The $400 Headlight

[Skarka]

One of my headlights is pink when I turn it on and after awhile it just dies. Toyota says the bulb alone is $392.24. But, it may be the "computer". $446.14. For the "computer"....the thing that tells the bulb ON...OFF.

Between this and the $700 MFD replacement, I'll be answering "NO" to that Toyota question. I just saw some research on Prius sales from a marketing friend. Sales are dropping. Could just be market saturation, but it's a steep drop.

[brick]

Are we talking about HIDs? If I were you I would be searching the net for info on HID light failure modes. There has to be something out there explaining your symptom.

[cbs4]

No need to even venture out onto the 'net, as there are plenty of reported HID failures to peruse right here on PriusChat.

But no definitive answers as to the cause.

Should consumers be expected to know the cause of why parts aren't made to last a reasonable amount of time?

That's why consumers buy products, rather than build them themselves... on the assumption that the money they trade is rewarded with usable value. A car without headlights is unusable. It has zero value on some roads (per the law) and at night, no matter how green and no matter how good of gas mileage it gets.

So don't get HIDs? Well, to get other safety enhancements with the Prius, like VSC, or personal preference options, like leather, the HID lights come as a required part of the package. HID's are non optional on Pri with certain pkgs. (but pkg groupings may have changed for 07 or 08, I don't know).

The point is that consumers can't just opt for halogens instead of HIDs if they want other features.

Nor can consumers retrofit halogens instead of HIDs because the wiring for halogens is entirely different to carry the higher current, and this wiring is integrated into the entire vehicle harness.

And do other HID equipped cars have this same unreliablity? I have not heard of such, but I haven't owned another car with HIDs either.

[cwerdna]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Skarka @ Jul 14 2007, 05:52 PM) [snapback]478851[/snapback]</div>

I just saw some research on Prius sales from a marketing friend. Sales are dropping. Could just be market saturation, but it's a steep drop.
[/b]

My 04 350Z has HIDs and are still fine (got the car on Labor Day weekend of 03). I used to have an 02 Nissan Maxima w/HIDs and they held up. At the time, I didn't know of any failures, so it seemed like they were of good quality. The 02 model year was the 1st year they were standard, so I'd be curious how they're holding up.

As for costs, a pair of HIDs for the above Maxima are $1356! (http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchan...e=2002HID-PAIR) 02-03 Maxes were common targets of HID theft in NY, NJ and a few other states.

As for Prius sales dropping, that sounds like BS to me. Per http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2...03/054039.html, they're up 93.7% YTD compared to the same point last year. For June 07, they were up 76.3% compared to June 06. For all of 06, they were down a tad (0.5%) compared to 05 per http://pressroom.toyota.com/Releases/View?...YT2007010356633.

[galaxee]

you're getting ripped on the bulb, unless they're including an hour of labor in that quote.

and if they're replacing the bulb, they shouldn't be double charging you for labor to remove the bumper to replace the computer too. (not sure of the charge for a computer, actually.) not that an experienced tech who knows what he's doing needs to actually remove the bumper- there's a good trick to it.

the computer actually steps up the voltage to a high enough level to ignite the HID bulb, which works on the order of several thousand volts. it's far more than an on-off switch. the HID system is overall pretty expensive and in some ways, as you're seeing, more sensitive as well.

$700 for an MFD... hmm... remanufactured one costs about $500, so you got price gouged or labor gouged.

[voscott]

I have a 2007 Prius I purchased in October of 2006 and recently have had the same problem with the lower HID headlight. Many people were commenting that they noticed that one of my headlights was out. I thought I had lost my mind as everytime I checked it was fine with or without the highbeams on.

Last week when I picked up my son from school he told me the light was out and I immediately hopped out of the car and sure enough it was out. It seems to be an intermittent problem in my car.

Being the DIY (do it yourselfer) that I am I rushed right over to the Kragen to pick up the new HID headlight bulb for $24 and then proceeded to go out to my car out front and lift the hood only to find that the lower headlight is completely inaccessible to the DIY.

I then drove two blocks to the Toyota Dealer and spoke to the service guy who told me this was a $500 job and the bulb alone was $305. I was shocked to say the least that I had just purchased the same bulb for $24 and that Toyota in all their infinite wisdom had made such a simple function of replacing a headlight impossible for the tons of environmentally concious and active buyers/owners of Prii.

The nice service rep told me that he had seen the same problem before and wondered why Toyota hadn't stepped up to the plate and done a recall for this problem.

Luckily, the service rep told me that my car was still under warranty and I have an appointment this week to to have the problem diagnosed and hopefully resolved.

Not to mention, I believe Toyota should subsidize the Headlight Replacement since their design flaw requires that you remove the entire headlamp/lens assembly and the bumper as well to replace a simple lightbulb. $500 to replace a headlamp is preposterous for a vehicle of this category.

I do intend to forward this concern along to Toyota as well for what it is worth.

[TheAnnoyingOne]

Could you post a picture of the $24 HID bulb?

[galaxee]

you don't have to remove the headlight assy and bumper to replace an HID... and where on earth did you get a $24 HID bulb?!

~$300 is right for an oem HID.

at any rate, there seems to be an issue with the HID controller here that people are reporting. DH left the biz before he saw one in person but apparently there have been enough reported now that toyota has a standard procedure called "replace it all and hope that fixes it"

[KTPhil]

There are many bogus so-called "HID" lamps being sold by unscrupulous suppliers and retailers. You probably got a "xenon" or other halogen variant, perhaps tinted blue to (sorta) LOOK like HID, but they are NOT actually HID bulbs.

[priusenvy]

You can get cheap, Chinese-made replacement HID lamps on Ebay for a little over $30 per bulb, shipped. You can get entire HID conversion kits (ballasts, bulb, wiring) for under $100. The quality may be questionable, but they do exist.