Headlight problem

I don't know what it takes to form a class action lawsuit, but it appears Toyota is not going to freely admit the inferior product that cost us so much.

Even if Toyota didn't manufacture the product, the money trail would follow those who did in the lawsuit..... The actual manufacturers of the bulb itself.

Seems the manufacturer of the bulb has released a boo boo and are still mopping up the profits when folks have to replace thier "boo boo" bulbs to get original OEM parts... I assume thats what Toyota has to do also if they buck up to replace them.

I wonder if the cheap china bulbs are a actually better????... My 4 still work?

How can we stop this racket?... Seems Toyota's hands are tied if they have to replace with OEM bulbs.... Seems the OEM manufacturer are the culprits at fault and the chain of blame should go through Toyota to get to them.

 

I don't have time to research it fully but I feel that a part of the OSRAM/Sylvania pricetag is coming from the lesser environmental impact of their bulbs. Mind you I am not defending in any way the $600-$1000 pricetag for a headlight...that's absurd...jfo
OSRAM SYLVANIA - Mercury Free HID

 

That may be right! LOL!..... Funny how we don't mind buying oil on the other side of the world and the expense of shipping it back and forth when we have our own in our backyard and we need the money for our economy instead of spending it.... Sometimes that environmental stuff doesn't make sense.

Like straining at a knat and swallowing a camel.... anyway... I"ll keep that in mind next time I decide to eat one of my bulbs! :>

 

I received my Headlamps from XEquipped Corp today. I Purchased a set Via ebay for $100 total. Using instructions found here I installed them in less than an hour and I was being slow and careful. My car is going on 125K and the lamps had been winking out now and again since it hit 100K. Recently one of them went out completely forcing me to do something about it. After reading some of the horror stories here I was happy to ignore the situation as long as I could hehe.
The new lamps so far work great! with only $100 and an hour of my time The problem appears to be resolved. I am very relieved.
Thank you all for sharing your experiences it really helped.
Regards,
Patrick

 

Well, I took my car into the dealer yesterday morning to get them fixed. Of course, on that day the lights decided not to go out at all. The technician checked them out and said he just couldn't get them to go out again (not sure how he was trying to do that). The technician and repair rep asked what I wanted to do. I told them, "replace them both". They did to the tune of about $900.00. That's the bad news.

Now the good news.... I had contacted Toyota Customer Service beforehand about the problem. I have a 2007 Prius with 70K miles (I commute long distance to work each day). I was really worried if they would provide any assistance at all. When I explained the problem to the case worker, she didn't hesitate at all. She stated I would need to pay up front, but they would cut me a check and mail me a reimbursement ASAP. She even called the afternoon of the appointment and followed up. She reinforced what I should send them, which I faxed this morning, and everything should be good.

That's why I buy Toyota. Sure, there was a technical glitch... but, even out of warranty, they showed excellent customer service and stepped up to take ownership of the problem.

 

I too have been having right headlight problems. I called Toyota and they informed me that bulbs and assemebly are not covered under warranty. I have to pay out of pocket to have an in depth analysis and perhaps find the root of the problem(s). If it is anything other than the aforementioned items then my warranty will cover the repairs.

 

I've got their depth analysis...... Those guys are as bad as some Doctors I know... without all their expensive tests they can't see the obvious and they charge you for their lack of vision.

Why can't they just put in the bulbs and say... no matter what, those will need to be replaced anyway and the worst that could happen is it doesn't work and you have to come back for more?

They usually do what makes the bill go the highest and makes their job the quickest and easiest rather than demonstrate true mechanic skills of deductive reasoning.

If you know a handyman Thats is willing.... let them put in your bulbs..... As long as they know not to touch the bulb nor get any oil or foreign substances on the glass and they don't force anything, you have little to lose.

Maybe you can PM some of these guys that had Toyota reimburse them to gain leverages to have Toyota do the work too.

Now that I put mine in, its a very easy job once you do it once.

If there is any way possible, I encourage you to tackle the job yourself to gain the confidence to not be under the man.

After all this discussion, I have yet to see anyone thats only replaced bulbs alone to come back and say it was more than that and had to go back in... it seems replaceing the bulbs is all it takes to do the trick.

I also have yet to see anyone thats used the inexpensive ones like I bought on ebay or similiar that was unhappy or had a bad experience?

I think its a shame that this has grown into such a deceptive moneymaker on the part of so many that loyal customers have trusted.

 

I'm with (and grateful to) windstrings. Do it yourself with eBay bulbs. Bring it to my house and I'll show you how. It really IS NOT HARD AT ALL! The only tool you need is a flat screw driver. The hardest part is getting the half round rear covers to crack loose the first time. They seat really well. But there are 'fins' on them so you have easy leverage.

Second week on new bulbs. Had them on the entire 190 miles Monday night as it was raining well before it got dark. No wink, no problem. Seems pretty sure that it was ONLY the bulbs causing the problem. Too bad there isn't a test (like resistance on regular bulbs) that can be done on them. Sure would make it easier on people.

DO IT YOURSELF if Toyota won't do it for FREE under warranty.

 

To chime in here (sorry ive been gone so long) I just had this problem this weekend.

Over two days the drivers side HID Headlight would go out randomly. I would turn off and on the headlights with maybe a 1-2 second pause and all seemed well. I did this several times, but its hard to tell when the light would go out.

Either way I went to a local dealer and they replaced the bulb... for $428! Wth?! My warranty doesnt cover it apparently and they didnt want to replace/didnt have any ballasts so that was my only option. Now I havent really driven any at night since then but once my work week starts I will. This is a horrible problem!

UPDATE: I just filed a complaint with the ODI/DOT/IVOQ as well.

 

If it makes your feel better, I think the bulb should fix the issue... but your right, this is quite an issue.

At least there is an easy fix for those who dare to venture off the map.

 

Is anyone experiencing buzzing with their HID headlights on startup? It grows to a small buzzing after a few seconds. Is this a symptom of a headlight problem or is this normal for HID headlights?

 

Wow!... I think you have a bee in your bonnet!...... LOL!...

No, but seriously folks...... if you have "extremely" good hearing... many ballast do make a bit of a buzz when they first fire up as they are cranking tremendously high voltages for a few seconds until the material in the bulb goes to a plasma state and the voltage drops.

 

Well, I turned it on in my garage while parked and the buzzing at startup is quite noticeable. But as long as this is normal with HID's, then I guess I shouldn't worry.

 

Is the noise coming from up front?.. I"m not sure where the ballast are on these cars but usually the leads are not very long.... can you get someone to fire it up while you listen so you can pinpoint it?

You could be hearing a pump also.... the prius pumps the radiator coolant to a reservoir every time you cut the car off the save the heat, and then pumps it back out when you turn the car back on.

 

Yeah, it's coming from up front. I don't need someone to listen for me because if I roll down the windows, I can hear them. It is most noticeable at startup/warmup. And it only happens when I turn on the headlights.

After a few seconds, it goes down to a small whispering buzz.

 

Humm.. Neither me or my wife have noticed those sounds... but both of our ears are probably older than yours......

I guess the worst that could happen is the ballasts go out... and hopefully your under warranty.

But whole kits are pretty cheap too through third party... but I don't know how hard it is the install on the prius.... I would be tempted to do so.

The good news is the D4R bulb that came out with the 06 prius was a first generation.... I"m hoping they fixed any issues it may have had.

I suspect the bulb was merely bad and after time it took hotter, higher voltage to energize to a plasma state again and keep burning without that second high voltage charge to boost it.

I'm kinda ruling out the ballast since the new bulbs seem to work perfect.... why would bad ballast work with new bulbs, unless its "overdriving" the bulbs and shortening their life?

This could of course be the case because these bulbs sure seem brighter than 35watts to me.... but that kinda test is very hard to judge with eyeballs alone.

 

Oh, and it is a new car, if that contributes to anything.

 

Just an update. I got a check for $321.82 today in the mail. The letter with it says, "As promised by Toyota Motor Sales, USA, enclosed is your goodwill reimbursement." I would encourage everyone with this problem to be persistent. Call Toyota Customer Experience at 1-800-331-4331 and get a case opened up, then follow-up every week or so to check the status.

 

Re: Headlight problem--THANKS windstrings!

Hey all--

Just a big, warm n' fuzzy shout out to windstrings...thanks to you, I canceled my appointment at the dealer$hip, bought two bulbs from Stan, and last weekend replaced them both, in 40 minutes...and they haven't shut off since.

Yeah, mine were shutting off within two-five minutes of driving, usually just the driver's side, but often both sides. Since I bought my car with 87K on the odometer, I figured I probably wasn't gonna be the proud recipient of any 'goodwill' gesture of Toyota, but I thought I'd at least let 'em take a crack at it...until I saw windstrings' step-by-step and thought, geez, I can handle that.

As promised, it wasn't fun, but it wasn't as bad as I had thought. The bumper cover...?? You've got to be kiddin'...

Anyhoo, thanks man. Now, about these Fuzion tires....

Best regards,

--Tony
Fine Tone Recording

 

Thanks Deviate.... its always risky to assume you know a problem without laying hands on. But I have a handheld HID and have studied quite a bit about their properties and I know enough to know I am far from an expert.

But These bulbs are pretty cool the way they work "when" they work right that is.

I figured it must be more than coincidence to have two cars that started acting up at almost the same time "within a few thousand miles of each other".

Simple deductive reasoning says that if the ballast was bad, nothing would improve with the mere replacement of a bulb.....nothing at all.

Its funny how authorities, government, and the powers that be try to keep us under their thumb to own our pocket book.... the more outlandish the lies, the more believable.

Anyway....so far so good.... I"m sure there may be someone out there that actually has a ballast that went bad, but in the case of this discussion, it appears its all about the bulb.

I'm just glad some of us are finding a way out of this deliema without having to sell our children to do so.