The combination meter on my 2006 Prius has an intermittent electrical short. This results in the dashboard lights going out while the car is moving. This problem with the electrical system on the Prius can result in the brakes on the car failing. In addition the car often continues to stay on after we turn it off. This is also a safety hazard. Toyota has refused our request to replace the defective combination meter, even though this is a widespread problem.

- Arlington, VA, USA

While driving, the instrument panel combination meter that displays the vehicle speed and other information went blank. After pulling over car, I tried to turn it off using the power button but it would not turn off. After a few tries, I held down power button for 5 seconds and it finally did go to accessory mode, but did not turn off altogether. It took several presses of the button to finally get the car to shut off. I talked to my local Toyota service center who told me that this is a known issue and Toyota extended the warranty for the combination meter to 9 years (T-sb-0172-09). Unfortunately, I was 4 months past the 9 year mark, so it would cost me $1500 to replace the part. I have since talked to two other people I know who have the same model Prius and they have had the same issue in the past year, one of which was replaced under warranty as he had the problem before the 9 year mark. The other was in the same situation as me as it happened after the 9 year mark. An online search shows that this is becoming a very common issue and happening to many just after the 9 year warranty expires, resulting in a lot of upset owners. I did check my files and see that a warranty enhancement notice was sent to me a couple of years ago that states that this issue has been reported by a limited number of owners and that if it does has happened to my car, I did not need to take action at this time. In hindsight, I should not have followed the instructions and instead took my car in and insisted on a warranty repair. I believe that this is a serious safety issue that should be handled as a recall rather than with a warranty enhancement with a limited warranty period. The car has less than 34000 miles on it.

- Honolulu, HI, USA

Hid lights fail while driving, at night it is very dangerous and can cause an accident. Where do I go to get them repaired / replaced without paying for the manufactures defective equipment ? I live in san jose, ca. 95111

- San Jose, CA, USA

Dash board disabled.caint see totally black.

- Hon, HI, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the combination meter failed and the instrument panel became inoperable. The failure occurred once. After several attempts, the vehicle shut down. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.

- Vista, CA, USA

The combo meter on my car went dark this morning. I called Toyota and was told that my warranty expired 2 months ago. This is not safe because there is no indication on what the vehicle is doing. Also this feature causes the car to not shut off.

- Westminster, CA, USA

One of the headlights worked sporadically. It happened the same day I purchased the car used from a Toyota dealership, but I didn't notice it right away because it was daytime. The next day I went to the service department and they said I needed to replace the hid bulb which costs $300!!!!! after complaining to the dealership they replaced it at no charge, but I am concerned that this might be a recurring problem. I don't know if they replaced any associated parts or not, since the invoice they gave me just listed "engine elecrical concern" without an itemized list.

- Des Moines, WA, USA

On the morning of may,04,2015 upon entering the car and starting it up the instrument panel fails to display. Not certain what the issue was I performed various check including the the accessory battery and attempted multiple times starting and stopping the car to no avail. I left the car where it was and a few hours later when I returned everything worked fine for a few more weeks then the issue occurred again. However, I have noticed that the issue is occurring now more frequently including when driving (stopped then go). Furthermore, whenever this issue occurs it becomes almost impossible to power the engine off and since their is no cluster display to let you know vital safety information, including speed, gas, mileage, gear (D-R-N) this creates an unsafe and hazardous condition for operators of this vehicle. Toyota motor Corp. Is very much aware of this hazard which results from a manufacture defective combination meter.

- Piscataway, NJ, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Prius. While driving approximately 55 mph, the instrument panel seized without warning. The vehicle resumed normal operation the next morning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 147,000.

- Woodland Park, CO, USA

I was driving my husband to work when I noticed the instrument panel was completely dark. Tried turning the car off and then on again with no effect -- panel was still dark. It's particularly worrisome that I had no speedometer to tell how fast I was going, nor would any of the other indicator lights come on. When I tried to turn the car off a second time, it wouldn't power down, and I couldn't extract the key. I couldn't even lock the car so I could leave it there to seek aid. In doing research, I found that this is a known fault with the combination meter and Toyota knows this is a problem and issued a warranty extension. However, their warranty only covered cars currently experiencing the problem when the letter went out and during a specified date range, irregardless of mileage. They would not have replaced the part during the warranty extension because I had not yet experienced the problem, and now they refuse to replace the defective part because my experience happened 4 months after their arbitrary cut-off date. A faulty part is a faulty part and should be replaced when they know it's a problem. This is a serious safety issue that should not have a time limit. The car is not safe to drive if you don't know how fast you are driving, how much gas you have, etc. And you can't shut it down or lock it either....updated 08/25/15 updated 12/3/2015

- Eugene, OR, USA

My headlights keep going off while driving. I have to turn them off then on again to get them to work. Sometimes one, sometimes both, not always at the same moment. You know about this! NHTSA: I am going to hold you responsible if I am injured!! issue a recall now!! NHTSA action number : PE09019

- Camarillo, CA, USA

Parked car at night in Colorado in February, 2015. Outside temperature was approx 25 degrees farenheit. We ate dinner at a restaurant, came out and started the 2006 Prius. Instrument cluster panel showeing the fuel gauge, odometer, shift position and speedometer failed to come on. Turned car off and on numerous times - no instrument cluster panel lights. The following morning, the instrument cluster panel worked fine. This has happened occasionally since the first incident in February. This is a safety concern; one is unable to tell which gear the vehicle is in, the speed of the vehicle, or how much fuel the vehicle has. After contacting Toyota, they told me the extended warranty had expired in December 2014. As a safety defect, Toyota should still be covering a known problem.

- Flagstaff, AZ, USA

The right headlight turned off while the vehicle was in use and now the fog lights aren't working. Sometimes it would turn on and sometimes it wouldn't work at all. You just don't know when it will happen.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

Combination meter failed leaving the vehicle without instrument cluster information. There is a manufacturer warranty extension which does not cover vehicles on the road over 9 years. This represents a hazard to the public which has a documented solution and replacement components.

- Willow Street, PA, USA

My 2006 Toyota Prius headlight goes off when driving. It flickers first and then goes off. Sometimes one light goes off and sometimes both of them. When I turn the light off and turn it back on headlights work again. But after a while they turn off again. They stay on steady after I drive for more than an hour in long trips and after turning it off and then on again several times.

- Putnam, CT, USA

I purchased a new 12V battery at about 30K miles. At about 59K miles the 12V was discharging at random times. At first I thought it was because I was leaving lights on, but it began happening more frequently. I did some research and learned that when the key is in smart mode and it is within 10 feet of the car it can discharge the 12V. I turned off the smart key but the 12V discharged again a few more times until I could no longer get a charge when I jumped it. I had it towed to a local mechanic who installed a new 12V and 2 fuses ($500!!), but there were 4 or 5 warning lights that couldn't be reset so I drove it to the Toyota dealer. For some reason the Toyota service rep asked if I had all the recalls serviced. I was told I could not drive the car because it needed a new electronic converter unit ($5800!!!) and there was a real danger the car would die while I was driving. However, the mileage is only 62000! I called another shop that is hybrid certified and their expert said he sees the ECU going at 100,000 but not at low miles. All hybrid owners are aware of the potential risk of needing to replace the hybrid battery toward the end of the life of the vehicle, but that is nothing compared to the major expense and potential danger of the ECU failing. Why was I not told about this" I wonder why Toyota's first question was to ask if I had all the service recalls, is there a recall coming on the ECU"

- Charlottesville, VA, USA

On July 20,2014, I noticed my passenger side headlight is out. I started the car and put the light on, it came on fine.. while driving on high way at night all the sudden the light went out again passenger side. I pulled it on the side and inspect driver side light was working fine but the passenger side was out. I turn the light off and on again it came back on. At this time I am scratching my head that what is going on. I take my car to the mechanic he tells me the bulb is fuse. It cost me $300. To change the bulb. After few days after the bulb goes out again. I take it back to the mechanic he checks every thing is fine, tell me the bulb went out again. Scratching my head again "bulb went out again after few weeks" I went to amazon and bought another bulb.. and it went out again. I was pulled over September 20, 2014 buy cops to fix my headlight. Headlight are still going out and I have to keep buying the headlight bulb.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

My wife and I purchased a used 2006 Toyota Prius. After about 6 months one headlight would go out. We could cycle the switch and the headlight would work again. After replacing the bulb with a original bulb. Both headlight have gone out. I took the vehicle to our local Toyota dealership. They quoted a repair of $3800. I began looking for a lees expensive shop to do the repairs, when the owner of a shop[ informed me that Toyota had settled a class action lawsuit concerning the hid ( high intensity display) units. That settlement has now passed the date to submit a claim. All claims had to be submitted by May 30th 2011. We had not purchased our vehicle at that time. Why has there not been a recall done on these vehicles" obviously Toyota is aware that there is a problem with in the system or they would not of settled the class action suit. We now have a vehicle that we paid $15000 for that can not be driven at night or when it is raining out, because the faulty headlight installed by the manufacture. How can the government allow a major vehicle manufacture to allow these cars to stay on the road, and risk serious injury"

- Rock Hil, SC, USA

On 05/22/2009, my husband and his [xxx] had a car accident. My husband's car was hit from behind when he was driving a Toyota Prius with his friend sitting in the front passage seat. The backs of the chairs of the driver seat and front passage seat were move and broken.the seat back shaft damage failure. My husband and his friend both got hurt, and my husband was hospitalized for 6 days. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Stafford, TX, USA

This complaint has not been qc'd. the contact submitted an email and requested that the official IVOQ be written verbatim to the email. Kmj I have multiple situations with my Toyota Prius 2006 in the beginning of May 2014 I a loud beeping noise filled the car. The system had multiple lights displaying showing including the emergency brake light ( while I was driving), ABS, vsc, a red triangle with an exclamation point in the middle, etc. As, this was happening car immediately started slowing down and I was forced to pull it to the side of the street. This same thing happened to me three other times while I was on the freeway. One time I was driving home from work and my car again started decelerating while I had multiple cars around me on the freeway. All of the lights were displaying, I put my hazards on and was forced to move to the side of the road while I was almost hit by the car behind me because my car was rapidly slowing down. I took the car to the dealership service center and they didn't know what the problem was. They did a diagnostic test, multiple test drives, but at that time they didn't know. So they told me to drive the car home and come back if it happens again. Within the week I was exiting off of the freeway with my children when I start hearing the loud beeping noise, all the lamp lights came on, and as I am waiting in line to exit the freeway onto a busy street the car stops. I panicked, put on the hazards, the car wouldn't allow me to shift it into drive it had moved to neutral on its own. I turned off the car, turned it back on and was slowly able to move the car. This time I took pictures of the lamp display to show the service members as well. My children, myself, and other drivers could have been seriously hurt! the Toyota service center told us we have a bad computer, the problem is with the ECU, and the car went into a fail safe mode.

- San Jose , CA, USA