The NYC suburban area is experiencing rampant thefts of RX300/330 xenon headlamps -- like HUNDREDS.
Anyone else experiencing this problem?
The goal is is to make Lexus re-design the headlamp/balllast assembly to
make theft more difficult -- or to offer an after-makrket fix.
Any stories appreciated
As in
$10,000 to fix a fender!!!!
Yes. The headlights were removed from my RX300 in less than 2 minutes (I know because it was the time that it took to leave the gas grill get the chicken and return to the gas grill). The repair was nearly $9,000 due to the interconnectedness of the lights and the airbag sensors and the electrical wiring harness. Redesigning the headlamp/ballast I think would just create more damage when the headlights were removed and thus more repair costs. I'm planning to trade my RX300 for an 05 Highlander Hybrid that doesn't have xenon or high intensity (blue) lamps. Lexus lost me as a customer. I know they didn't know this was going to happen, but the fact that their 05 models have the high intensity headlamps means I won't be buying Lexus.
J Golden :
Personally, I *like* the HID lights...a lot. How did the damage come out to $9,000? How were the bulbs removed that would cause that much damage? Just curious.
Also, as HID's become cheaper (they will), their popularity will go up. I envision that in the not too distant future, most, if not all cars will have HID lights. Once the cost of these lights goes down, so will the need to steal them.
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