2008 Prius HID Headlight intermittent problem. Cheapest best bulb to buy?

This doesn't address any of your questions, but I received good news on the headlight defect just minutes ago.

 

Luscious Garage | Blog | Prius headlight problem, D4R HID bulbs *still overpriced, not covered under warranty*

 

There is a hybrid specialist in LA, Avi's Advanced Auto Homepage. Please post your experience if you go there.

 

Amazon sells Phillips HID bulbs for $60 on sale. I saw it 3 days ago.

 

The passenger side is totally doable without removing the bumper. The only difficult part is removing the big round plastic cover for the bulb. I've seen it best explained as requiring much constant pressure to turn it far enough for it to pop loose. I actually broke off one of the tabs from pressing so hard. If you have really big hands it may be even harder to get into the correct position to apply enough force. I have not done the driver's side yet but it looks like it is even more difficult but less work than removing the bumper. Good luck.

 

Factory OEM bulb for 2008 Prius Touring Edition is PHILIPS D4R 42406C1 code: 77713541 DOT according to Philips Web Site. The site "where to buy" locator for USA lists Car Quest Auto Parts. My local store had D4R in stock with list price of $85.71, parts guy gave me $4.29 Military Discount when I showed my ID card. Added state sales tax for out-the-door price of $88.99 that sure beat my local Toyota dealer's $150. Took my new bulb in box to his parts section to compare with official Toyota bulb and found that his bulb was in same Philips D4R box as my CarQuest one. Buyer Beware! Not all aftermarket D4R HID bulbs are the same. If box & bulb markings do not state DOT then the bulb may be the off-road-use-only bulb. This bulb may appear to be brighter than the DOT, problem is it will not have shielding on bulb to keep from blinding on-coming traffic. Get pulled over by cops for too bright HID's and they inspect bulbs and find Non-DOT it may get very costly for you. This State can impound car write ticket with big fine and then require you to pay towing & impound fees to get your car back and you will have to prove to State Patrol that you changed to DOT bulbs. Why fund State with hundreds of your hard earned dollars. Just ask your friendly truck driver's about State funding programs.

 

Thanks for the insight guys!

 

Better than $60: $54.48 as of this writing, in fact.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00480J4J6



I ordered one yesterday for my 2006 Prius, which has an intermittently functioning right OEM HID headlight. Both the Luscious Garage page and Amazon's "will it fit?" confirms that this is the correct bulb.

 

^Glad you found it.

Is the Phillips that Amazon sells 4300k or 5000k? I'd really love a 5000k temp if my bulb(s) ever kick the bucket.

 

The Philips is 4300K.

Other manufacturers make up to 14,000K.

 

i just DIY'd both sides with my huge hands.
as you say, the most difficult part is removing the big round plastic cover.

i, too, broke off one of the plastic fins, but was able to eventually remove the cover. i then lubricated them for e-z future removal.
the rest of the process is mostly done by "feel", once you understand how the bulb is fastened/connected inside the housing.

- passenger side: removed fasteners/connectors for washer fluid which gave me some room to work.
- driver side: removed the fuse cover, but other than that, very little room to work.

i had ordered D4R-6000K bulbs over a year ago from e-bay anticipating the day of infamy. they are a bit more blue than i had expected. that is, i wanted a slight blue tint, but not this much.

today i ordered a set of D4R-5000K bulbs from Amazon ($55/pair).

since i now know how to install myself, and the fact that the big round plastic covers are lubricated for e-z removal, it's no big deal to replace (in pairs) if i desire.

 

About two weeks ago I installed the hidnation.com H4 BI-XENON HID kit in the 6000K color. I had the 9006 Sylvan halogen bulbs in it but they would burn out in about 6 months so I decided to go to the HID. WOW what a difference. I upgraded to the better slimline ballast for an additional $28.99 and bought the Lifetime Warranty for $19.99. So out the door including shipping and tax it was $164.96. The installation took only about 20 minutes. I was so impressed with the headlights the next day I ordered the HID fog light kit HN-9006 including the slim Ballast 6,000k color and the Lifetime warranty out the door for $101.96. This project was allot more involved since my car did not have fog lights. After two day's on the internet and looking at the service manual I tore into the job. They recommended removing the front bumper and the front grill ( I don't think that was necessary and it was quite time consuming for the first timer). Anyway with out going into the actual process I finished the installation in about 7 hours. (again it could have been reduces by about two hours without removing the front bumper). I ordered the Winjet OEM style fog light kit in clear from turnersdepot.com SKU# WJ30-0107-09 for $75.00 and the OEM lower outer grills with fog lamp holes code 53112-47030 53113-47030 from autopartscheaper.com for another $47.82 including shipping. To protect the fog light lense, I ordered the clear (40 mil fog light covers from lamin-x.com for an additional $14.95 plus shipping and handling.So all in all highly recommended upgrade, I also wired the fog lights so I can turn my headlights off and just run the fog lamps by them self's. Now instead of going thru $50.00 pare of Sylvania bulbs every 6 months, I have 300% more light better looking color and life time warranty. Sorry but this is my first post. Hope it is informative. Daylight at nighttime way coooool..

 

Do you have the link to the product?

And please post pics when you get them installed.

Bummer that Phillips only sells 4300k.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004H2N46O

i requested the free shipping option, they sent them to me via priority mail and i received in 4 days.
i installed the new pair in 20 minutes, all by "feel". they are very white, glad i changed out the 6000K blue.

driver-side: removed fuse cover, removed round plastic cover, then did the rest w/ my eyes closed.

passenger-side: removed the top/corner fastener for the plastic dust cover, removed the air-intake. removed both both electrical connectors to the washer fluid. then round plastic dust cover and the remainder by feel.

i need to work for a stealership...i'd make a killing! could charge customers for 3 hours and do it in 20 minutes...

 

My original passenger light is turning purple on my 2004 Prius, I guess it's about to go bad.

Can one replace just one? It's self leveling if I remember correctly, not sure if that makes a difference.

Thanks, Greg

 

I just purchased a 2006 a week ago, and noticed the car only lights about 10' ahead with very little spread. I live in a area with lots of wildlife so I need to see further ahead. Is there a way to adjust the lights, or better bulbs?

 

If your car has HID headlights, it is possible that the auto-leveling sensor which is mounted near the rear beam axle is faulty and needs to be replaced.

 

I replaced the passenger side and it I'm having a problem with it. It will stay on for less than 2 mins. Could this be a ballast problem? Or a bad bulb? The one it replaced would turn from normal color to purple.

Thanks, Greg