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I have a 2006 Prius, and I leave the headlight switch in the one possition all the time. I have notice that the driveers headlight go's out if I turn the switch off and back on it comes back on. I have taken it to the dealer but they never catch it off. Any help?

Huh? If you turn the switch off, the headlight will go out. Am I misunderstanding your post?

I have read in some post that opening the driver door before or after turning off the car will result in different behaviour of the lights.

I believe that if the door is open when you turn off the car, the lights will not go off. I cannot find the thread right now, but I believe this may be a clue.


regards,
Stein Tore

Hi Mr. Whit!!

I am experiencing the same issue.. both or left or right headlights will go out while driving.. when I turn them off and back on, they go back on fine. I have found ONE other person also that is experiencing the same thing.. we are all getting crap from the dealer saying they can't find anything. And we all (including you) drive the 2006 model.

It is a regularly occurring theme with my car now, sometimes in 5 minutes my headlights will be out.. it happened 3x last night just coming home from 3 miles away. I am supposed to bring it in with one or both headlights out, so they can see it "recreated" as they claim. I am waiting until after the holidays and my Vegas trip next weekend and will probably take it in during the evening/morning when the headlights go out. (Sometime next weeK).

I will keep you posted.. please don't stray too far, I'd like to call upon you and make a case with Toyota if they won't do crap for us (they claim everything is working fine.....)

Hi, Phish,

I'm sure you answered this question before in your own previous post on the subject, but please refresh my memory.

I ask this to both you & mr.whit : Are these headlights halogen or HID ??

I can't help you with your problems, but I was just wonder'g to satisfy my own curiosity. All are 2006's, huh, & they can't find anything wrong so far? What's up with that?

I have an '05 with HID's & haven't experienced any such problem with my headlights (only the level'g adjustment sensor under the car---fixed under warranty).

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

Often when a dealer will not fix an obviously dangerous safety flaw in your car, a letter reminding them of their liability should the failure (which they are now fully informed of) should cause an accident. CC'ing the Toyota zone rep, local TV stations, and the NHTSA will often get a VERY fast reply, since they do not want either the liability or the negative publicity of such an obviously dangerous condition.

Also see:
http://priuschat.com/Headlight-Out-t27758.html

That is a good link it looks like others have had his problem

Ken - I have HID. It's an 06 Prius Package 6.. I asked the other guy his model/etc (not Mr. Whit) but he's slow to check e-mails and hasn't responded yet..

Yes I also have a HID headlights, I have a 2006 Package #7

I have a 2006 model with package 9 and HID headlights. I have had the same problem with the drivers side headlight.

The headlight goes out for no reason and then if I switch the lights off and back on they are fine again.

It has been to the dealership 3 times. The first time they replaced the bulb - no change.

The second time they replaced the HID controller - no change - the headlight even went out at the dealership after they had "done the repair".

It is back in the shop today for further fault tracing. Basically they have no idea and are just working through all the wiring looms looking for a fault.

If they find a fix I will post.

I wonder if it's just the ballast/converter overheating? I wouldn't think it's the car wiring. The non-HID wiring carries twice as much current. I suppose if there was a resistive connection, the lower voltage could overheat the module.

kenb.. that news makes me sad. I just dropped my car off at the dealership this morning, with one headlight out.. I had suggested the HID controller module like others had had repaired (and fixed the issue).. but now you make me weary.

The shop foreman that came to see the car says he's never seen anything like it, and he works on A LOT of Prii. I mentioned the forums and that quite a few are starting to experience this problem.. perhaps.. we will not be alone and Toyota will realize its a real issue.

I'll let you know what happens. I have a rental Corolla *gag*.

What IS cool though.. is that I heard the Enterprise at the dealership (that gave me the Corolla) is starting to buy Prii cars for rentals.. that is good news!

Hi, Phish,

It may interest you to know that in Ct back in 2004, Enterprise already had quite a fleet of Priuses for rental. They either had 20 or 40 (I can't remember), but half the Prius fleet had to remain in the capitol area (Hartford) for use by state employees because the state had a contract with Enterprise that they must provide fuel efficient vehicles.

The remainder of the Prius fleet was scattered all over the rest of the state with state employees still getting them (if needed) before they were offered for rental to anybody else. One state worker had a Prius for 67 days straight---he must have really liked it. I had to fight like hell to rent one in the summer of '04 for a 3-day weekend to see if it was really what I wanted to buy. I couldn't really tell too much about the car in a 10 minute test drive in Jan of '04. The 3 day rental sold me!!

In '05 when it was time for Enterprise to get new models, the '04 Prius rentals were returned to Toyota for auction to area Toyota dealers & one Hartford dealer had 2 of them for sale for $29,000 & they were zero option base units (stripped) whereas a fully loaded top-of-the-line car was going for $26,900 MSRP (if you could find one, that is). Incidently, the state (& its employees) liked them so well (but not the rental bills) that they've gone out & bought a fleet of their own & some of the state employees are fight'g over who gets to use them. They all want them.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

I know that the Prius rentals are available in other places.. but finding them here seemed semi rare (California) so I was surprised to see one in the very small Enterprise lot. We tried to rent one when we were gonna drive to the Keys from Ft. Lauderdale on Vaca.. but no luck. Found a few places with the Hybrid Highlander but was not a necessary item for the trip.. plus I'd have to drive to Miami just to go get the darn thing.

So. My service advisor called, they said they haven't found anything yet.. they even checked the HID controller module, so they say.. they said Toyota tech support told them they may have to change everything out, the HID lamps, the assembly, the board that controls the lights (does this mean they know what's wrong, or they don't know.. only that changing everything fixes it?)..

Then he brought it up that since I am no longer under manufacturer warranty (36k miles and I'm at 51.2k) that he doesn't know if my extended warranty (100k) will cover it, unless they find real fault with it... since replacing everything in the HID system is like $2000.. and that the warranty folks may kind of laugh if he asks to replace it without found cause.

They're gonna keep the car overnight (or longer) and give me an update tomorrow.. fun stuff.