04-05 (NOT 06-09) Prius owners w/HIDs - how long did they last?

Since 06-09 Prius owners w/HIDs were included in Toyota Prius HID Headlight Class Action Settlement - Consumer Class Action Attorneys - Girard Gibbs LLP, I'm curious about how long the HIDs in 04-05 Priuses typically lasted?

Model years 06-09 went to Philips D4R, which I later found out are mercury-free, while the D2R bulbs in the 04-05 models are not. Maybe Toyota did this as part of RoHS or something...

My passenger side D4R on my 06 started going out a few months and ~800 miles after the 5 year/50K mile warranty that we got as a result of the class action suit. Skimming some earlier threads, I've heard of some folks past 110K miles on their 04 or 05 HIDs... IIRC, one guy said he had trouble at ~88K miles or so...

If yours burned out "early", did you use them as daytime running lights or cycle them a lot?

I swapped mine out during my projector project. After 134000 miles they were still working fine. I even tried swapping to new bulbs and nothing except color changed which is why I moved on to projectors for more output.

So to answer your question, 134000 miles and they were still working fine. I used them as DRL s alot too.

Hi, guys,

I have an '05 with 111,000 miles & I'm still on the original D2R HID bulbs which I do NOT use as daytime running lights (not a lot of on/off cycles either). Some have speculated that leaving the light switch on (to use as DRL's) causes a high power surge to the bulbs on start-up that may be destructive to the HID bulbs. Yes, the nature of HID bulbs is for the ballast to use high current to fire the arc & then reduce the current to maintain the arc once lit. But that normally happens with just 12 volts applied when you turn on the switch normally. What I'm talking about with the H/L switch left ON is the 14.0 to 14.5 volts that may reach the bulbs as the DC to DC inverter is energized on start-up. But I'm NOT an electrical engineer, so what do I know.

Hey, cwerdna, what does RoHS stand for?

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

Rodents of Hunusual Size? I don't think they exist. : p

RoHS = Restriction of Hazardous Substances? Maybe the restrictions would apply to giant rodents, too.....:bolt:

I changed a bulb recently at about 90,000 km, but other wise the headlights have worked well. Being a Canadian model, the car uses DRL but not HID.

my daughters 04 w/ 85,000 still on originals. hope your not jinxing her.

Yep. RoHS Compliance Guide: FAQ on RoHS Compliance

190k miles and still original

Amazing! I seriously doubt anyone has had D4R bulbs in their 06-09 Priuses last that long.

In the U.S. HIDs only came as a package with foglights. Go turn on you headlights and if they start off with a blue tinge then shift to a whitish light then you have HIDs.

H IDswill lose lumens over time and after 2000 hours could be down on lumens by 75%. So for those with very high mileage and use them as DRLs may want to replace them despite a lack of failure.

i replaced mine around 145k miles. i kept cycling them on knowing i could potentially be wearing out the bulbs and the ballast... shrug...

sometimes i wonder if it's the connections instead of the bulbs... bumps causes my right one to clip off and it's new.

'04 with 80k miles...still have the originals.

A little over 100K now and no headlight problems.

Original HIDs, no problems. 05 w/94k miles.

256k miles, original HID's, no problems at all. And even though one of my foglight lenses acquired a large hole, both fog lights are still working fine.

still original

'04 Purchased Nov '03. 147k/Original HID's.