As some of you may remember, I was having a problem with my headlights not turning on sometimes.

It's now been 3 weeks that my headlights wont turn on at all so I've been driving with my Highbeams only.

I took it into Lexus of Thousand Oaks today and when they finaly called me back, they said my HID "Converters" are dead/blown/don't work anymore.

He said he would have to order them and it would cost $1,600 in parts only to replace them.

Questions:

1.) When he says "Converters" is he referring to the Ballasts? (I asked him this question and he said he didn't know)
2.) Is there ANY cheaper way to replace my stock HID converters?
3.) Is this something that could be fixed by buying an aftermarket HID kit?
4.) If I can do #3, what's a good kit to go with? (I'm looking for plug-and-play)

If I have to, I'll just fork out the $1,600 and beg him to at least use a little Vaseline this time.

Needless to say, I'm a little P.O'd!!!

 

yes i think the converters is the ballasts, i cant' think of anything else. if it's really teh case, maybe you shoudl check with steve ganz and see what prices he has. dont' get hid kits, they are not direct swap, unless you can find the stock d2r hid setup. i don't have much details on that though, that's why i think you might want to check with steve

 

Thanks, rom. I'll check with Steve.

 

Its gotta be the ballast.....I just checked my parts list....and everything but the ballast is not listed. Ask your dealer what part # was he talking about?

Pete

 

Thanks Pete. I just called the parts dept. at T.O. Lexus and they kept referring to them as the computers that control the HID's.

Anyway, the part number he gave me was: # 8596730031

This time the parts guy quoted me $1,360.00 for both without tax. Better but still ridiculous!

 

I've been talking to a sale rep at Illusion Lighting. It sounds like it will be much better and cheaper for me to just have my lights upgraded/retrofitted.

I'm thinking of going the same route as |Quicksilver| did but with Titanium paint instead of matte-black.

Info from www.illusion-lighting.com

This retrofit was done to a 1999 Lexus GS 300 with OEM reflector style headlamps. This retrofit used Hella projectors, Hella ballast, and Philips 4100k D2S bulbs. A custom cosmetic trim was fabricated using sheet aluminum and various other materials to fill in the gap between the projector and the stock reflector. The entire headlamp was also painted matte-black to help eliminate any residue glare while giving the vehicle a more aggressive stance.

Much better then spending $1,600 on new Ballasts from the Lexus Dealer!

 

 

yo sean -

why not check out this thread....OEM ballast and bulbs for $300.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...&highlight=hid

Pete

 

Thanks, I'll look into it!!

 

Sean...I found this pic on the web of the ballast....notice the matching part #s.

Pete