Realized I could easily be talking about household lights, but will hold that rant for another day. just -- again -- replaced a rear tail light on my Gen II. I never remember ever replacing a bulb on any of my other Toyotas, all which were owned for at least 20 years...and then I found the following from Luscious Garage. Seems the Prius is infamous for chewing through lights. At least the tail lights are super easy to swap out (and, yes, I am using a quality replacement-- Wagner Light Bulbs - Luscious Garage | Hybrid Specialists).
My oldest vehicle (an 06 GMC) suffered a license plate lamp failure after...... Oh crap, more than 10 years.....I'm going to have to take off my boots..... 11 years and 175,000 miles. Meanwhile, My work car (2010 G3) with 115,000 miles has been through two complete headlamp pairs and a license plate light. The Prius has given us good service, but because I don't wish to be an organ donor I always drive with the lights on. It's also company policy, which is OK because they're buying the bulbs. This paragraph (from Luscious) illustrates vividly the reason that I drive a Toyota daily, but haven't actually owned one in over two decades..... "Faulty light bulbs are the very most common problem faced by Prius owners. Normally this would suggest just how little goes wrong, if it weren’t for the disproportionate number of them that go bad. We literally replace hundreds of bulbs each month. The situation is worsened by unscrupulous sales; the dealer is notorious for telling people the front bumper needs to be removed to access the headlight bulb, to the tune of 2-4 labor hours, depending on the gall of the particular service writer. Two bulbs, round trip with tax, are routinely quoted at $800+. No wonder Gen 2 owners got pissed, sued, and ultimately won a class action lawsuit against Toyota, effectively forcing the company to subsidize the bad behavior of its dealers......."
As in: what ever happened to good 'ol incandescent bulbs, the 4-pack for a few bucks? I've had one license plate light, and one trim light (adjacent to headlight) go, same bulb in both cases: p/n: 00234-00160. $2.40 apiece.
The service chief at a local auto dealer that I knew quite well was displaced when a regional "Scam-Heavy" dealership chain bought out his dealership. I'll call him "Ed." Ed ended up at a Toyota dealer -- but only as a service advisor -- not as the head honcho. Needed a part for the Prius and thought I needed it installed. Did not know Ed was at Toyota dealer. When I called, I got Ed. Basic fact was Ed told me the part was super easy to install and they would install it for nothing. So, I sent in wifey to get it done. However, she did not talk to Ed. She spoke to the service chief at the dealer, who told her it would be $199 to install, plus $130 for the part. Wifey came home without the part (good thinking on her part). I went to the dealer and talked to "Ed." He said sorry, nothing he could about it now that the service honcho was involved. However, he told me in three minutes how to do it myself. Took me about 20 minutes to do in my driveway. So, I agree with the Lucious Garage bit about overpriced service.
