Problems · by component

2006 Toyota Prius exterior lighting problems

941 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2006 Toyota Prius cite exterior lighting, 65% of all 1,440 complaints for this model year.

Complaints
941
65% of all complaints
Crashes
5
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
1
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the exterior lighting

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“The right or left headlight will rabdomly turn off, and tyrn back there 8s no ryme or readon to it,and while driving at night it is cery dangerous, aparebtly its not just this car, this is a common issue and it needs to be fixed”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Aug 28, 2024Exterior lightingODI 11611394
“One afternoon, in the Summer of 23, I entered my Toyota Prius to run some errands. Once I proceeded to power on the car, none of the dashboard lights illuminated. This included the gas gauge, speedometer & transmission indicator. Fortunately, I was only driving a few blocks down the road from my residence as I live in a small rural town with little congestion, little traffic and mostly two-lane roads. I can't imagine this occurring in a much larger metropolitan city. When I arrived at my destination, I discovered that my Prius wouldn't shut off. This dashboard malfunction was preventing the Toyota from powering off. I quickly completed my errands with my vehicle running during this entire ordeal. Finally, when I returned home, I frantically researched on YouTube regarding this issue and discovered many others who also were having these no-illuminating-dashboard problems. Some YouTubers offered workarounds but the solutions will be temporary as the problem will eventually worsen until the Prius owners have no working dashboard lights. From the way I understand it, this problem is nothing more than a small computer board that's behind the speedometer and this…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Apr 2, 2024Electrical system, Exterior lighting, EngineODI 11580571
“I was Driving down the main road at night time in my 2006 prius and the headlights both went out and all most caused a crash. I pulled over turned my car off then back on and the headlights came back on so i started driving home. After driving a couple blocks i was pulled over by the police because my drivers side headlight was off. Luckily he let me go with a warning, but i work at night and am losing money daily because of this problem. I sent toyota a email and no answer. There has been many electrical problems with this car and the speedometer still says i am deiving 34 to 35 mph while i am actually only going 30mph. I think that toyota should fully fix the problems in thos car. Its amazing there can be so much wrong with a vehicle and they not have to replace the vehicle with a vehicle that works or fix all the problems and give me a loaner vehicle. I will upload a picture of what the toyota dealership nearest to me wanted just to replace 1 bulb ans the balast wires going to the light for one loght they want $211.34 and that is just for the bulb and wire. For there time they said each bulb and wire would be around $500 worth of repair time to pay for them…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jun 19, 2023Electrical system, Exterior lightingODI 11527647
“Headlights Malfunctioning. Red triangle light has been present since the week after purchase. 2006 Prius was inspected by Toyota and a private technician. Headlights and 2 Relay fuses have been replaced and is still malfunctioning. This is a safety risk having headlights not working properly can cause accidents on dark roads at night. This should not be at owners expense when it is clearly a manufacturing issue. This causes owners to be ticketed as it is deemed to be a road hazard and it can not pass inspection due to faulty headlights.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Apr 2, 2022Exterior lighting, Unknown or otherODI 11459339
“KNOWN PROBLEM WITH COMBINATION METER - FOUND IT SEARCHING ONLINE ONCE I REALIZED THIS WAS THE PROBLEM. I BOUGHT MY CAR USED AND SINCE IT IS NO LONGER COVERED BY TOYOTA, IT DIDN'T COME UP IN SEARCH. HAVING ISSUES WITH THERE BEING NO DISPLAY ON THE DASH AND VEHICLE NOT SHUTTING OFF FOR THE ENTIRE TIME I HAVE HAD THE CAR. IT ONLY HAPPENS INTERMITTENTLY. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE FOR SURE! CAN'T SEE SPEED, GAS, GEARS...ANYTHING ABOUT CAR WHETHER CAR STATIONARY OR MOVING.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 14, 2020Electrical system, Exterior lightingODI 11339333
“HEADLIGHTS CONSTANTLY GO OUT. RESEARCH ONLINE PROVES PRIUS VEHICLES WITH HID BULB SYSTEMS HAVE BALLAST ISSUES CAUSING CONSTANT BLOWING OF EITHER BULBS OR BALLAST FAILURE. NOT ONLY IS SAFETY CONSTANTLY COMPROMISED, BUT IT IS ILLEGAL WHEN A HEADLIGHT GOES OUT DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 6, 2020Electrical system, Exterior lightingODI 11307420

Showing 6 of 941 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 4, 2026NHTSA vehicle page

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.