Gs 450H Hid (Xenon) Headlight Bulbs

coneybiller · June 15, 2011

Hi all,

I had my car MOT'd last Friday and to my surprise it failed! It failed on rear handbrake adjustment (which was my mates fault for not re-adjusting it after fitting my wheel bearing) and the offside headlight bulb.

Now Lexus told me that it could possibly be the igniter pack that lights the bulb or it could be the bulb, If it was the igniter it would be covered under my warranty. So I said yea that's fine and they went ahead and ordered both bulb and igniter. Phoned me up the next day and said unfortunately it wasnt the igniter so we replaced the bulb! which i thought "great" thats gonna cost me!

Then he dropped the bomb shell.......

£174.64 + VAT For the bulb!!!!!!!

He did ease the strain a little by not charging me any labour whatsoever for fitting and handbrake adjustment, but I couldn't believe it! £260 for an MOT and a bulb!

I think Lexus need to take a serious look at pricing of these bulbs! That's frankly an absolutely hideous price to pay for a simple bulb!

Lets just say I walked out of the dealership with my wallet in tatters, shock on my face and a walk similar to that of John Wayne!

Ouch!

Cheers

Ben

wendle · June 15, 2011

How much!!!, i have just looked on e-bay £3.99 for 2 or am i looking at the wrong thing?

very convenient it happens to be the part that’s not covered on warranty that needs replacing.

Hi all,

I had my car MOT'd last Friday and to my surprise it failed! It failed on rear handbrake adjustment (which was my mates fault for not re-adjusting it after fitting my wheel bearing) and the offside headlight bulb.

Now Lexus told me that it could possibly be the igniter pack that lights the bulb or it could be the bulb, If it was the igniter it would be covered under my warranty. So I said yea that's fine and they went ahead and ordered both bulb and igniter. Phoned me up the next day and said unfortunately it wasnt the igniter so we replaced the bulb! which i thought "great" thats gonna cost me!

Then he dropped the bomb shell.......

£174.64 + VAT For the bulb!!!!!!!

He did ease the strain a little by not charging me any labour whatsoever for fitting and handbrake adjustment, but I couldn't believe it! £260 for an MOT and a bulb!

I think Lexus need to take a serious look at pricing of these bulbs! That's frankly an absolutely hideous price to pay for a simple bulb!

Lets just say I walked out of the dealership with my wallet in tatters, shock on my face and a walk similar to that of John Wayne!

Ouch!

Cheers

Ben

tonyricha · June 15, 2011

How much!!!, i have just looked on e-bay £3.99 for 2 or am i looking at the wrong thing?

very convenient it happens to be the part that’s not covered on warranty that needs replacing.

Hi all,

I had my car MOT'd last Friday and to my surprise it failed! It failed on rear handbrake adjustment (which was my mates fault for not re-adjusting it after fitting my wheel bearing) and the offside headlight bulb.

Now Lexus told me that it could possibly be the igniter pack that lights the bulb or it could be the bulb, If it was the igniter it would be covered under my warranty. So I said yea that's fine and they went ahead and ordered both bulb and igniter. Phoned me up the next day and said unfortunately it wasnt the igniter so we replaced the bulb! which i thought "great" thats gonna cost me!

Then he dropped the bomb shell.......

£174.64 + VAT For the bulb!!!!!!!

He did ease the strain a little by not charging me any labour whatsoever for fitting and handbrake adjustment, but I couldn't believe it! £260 for an MOT and a bulb!

I think Lexus need to take a serious look at pricing of these bulbs! That's frankly an absolutely hideous price to pay for a simple bulb!

Lets just say I walked out of the dealership with my wallet in tatters, shock on my face and a walk similar to that of John Wayne!

Ouch!

Cheers

Ben

Is thal all ? one Lexus dealer quoted me £240 for a GS bulb plus fitting ! but mine turned out to be the control unit so was covered by the warranty. I now extend the warranty so MOT failure is covered as well. My Sportcross N/S bulb went out for about a week then came back on and has been no more bother for about a year so I don't know what goes on with these bulbs but am amazed how the price varies, both my cars have the same bulb so I now have two from eBay in stock but have no need to use them since so still dont know if they will work.

coneybiller · June 16, 2011

How much!!!, i have just looked on e-bay £3.99 for 2 or am i looking at the wrong thing?very convenient it happens to be the part that’s not covered on warranty that needs replacing.

Well you can get them on eBay for £20 but im not 100% sure on the bulb fitment type! I believe they are "D2R" fitments but as said I'm not £100 sure and wouldn't want to waste money on them if it's wrong! But yea, I don't think they ripped me off as such as they do tend to look after me in there, but I'm still a little taken back by such a price for a bulb!

Is thal all ? one Lexus dealer quoted me £240 for a GS bulb plus fitting ! but mine turned out to be the control unit so was covered by the warranty. I now extend the warranty so MOT failure is covered as well. My Sportcross N/S bulb went out for about a week then came back on and has been no more bother for about a year so I don't know what goes on with these bulbs but am amazed how the price varies, both my cars have the same bulb so I now have two from ebay in stock but have no need to use them since so still dont know if they will work.

When I used to work at Mercedes they seemed to be around the £130 mark + VAT + Fitting but it was quite rare that they ever blew! I kind of had my fingers crossed on the control unit (igniter) myself but unfortunately that wasn't the case! I just hope the other 1 doesnt blow, but if it does then I think eBay shall come to the rescue!

What sort of bulbs did you buy? D2R?

Cheers

Ben

TonyB · June 18, 2011

Off to France in a couple of weeks...........Need warning triangle....florescent Vests for each passenger.....and a spare set of bulbs...........Guess which one I may Forget

softpack · July 8, 2011

I've just experienced exactly the same problem except I was stopped by friendly policeman who advised me to have it seen to immediately, had the same response from Lexus Teeside about possible igniter unit which would be covered by warranty.

They did not have either in stock as they said they had never experienced a failure so ordered one to be fitted next day, you've guessed it, it was the bulb which had failed: £212 plus labour.

To be fair they discounted this down to £197 including £22.50 labour which I paid grudgingly, but I was shocked and stunned when I returned home and did some research to find I can buy exactly the same item Philips D4S XenEco Xenon HID Bulb 42402 for £71 or a pair of upgraded Toshiba D4S Xenon HID Bulb 6000K Brilliant White UK for £70 from HIDs4U who are based in Southampton and offer next day delivery.

pommymatt · January 20, 2012

Hi, just thought I'd mention I just got a quote of £106 for a new HID bulb fitted from Lexus Leicester.

Bernie843 · October 15, 2019

My bulb has just gone. Thanks for reminding me why I never use Lexus. I'll change it myself. Just got to be wary of the supposed high voltage of the HID bulbs.

aviator888 · October 16, 2019

LMAO.. thanks for sharing that.. and teaching all of us a lesson @ your expense.

I use Lexus for annual service and hybrid health check. That's about it.. last time they tried to sell me a 3 year service plan (my car is 7 years old) i told them to shove it 😄

Herbie · October 17, 2019

On 10/15/2019 at 5:05 PM, Bernie843 said:

Just got to be wary of the supposed high voltage of the HID bulbs.

There's no "supposed" about it.

It takes about 20 to 25kV to strike the arc and about 90V to maintain it. Even with the lights off, the capacitors in the igniter can still pack a punch.

The-Acre · October 17, 2019

18 minutes ago, Herbie said:

There's no "supposed" about it.

It takes about 20 to 25kV to strike the arc and about 90V to maintain it. Even with the lights off, the capacitors in the igniter can still pack a punch.

I'm told that you should wait at least 20 mins after switching off before replacing bulbs.

Herbie · October 17, 2019

On 7/8/2011 at 10:51 PM, softpack said:

but I was shocked and stunned when I returned home and did some research to find I can buy exactly the same item Philips D4S XenEco Xenon HID Bulb 42402 for £71 or a pair of upgraded Toshiba D4S Xenon HID Bulb 6000K Brilliant White UK for £70 from HIDs4U who are based in Southampton and offer next day delivery.

Why would you be shocked and stunned?

All main dealers know how to charge better than a wounded rhino but, Lexus being a luxury brand, they have refined the art to unprecedented levels.

It does beg the question as to why you didn't do said research first and why would you go to Lexus main dealers for a bulb anyway? I use main dealers only as a last resort or when it's something specific that no one else makes, such as an oil sump pan or something, but I would never even dream of using main dealers for bulbs, wipers, tyres or anything along those lines.

OldTrout · October 17, 2019

DIY bulb replacement is straightforward and much easier if you have small hands. I don't but I did my first replacement with no problem using £8 bulbs. Three years on I replaced one of these with a £55 Osram Nightbreaker Xenarc to see if it was better. (The £8 bulb was OK.) I cannot tell the difference.

John

Britprius · October 17, 2019

I also use the cheap bulbs, and find no difference in light output or longevity. I figure I can buy 10 of these for the price of one Lexus/Phillips bulbs, and would still be worthwhile if they only lasted 1 year. Also no problems with the MOT with the cheap bulbs fitted.

John. I no what you mean about having small hands "I do not", but with patience, a light, and a small mirror the job is doable.

John.