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My HID bulb replacement on my 06 prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by windstrings, May 26, 2008.

  1. stan

    stan New Member

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    I had the same problem with my '06 and took a different tactic. I wrote a (polite) letter to Toyota pointing out the large number of failures points to a defect in the part. I also noted that I had contacted the Consumer Safety Commission. They did not admit directly to this, but did admit indirectly that it was a supply problem and had my dealer replace both bulbs gratis as a "good will" gesture.
     
  2. cgates30

    cgates30 Junior Member

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    I think this is why they replaced mine in Jan '08. I came in with a print out of NHSTA consumer complaints showing it was a fairly common problem. The second time around the dealer wasn't as eager to get help for me. Now the car has close to 60K miles, is well beyond the warranty period, and I doubt they really care anymore as dealerships are hurting from a slowdown in new car sales.
     
  3. ualdriver

    ualdriver Member

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    How do you get that list of NHSTA complaints concerning HID bulbs in the Prius?

    Thanks,
    ualdriver
     
  4. windstrings

    windstrings Certified Prius Breeder

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    That should be even more incentive to keep good customer relations and avoid bad press from some little bulb thats so cheap but cost the customer so much.

    For what its worth, Isn't Sylvania the OEM make of the bulb?

    I spent about 350.00 on Florescent bulbs for my house "to replace incandescant".... these bulbs are supposed to last for 7 years as even stated on the product

    .... Its been about one year, I've already replaced about 9 of the 16 sylvania bathroom bulbs I purchased. True, its the round globe type that go bad "that go over the mirror" I suppose there may be allot of heat trapped inside the globe, but nevertheless I've gotten to where I just keep a double pack and staple the receipt to the package and when I have bulbs go bad, I put them in the old package.. when I get two, I march down to Home depot for a refund/exchange and I buy another brand.
    Funny, Home Depot doesn't carry Sylvania any more in flourescants!

    Point is.. I suspect Sylvanias QA is out the window and they may be still living off thier name charging big prices for products that may in fact be better from china that cost 1/10th the price.... or even 1/20th now that hidhideout.com has been discovered.

    Seems all that has to happen is for a good company to sell to an unscruplulous money grabber who has no principles and there you have it!.... QA goes out the window "that cost money you know!" and they milk the name till its dead... I see it over and over again.
     
  5. cgates30

    cgates30 Junior Member

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    The bulbs I removed said Philips, made in Germany.
     
  6. cgates30

    cgates30 Junior Member

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    Go to ODI - Office of Defects Investigation
    Check the box for vehicle search and walk through the forms until you get to components. Select "Exterior Lighting: Headlights" and you'll see many complaints about HID failures.
     
  7. windstrings

    windstrings Certified Prius Breeder

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    Now that brings up an excellent point..... How many different manufacturers are we dealing with concerning HID bulbs starting from 2003 forward?

    Maybe we should start a poll asking what brands are involved in the failures.
    I'll have to go home and check, but I thought my was sylvania.
     
  8. magruder

    magruder Average Member

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    Someone posted a big long list on here somewhere. If you search, you should be able to find it.
     
  9. windstrings

    windstrings Certified Prius Breeder

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    I stand corrected Cgates... I went and look at my one remaining "good" OEM bulb and its like yours "Phillips Germany".
    Apparently thats the brand thats the culprit... that does make me wonder if there are other brands that are giving abnormal rates of failures.
     
  10. cgates30

    cgates30 Junior Member

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    Well, last night I noticed that the suspect buld/lamp which I had moved to the other side of the car is indeed bad. The bulb was bad on the passenger and now the same bulb is bad on the drivers side of the car.

    So, I'm faced with the choice of where the buy the replacement(s). There are the Toyota bulbs ($325 each, known to be of poor quality), ebay seller stillenmaxima98 (pair for $80 including shipping), or ebay seller xhidoutlet (pair for $30 including shipping). The xhidoutlet set appears to be a one size fits all bulb, so I'm not too sure about buying that one. I'll probably order the $80 set, I wish I knew more about them. According to the Sylvania Osram application guide the '06 Prius uses a D4R lamp.

    I also found some other sellers on eBay for D4R lamps. $60 with free shipping seems to be a common price point, generic branding.
     
  11. lytthans

    lytthans Junior Member

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    HID Replacement

    My dealer replaced both of my HID bulbs under warranty about seven weeks ago. So far both are working fine. I have 32K on the car, so if they are going to act up again, they better do it soon.
     
  12. lytthans

    lytthans Junior Member

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    I just ordered a pair of replacement HID bulbs for $50 total on eBay. I hope the quality is OK, but that's not a lot of $$ to put out. The dealer wanted $60, but I made an offer, which he jumped at. I maybe could have gone lower, but?......
     
  13. cgates30

    cgates30 Junior Member

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    Which seller did you buy from?
     
  14. windstrings

    windstrings Certified Prius Breeder

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    I know Stillenmaxima98 will take 69.00 for sure for 2... he bounces his prices back and forth so something is always on sale.
    I wrote him once and ask him how was I supposed to tell other people what his price was if he was moving it all around... he replied and told me to tell them to simply make a bid for 69.00 and he would accept.

    As for lower..... who knows?

    I expect the others on ebay are just as good.... just make sure they are advertised as D4R's. And make sure they have an impeccable feedback rating.. you shouldn't go wrong.
    pick the 4300K if you want as close to stock color as you can get.... I prefer that.... if you go lower, you start getting into green and even yellow if lower than that, and if you go higher, you start getting blue and into purple.
    But 4300K is the closest to a sun blinding white color.
    Go Blue, if you want twinkle little star! LOL!
     
  15. cgates30

    cgates30 Junior Member

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    Thanks for the advice on making the offer. I'll try that tonight.

    Does anyone know if turning the lights on/off frequently causes their life to shorten? I tended to drive the car with the lights on all the time (during the day, for example). Most of the trips would be 10-15 minutes, so I'm wondering if that could cause the bulbs to have a short life. Since the inverter supplies a high voltage for the first few seconds, the more times you go through that I would think it could cause the bulb life to be short.
     
  16. magruder

    magruder Average Member

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    I don't know much about HIDs, but I don't think the xhidoutlet bulbs are one size fits all. I can see why someone would think that, as their ad is confusing. I told them I need D2Rs and 4.3k, and that is what I got. I would contact them first if you need D24s, as I didn't see that in their listing. They claim to be able to fit almost any vehicle though. Anyhow, most suppliers seem to be a better choice than Toyota for HIDs now.

    Regards,
    Dave
     
  17. cgates30

    cgates30 Junior Member

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    It sounds like you bought the $30 bulbs. Are you satisfied with them? Thx
     
  18. windstrings

    windstrings Certified Prius Breeder

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    cgates, Its just the nature of any bulb that would have such a hot fireup temp.
    Its not as big enough an issue to go out of your way to not turn them on when you need.... its just big enough that you shouldn't turn them on and off when you don't need.

    Running a short period I don't think is the issue,
    Its a matter of once the lights are up to full brightness "and heat" turning them off and quickly turning them back on exposes them to much more intense heat than they would normally have to endure since the the initial fireup sends a very high voltage blast to the bulb to get things started... if the bulb is already hot from just being on when that happens, its really tough on the bulb.

    At least give it a few seconds "10 - 15".... enough for a cool down if your really worried.

    Keep in mind if your having these symptoms and your driving down the road and one light goes out, I would definitely opt to quickly turn them off and back on to get them fired again verses pulling off the road and then back on.
    And you obviously don't have the luxury of leaving your lights off for any time at all while driving.

    I don't think its critical enough enough to lose sleep over or take risk to save a few hours on the bulb.
     
  19. magruder

    magruder Average Member

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    I am still very happy with the $30 bulbs, so far.
     
  20. windstrings

    windstrings Certified Prius Breeder

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    Yea... for 30 bucks, the worst that go happen is they go bad.