minutes then turn off randomly again. This is a recurring issue. These cars should be issued a recall for this problem. This is a serious 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.
Headlights have been replaced more than once and now are flickering again and have gone out completely. This has been an ongoing problem since it was new. Dealer has not resolved the problem nor given us a reason why.this is becoming a very expensive problem, we were told that there was a recall but we were not notified. We love the prius except for this,
One headlight or the other or both go out randomly.
Starting about a year ago, our prius headlights have begun to fail while driving car. It first started with the left headlight going out occasionally while driving, and now it is happening to both headlights while driving. At first I thought I hadn't turn headlights on or I had a burned out bulb. Now it seems to happen all the time. If I turn headlights off and back on tends to temporarily resolve issue. However, problem seems to be getting worse as time goes by.
When driving at night, headlights will go out on their own, left, right, or both at same time. Have to turn light switch off and on till they come back on. Driving on road or highway. Smooth road. So now I can't drive after dark.
Both headlights in the front of my car have burnt out multiple times and it happened again today. One first went out in 2010 when the car had 35k miles on it and each light has been replaced at least twice since then each time costing $300-400. Most recently the replacement lights have not even lasted six months. This is not only expensive and a major annoyance but also a safety hazard when driving at night. I feel that toyota should provide a proper fix for this problem and compensate me for the multiple times I have needed to pay for the repairs.
Combination meter is defective, light panel, including speedometer & fuel levels go dark, unable to tell speed of vehicle or remaining fuel, multiple incidents, all began (thus far) while vehicle was stationary.
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