2004 Toyota Prius Exterior Lighting Problems
- 160
- Owner complaint records in our dataset
Records are owner complaints, not a measured failure rate.
Owner complaint recordsComplaint records reflect reports in our dataset and do not measure how frequently the problem occurs across all vehicles.
What owners report
- both headlights · 26 records
- side headlight · 26 records
- passenger side · 23 records
- them back · 14 records
- come back · 13 records
- left headlight · 12 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 100–150k mi | 52 |
| 60–100k mi | 45 |
| 150–400k mi | 32 |
| 30–60k mi | 8 |
| 1–30k mi | 7 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
My car head lights are turning off, at first it was one not turning on and then it was the other one, now they take turns. It is a safety issue which almost had make me crash more than 2 times. To the point that i am unable to use the car during the night. This happens if the car is parked or running.
ODI 11132191
Exterior Lighting
Our 2004 prius has intermittent problems with headlights and tail lights failing. One of both headlights will all of a sudden go out. Turning them off and on usually causes them to come back on. My son was driving on a curvy, dark forested road when both lights went out. Could not see a thing. This is an extremely dangerous situation. We have also replaced tail light bulbs. They work, then fail again quickly.
ODI 11082252
Exterior Lighting
The passenger side headlight goes out while operating the vehicle. It begins to operate again after turning headlights off and on again. This happens multiple times during vehicle operation in a single drive. For example, three times today within 15 minutes. The headlight was replaced within the last 6 months, but we now believe it is a systemic issue, unrelated to the bulb assembly, because it has occurred with two…
ODI 11063275
Exterior Lighting
When driving on the interstate in the dark, both my headlights went out. Luckily they came back on after i turned the switch off and back on.
ODI 11044727
Exterior Lighting
Over the past few months my headlights would randomly turn off while i'm driving. Sometimes it's one head light, other times it's both. Usually they turn back on if i turn them off then back on. The other day they turned off for about 20 seconds while i was driving 70mph down the interstate at 10pm. I saw my life flash before my eyes. They would not turn back on for 20 seconds approximately. Upon further research on…
ODI 11040713
Exterior Lighting
Hello team, one of the headlights keeps going out. I can't really tell when or how it goes out since i can't see it. I'll notice it when i see the reflection in the back of another car. If i turn the bright lights on and off it has no effect, but when i turn them all the way off and back on the light comes back. Sometimes on long trips it will stay on the whole time, sometimes it won't. Sometimes on short trips it…
ODI 11015974
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
3 days after buying my 04 prius both of my low beams and one of my high beams went out. A few months after replacing them my driver side low beam went out, the high beam was fine. 2-3 months after re replacing the driver's side low beam the passenger side low beam went out. I have had to replace my headlights about 5 times each (10 times total driver+passenger side) i had my ground wires checked, i constantly check…
ODI 11120407
Exterior Lighting
THE PASSENGER SIDE BRAKE LIGHT DOES NOT WORK.
ODI 10969936
Exterior Lighting
Headlights would randomly go out completely and would very quickly have to turn them off and then back on to get them to work. This did not happen very often but they did occur unexpectedly and caused extremely unsafe conditions while driving.
ODI 10978906
Exterior Lighting
Headlights would randomly go out completely and would very quickly have to turn them off and then back on to get them to work. This did not happen very often but they did occur unexpectedly and caused extremely unsafe conditions while driving. Additionally, the headlights would barely illuminate the road at night all the time while driving in all conditions and on all roads, and the area they illuminated was only a…
ODI 10918473
Exterior Lighting
Description of the problem: the h.i.d. Headlights on my 2004 prius fails unexpectedly (they turn off randomly, on their own). This problem affects mainly the right headlight. The right headlight fails very frequently (hundreds of times during the last 12 months). The left headlight fails sporadically (less than 10 times during the last 6 months). This issue affects both low beam and high beam headlamps…
ODI 10897905
Exterior Lighting
Right hid headlamp intermittently goes out while driving and does not go back on. However, when you switch the headlight toggle switch off then on again, right hid headlamp goes back on. While driving for a distance of 120 miles last night, this happened 6 times on both city and highway and road conditions ie. Bumps etc is not a factor since it happens on a smooth paved highway as well. The outage can occur a few…
ODI 10883851
Exterior Lighting
The left headlight has been going off while driving. I've got the 'safety' package #7 with special hid headlights. When i turn the lights off and on again, it comes back on for awhile. Two nights ago both headlights went out while driving. Very scary! I was on an on ramp and couldn't see at all. They both came back on after i turned the switch off and then on.
ODI 10865197
Exterior Lighting
We've noticed this problem only a few times in the car since we've owned it. That's been about 3 years. We seldom drive at night but whenever we have it's always been an issue. Usually just the left goes out and resetting the lights brought it back on. This past week the same thing started to happen and resetting it worked a few times but then both headlights went out and resetting the switch did nothing. Thankfully…
ODI 10845844
Exterior Lighting
Headlights turn off when driving for about half an hour. I have to turn the headlights off then back on so they can start working again. I do see this to be a safety issue since i drive out of town often and use the freeway most of the time and it is just very hard for me to be turning on and off the headlights at a high speed. This has occurred several times and it's not safe at all. This happens at any speed…
ODI 10850330
Exterior Lighting
At around 145,000 miles the right (passenger) headlight started turning off randomly. It would come back on while driving if i turned my headlights off and back on. Frequency has increased over the last 10,000 miles. Recently, the left headlight went out while on the freeway and the right was already out, leaving me with no headlights. I had to flick them on and off multiple times and flick the brights multiple…
ODI 10819224
Exterior Lighting
I noticed that my passenger side headlight was out while driving home at night. Two days later, again while driving at night, my passenger side headlight was working perfectly. I have done nothing to repair the light.
ODI 10808781
Exterior Lighting
Sometimes my left front headlight works and sometimes it doesn't. I have not been able to identify any consistent cause of the intermittent failure. Sometimes if the left headlight is out and i flick the high beams on and off, then the light works again, but this doesn't always seem to fix the problem.
ODI 10788598
Exterior Lighting
While driving at night, my headlights will turn off randomly. Sometimes, it is just one but often it is both. If i turn the headlights switch to off and back to on, sometimes one or both lights will turn back on. More recently, this trick hasn't been working as well and i have to drive just using my fog lights. It seems to be something with the computer that controls the headlights. If it was the bulb it would…
ODI 10782255
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting · Vehicle Speed Control
Speedometer & other control information display went blank. Pulled over to side of road but unable to turn off engine. Contacted toyota & was told problem is known & warranty extend to 9 years & unlimited miles. However, my vehicle is older than nine years, so i must pay estimate $1400 to fix & car will be unavailable for estimate 2 weeks. The vehicle is unsafe to drive, prior to this known problem occurring car was…
ODI 10733039
Exterior Lighting
Headlamp fails intermittently. Usually corrected by switching the headlight switch off and then back on. Sometimes this does not correct the problem.
ODI 10721148
Exterior Lighting
Left headlight turned off intermittently. If i turned the light off and back on the headlight would briefly work but then turn off again. *tr
ODI 10682886
Exterior Lighting
A driver in front of me told me about one week ago that my headlights were going on and off while i was driving. Then yesterday while stopped at a traffic light, another driver got out of his car to tell me that my lights had gone off. I hadn't noticed a change myself, but then i pulled into a parking lot and cut my lights all the way off and cut them back on and then the light was much brighter. This is not a…
ODI 10633026
Exterior Lighting
Driver's side headlight was intermittent. I could jiggle the switch and it would come on. This occurred stationary and moving. I have replace the hid bulb twice with sylvania d2r. The headlight does not work now. Dealer will charge over $500 for headlight and ballast repairs--highway robbery. This problem started august 2014.
ODI 10874978
Exterior Lighting
Headlights intermittently flicker and shut off. If headlights are turned off then back on, both headlights will work again. Problem happens while vehicle is in motion, as well as when parked. This has happened several times while driving at night, on rural/poorly lit roads, as well as highways. Usually it is one light or the other that goes off, but about 5 different times both lights have gone off at the same time…
ODI 10816283
Catalog parts for this system
Catalog year/make/model rows for 2004 Toyota Prius.
Catalog fitment does not by itself prove OEM-equivalent compatibility.