'06 Is350 Hid Ballast Defect

linonz · October 5, 2011

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hi people. Brand new here to this club. What got to me is that I have a probelm

with my IS350 HID ballast and I want some ideas or suggestions from you guys.

First of all, on my car the right headlight flips on and off, sometimes is

on, sometimes is off and sometimes is dim. So i took the car back to dealership

and found out that is the ballast is gone and they quoted me $1575 for the ballast,

$250 for bulb and $150 for labour. All that with tax is over $2000.

I tell you right now, that I am not gonna do it. I rather take 20 x $100 bills

and stick it all over that right headlight then making the fix. "Of, but

you will get tickets from the cops!" Yea, the ticket is $170, and 3 months

to dispute it, so in a year I will have 4 tickets, and in 2 years is 8 tickets.

So at the end is only $1360.00 for 2 years of contant ticketing. Is a lease

car anyway.

First of all I want to ask any experts here, is the ballast on '06 IS350 the

same as the one on '09 RX350? If so, I can swap those ballast cause I still

have warranty on my '09 RX350.

Second, I was looking on ebay and the ballast is selling for like $100 used.

But how can i find out that it is exactly the part that I need?

Any thoughts and input to this matter would be appreciated. thanks

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linonz · October 5, 2011

hi guys, sorry i thought that was HTML .... as you can see I am brand new here .... sorry about that

DEATH · October 5, 2011

Sorry to hear about your headlight concern. Lexus is VERY proud of their electrical parts. I'm not sure if the ballasts are interchangeable. You can check with the dealer for part numbers. The price they quoted you includes the entire assembly minus the bulbs. The HID low beam bulb is available aftermarket(GAG!) for about half that price. First off, do you get condensation on the inside of the lense? If so, the water is collecting and corroding the ballast. I managed to salvage a few of these by removing the headlight assy, removing the ballast, opening it up and drying it out. Unfortunately, once moisture starts getting in there(the headlight assy.), there's no way of stopping it. If all else fails, ask your dealer for the main phone number for Lexus customer assistance. Explain to them what is going on. They will review your case, and, depending on your service history, will probably give you assistance. I know it's a *BLEEP*ty situation. Fortunately, I never have to see the look on a customer's face when they find out how much it costs to fix a headlight. I just give the information to the Service Consultant and let them decide who's paying for what.

cduluk · October 6, 2011

Unfortunately the ballasts from an rx350 won't work with an IS as the bulb sizes are different and the ignitors are attached to the ballasts.

Best bet is to find a used ballast on ebay like you said. Just see if the sellers list the IS as the vehicle they were removed from. You'll also need to find out if your ballasts are sealed inside the headlight or if they're external. If they're external you can just buy a used ballast, if not you'll need to get an entire headlight.