davesmith

because if the HID bulb goes out, it'll cost $300-400 for just the bulb...people who would buy these 2nd hand when they are out of warranty can't afford to pay for a light bulb, they'll be upset and call up Lexus to complaint

SickES350

iTrader: (-1)

well for $30 you can make your halogens into hids with a kit. =P

http://www.ddmtuning.com/index.php?p...=102&parent=85

cheapest i've found so far... i jsut wish i seen this before i put on my ebay hid kits (3 yrs running strong)

but yea.. a bulb replacement on the D4s D2s is just ridiculous. =/

YotaCarFan

HID is an option to increase profit margin - if you really want it, you'll pony up for the higher-profit margin PP or UL trim pkg that has them.

The HID bulbs in a lot of Toyota/Lexus cars from ~2005 - ~2007 are prone to premature failure. Just google "prius HID failure". My ES350 lamps died after less than 2 years of mostly daytime driving. Fortunately, the dealer replaced them under warranty as a courtesy.

MadMax96

I agree about once you have a car with HIDs, you'll always want them.

Maybe keeping items like this as options help keep the ES350's (as well as any other model's) base price a little lower.

When I had my '02 Maxima, they were standard on all trim levels - GXE, SE, and GLE. I don't even think you could get leather on the GXE, but it had HIDs.

Of course the 02/03 Maxima became an easy target of HID theft. Many people would find the cars with the headlights ripped out. Some people even had theirs ripped off multiple times - crazy.

LexBob2

HID's are a must for me. I've had my car well over 3 1/2 years now and no issues or failure with bulbs.

zhivuyatut

BTW, I am still not sure if the high beams on ES350 are xenon (HID) too. I know that on my Maxima they were halogen. Usually they refer to cars that have both low/high beam HID lights as "bixenon" (usually German cars). Haven't heard that about ES350.
Anybody has definitive word on these high beams?
Xenon lights take a few moments to fully warm up and that makes them less suitable for flashing when you need to signal oncoming drivers of a speed trap .

YotaCarFan

The high beams are halogen bulbs. The particular halogens used are extremely bright, however.

sirCharles

go aftermarket Xenon Depot HID. Great digital kits keep light so balanced.

Fizzboy7

Simple- COST. If it were cheap enough to put in, they'd have that and every other option built in. When you study the progression of options in cars costing $15k to $40k, it becomes more clear. Most competing cars do not have standard xenons.
Along the same lines, a $36k Lexus is actually a bargain when you look at the entire Lexus family.

rikkus256

For those of you who swap from halogen to aftermarket HID, does your HID light project correctly? I did the swap but notice my HID project much lower than halogen. Anyone else have the same problem?

LowBeam

I have 07 350 w/56K on it. Same thing happened to me. I noticed in the garage that driver side lowbeam was out.
But it comes back next time, then it flickers while driving..
Looks like I have to change something, hopefully a bulb.
is it covered under warranty?

It would normally be a natural event, but this coupled with puddles under the car after using AC (supposedly condensation); I am beginning to think Lexus is doing trial and error in design.I thought Lexus figured out how to design a car in the last 20 years or so!

dreyfus

Bulbs aren't covered under the warranty, though if one went out early on the dealer would probably fix it for you.

But your warranty is 6,000 miles gone.

Every car in the world with A/C has water condensation under it when running the A/C in humid weather. Just check out the car next to you at the next traffic light. They'll have water pooling on the pavement if their A/C is on. You can't change physics.

garsarno

The HID lights better be covered under their Platinum warranty...

k9shelly1

At three to four hundred dollars a pop I would hope that they are.

ekwlee

Just buy bulbs online...Phillips d4s bulbs if I'm not mistaken and put it in urself..it's not hard..the bulbs cost under 200 for the pair...it's just like changing ur regular bulbs. Just a few more steps