2005 Toyota Prius Exterior Lighting Problems
- 315
- 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.
Among these 315 stored complaint records:
- 2 indicate a crash
- 0 indicate injury
- 0 indicate fire
What owners report
- Headlights · 2 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 100–150k mi | 90 |
| 60–100k mi | 89 |
| 150–400k mi | 50 |
| 30–60k mi | 35 |
| 1–30k mi | 11 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Exterior Lighting
The passenger side headlight randomly turns off while the switch is still in the on position. It is temporarily fixed when i flip the switch for the lights off and on again. The last three times i have driven in the night it has unexpectedly turned off. *tr
ODI 10702062
Exterior Lighting
Noticed passenger headlight appeared to be out intermittently. Would turn back on after restarting lights. Consistently winks out and will restart after turning lights off and on again. Also noticed now that the drivers headlight will also go out and both lights are off at certain times, night or day. *tr
ODI 10704012
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
Left headlight will intermittently go off. There have been a couple of instances where both lights have gone off on the highway at night. *tr
ODI 10692385
Exterior Lighting
Traveling along at night and headlight suddenly stopped shining. Drove about 100 miles using other people's headlights. Winter conditions.
ODI 10749778
Exterior Lighting
When i drive my right headlight just goes out. Then i turn off my lights then turn then on and it chimes back on. *tr
ODI 10704155
Exterior Lighting
The passenger side headlight has gone out 3 times in a 3 year period. Each time the bulb has been replaced at significant expense ($300 at the dealership), but has gone out again after a period of several months. The last time it happened was 11/2014. Since then we have been unable to use the car at night due to the obvious safety issue it presents. We cannot and will not continue to spend hundreds of dollars to…
ODI 10958636
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting · Visibility/Wiper
The right side headlight goes out multiple times for no apparent reason. I have to turn the lights off- then back on--it will come back on--only till it goes out again. *tr
ODI 10653517
Exterior Lighting
2005 prius hid headlights go out while driving and continue to go out intermittently as they will relight if cycled on and off. Replaced bulb and issue continues. *tr
ODI 10668580
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
My left head light goes out intermittently. The light goes back on when i turn the lights off and then on again. This seems to be a problem that prius owners are regularly experiencing. *tr
ODI 10658721
Exterior Lighting
Front left headlight turning off and on intermittantly. *js
ODI 10682004
Exterior Lighting
For the past 200 miles or so, the left front headlight has begun to turn off after a couple of minutes when switched on. The hid bulb and ecm was replaced, at considerable cost, but has not yet been resolved. I have an appt for toyota dealership service in a week. *tr
ODI 10640334
Exterior Lighting
Since september of 2014 i have had issues with the dashboard lights. They have become dimmer and dimmer. Then during the week of 8/24/15, i started my car and the dashboard lights came on, but when i turned on the headlights, all dashboard lights went black. I had turn signal lights, but nothing else unless i turned off the headlights. This was extremely dangerous as i was driving home after dark. I had no idea how…
ODI 10760155
Exterior Lighting
Intermittent drivers side headlight failure. Light will work for a short time, and go out while driving. This has been a chronic problem with this car. I bought it from a friend and it has been a problem for them, and other prius owners that i know. *tr
ODI 10640769
Exterior Lighting
While driving a headlamp will extinguish and i can turn on/off quickly and will come back on. Sometimes this happens every couple miles and can alternate between headlamps and sometimes both fail at the same time. Also if trying to drive on one, the other can fail also requiring a turn on/off reset. *tr
ODI 10655351
Exterior Lighting
The headlights on the prius turn off. When i notice this while driving, i can turn them off and then on again. They only stay on for a few minutes. *tr
ODI 10620762
Exterior Lighting
The headlight just turned off. In reading up on this issue, it has become apparent that this is a known issue with hid lights in a prius. Fortunately it only happened to one headlight and not both. *tr
ODI 10619537
Exterior Lighting
Entering i-25 southbound on dark night and the head lamps went out. Turned the switch off and then on, they came back on and then went right off. Re-tried the switch and they came back on.. Failed again about five miles further south on the i-25 highway. Turned them off and back on and they came back on and stayed until i got back home. The bulbs must be good for them to come back on. Possible bad switch or computer…
ODI 10585073
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
Both of my prius headlights went off, for no apparent reason, while driving down a busy highway. Flicking them off and then back on brought them on again, but this is a dangerous situation. This has happened one more time since then. This could cause a serious accident. Toyota is unable to isolate the problem. The company wants to replace the bulbs, but this doesn't fix the problem, according to many other people…
ODI 10597093
Exterior Lighting
One of my front headlight always goes out once i make a turn by using a turn signal. If i switch the headlight off and on again, the head light will come back. I read similar post from website, and found some people have the same problem with me. We all suspect this is a design problem by the manufacturer.
ODI 10891871
Exterior Lighting
First passenger side then drivers side headlights failed within a month of each other. Able to relight headlights by turning on and off switch, but then they would go off again. Both replaced by toyota dealer at over $300 per light! Now, the drivers side headlight is off again several months later, still able to switch it on for awhile, but it fails as i am driving. *tr
ODI 10610989
Exterior Lighting
Multiple failures of hid lights going out. It will switch from one side to another. Sometimes results in both headlights going out. Most of the time a quick flip of the headlight switch will bring them back on. It is completely random. Instances when both lights go out, each time had to make a quick pull over to wait for a moment, as the normal quick flick to get the lights back on fails, thus causing a quick panic…
ODI 10606089
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
After a short period of time headlight flickers then goes out. Have to turn off then on, only to last a short time. Brand new bulbs. *tr
ODI 10560145
Exterior Lighting
While crossing the bridge of the gods, cascade locks, oregon at about 9pm the toll collector told me my drivers side headlight was out. I turned on my high beams and had two lights on. On low beam only one light...driving with high beams at night is dangerous to other drivers on the road; driving with one or no headlights at night is also dangerous. The next day i turned on the lights (low beam) and they were both…
ODI 10558206
Exterior Lighting
For several months, the driver's side head light of my 2005 toyota prius would spontaneously blink out. Because it was blinking out and coming back on, i told the dealer i suspected some kind of wiring problem, but was assured that this was a common problem with the prius head lamps. I was then told that we had the "special" hid lamps that cost $150 apiece, plus $75+ in labor because of how complicated they were to…
ODI 10560233
Exterior Lighting
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. The contact stated that the driver's side headlight intermittently failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the failure could not be diagnosed. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was not available.
ODI 10555339
Catalog parts for this system
Catalog year/make/model rows for 2005 Toyota Prius.
Catalog fitment does not by itself prove OEM-equivalent compatibility.