HID or Halogen - how to tell without dismantling?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by ARPrius, Sep 1, 2022.

  1. ARPrius

    ARPrius Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2014
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    Location:
    Arvada, CO
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    My 2007 Prius had both both replaced a short while after I purchased it used in 2008 for free by the dealership. They had quoted me well over $150 and told me the bulbs should last thousands of hours. After explaining that those number of hours were longer than my car’s existence, they refitted new ones. This was prior to a recall (IIRC).

    Since then, they’ve worked great but are failing, so it is time to replace them. I have no issue doing this myself - I have looked at videos and online instructions about the fiddly nature of the job. Even the car handbook says it is doable.

    So, I assume that I have HID bulbs mainly because they lasted so long. My Prius also has fog lights low down on the lower grille.

    Before I order new HID bulbs from online, is there anything else that I should be considering?

    Thanks,
    Charlie
     
    #1 ARPrius, Sep 1, 2022
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2020
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    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Nope everything is good you should have a tourer with factory fog lights generally had the HIDs and you can tell because they don't look yellow like halogens they look kind of more green color they're not even blue in this year model they completely look different than a halogen headlight they'll be a difference of orange to a whitish green color there's no blue maybe there is on a new bulb I don't know. The other way to tell is by looking at the cover on the back of the housing that covers the wire it's a completely different plug than an H4 bulb type plug which is the universal for many cars for high and low beam single bulb headlights
     
    #2 Tombukt2, Sep 2, 2022
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