How Can the 'Car of the Future' Have Such Problems Illuminating the Road?

Prius owners are up in arms about the performance of their high-intensity headlights. Known formally as high-intensity discharge (HID) lights, they either work intermittently -- making nighttime driving a lot more 'exciting' -- or fail entirely. And you know all that money you saved on gas with your MPG machine? Better set it aside for replacement bulbs and the labor needed to replace them. Repair costs can run you anywhere from an average of $400 all the way up to $1800^[1]. I probably should have told you to sit down first, huh?

Complaints target the vehicle's second generation^[2]:

• 2006 Toyota Prius
• 2007 Toyota Prius
• 2008 Toyota Prius
• 2009 Toyota Prius

Description of Headlight Issues ∞

Owners have experienced the problem for the first time in many ways. Some say one headlight turns off randomly, while other have reported both going off at the same time. Every now and again turning the lights off and on again will fix the problem, but when you're driving 70mph down a dark highway you don't want to have to keep your fingers crossed that the lights will come back on. Here's some individual accounts from drivers over at CarComplaints.com.

“Absolutely ridiculous that a recall has not been submitted for this problem. Having your lights turn off while driving at night on the interstate doesn't constitute a safety hazard?! I love my Prius, but this issue is extremely annoying and even more dangerous.” --- SV, Madison, WI

"Right headlight went out sporadically, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Dealer replaced under warranty, but it is a $330 dollar bulb. Six months later, SAME THING, right headlight would work when I first turned light on, but then would go out.
"I asked dealer to check for a short circuit. They claimed that they did and it was a bad bulb. This time, no warranty so I had to pay $330 for the bulb and another $50 to install. Less than 2 weeks after that, now my LEFT bulb is doing the same thing. I am going to call Toyota and complain.” --- Rita P, Canton, MI

Any Chance of a Recall? ∞

The NHTSA started investigating the issue in 2009 after receiving over 650 complaints, but the agency concluded that most defects only affected one headlight which should be sufficient to travel safely to a service facility.

Prius Headlight Lawsuit ∞

Early 2011 roughly 220,000 Priuses were included in a tentative settlement of a class-action lawsuit. The suit claims that a defect causes sporadic headlight functionality while driving and that Toyota knew of the problem and concealed it. Toyota agreed to the settlement but denied any defect with the headlights or any wrongdoing.

The warranty on the headlights would be extended to five years or 50,000 miles from three years or 36,000 miles under the proposed settlement. According to an article on the class-action lawsuit on NYTimes.com: "Owners of high-mileage vehicles might not need the coverage, as the problems tended to occur between 20,000 and 50,000 miles".

If you own a 2006-2009 Prius, contact Toyota for more information.