Just wondering how long HID's last? Do they last longer than regular head lights? Do they dim after a while?

How much do they cost to replace?

 

The dealer said they last very long. Much longer than regular lights. (Sorry i guess you wanted the answer in terms of time.)

 

I think they last like 3000 hours.
And yes, they are expensive to replace.

 

They are supposed to last longer than the life of your car, forreal!!! I read that somewhere... On the other hand, I saw a MB E430, and one of the HID lights blew out ... The grossest thing I've ever seen !!!

Shyne--High Intensity Discharge allover women who dare to go thare ...

 

They have a half life of 1000 to 1500 hours. That is the beam gradually weakens. About 1500 hours the beam is half the intensity of the original beam. Several hundred dollars to replace. (Part of the reason why they are 500 to 1000 options on most vehicles.

 

Yikes, several hundred dollars to replace.. the bulbs better last at least 1500 hours. But after doing the math (assuming you drive everyday of the year with the HID lights on for 2 hours/day, for the sake of simplicity), that means the bulb will need to be replaced shortly after year 2. If the beam is half the intensity of the original, I'd assume that would not be acceptable to most of us. After all, why have HID lights if they're not functioning like they're supposed to? Even if the bulbs last for 3000 hours, as suggested by TLWiz, that would mean a replacement is need shortly after year 4 (with the same assumptions above).

Are these bulbs covered by the 4yr/50K mile warranty? I hope they are covered, because I bought the factory extended warranty (7yr/100k miles) so when it goes out in year 5, I won't have to be hurtin' to pay for replacements.

DA

 

The dealership told me the bulbs should last 100,000 miles.

 

Sometimes I wonder about dealers... One would think a bulb's useful life is measured in some unit of time (ie, hours), and not miles. If I drove a 100k miles without ever turning on my HIDs, does that mean they will need replacement? I know it's a ridiculous hypothetical, but it makes the point that the dealer is blowing smoke when they tell you it will last 100k miles. My 2 cents. DA

 

Many dealers will tell you anything to get you to buy the car. I drive with my lights on all the time so people see the silver car coming. I guess I'll find out when the lights go out.

 

THe HID on the TL last 2000 hours
and they cost 500$ each.....
=(

 

Forgive the repeat question, but are the bulbs covered by the warranty? I've been driving with them on day and night, but if it's only going to last 2000 hours, I'd better save them for night driving, cause droppin' 5 bills to replace them would hurt big time.

 

$500 each?? WTF. that is insane. I thought $500 was for the entire HID unit. Wouldn't you just want to replace the bulb itself? Shouldn't be more then $10 or so.

 

to correct that since i have bought an HID from Acura they do not cost 500, the are close to 250 bucks.....



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aACURA
99 TL,SATIN SILVER EXT.,EBONY INT.,UNDERBODY KIT, HEADLIGHT FINISHERS, INSPIRE TAILS, PIAA 1700X FOGS,17IN BBS RK, GUTTER GUARD GRILL, HEADLIGHTS CLEARED,COMPTECH EXHAUST, COMPTECH SPRINGS, AUDIO ALL DRESSED UP, VIDEO UNDER THE SCREWDRIVER ;D

 

Is $250 for the bulb or the entire housing? On your 99 TL, I wouldn't think it's time for your HIDs to go out yet. Do you drive with them on during the day? DA

 

Man I'd better start rationing my HID usage then

 

uhh let me correct this for all of you since i have been talking to acura about the fact that there is a TSB in the HIDS because they are not keeping the blue color they are supposed to. this is due to an operating temprature problem with the bulbs. acura is working on a replacement bulb as we speak. i took my car in on a comlaint of the passenger side light being a different color compared to the driver side. after replacement of the whole light assembly including ballast and starter. the tech's called acura when the problem was still not solved after replacing the above components at a cost of about 250.00 acura responded by saying that there were working to correct the problem as a few cars have come in for the same complaint. i posted this earlier about a month or so back. if you have 2 defective bulbs you probly won't notice the problem unless you have another tl parked next to you with good lights. i had 1 bad and 1 good so they looked different. thats how i found there was a problem. anyway the bulbs cost 80.00 a peice. and they are supposed to last the lifetime of the car. i am sure there are exceptions though i am sure that some people may have a failure but in general they should out last the car they don't exactly burn out since there is no filiment but rather a spark that jumps a gap through Xenon gas. the lights are supplied with a 50,000 volt arc that is generated by the ballast unit. you should never attempt to touch or remove the light when on or look directly at the bulb when in use. and never tough the glass of the bulb as the oils from your hands will cause the glass to fail under intense heat. that may have been the cause of the above post of a falure of the bulb.

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formerly 98 prelude type SH

Currently 2001 Acura 3.2 TL With Navigation Black/Ebony

 

On average an H.I.D. bulb will last about 3500 hours(This is according to Philipps)It requires 20.000 volts to start the bulbs little arc light display but only requires this blast for a millisecond once the arc is started it only uses 12 volts at 35 watts.This is comparable to a small fog lite bulb yet it puts out 3 times the light of a conventional halogen bulb.Jens

 

the bulbs cost about $200 each

 

So there is a TSB then? When Acura finds a resolution are they going to go active with it and recall? Or is it a fix if you find a problem?

 

Which delership was that? They have "highly-trained" sales professionals!

 

If you wanna stock up on these bulb, you can always stop by your neigborhood auto junkyard and look for some wrecked TLs with their HIDs in tact.
http://www.copartfinder.com

Look for one near you, I'm sure they'll be pretty cheap.

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Knowledge is potential, Action is power.
<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/phanthavong/mytl.html" TARGET=_blank>
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i dont think there will be recall but if you complain about it to the dealer they should be able to replace the lights for you under warenty. unfortunatly at my dealer they tried all the bulbs they had in stock and all had the yellow color and they were told by acura to send all the defective bulbs back to acura and they are supposed to wait till acura sends out a bulliton that the problem has been fixed. acura will give a new part number to order the new lights from.

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formerly 98 prelude type SH

Currently 2001 Acura 3.2 TL With Navigation Black/Ebony