How can changing my headlight cost $1000.00? It did on my 2014 Cadillac CTS VSport, the ballast and the bulb needed replacement and required the front fascia being R&R.
Dealer Pricing? from some reading you more likely needed both and it’s not unheard of to have to pull the front fascia to get to the headlights on newer cars. Looking at an online parts catalog each side is about $450 for the bulb and ballast at dealer retail. Hid’s and Xenon lights cost much more to replace than the old school bulbs.
Yeah must be HID. Very nice but very expensive. I had one go out but it was covered under warranty. 20,000 volts. Otherwise it would have been approaching that cost. Now LEDs are just as bright and not as costly I don’t think.
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Sounds about right for dealer repair on an HID headlight. It you really want to make your eyes water, price out the replacement cost for a rear tailight/turn signal for a Cadillac XLR.
Yep, A number of years ago I was considering buying a used Lincoln LSC, then I came across information of the cost replacing the headlights on those, no LSC for me.
My 2008 Avalon had a problem with headlights exploding when using the high beam. The solution was to replace the assembly with different units, and the dealer wanted about that same amount for each side. I saved $ by doing the replacement myself but it still was not cheap. Welcome to 21st century engineering.
I think we need to start a whole topic with “unexpectedly ridiculous expensive replacement costs” such as these so that people will steer clear of these cars.
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Don’t use automatic headlights if you park inside or under a tree and you want your HID bulbs to last longer. They suffer a big blow to longevity if they’re turned on and off within a short time, which is what happens when the auto lights think it’s too dark because you’re in the garage, and then you pull out into the sunshine.
Every modern car has something that’s ultra expensive to replace. And old cars nickel-and-dime you to death. Can’t win for losin’!
But if you do your research you can often put off having to replace those expensive parts. I sold my old TL when it was 13 years old and was well north of 100,000 miles, and I’d never replaced the headlights, or any other light for that matter.
$1000 per headlight?
I can totally imagine Caddy dealer charging that much.
I had Subaru replacing quite a low-tech [yet "modern’] headlight on me few miles after warranty lapsed with 50/50 split and I ended up shelling out $350 to them…
so, if it’s dealer who asks for $1000 - I would not be surprised
Rockauto wants a grand or more if they’re HID.
Tester
The HID bulb is $310, the ballast is $165. I have replaced HID ballasts that were more than $500.
That’s for the whole assembly. The OP only needed the bulb and ballast.
I got the impression that it was for the ignitor and bulb. The ignitor is not cheap.
How can changing my headlight cost $1000.00? It did on my 2014 Cadillac CTS VSport, the ballast and the bulb needed replacement and required the front fascia being R&R.
The ballast is sometimes refer to as an ignitor, Toyota calls it a Headlight ECU.
Well if you need it I guess, hard to fathom.
I just figured it might be a terminology thing. On my Acura one started to flicker. They wouldn’t fix a flicker but only if it went out. Then it was a question of the ignitor or the bulb. Big bucks if the ignitor and needed to have the light go out while under warranty. Just the bulb. I won but I think the ignitor was in the range of $700 for one side. It wasn’t really clear to me what was included in the Rock headlights.
Headlights have been getting pretty expensive for quite a few years now and a Cadillac is no exception to the rule.
Servicing those lamps has also gotten more complex and the days of a couple of Phillips screws are pretty much gone.
It was stated that the front fascia had to be removed and with labor rates at 100 an hour or much more it adds up quickly.
The price may be distasteful but that is not the fault of the dealer service department.
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Should get even more interesting before too long. Apparently the next trend will be very thin strips. In fact they’re already heading that way in the current crop of cars:
And there are concepts that would make them even thinner:
Interesting. I see used ballasts, bulbs, igniters for $50-100. If you feel like a diy effort.