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
Dear nhtsa: 2005 toyota prius. Headlights. The car is equipped with a headlight leveling device. At present my low beams only show about 14 feet in front of the vehicle. When the high beams are on they shine where the normal low beams would shine. I have contacted my dealer, this is a $500.00 dollar fix. The car has 48k miles . This is a safety hazard. I am not safe driving this vehicle at night. This is a serious…
ODI 10342481
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
Sudden warning light indicating headlight leveling failure. Occurs intermittently under various circumstances. Consequences: headlights either aimed too high blinding oncoming drivers or slanted downward making car impossible to drive at night. Part has not been replaced and car is not driven at night. Old part still available. There was a technical service bulletin in early 2006 indicating that the headlight…
ODI 10346404
Exterior Lighting
The headlights on my 2005 toyota prius go out intermittently without warning, one at a time. The bulbs will come back on after the first or second time of restarting the car. This may be happening more often than i'm aware. The first time was about 7 months ago when a chp officer pulled me over and gave me a fixit ticket for the headlight being out. It was too late at night to buy another bulb anywhere. I pulled…
ODI 10339179
Exterior Lighting
The right headlight goes out a minutes after driving the car. Both headlights come on initially, but after driving down the road for a few minutes, the right headlight stops working. This seems to be a problem with the hid module malfunctioning. *tr
ODI 10472564
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
Passenger front hid headlight was intermediately operational for a short period of time. Eventually it would not come back on. Toyota dealer quoted $350+ for part and $150+ for labor, per headlight. According to other prius owners and internet articles, this issue is apparent to be a manufacturer defect; but toyota refuses to admit in order to prevent a recall. Unwilling to paid for toyota's mistakes, the vehicle…
ODI 10415147
Exterior Lighting
2005 toyota prius with headlights driver's side headlight that goes on and off intermittently. The dealership is charging $350 for this one light bulb, to replace it. There are multiple complaints regarding this problem with the prius, on multiple web sites, all with the same concern. It is obviously a defective part, and the headlights should be recalled by toyota. They go off at very dangerous times, like driving…
ODI 10334117
Electrical · Exterior Lighting
The hid headlights on my 2005 toyota prius went out several nights ago. The car was taken to toyota, and this problem is common on the 2004-2008 prius, which a simple google search proved. These type of bulbs overheat (since they're halogen). Nevertheless, they charged $1150 for two headlights which cannot be bought anywhere except the toyota dealership. They were only 2 years old. When i called toyota, the person i…
ODI 10333835
Exterior Lighting · Visibility
I have a 2005 toyota prius and the lights go off while i am driving. If i turn off the lights completely they will come back on. The dealer does not know what to do in fixing it. The lights go off in the middle of driving at night. This is a safety hazard that needs to be addressed. This incident happens day to day. I have been stopped by the police several times not knowing that the lights have gone out. There…
ODI 10330566
Exterior Lighting · Service Brakes · Vehicle Speed Control
I have been experiencing some problems with my headlights. I changed the bulb and a month later the light stopped working again. I took it to the dealership they blamed it on the bulb, i tried to return the bulb to the store and they tested it and said everything was ok with the bulb so it had to be the headlights. I'm also having problems with the dashboard lights. The speedometer and gas gage completely failed. At…
ODI 10759805
Exterior Lighting
2005 prius driver's hid lightbulb failed with less than 80,,000 miles. Cost to replace bulb quoted at $400 plus $300 for labor. *tr
ODI 10340175
Exterior Lighting
Normal use of high intensity discharge headlamp/bulbs lights are flickering. Wire harness mentioned by dealership, cost to replace is prohibitive. Bulbs should not be 'flickering' if the capsule simply needs to be replaced. This problem is common among this model year prius as well as before and after 2005. *tr
ODI 10336776
Exterior Lighting
Over the past two months, my 2005 prius has developed an intermittent headlight failure. The headlight in question is on the passenger side of the vehicle. Turning off the headlights and turning them back on resolves the issue, thus the bulb is not the issue. This defect makes the vehicle less safe to operate and holds me civilly responsible for "fix it" damages. The "fix" for this defect is a replacement should not…
ODI 10341448
Exterior Lighting
The passenger side headlight burned out on my 2005 toyota prius. I took it to the dealer and they charged $818 for the headlight and the onboard computer that comes with it. I don't yet know what the labor charge will be.
ODI 10321551
Exterior Lighting
I was driving at night and suddenly realized i couldn't see the road in front of me. When i pulled up to a stop light, i could see the reflection of both headlights on in the back of the car in front of me, but when i started driving again i couldn't see the road again. I put my high beams on and they worked, but the regular lights had become too dim to see anything. I just replaced one of the bulbs two months ago…
ODI 10321207
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
Driving at night and the head lamps on toyota prius malfunctioned; not aware that they were off. I was on a dark winding road, heavy rain showers. Was alerted by another motorist that my lights were off. Got out of car, tapped the dome, one came on... I was able to drive home. Happened unexpectedly, no warning. Very concern with my safety. They could have been an accident. Checked with other prius owners. Found out,…
ODI 10320133
Exterior Lighting
1. Noticed that the left headlamp is having intermittent difficulty staying on this past week. 2.once the headlamps are turned on, the left headlamp starts to dim and the light appears to have a pink tint. After a few minutes (3 ' 7) the left headlamp goes completely out. Turning the lights off and then on again starts the cycle all over again. I have been pulled over because the light was out. Having to drive with…
ODI 10317979
Exterior Lighting
I'm constantly replacing the headlights in my 2005 toyota prius (non-hid bulbs) as they have stopped working 6 times in the last 35k miles. I've replaced them with different manufacturer's bulbs, differing models, and even oem bulbs, but they keep going out. The first time they actually went out with both headlights together at exactly 100,000 miles. I don't know if this is planned obsolence or something else, but…
ODI 10318038
Exterior Lighting
2005 toyota prius. There is an electrical problem with my headlights. One or both headlights will go out at least once in an hour of driving. Turning off the headlights and back on restores it to normal operation. *tr
ODI 10323734
Exterior Lighting · Vehicle Speed Control
3/1/2010 hid bulb out on the toyota prius 2005, told that it would cost $450 to replace the bulb. I can't believe that i spend so much money on this car, to be told that something so simple was costing so much. When i used to do this my self. I also complain about my car accelerating and was told that my car was not on the list. That i would have to wait for the notification to bring it in for the rug replacement. I…
ODI 10315288
Electronic Stability Control · Exterior Lighting · Latches/Locks/Linkages
1 - my right headlight keeps going on and off while i am driving. I received a ticket that i now have to pay for. The los angeles times mentioned that other cars have this problem. It should be easy for the manufacturer to fix at their expense. 2 - since i purchased my 2005 prius in 2004, when i go over bumps, sometimes the light for the stability comes on and the brakes do not work for a second or two. I had asked…
ODI 10315915
Exterior Lighting
The front right headlight and rear right taillight randomly turn off. I have seen no pattern as to when it goes out, but it will stay out until the vehicle is turned off and restarted. 95% of the time, this resolves the problem. *tr
ODI 10316978
Exterior Lighting
The right hid headlight on our 2005 toyota prius extinguishes randomly, several times a week, and sometimes comes back on when the headlights are power-cycled. The left headlight has been replaced once, which we feel is normal, while the right headlight has been replaced three times, two of which were probably unnecessary. We have been stopped and warned by police several times, and we may not be noticing all of the…
ODI 10306083
Exterior Lighting
I was driving on this particular day and both headlights just shut off. I was driving on the highway going about 70 miles an hour. I slowed down as much as i could. Only one car was behind me and by chance he had seen my lights go off and started to flicker his lights as he passed me. Luckily their wasn't any cars on site because it was about 2 am in the morning and their wasn't any traffic. I was able to pull over…
ODI 10499627
Exterior Lighting
Hid headlamp failure on my 2005 toyota prius. It would work sometimes and then go off as i was driving down the road. Took to dealer 3/26/10; they replaced the headlight bulb for $198.09. It worked for about a month then started flickering off again as i drove down the road. I could turn it off completely then back on and it would work for only a few seconds. Took to dealer again today 6/21/10 and they said it needs…
ODI 10339277
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
My 2005 toyota prius has a problem with the headlights going out,it started in december 2009 and as of today they go out about every 5-10 minutes ... I called toyotas customer service and they implied there was no wide spread problem with the headlights on the 2005 prius ... I have an associated press article in front of me that says (the prius is a highly computerized car and has had many problems in the past ...…
ODI 10310110
Catalog parts for this system
Catalog year/make/model rows for 2005 Toyota Prius.
Catalog fitment does not by itself prove OEM-equivalent compatibility.