HID light bulb recomendations?

I bought one of the $30 ones but I haven't installed them so I can't give you any feedback (my passenger side light is only beginning to flicker at 60k miles). They're printed with Phillips XenEco, but I can't be 100% sure they aren't knockoffs.

 

I am fairly sure the Phillips XenEco are D4S and D4R bulbs. They have no mercury in them and are better for the environment, but the output is weaker and they burn up faster. Also I thought the stock GenII Prius setup uses D2R bulbs.

At any rate, steer clear of cheapo ebay bulbs. They run hotter, can have focal misalignment, and generally use inferior salts so they last less. And you can bet any D4R or D4S bulb from these cheap sellers will have mercury in them and are just soldered onto a D4x base negating the entire benefit of D4x.

Buy a Phillips or Osram labeled bulb that is 4100k or 4300k D2R or D4R and you will be set. I am fairly sure our Prius' only take D2R, but I have seen mention from Toyota Techs of replacing the D4R style bulbs on some 2008/2009 models so I am unsure. FYI, D4x is very very new technology. As such, they are still working out kinks and bulb life and quality isnt where it should be yet even from big manufacturers. Toyota actually has discontinued use of the Phillips XenEco and are replacing them with some mystery bulb that's only english identification says "Harrison Japan" and then a bunch of Kanji.

 

Second generation uses D4R's. Since your car is a 2008 I am sure of it as mine is a 2007 and it has D4R's. You should replace them as a pair though, because the other one is going to do the same thing before long. Go to HighPerformanceBulbs.com. The have good deals on them. I got my set of 2 for 49.95 plus shipping. They were on sale, normally 54.95. The person I spoke with was great. They are very helpful and you get a year warranty. They work just fine and I have had no problems with them. Also, they can be installed in under an hour WITHOUT taking the bumper cover off.