I'm really happy that I specified the High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps for my new 2005 Prius. That was until my so called friend informed me that I will stink up my pants when it comes time to pay for the replacements. Anyone know about how many hours the HID Headlamps are rated for, and the replacement cost? I always drive with my headlights on in the daytime, maybe I should reconsider. Regardless, I would still specify the HID's. My night vision is not what it used to be, :crazyeyes: and these Lamps are soooooo nice. Tom M.
Tom, Conventional wisdom is that the lamp should last the life of the car. I've seen HID lamps rated at 3000 hours. If you figure an average lifetime car speed of 30mph that would be 90,000 miles with the lamps on. I don't know the cost of the bulb, I'm sure it's not cheap!
I checked about a year ago, lifetime was indeed something like 3000 hours, cost was around $100 each. And, you should replace them in pairs (the color shifts over time).
It's also generally a dealer replacement item, so add labor. Reason being is the special handling procedures (gloves must be worn to prevent skin oil residual on the glass which could cause the bulb to burst). There are also special disposal requirements for the old bulbs as they contain mercury vapor. I heard sometime in the past a tune of closer to $300.
I found the entire headlight assembly (lens, housing, etc.) on a Toyota parts website for $316 each. I can't recall the URL though. Some sponsored link at a site I was viewing advertised discounted Nissan parts, and I replaced "nissan" with "toyota" in the URL and got to the Toyota parts site. It had the entire Prius IC engine listed at about $5700, but no price for the battery. If you can dig up the old posting where someone else found the IC engine at a Toyota parts website and posted the URL, it's probably the same site I saw.
