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Mr. Roadshow takes on Prius HID problems
Posted on December 19th, 2008 9 commentsGreat Mr. Roadshow column. Those of you with HID lights, listen up.
And the piece at the very bottom, I hate winter gas. Hate it.
Roadshow: Shedding some light on a common Prius problem
By Gary Richards
Medianews staffQ: I don’t know if you’ve already discussed replacement costs for Toyota Prius headlights, but …
Steve Armstrong
San JoseA: Oh, we certainly are today.
Q: We are a two-Prius family. Both cars have been dependable until recently, when my wife’s 2006 car started experiencing problems with the headlights. Both started to go out alternately and when she turned the light lever off, then back on, the lights would come back on for a few minutes. I took the car to the dealership thinking it was an electrical problem and would be covered under the extended warranty. Wrong! I was told both headlights had to be replaced and were not covered under the warranty — at a cost of $381 each plus approximately $200 labor. Total cost to replace both headlights even after a discount of 15 percent was $950.
Steve Armstrong
A: Ouch! And …
Q: I bought a Toyota Prius in late ’06 and have loved the car. Then in August I began experiencing failure of the left front headlight. It seemed to sporadically falter. Not long afterward, my wife was making a nighttime drive down a twisting back road in Aptos (Santa Cruz County) and the entire light system went out. I had the reason to fwwlip the steering column switch and the lights came back on. I went to the local dealer from whom I purchased the car and the service rep said that individual lights cost about $350 each to replace.
I indicated that it wasn’t just the one light that was acting up. He responded that “Yeah, we’ve had Priuses with this problem.” I told him that I wanted to talk to Toyota about addressing a problem that is a safety hazard and given the newness of the vehicle this should never happen. A person in their corporate office indicated that Toyota would not assume any fiscal responsibility for the repair. He reasoned that the 65,000 mileage was beyond the range of responsibility for this problem, and that I had not had my car serviced at the Toyota dealership.
I argued that we weren’t talking about a normal condition, brake linings and wear factor items. I told him that of the six Toyotas I have owned as well as the many other various vehicles, I have never known a car to simply have a total light failure and that it was not a mileage-related problem, but a safety defect that they should address. The problem has gotten progressively worse and the lights fail constantly. I have been perplexed with what to do and pressed to find the extra dollars to take it in to the dealership and simply swallow the expense. Someone suggested I write you.
James Hamilton
AptosA: Full confession. This has also happened to my Prius, and I have heard from other drivers who have experienced similar problems. Some motorists, like Steve, have paid $950 to fix their lights. My dealer charged me for labor only, and others say they have not been charged at all to have their lights replaced. Toyota says it is seeing similar problems with high-intensity discharge, or HID, bulbs, and this is not confined to the Prius. The corporate folks also say its up to each dealer to determine how much you should pay. That is a pretty weak response. Forking over nearly $1,000 to replace lights on a 2-year-old car is tough to swallow. Toyota recommends you call its customer center at 800-331-4331 if your lights are also going out. Then let me know how Toyota responds.
Q: This isn’t another letter to incite a riot about Prius/SUV drivers, just a simple question that no one can seem to answer. I figured you know the ropes, so: I have been getting about 48 mpg in my Prius up until the last three tanks of gas, and my mileage has fallen to 43 mpg. My driving habits haven’t changed, so I thought maybe it is the California winter gas. Can mileage be reduced by 6 to 10 percent?
Stephen Schrag
San JoseA: Yes, it can. It’s a combination of California’s winter blend of gas, which affects all cars. Plus the Prius mileage tends to drop in cold weather, when the gas engine kicks in more often. My mileage has fallen from 54 to around 48 mpg.
Now can I ask one thing, please? If you have a Prius HID light and you have not had a problem, don’t start getting anxious and demanding your dealer fix a non-problem for free because you heard it might be a problem. I realize no one likes to hear about a potential issue but until you develop a problem it’s just that, a potential issue, not an actual one. Just a suggestion.
And I still hate winter gas.
9 responses to “Mr. Roadshow takes on Prius HID problems”
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articleman December 29th, 2008 at 23:15
Hey Prius owners. I wrote a piece to share my Prius love, so I thought I would share it with you. It’s about treating my Prius as a video game. Happy New Year!
http://dagblog.com/humor-satire/i-got-high-score-prius-and-so-can-you-364
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Hello,
I too have a 2006 Prius and it only has 18,100 miles on it and I am having problems with the driver side HID light going on and off. It seems to not work most of the time and I am being asked to pay more that $300.00 to replace the bulb.
I am really pissed at Toyota! I have read many same problems and I don’t understand why they don’t just pay like they should. This is clearly a defect!
Sincerely,
Joel -
What is Toyota doing about their HID headlight problems? We are on our second Prius. Our 2004 had two HID headlight failures both in warranty. Our 2006 is experiencing it’s third HID headlight problem. This time for the third failure it’s out of my pocket for an estimated $1000. It’s perfectly clear that their is a quality design probglem and I am shocked that Toyota hasn’t come up with a re-call fix, even if it means a retrofit away from the HID system. It’s not like Toyota to saddle it’s customers with this crap.
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I have a 2004 Prius with 191,000 miles. Yeah, I drive a lot.
I have the OEM HID bulbs and have had similar problems as those described above. Random failure of lights, began with driver’s side and continues to occur randomly with greater frequency. Passenger side also turns off randomly, though with less frequency.
On two occasions, I have had both lights turn off.
I usually can solve this problem by turning lights off and back on.
I reported to NHTSA and highly recommend others do so as well. The more reports the better.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm
NHTSA and Toyota have said there is no recall on this at present and that the vehicle owner would be responsible for repair costs with no promise of reimbursement if a recall is issued subsequently.
I hope to see Toyota do the right thing – soon. -
I was told my car has too many miles for them to cover any work.
If you have fewer miles, you might try calling Toyota Customer Service. -
steve caldwell January 6th, 2010 at 14:33
Same headlight problem with my 2000 prius with 158000 miles
dealer wants 950 to replace both bulbs. Called Toyota corporate and filed a claim. They got back to me with “we will call the dealer to see what they can do”
Called me back and said the dealer would do it for 800. Big Deal??
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Patrick January 11th, 2010 at 16:23
My 2004 Prius is having the headlight problems others are having. They go out intermittently and will come back on when I turn them off and on again. It mostly happens with the passenger side, but both have gone out on occasions. I don’t want to just start replacing them like others seem to have done. Too costly! I’ve called Toyota and am awaiting a return call. I just want to know what the real solution is. Not just replacing the headlights and have the problem continue. I’ve also read the better solution is to replace the ballast and computer light control on both sides. Any input?
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Gary Plotz January 19th, 2010 at 22:43
Same problem will my 2007 Prius. Started with the the non-driver side. Toyota dealer (Service Department), MN in Mankato denied any type of headlight problem. Claimed the light was just burning out. Service Department said problem could be solved with a part cost of $9.95 per light, plus installation. Appointment was made and car was repaitrd today (Tuesday, January 19, 2010). Surprise was $300.OO plus installation for two new lights. Nothing was said about a potential computer program involving the lights.
Arrived home after the repair and saw the letter in today’s mail from Toyota finally admitting some problem. Dealer was closed before I could inform the service department of something they should have known.
We had some near accidents coming home from Florida recently, as we were uninformed why we were lost light intensity. Finally we were stopped by Police and given a warning. This all has been very stressful.
I think Toyota should pay the WHOLE bill. This was not due to normal wear and tear. It is happening most often to the non-driver side headlight first, then have some time skips over to lesser extend the driver headlight side. This is consistent with several other reports. I believe it is more than a light failure, it is an electric/computer failure resulting in light failure…and should have been covered 100% by my 100,000 mile extended warranty.
These kind of things can easily cause a fatality.
Gary Plotz
Hutchinson, MN
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Palo Alto Ron December 21st, 2008 at 16:57