09 Camry Headlight Assembly burned

[George350]

I don’t drive much at night and I don’t have use for the headlight for most of the time. But today I was driving home and I turned on the lights and I felt like the right side was weak. I was home and I went out to look and there was smell of burned rubber and smoke coming out. I immediately opened the hood and I notice the light bulb came out its housing and was dangling.. The heat produced from the light *Hid* started to melt the housing.. I disconnected the wiring and already the bulb melted thru a good amount.



Here is the tricky part, I was in last week at the dealer doing my scheduled service and one of the things they did was, they found a bulb wasn’t working so they changed it… I have not opened my hood since that day, and before i went in my bulb was working perfectly fine. There is no way the right side was loose.. Do I have a claim with the dealer or am I stuck on my own? How much is the right side assembly for the 09 hybrid?

[bandit]

Is there documentation that they touched the bulb on the right side? If so, you may have a claim. At the same time, they could put the blame on the HID becoming loose on its own. Since its an aftermarket part, they may not cover it.

You can get the right headlight from a junk yard or eBay (search for "camry right headlight hybrid") for cheap. Probably under $120. Dealership would charge you probably $200+

[George350]

Originally Posted by dcemureviews

Is there documentation that they touched the bulb on the right side? If so, you may have a claim. At the same time, they could put the blame on the HID becoming loose on its own. Since its an aftermarket part, they may not cover it.

You can get the right headlight from a junk yard or eBay (search for "camry right headlight hybrid") for cheap. Probably under $120. Dealership would charge you probably $200+

The only documentation says a light bulb was changed, but it doesn’t say which one. They replaced all the fluids and was in the hood so that’s the only claim I have, as I didn’t open the hood. And there is no damage to the outer housing to say some sort of forced impact loosened the bulb.

[11LE]

Hold on a minute... a bulb wasn't working so they changed it? Last I remember, they don't go changing HID's because they're aftermarket. Maybe it was a highbeam/drl halogen they swapped, but in the process took out the wrong bulb (maybe the hid lowbeam) and forgot to put it back in.

That's all I can think of.. go have a go at that claim though! And maybe change your HID's back to halogens, but then they'd see the bulb is clean and plastic free..

[George350]

I don’t know which bulb they changed.. When I opened up the hood tonight, the bulb was out and melted into low beam housing. Only way that can happen is someone touched it during the service and didn't properly refit it.. I know for a fact it can only go in a certain way and it is tricky if you don’t know how to put it back in.

[bandit]

You have an option, try and submit a claim and see if they will replace it or you'll have to fork out the cash for a new headlight. Knowing businesses and trying to keep losses down and pass it on to customers, they'll blame it on the HID and that its aftermarket. No descriptive information as to what bulb was replaced so you can't prove it. They could just say that they never touched it and it was like that.

[George350]

All I have is this 00234-00194 and goggling it says it is a side marker

[11LE]

Guess they changed the sidemarker bulb but while in there took out the low beam bulb in process of elimination and failed to reinstall it correctly. CLAIM IT