Does '08 Prius require HID headlights? Dealer wanted $160 part/$21 install

If your car has fog lights, it would also have HID headlights. The parts can be gotten more cheaply (a little less than $100 for the pair on Amazon), but there is no way anyone could match that price for the labor (unless that is a typo). Both bulbs tend to wear out at the same time, so they should be done together. Is that price for one bulb only?

 

What model Prius do you have, not all come with HID.

Assuming you have HID then $110 at Camelback seems fair for OEM, maybe the dealer will price match? : Hid Bulb - Toyota (90981-20029)

There are also after market options for these D4R bulbs that cost around 1/10 of the Camelback price, depending how long you want to wait shipping (now quality could be another story, maybe someone here can comment on such?) : 90981-20029 | eBay

 

Which side? I found the driver side the most difficult to change, but I'm pretty sure anyone on here would recommend doing both at the same time. I guess if they are planning to charge you $160 for each bulb and then 2 X $21 = $42 for labor, for a total of $362, I could believe they would do it for that price. If you have the time and energy and only very few tools, you could save yourself almost $300.

 

Bulb could be fine, might be the Ballast : Toyota Prius: How to Replace the HID Ballast/Computer/ECU - PriusDIY.com

 

>> Bulb could be fine, might be the Ballast.

Right, if you decide to do the headlight job yourself, the first step would be to switch passenger and driver side bulbs, to make sure it is the bulb that has burned out and not the ballast. If it is the bulb, you might as well change them both. The bulbs I got from Amazon (

) cost $91.53 for the pair with shipping and they are OEM.

 

>> I know this has to be too good to be true, right?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00BAZCFOS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494439649&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=HID+headlight+OEM+toyota+prius+2008&dpPl=1&dpID=51gXITEk-DL&ref=plSrch

I guess if you have no problem getting the old bulbs out, it might be worth trying a cheaper alternative than the ones I decided to go for. I was prepared to spend a couple of hours on the job, knowing other people had had difficulty getting the bulbs out, I didn't want to have to do it again any time soon, so for that reason I wasn't willing to take a chance on cheaper bulbs.

>> Driver side. I didn't have a problem getting my hand in there

Getting my hand in behind the headlight assembly on the driver side was not a problem for me either. Turning the plastic cover enough to get it off was.

 

>> I just went ahead and let Toyota do it this time. It's my sons car. Service guy said the fog light as easy to replace so I will get one from autozone and do that. I will be better prepared for the next headlight. I got impatient having been here waiting on the drive belt replacement today.

Just as well to have the dealer do it, I guess. From what I've seen in the forums, the fog light change was always a job that needed to be done by the dealer, anyway (I'm not sure why). If you were able to easily turn the plastic cover on the headlight, I would guess that this might have been done a few times before, which might mean that the ballast is really the component that needs to be changed. I struggled to turn the plastic cover for both my headlights, which made me think the job had never been done since the car was new. It's been a couple of months with no issues, so I'm hoping it won't need to be done again for another 10 years.

 

Order it from Home Depot online for $51 dollars each. Guaranteed it will be an authentic Philips bulb, not some Chinese knockoff that you'll probably get from amazon. I ordered my D4R's and got them in 3 days. Installed myself in about 30 minutes.

Search for 42406C1 and it will show up or just search for HID bulbs.

 

HID light problems are the biggest known issue on 2nd gen Prii.