Changing Headlights

[los1078]

Last year I took my car to get the Driver's side head light changed. Now my passenger side head light just stopped working. I looked at the old receipt from the last years work and saw that the HID Bulb part is Xenon 90981-20024 which cost $291. Found it on ebay for $19.99 same exact model. First of all did Lexus Service rip me off? I feel like I should buy the bulb and take it to my mechanic to change it instead of paying Lexus aniother $419 for parts and labor. Any ideas? Thank you

[1990LS400]

If you agreed to the price the Lexus dealer asked you certainly were not "ripped off". The $19.99 price you found is great if it really is a new OEM Phillips bulb. I don't think I've seen OEM HID Phillips bulbs for less than about $65 on eBay but I haven't checked recently. Be sure your eBay bulb is new -- most of the super low prices I've seen on eBay have been for used or no-name bulbs. Headlight bulbs are not too difficult to change. I've never had a mechanic do it for me and I've gone through a lot of bulbs in my 45 years of driving.

[cduluk]

How do you know the bulb is even the issue? The ballasts have been known to burn out prematurely on the 06+ GS and IS models... The ballasts are used to change the 12V from the battery into the higher voltage required by the HID bulbs.

But if it is indeed the bulb that's burned out, try replacing it yourself like 1990LS400 suggested. If you can remove it from the headlight, you can put one back in. <_<

And yes, $19 sounds way too cheap for an HID bulb. Also make sure the bulb you replace it with is the same age and type (philips D4S 4300k) as the other one. HID bulbs change color and brightness with age. If you have a 1yr old bulb in one side and a new one in the other, you will notice the difference in color and intensity.