2007 Prius Headlight bulb replacement

My girlfriend drives one of these and said that when her headlight went out, a mechanic charged her like $200+ to replace the bulb. When I looked at it the other day it appears to just be a bulb, but some cursory research shows it to be HID. Did this mechanic rip her off or did they charge a fair price considering they may have had to replace the ballast too?

 

Sounds like a ripoff. It's a $50 bulb. Philips D4R 42406. I doubt it needed anything other than that. The bulbs aren't that reliable compared to the D2R's. But you can't use that type in 07 models. 04-05 years had D2R. It's a common problem that the bulbs fail. Dealer price is probably $150 bulb. Only use Osram or Philips bulbs or they won't last as long and fail sooner.

 

If it's HID then $200 is reasonable. OE HID bulbs are expensive

 

Is what I thought.

 

You also want to be careful mixing aftermarket HID bulbs with OE ballasts. Not sure what the output of the ballast is but if it's mixmatched with aftermarket, there could be severe consequences. For example if your ballast is 55w out but your bulb is only rated to 35w.

 

Yeah when I looked at it the other night, she has regular reflector headlamps but the bulbs produce a nice 6000K color, was confused how and why she was charged out the butt for a small bulb replacement. So next time it happens I will help her research what needs done.

 

Just be careful when it comes to electrical. I see you live in St. Louis, Diode Dynamics is located in Earth City and is very knowledgeable on HIDs. It would be worth giving them a call

 

Yep! I just spent $240 the other week getting back-up and turn signal bulbs from them.