Hello everyone.. wondering if someone can maybe answer a question for me. I have a 2013 ES.. I still have about 5 months of the factory warranty left. So earlier this evening I washed my car in my driveway.. when I was done I pulled it into my garage and noticed that passenger side headlight was not working... when I got out to look at it I could see where water had run down inside the light assembly, so I am "assuming" that a seal has developed a link, which in turn may have caused the light to go out..... so my first question is this... is this covered under the Lexus 4 yr 50K mile warranty... now there's a little twist here.. In february I was involved in a very minor fender bender.. no metal damage on my car, just plastic parts on the grill / front end were damaged, including one of the light assemblies. I cannot for the life of me remember which light assembly was replaced by the body shop. I know they used a Lexus OEM part.. If the light that getting water inside the assembly is the one that the body shop installed, would I need to go thru the body shop to see if they will warranty it. I'll show my ignorance here.. since I know that water's getting in the light assembly, can they just replace a bulb.. replace the seal or will the whole thing have to be replaced. Curious because I remember hearing the oem lexus assembly was around 1500 bucks ( if you can believe that ) and an after market light assembly was about half of that... I'm thinking I probably should contact the body shop first and find out which light they replaced...if it's the one they did replace then pretty much expect them to make it right, correct? Your thoughts.

Poppa

 

I would first try to swap the bulb with the one on the driver side to see if the defective part is the bulb or the ballast. If it is the bulb, you can purchase a new OEM one for about $35 and replace it yourself. If the headlight assembly does not have any visible damage on the front, I would try to see how the water got into it from a car wash.

 

I would find out which light the body shop replaced and if it is the one with moisture, let them deal with it. If not, let the dealer deal with it under warranty. Do not wait as the clock is ticking.

 

well here's the latest update on my headlight. Turns out, the one that doesn't work is not the one the body shop put in last Feb. I still had the work order for the feb. repair and turns out they replaced the drivers side headlight assembly.. btw the cost for that puppy was a cool 1664.90 Unfortunately for me it is the passenger side that isn't working.. the only part of the light not working is the low beam... led's below the assembly, brights, turn signals all work fine.. So I called the dealership today, explained my situation about the headlight and that I still had 5 months factory warranty left and was only at 35k miles.. Service writer tells me that when I bring it in they will inspect the light assembly to see if it was damaged in any way ( rock chip / crack in the lens, etc. ) and they'll also check the seal ( since water is getting in the assembly ) for damage.. he then tells me ( with regard to the seal ) that he has never seen one fail yet.. He says if they can't find any "damage", then Lexus will replace the light under warranty... So to play it safe I drove it out to my buddy who owns a body shop.. been in biz. for 30 years.. he runs water over the light.. it took a few minutes but then you could see it starting to seep in.. In his opinion the seal has failed and he said it's easy enough to check by using soapy water and blowing air thru the assembly.. but he agrees with me... take it to Lexus and see what they determine. I'm just a little leary of dealerships, especially since not too long ago when I took my car in for service, they asked me if I wanted to change the fluid in the rear differential.. I declined the service since front wheel drive cars don't have rear differentials...when I mentioned that they said, oh i'm sorry I thought you have a hybrid... won't know anything about the light outcome for a couple of weeks... I'm just too booked up next week to take it in.. appointment to drop it off on sept. 28. Well see what happens...

Poppa

 

Was the accident large enough to affect both headlights? I guess I'm trying to find out if the body did replace one headlight with OEM parts, but really should have replaced both since the other one may have been compromised during the accident.

 

dchar makes a good point and I would second that. I recall you talking about the accident when it happen and maybe even pictures but of course I wouldn't have been able to see a broken light assembly that no one else saw. I think you mentioned your buddy did the work at that time. If the dealer finds damage from the accident they are not likely to be able to do anything for you but maybe the body shop could contact the insurance company for a "supplement" I believe they call it. I once had the grill assembly (which cost less than one of your headlights) replaced that way a relatively short time after the repair was done. But it was a couple of months or more I think.

The headlights on today's cars, not just Lexus, are really design elements of the car but so expensive. I remember when about the worse thing that could happen to a headlight was to break the "sealed beam" and a new light was maybe $5.

Dave Mac

 

That is a good point and I brought that question up to my buddy that owns the body shop. He said that it was certainly a possibility but he put the odds at slim.. primarily because it happened a little over 6 months ago and the water didn't start showing up in the lens til very recently. Also, from his inspection of the headlight assembly today, he said he couldn't find any "damage" to the light assembly or any damage to the seal, although he suspects the seal is failing since some water does get inside the plastic assembly.... guess I'll find something out week after next. You know, even if the assembly is damaged.. how in the world can anyone justify charging over 1600 bucks for a headlight assembly... heck, even the after market part was around 800...

Poppa

 

I see them on eBay for around $200. Just in case you need to go "out of pocket" and would like a cheaper option.

 

If it might be any consolation - the led strips in the 2016 Honda Accords are defective and they are replacing a lot of them under warranty - and think they may even have to extend the warranty time. I believe the customer-pay cost would be $1,200. Don't know about the ES but on the Honda the job requires removal of the front bumper.

Hopefully, if your body shop couldn't fine evidence of damage, your Lexus dealer won't either and they will just replace the headlight assembly under warranty.

Dave Mac

 

To answer someone else's question, the body shop did use an oem lexus headlight assembly.. Dave Mac, that's the same thought I'm trying to keep until I take the car to my lexus dealership... hopefully they won't see "any damage" and take care of it under warranty... and yes, I remember hearing my buddy the body shop yesterday saying something about if the entire headlight assembly has to replaced, they would have to loosen and pull the bumper out to do that.. However my buddy says since he cannot find any damage, he thinks it might be worth a try to just replace the low beam bulb and then put a clear sealer over the existing seal.. that is if Lexus won't do it under warranty... someone else mentioned I could get the entire assembly on Ebay for a couple of hundred bucks... Is that right.. is it an oem assembly.. That would certainly be something to explore IF the dealership says they won't repair it under warranty.

Poppa

 

Either the dealer should cover it under the warranty or the insurance company should cover it as part of the repair.

 

Well I was finally in town long enough to take my ES into the dealership to take a look at this headlight situation. Before I took it over, I ran a garden hose over the passenger side headlight assembly and sure enough after just a few minutes there was water in there and of course the low beam no longer was working. To be honest I was a bit concerned that the dealership was going to claim the headlight assembly was damaged ( rock chip or something else ) and therefore not covered under warranty.. I felt that way because the service writer told me that it was very rare for a headlight to have " structural failure ". Well it may be rare but it happened in my case. Dealership replaced the entire headlight assembly yesterday and did so under warranty--- thank goodness... those headlight assemblys are over 1600 bucks... anyway mine's been replaced and I'm still loving my matadore red ES..

Poppa

 

Awesome! Glad they took responsibility.