Avalon - extremely expensive headlights

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jake75
Posts: 4792
Joined: Sun Feb 09, 2003 1:33 pm
Location: Columbus, OH

Avalon - extremely expensive headlights

Post by jake75 »

Be afraid - very afraid!!! My brother has a 2008 Avalon - bought new 5.5 yrs ago, 67,000 miles. One of the headlights lost the low beam. Well, the headlight units are sealed - have to replace the entire assembly. The part cost is over $1,200. When one goes, the other is probably not far behind. There was a TSB on this - Toyota extended the warranty to 5 years or 72,000 miles - if one or both failed they would replace both at no charge. But it's been 5.5 years. The dealer did not think there was any chance that Toyota would extend that to a car over 5 years. My bother owns two Highlanders, one bought just a year ago, and has driven Avalons since they were first introduced. He got a call that Toyota had offered to replace both headlight assembly units for $500 total (instead of $2,500). Still, who would have suspected that a company would design/build a car that you can't just replace a headlight bulb? [I suspect the $500 covered the actual cost to Toyota of those two assemblies.]
2009 Vibe 1.8L Carbon Gray AT Power Pkg 1/12/092003 Vibe 1.8L Neptune AT Mono Power Pkg 1/27/03 [sold 2/2/09]2007 T&C SWB 7/31/07 "Broke people stay broke by living like they're rich. Rich people stay rich by living like they're broke."
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Chiadog
Posts: 971
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:41 am
Location: Abrams, wisconsin

Re: Avalon - extremely expensive headlights

Post by Chiadog »

Edmunds group claims the bulbs ARE individually replaceable and that Toyota replaces the entire headlight assembly to avoid messing with the broken BULB glass inside the unit. Sounds like a simple fix for about $100 per light.
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f1115dc
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