A federal court has preliminarily approved a class action lawsuit settlement with Toyota for failing to tell its customers about a problem with the HID headlights on 2006-2009 Toyota Prius vehicles.

We first told you about the Prius HID headlight class action lawsuit in August, when a federal judge denied Toyota’s motion to dismiss the case.

According to the class action lawsuit, Toyota failed to warn customers that the HID headlights on 2006 through 2009 Priuses can sporadically turn on and off while the car is being driven, creating a safety hazard. As of December 2009, when the lawsuit was filed, more than 1,000 consumer complaints had been logged with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, yet Toyota continued to not acknowledge the headlight failures, says the lawsuit. The class action suit also alleges that after dealerships learned about the problem, they either did nothing to remedy it or chose to replace the defective headlight systems with “equally defective parts” that cost consumers up to $1,800.

The Prius headlight class action lawsuit settlement covers anyone who purchased or leased a 2006 through 2009 model year Toyota Prius originally factory-equipped with genuine high intensity discharge (“HID”) headlights and resides in the United States.

The Toyota Prius HID headlight settlement will provide a warranty extension beginning February 9, 2011 to cover repairs and replacements of HID bulbs and HID electronic control units (ECUs). This means class members can take their 2006-2009 Prius to any Toyota dealership for free repairs under warranty for those parts until 5 years or 50,000 miles past the car’s original purchase or lease date. Some exceptions may be made under limited circumstances if the vehicle is already beyond 5 years or 50,000 miles.

The Prius class action settlement will also provide cash reimbursements to class members who spent money on an HID bulb or HID ECU repair. Class members are urged to save their repair receipts and related documents, which will be required for submitting a claim for cash reimbursements. If you no longer have these documents, you should contact your mechanic to see if you can obtain copies. The deadline for submitting a claim form is May 20, 2011.

Instructions on how to submit a claim for reimbursement will be listed in the Settlement Notice, which will be mailed to class members and posted online at www.girardgibbs.com/Prius.asp by mid-February.

We will keep you updated when the Toyota Prius HID Headlight Class Action Settlement Notice and more details on how to file a claim become available. 

UPDATE: The Settlement Administrator’s website is up! Click here to learn how to submit a valid claim form to receive an extended warranty or a cash reimbursement from the Prius Settlement.