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Hi,

I am with a law firm that is currently investigating complaints that the HID headlights malfunction in certain Prius model years. Check us out at http://www.girardgibbs.com/prius.asp, or give us a call toll-free at (866) 981-4800. You can also reach me by email at mcr@girardgibbs.com.

If you are experiencing the Toyota Prius HID headlight defect failure you may be looking at a repair cost of up to $1,800. Here's a recommended approach for getting Toyota to take responsibility for the defect and to minimize your out-of-pocket expense:

1) Take your car to your dealer's service department and tell them that the HID headlight(s) are unexpectedly shutting off. Let the service writer know that you are aware that this is a common problem with HID equipped Prius (seems to be mostly 2005-2008). You should mention that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has registered over 480 Prius HID headlight safety complaints. You can review the complaints by downloading the attached NHTSA database file or visiting the NHTSA database at: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/complaints/index.cfm. You can also mention Toyota's Technical Service Bulletin: T-SB-0030-08 "HID Headlight System - Diagnostic Tips". If your car is still within the 3 year / 36K mile warranty period then Toyota should cover the repair cost 100%. If your service writer tells you that the repair is not covered (he may say that the bulbs are not covered under the warranty or point out that your car is beyond the 3 year / 36K mile warranty period) then ask if the service manager would contact Toyota corporate and seek Toyota's approval to cover the cost under Toyota's customer goodwill or loyalty program. If your dealer refuses to fix the HID defect free of charge then get a repair quote and move on to step 2.

2) Call the Toyota "Customer Experience Center" (This is Toyota's corporate customer service. Website: http://www.toyota.com/help/contactus.html) at 1-800-331-4331. State that you have a safety defect with the headlights on your Prius. Say that you would like to report the problem to Toyota and open a case asking that Toyota repair the defect at no cost to you. The customer experience center representatives are extremely polite and will offer to open a case. They will supply you with a case number. They may take your information immediately or they may have someone call you back. You may want to call the 800 number and ask for Teresa at extension 73837. Teresa is very knowledgeable and helpful. She will know exactly what you are talking about when you mention the Prius headlight issue. You should be polite but firm. This is a serious safety problem and you know that it is a common problem on HID equipped Prius. They may start out by offering to cover 20% to 50% of the repair cost. Be firm and insist on 100% coverage.

3) File a formal safety complaint with the NHTSA.

Headlights that unexpectedly shut off while driving is clearly a safety issue. And it does appear that HID headlight equipped Prius indeed contain a design defect. Reporting a safety defect to the NHTSA is the first step in forcing Toyota to conduct a recall.

There are three ways to file a complaint:

Call the Vehicle Safety Hotline
Call 1-888-327-4236 or 1-800-424-9393 toll free (1-800-424-9153, for use by persons with hearing impairments)

File the complaint on-line
File the complaint on-line at the NHTSA vehicle safety Web site: http://www.safercar.gov. Select “File a Complaint” within the Defects and Recalls section of the home page. Or just click this link: http://www.toyota.com/help/contactus.html

U.S. Mail
Send a letter to:
U.S. Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Office of Defects Investigation (NVS-210)
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20590

Thanks Atoyotaprius. Excellent info. Please also post this over on PriusChat.

Hi, I am with a law firm that is currently investigating complaints that the HID headlights malfunction in certain Prius model years. We posted our contact information earlier but I'm reposting this for any new visitors to this thread. Check us out at http://www.girardgibbs.com/prius.asp, or give us a call toll-free at (866) 981-4800. You can also reach me by email at ilm@girardgibbs.com.

Hey, all,

Look what 12 pages here (haven't counted the number of posts) & 436 posts over at PriusChat have finally accomplished for the resolution of our HID headlight problem. The NHTSA has finally opened an official investigation which may ultimately result in a recall for the HID bulbs and/or their headlight ECU's. Check out post #436 in this link ----->

http://priuschat.com/forums/care-mainte ... em-44.html

Looks like we may soon have success in correcting the problem free of charge.

NHTSA file does not include 2005 models, which are also experiencing the problem. If you have a 2005, please submit a report so this model year gets included in any future recall.

Repost and update:

Repost: My 2007 HID headlights began failing independently at about 30,000 miles of 'always on' operation (slight flicker, then off after ~20 minutes of on time), and work fine now after replacing only the bulbs.

My impression is that Toyota introduced a promising new technology before refining it for longevity. Hopefully, it is a matter of adjusting the bulb gas mixture or pressure for optimum performance. Time for Toyota to behave honorably toward their commitment to quality and reliability.

Update:

The first failure was actually 34,000 miles - just before the 36,000 mile warranty ran out.
Now at 68,000 miles, the symptom has returned.

I did the math, and can report with some accuracy because I burn the headlights constantly and have a long, consistent commute: The symptom began at 750 hours of burn time; the bulbs were replaced and burned for 750 more hours before winking off. In technical jargon, that's 750 hours MTBF (mean time between failure), and significantly shorter than the conventional expectation for HID technology of 2000 hours.

Further, if the fault is with the electronics module rather than the bulb, replacing the bulb simply masked the true source of the problem, and replacement of the electronics module (and bulb, if it was damaged by the faulty module) could arguably be covered under my original standard warranty.

As I mentioned elsewhere, it is important to watch carefully for the symptom (as there is no 'lamp failure' icon in the dash), and to have both lamps (and/or electronics modules) replaced prior to the 36,000 mile standard warranty expiration.

I see this turned into a rental issue, what happened with the head lights, I have a 2006 package 6 witht the going out headlight problem how do you fix it.

It appears that Toyota HQ regards these complaints as concerns about cost and safety rather than a shorter than expected bulb life.

Please post any information you may have about burn time (MTBF - Mean Time Between Failure) and replacement history (date of replacement and whether bulb and/or module was replaced).

Also, there seems to be uncertainty/disagreement on the part of dealership service departments about whether the faulty component is the bulb ($160), the power supply ($300) or both. Troubleshooting can be tricky, but sufficient statistics and detailed histories can be very informative about the Root Cause of the problem.

The 2010 has gone to LED headlights; my guess is that they have finally recognized The Problem...
The solution?... Can HID lights be replaced with LEDs?

Meanwhile, I can't wait... my HIDs burn for <1 minute before I have to cycle them back on, and the days are getting shorter here in the northern hemisphere.

By the way, does anyone know if the stock fog lamps can be replaced with aftermarket "headlight" lights?

Hi
I had the problem that the passenger side headlight was out [ the driver's door was open] and I brought it to the dealers, very well-known for good service, and they said it wasn't out when they saw it so they wouldn't 'take the bumper off to change it', apparently a $200+ job, but still under warranty. The service guy squirmed a little when I asked if others have had this problem but hinted that there are these problems with Prii headlights. Problem is, I have to cover a hospital at night and driving with one less headlight and my beginning cataracts is a problem. Does anyone know if the 3rd generation Prius has to take the bumper off to fix the headlight? I know the headlights on my 07 are the optional kind, so it was in some package when I bought it, but I'd have to find the sticker to know if it is HID. Hope this helps. Info on the 3rd generation would help me, if anyone knows. Thanks.
Greg

Hi again
I've read some more since my first post a few minutes ago, and I do have fog lights so I guess it's HID. Also, people are talking about proving the problem when it doesn't show up at the dealers. I had a problem with starting and all the lights on the dashboard came on and then it wouldn't start. I went right to the dealers after I did get it going and the woman there told me this was impossible -- all the lights couldn't be on and sent me home with no help. The next time it happened, I took a picture of all the lights on, printed it and showed it to my usual service writer, and they fixed it -- gave me a new [small] battery. My point is, when the headlights fail at night, take a picture and show them. That's what I'm planning to do. Good Luck !
Greg