One of our two year-old Prius’s headlamps has been going on & off (It comes on when the car has been started but then goes off after a while) and a visit to the dealership brought the news that the replacement bulb costs - are you ready? - $353.00! I would not have bought the car in the first place if I had known this ahead of time. Has anyone else had this experience?
Thats not surprising at all, I believe you have the HID lights. Do a search on the internet you may be able to find the bulbs way cheaper. I had a SAAB with HID lights, the dealer wanted close to that price for the bulb, so I went online got the bulb for around &100 including shipping!
Now you know reason #2 why those fancy HID lamps are quickly loosing favor.
The symptoms point to the ballast module, not the bulb. To test my hypothesis, switch the ballasts froom side to side and see if the OTHER bulb starts to blink.
I have the same problem with my Prius. How does one check the ballast module? Thanks.
I am having the same problem. One dealer wants to charge me a diagnostic fee first. The other dealer says I just need to bring it in and make it go out in front of the mechanic. I like the idea of the ballast module suggested by a user here.
If I can buy the bulb for $ 100, is it easy to replace the bulb. I am good with my hands as a plastic surgeon but not of cars. Do I need any special tools to change the bulb. I can follow directions.
How do I switch ballasts side to side. Please give me step by step directions. I can follow directions and I am good with my hands. I am a plastic surgeon although not of cars.
I have a 2006 Toyota Prius with the same problems identified by many others. The lamps go on and off and I ended up replacing one headlamp at an exorbitant price I think. It cost me $239.53 plus labor etc.
Within a fortnight, the other lamp began misbehaving. In fact I saw it dim when I drove off from the dealer’s service area, but I was not sure. It came on the next day and has been on again, off again. Today the lamp is completely “Kaput”. I called Toyota Headquarters in Torrance and complained. Remains to be seen if the Hybrid customer service intends to do anything. I simply cannot believe that lamps on a Toyota could put you out for $550.00 and upwards!
I am not sure what the problem is with the lamps.
I’m in the same boat as many others who’ve posted here. Own a 2006 Prius which is now starting on its THIRD set of headlamps. The dealership just replaced the driver’s side lamp for the second time to the tune of $300…and that was only for the one lamp. The last time something similar happened was about a year ago (luckily when the car was still covered under warranty) when both headlamps started with the “sometimes we work, and sometimes we don’t”. What’s kind of scary is that the car only has 40,000 miles on it!
Same here in Albuquerque. This is a defective component and IMHO should be covered by the manufacturer! It’s a safety issue! Obviously, it’s not the lamp that burns out but a poorly-designed ballast. We have had two headlamps replaced on our 2006 - one under warranty, the other as a “courtesy” repair (albeit begrudgingly by the dealer). Related cost is not so much the actual value of the lamp itself, but the labor required to take a portion of the front end apart and reassemble it. Gone are the days of replacing your own 12.99 headlamp by unscrewing a retaining ring! Please Google “Prius Headlamp Failures” for the NY Times article dated Sep 24, 2009.