Headlight problem

[loonyhiker]

I got my headlight bulb replaced yesterday and faxed the repair order and proof of payment to Toyota. It cost about $263 (parts and labor) Now I have to wait and see if they send the promised 50% reimbursement. I'm still not sure it is fixed but we will see...

[windstrings]

I bet toyota gets frustrated too how one dealer only charges less than 300.00, but another wants up to 2K.... seems there is "allot" of confusion on how to handle this or what to charge among dealers.

I'm really surprised Toyota is keeping such a low profile at their own expense.... seems it would be cheaper and much better PR to just release a statement on what to do and what delaers may charge and be done with it.

It appears there are allot of customers being taken advantage of because of the lack of information and knowledge about the subject among dealers.

I'm surprised we haven't seen this in the news yet.

[MoNY]

I guess I'm in the same boat as everyone else. I'm sitting in the Toyota dealership waiting for my second HID headlight replacement on my 2006 Prius (first the passenger side went out, then the drivers side), and it's going to cost a bundle. I'd just keep flicking the lights, but I really don't want a ticket, and I drive 120 miles a day, usually coming home in the dark, so it gets to be a safety issue for me. I DID file a complaint to the NHTSA, and I sent an email to Toyota. I'm hoping they finally issue a recall and reimburse us all. Otherwise, I love my car, but this is ridiculous! The dealership I use for service (not the same as the one where I bought it) claims they know nothing and that they can do nothing for me, but encouraged me to contact Toyota directly.

[windstrings]

Well seriously... it may not be a permanent fix.. but my cheap ebay lights still work great!.... out of 4 of them.. I did have one go bad again, and I just put the old bulb that never acted up yet and all is still well....all the other 3 ebay bulbs still work perfect.

I'm not convinced the Toyota fix is a fix any better.

Only time will tell......

[gmcghee64]

I think I may have found a possible cause for this issue. Since I haven't made 5 posts yet, I can't include a direct link but you can read the solution in the Driver side HID lamp replacement discussion. If someone else with more posts can post the link, I'd appreciate it.

[sonic_prius]

Here's the above referenced link: http://priuschat.com/forums/care-mai...placement.html
That's an interesting theory!

I just got my car back from the dealer, with two new headlights. I reported earlier that I had contacted Toyota, first in October with no success, and again earlier this month. As directed, I took the car (with 66K miles) to the dealer for diagnosis of the headlight problem. Toyota case management had acknowledged the headlight issue with some cars of my model year (2006), and offered to pay a percentage of the repair cost. But at the dealership, the service manager offered to replace both headlights through "dealer goodwill", for a 80/20 split (with me paying 20%), which he said would save me from paying the full cost and waiting for a check from Toyota. I agreed, and he got it cleared with Toyota. He was very familiar with the problem, and insisted it is bad bulbs, and not a controller issue. He said that I should keep all paperwork, because I would get my money back if Toyota did do a recall on this issue. He also warned me that he has had to replace some bulbs more than once, although he thinks the bulbs have gotten better. He said that Toyota has lowered the price on the bulbs. It appears that they figured the price on each bulb as $135. The service invoice also indicates that I was charged 10%, instead of 20%. So, I came away pretty happy, if this is the end of it. Time will tell!

By the way, the manager took us into the service bays to get something out of the car, and it was the cleanest, most orderly shop I have ever seen. This is at Phillips Toyota, in Leesburg, Florida. This is not where I bought the car, but I do regular maintenance and just recently bought new tires there. (Yes, I did get over 66,000 miles out of my original Integrity's!)

[gmcghee64]

If it starts to happen again, I'd suggest measuring the voltage on your battery to see if it's less than 12.8 volts.

[windstrings]

Originally Posted by gmcghee64

If it starts to happen again, I'd suggest measuring the voltage on your battery to see if it's less than 12.8 volts.

When dealing with HID bulbs, these do not run off of simple 12 volts... and besides, that would only be worth considering while in accessory mode.

When the car is running "not in acc mode" the Main inverter pulls from the 201V main traction battery to supply up to 1400 watts at 12 Volts for all the accessories... I "think" the lights are included in this.
So if the 12V supply was "low" it would be a serious fault of the inverter and thats not likely... you can go into your screen and view "secret screens" to show your voltage as discussed elsewhere on the forum.
If I remember right.. the voltage is usually up around 14.4.. .but I"m going just be memory on this.. forgive me for not doing my homework first.

At any rate.
The ballast takes the 12 Volts and boost it to somewhere around 20000 volts to fire the bulb and then drops it to around 70Volts just to maintain the burn and keep the bulb lit.

Replacing the bulb would not be a successful fix at all for a low voltage problem.
I would also think a low voltage problem would finally take out the ballast causing complete failure until replaced.

[Pri(ap)us]

Can some kind soul explain to me what 'ballast' means here?
I don't think we're talking boats, are we?

TIA

[windstrings]

Originally Posted by Pri(ap)us

Can some kind soul explain to me what 'ballast' means here?
I don't think we're talking boats, are we?

TIA

They are used in high voltage lamps... they create the voltage needed and keep it stabilized... the word "ballast" comes from the term to stabilize, except they are talking about electricity.