Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| VISIBILITY | |||
| 10/05/2011 | 1 | ||
| While driving the vehicle, the sun visor on the drivers side flips down, blocking the drivers view. the visor can be returned to the up (out of the way) position. however it repeatedly and spontaneously slips down, both blocking the drivers view and creating a constant distraction for the driver. this is dangerous and a severe driving hazard. *tr | |||
| 02/01/2010 | 62366 | ||
| 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 a new assembly because it had been hit. my husband backed into and scraped the headlight cover in 2006 (five years ago), but it worked perfectly until feb. 2010. interesting that there are multiple complaints of this same problem, with 160 pages of complaints to nhtsa alone. | |||
| 05/11/2010 | 95000 | ||
| I have a 2005 toyota pricus 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 saftey 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 needs to be a recall to investigate the electrical system. | |||
| 01/04/2010 | 96232 | 1 | |
| The 2005 toyota prius that i drive, has a failure of the manufactures hid headlight bulb; the bulb is intermittent and is an expensive flawed system. the toyota dealership in huntington beach quoted me $432 for the bulb and $250 to remove the front bumper to get to the bulb to replace it!!! *tr | |||
| 05/10/2009 | 73500 | 1 | |
| About 3 months ago my headlights on my 2005 prius started to go out then come back on. at first i assumed it was a headlight that needed to be replaced but when i was going to buy the headlights i was told if it was a dead headlight...it would never come back on. my warranty was about to expire. i took it into the dealer in wisconsin and they said they had fixed it. however i could see up against the wall that it was not. i told them i would not leave till they fixed it. they gave me back the car and the headlights worked for a few days then started the on off thing again. problem is you are not sure when it happens...if the road is lit at all it's harder to tell. but i when i had to make a trip out east there were roads with no light so all that was seen was the parking lights. i thought i was going blind. i have heard from others that this has happened to many and i will be joining a class action law-suit. this is life threatening and toyota knows very well about it and all the dealers are just pretending not to. there must be a recall right away!!!! to add insult to injury, now the air conditioning heating is all messed up and my windows fog up and i can't get them to clear. it's a mess! *tr | |||
| 07/01/2008 | 60000 | 1 | |
| 2005 prius headlights leveler causing headlights to lock into one position. this vehicle locked in lower position creating very poor visibility. thinking that if this was to lock in upper position it would be blinding driver in the oncoming vehicle. this should be always on recall if problem persists. *tr | |||
| 01/08/2005 | 12 | 100 | 01/08/2005 |
| The automatic dimming rear-view mirror in my 2005 toyota prius dims randomly. it has supposedly been replaced by the dealer with no noticeable improvement. it responds to blue-tinted (whiter) headlights, but does not dim when a standard yellowish headlight is shining into the mirror. this is extremely dangerous and distracting. *jb | |||
| VISIBILITY - GLASS, SIDE/REAR | |||
| 11/14/2007 | 1 | ||
| Blind spot on passenger front side window in 2005 prius. *tr | |||
| 03/24/2007 | 23000 | 1 | |
| We were driving down a quiet rural road the temperature was 50 degrees, time 11:40pm, weather was clear and dry. there were no tree overhangs. the right front passenger window suddenly shattered in its entirety. my passenger right front was not injured. no foreign object was found within the vehicle, and none was found a day and a half later on the road. marks on the door exterior showed some moving objects, but they indicate multiple objects falling downwards, and may be marks from the glass falling.*ak while this incident could have resulted from a collision with some object, that certainly wasn't our impression at the time of the incident. i wonder whether this incident was caused by an annelaing defect within the glass. | |||
| VISIBILITY - REARVIEW MIRRORS/DEVICES - EXTERIOR | |||
| 08/01/2005 | 1 | 01/28/2005 | |
| 2005 toyota prius has a defective outside rear view mirror.*mr when the consumers husband bumped the driver's side mirror, it fell off. the mirror was connected to the vehicle via a plastic pin that snapped on the arm extending out from the vehicle. the plastic pin snapped which left the mirror hanging down, but still connected to the vehicle via the electrical wires. the consumer believed the pin holding the mirror on the arm was defective and it should not have broken with a mild bump. *jb | |||
| VISIBILITY - REARVIEW MIRRORS/DEVICES - INTERIOR | |||
| 05/15/2007 | 1 | ||
| Accident in raleigh n.c. on us-1. heading north on us-1 and making left across 3-lanes of south bound traffic broadsided another vehicle , causing it to turn over. i was driving a 2005 prius. after much intense thought as to why i did not see the other vehicle after i observed all lanes to be clear i realized that the vehicle that was traveling in the 3rd lane further set from me must have been hidden behind the rear view mirror of the prius. the windshield was very sloped ,and the rear view mirror set low, especially for a tall person such as myself. looking toward the right put the mirror at an even lower level that tended s to hide a portion of the lane. this could be a real tragic problem if not known to the driver that this was a possibility in a similar situation. *ak | |||
| 08/06/2005 | 10106 | 1 | 04/28/2005 |
| Auto-dimming rear view mirror does not dim enough. this left a lot of headlight glare being reflected back to the driver. it resulted in inability of the driver to safely see roadway. the driver slowed and stopped the car, and allowed all traffic to pass. eventually, through experimentation it was found that the light sensor on the front of the rear viewing autodim mirror appears to be defective. if one covers this light sensor with translucent material and/or all together covers the light sensor, then proper autodimming occurs. | |||
| VISIBILITY - WINDSHIELD | |||
| 01/30/2006 | 1 | 08/29/2005 | |
| I would like to request a recall of the 2005, toyota prius. when i am driving at night there is a green streak of light about seven inches across and about an inch high on windshield, directly in my line of vision. it is dangerous because it obscures some of my vision and it is distracting. the green streak of light appears to come from the light that is projected onto the dashboard to show the mph. apparently, the dashboard is not configured properly, and some of that light shines past it onto the windshield. i have contacted both o local toyota dealers about this problem. neither would fix it. both said the green streak of light on the windshield at night was normal for the toyota prius. so i called the main toyota office in torrance, ca, and they said the same thing. also, they stated it was part of the prius design, that was the word they used - design. they further indicated they were aware of the problem, and they there was no solution in place for it. they offered no help or suggested whatsoever for fixing this dangerous problem. the green streak of light partially obstructs the driver's vision at night, making it a safety hazard. *ak | |||
| VISIBILITY/WIPER | |||
| 10/01/2010 | 85000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. the contact stated that the headlights failed and would not illuminate. the contact became aware of the headlight failure when she was pulled over by a police officer. the headlight switch had to be moved to on and off position several times for the headlights to illuminate. one headlight was replaced, however the failure was not corrected. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 85,000 and the current mileage was 103,754 . kmj | |||
| 10/01/2010 | 85000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2005 toyota prius. the contact stated that the headlights failed. the headlights does not illuminate. the contact became aware of the headlight failure when she was pulled over by an officer the headlight switch had to be moved to on and off position several times to for the headlights to illuminate. one headlight was replaced the contact did not remember which headlight was replaced, however the failure was not corrected. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 85,000 and the current mileage was 103,754 .li | |||