1) I think they do, to the best of my knowledge, this is the first time the bulb has had to be replaced. 102k on the car. i was checking on Philips website and they said this bulb should last 3-5 times longer than a halogen bulb.
2) kind of, but i have not seen the new one yet either, looking on the website at a picture of a new one, my bulb looks burned out. the gas globe section is a brown color and the new one looks like a light grey/blueish color.
3) i dont know what the ballast is, but i assume this is where the bulb plugs in. i checked this last night as well, everything looked great on it?
4) shipping from germany is going to take 7 days, if you have an older lexus, it may be worth the $70 to have one on hand, i ordered two so i have one on hand when the other goes.
5) taking it out was a snap. this was the passanger side so i had to remove the airfilter to get at the light housing. unscrew the cap on the back of the light, remove a metal cap and finally unscrew the bulb. On the drivers side, i assume one would have to remove the battery to get at the housing from behind.
6) there was no warning, I would have guessed this would have come up in the information center as it did when i had a taillight go out last summer, however, last weekend is just went out.
hope this helps and you let me know if I can be of further assistance. I will post again after the bulbs get here and I slam one in!
over and out.