Was I burned and not even KNOW it?

I purchased some headlamps from a local auto store, not a chain. They are usually busy, but not too busy. someone is usually in buying something.

Anyway, I purchased two low beam headlamps, and the box was WAGNER, the headlamps were Phillips? or maybe it was Philips (only one l)

So are Wagner headlamps made by Phillips? or did someone "replace" the wagner bulb with a wrong brand, and I got to be the rube?

thanks

Reply to
NoName
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You're fine, don't worry about it. The majors (Sylvania, GE, Philips, Wagner) buy and sell amongst one another all the time, especially (but not exclusively) on slower-moving items. Philips quit making sealed beams years ago. They still sell them...GE sealed beams in Philips boxes! And most of Wagner's European-type bulbs are German-made Narva units.

DS

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

I can't speak for Wagner and Phillips, but it is not unusual to get parts interchanged like that without hanky-panky going on in the supply chain. Sometimes it's because the parts are literally made in one factory and packaged for several "manufacturers" (third-party labeling), and sometimes, as in the case of TRW and Moog, it's because they both are the same company even though the parts are actually way different than each other. I discovered that if you order sway bar end links for an LH car under the TRW brand, you are just as likely to get a TRW part and a Moog part - ordered qty. of two of the same part - the boxes are labeled as TRW, same part number, same artwork, same printing, only difference being one box says "made in USA", other says "made in Mexico". The parts are two entirely different designs (one has grease fittings, the other is not, and they look completely different), but are interchanged in the aftermarket supply system. Others have had the same experience with that particular part, so mine was not a fluke.

If you got one and one, do they look like the same part other than markings (i.e., they were made in the same factory - either that or there may be some onwership or marketing consolidation agreements between the two companies)?

DS ought to know the answer on this one.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my adddress with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Bill Putney: "DS ought to know the answer on this one." Do I lie? 8^)

I guess when that goes on, a part has truly reached the level of a "commodity". So much for brand distinction, eh?

(OT) In the case of the LH car sway bar end links, some people get irritated about it because they are dead set on getting the "Problem Solver?" Moog part with grease fittings vs. the TRW OEM part (no zerks). What some are doing is ordering the part number until they get two of whichever one they are really wanting. (No one really knows if one part lasts any longer than the other. Me - I don't care - I have the Moog on the passenger side and the TRW on the driver's side.)

And Philips (lamps) only has one 'L" - I wondered about that. The screwdriver has two.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my adddress with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Well, so much for the righteous moral indignation the US Government used to display when companies sneezed in each other's direction. In the 1970s when auto exhaust emission regulations were tightening up faster than most individual car companies could keep up and still keep their heads above water, the US automakers wanted to put together an emissions control consortium that would pool the various companies' resources and talent to speed and streamline research and development of emission control technology. The Japanese were doing just that, as were the Europeans. "Absolutely NOT!" shrieked the US Feds. "That would be a gross, stinking, putrid, sinful violation of antitrust laws!".

*shakes head*

The laxative also has two.

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

I think the REAL burn was the outrageous PRICE for each bulb. I think it was $16 or something. Seems to me a commodity 9005XS low beam headlamp should be about HALF that. Well, "China-Mart" has them for about $7.99 and the two packs for about $15.

One of the reasons I went TO that shop, was that they were very local AND I like to buy at non-big box stores. But what a premium!! especially considering that the bulb(s) were made offshore. OUCH!.

Reply to
NoName

Except that 9005XS isn't a commodity bulb. It's more like an "oddity" bulb. Chrysler likes them a lot; scarcely anyone else does (GM uses them on a couple of models). As a result, there are very few good upgrade options for them.

Who made the bulbs you bought?

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

I am pretty sure it was Philips (only ONE l ) heh heh without removing the headlamp assembly and checking.

They CAME in a Wagner cardboard box, with no 'shrink wrap' ANYONE could have put ANY bulb in that bag, though it WAS the one that fit...and works..

Reply to
NoName

Ummm...

...assuming you got an ultra-rare-because-nonexistent German-made Philips-made bulb, you would object to this as (implicitly inferior) "overseas" manufactured product because...?

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Unbeknownst to ME, I sort of figured that if I paid $16 for a Wagner bulb (the size of which I can buy at China-Mart for about $6-$7), I might just get a bulb with WAGNER on it. It would be very "cost effective" for a shop to get bulb boxes from an outside source, put an inexpensive bulb in it, and then sell it for twice as much as retail from a deep discounter. I don't care if the bulb is made by GE, or Philips, Wagner, LUX SIT, or Edison Bulbworks. I am NOT terribly informed about many brands. Having said THAT

Reply to
NoName

Chrysler specializes in engineering goofy headlamp assemblies that are a pain to service, don't perform well and use hard-to-find bulbs. The reason your particular lamps are such a hassle to service is that they were engineered as a kludge fix for the truly awful headlamps fitted to the '96-'97 T&C and the '96-'00 Caravan/Voyager (all the same lamp). Guess the complaints of people who buy Chryslers count more than the same complaints of people who buy Dodges and Plymouths.

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Heh heh heh. I hear that.

Here's a 'completely' different question, on a 91 Dodge Caravan. Headlights on the OUTSIDE seem to have had a 'coating' or something on them. its partially coming off, and makes the lights look dull (during the daytime), though my son followed me for a while last night, and they seemed to be pretty bright.

Is there something I could DO that would replace the 'film' on the headlights? or to remove the 'raggedy' looking stuff that is peeling off?

Sorry to change subjects in mid flame against Chrysler/Dodge..... Thanks in advance for any info.

Reply to
NoName

They always have -- a hardcoat that protects the polycarbonate lens material underneath from being scratched. Like cheap car paint, it oxidizes, dulls and chalks-up over the years. You can polish these lenses a couple times before they're completely dead, IF the degradation isn't too severe. Use a good grade of car polish (not rubbing compound!) such as Meguiars Body Scrub or blue-label TR3. It'll take some elbow grease. If the coating is flaking and peeling, the lenses *are* dead-dead-dead and you need new headlamps.

If you're trying to *see* in the '91, put in headlamp relays. Chrysler's headlamp wiring sucks.

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Thanks for the info. I will give the car polish (not rubbing compound) a try. the coating is flaking, so I suspect your right. However, when I drive the car, I can see well enough, but not as nice as on my wife's T&C. Since THAT car still has nice clear and shiny lens, should the TR3 or Mequiars be used on IT, or wait till the lenses start to be less clear. Also have a '94 Taurus whose headlight lens is crystal clear and shiny. On the 91 Caravan, it almost looks like the lens have been 'sandblasted'. The clear PLASTIC lens for the reflector part of the assembly is nice and clear/shiny. Is it the heat from the headlamps which hasten the decomposition of that polycarbonate coating???

Reply to
NoName

Wait.

Mostly UV exposure from sunlight

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

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