Hello All, I have a 2006 prius with 72k miles. For a while it has been displaying HID problems - flickering, one light going out, blacking out when I turn on high beams until I turn lights fully off and then back on, being much dimmer than they should, etc. I found out all the discussion about how this was covered for 5 years / 50k miles. I called Toyota Customer Service and asked if there was anyway I could still be covered and was told no. Do I have any options? I called the local Toyota Dealership and they said each bulb, parts and labor, would be about $307 - that didn't include if computers were bad or anything else - just the HID's themselves.
For one, you can DIY, as have many here. For another, you can try one of the Prius knowledgeable independents, who will do it for less. There is a video on the Luscious Garage site, where she changes the bulb in minutes. (OK, that is with small hands and big experience. Still, it's not so difficult.)
1) Do a search on these forums for the link to Amazon where the bulbs are sold for $50 each. Buy a set of two as both should be replaced at the same time. I'd also buy a dental mirror if you don't have one as it was helpful when I changed mine 2) Search Youtube for videos of the bulbs being replaced. I watched a few different videos and pieced the info together to get a good picture of the steps required. I replaced both in about 30 minutes. If I had to do it again, I could probably do it much quicker. It's really not that bad and not worth going to the dealer and paying what they charge.
Thanks everyone! And just to make sure - the symptoms I described (flickering, not being as bright, switching off when going to brights, etc.) are the kinds of problems that replacing the bulbs will fix, right? I don't need to worry about light control computers or anything? (I don't even know what those are, but think I saw them mentioned somewhere here). Could be a fun DIY project.
