It was covered under warranty thankfully but was wondering if anybody else has had a problem with their HIDs.
HID headlight problem
Last week had to take my five month old Kizashi back to the dealer as the drivers side low beam hid stopped working. Turned out to be the ballast which meant they had to take off the front bumper. I was a bit disappointed given I've probably only used the headlights for about a couple of hundred klms.
It was covered under warranty thankfully but was wondering if anybody else has had a problem with their HIDs.
It was covered under warranty thankfully but was wondering if anybody else has had a problem with their HIDs.
Just keep in mind that the only people who have factory HIDs are the European Kizashi owners. Factory HIDs are not offered in the US or Canada and probably not in Australia either. I am not even sure if it's offered in Japan. I have HIDs, but they are aftermarket.
I've had ballast failure for one of my HID kits in the past in my former Mazda. It was for a high-end Japanese HID kit (not a cheap ebay Chinese type). One headlight would flicker and then not turn on sometimes. How I was able to tell that it was the ballast or igniter and not the bulb was by swapping bulbs with the side that worked. When I determined that both bulbs worked, then I knew it was the ballast or igniter.
Fortunately, my ballast/igniter was also covered by a 2 year warranty from the place I bought my kit. They sent me a new ballast and everything worked fine again.
I was going to swap the kit to my Kizashi because both cars use H7 bulbs for low beam, but when I test drove my Kizashi (it was pre-owned) I noticed that the previous owner had installed HIDs on the low beam and the fog lights. I was rather thrilled.
I ended up selling my Mazda with the HID kit in it.
I've had ballast failure for one of my HID kits in the past in my former Mazda. It was for a high-end Japanese HID kit (not a cheap ebay Chinese type). One headlight would flicker and then not turn on sometimes. How I was able to tell that it was the ballast or igniter and not the bulb was by swapping bulbs with the side that worked. When I determined that both bulbs worked, then I knew it was the ballast or igniter.
Fortunately, my ballast/igniter was also covered by a 2 year warranty from the place I bought my kit. They sent me a new ballast and everything worked fine again.
I was going to swap the kit to my Kizashi because both cars use H7 bulbs for low beam, but when I test drove my Kizashi (it was pre-owned) I noticed that the previous owner had installed HIDs on the low beam and the fog lights. I was rather thrilled.
I ended up selling my Mazda with the HID kit in it.
2025 Mazda CX-50 Preferred Hybrid
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Sold)
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Sold)
KuroNekko wrote:Just keep in mind that the only people who have factory HIDs are the European Kizashi owners. Factory HIDs are not offered in the US or Canada and probably not in Australia either. I am not even sure if it's offered in Japan. I have HIDs, but they are aftermarket.
The Prestige and Sports AWD model in Australia comes with factory HID.
Yes, they are factory fit here in Australia with only the bottom of the range model missing out on them.
They're great while they work, but expensive if things go wrong. Both the globes and ballast are expensive; plus there's a self leveling system built into them that can break. I had them on my previous car and didn't have any failures in 5 years. I did know of another vehicle which was the same model but a few years older, it had multiple ballast failures plus the leveling mechanism in the headlight broke.
They're great while they work, but expensive if things go wrong. Both the globes and ballast are expensive; plus there's a self leveling system built into them that can break. I had them on my previous car and didn't have any failures in 5 years. I did know of another vehicle which was the same model but a few years older, it had multiple ballast failures plus the leveling mechanism in the headlight broke.
David
Yes my Kizashi is the Aus Prestige version so the HIDs came standard. Must admit the anxiety levels were high waiting to find out if the dealer was going to try and charge me for the repairs or not. As I said thankfully it was covered under warranty.murcod wrote:Yes, they are factory fit here in Australia with only the bottom of the range model missing out on them.
They're great while they work, but expensive if things go wrong. Both the globes and ballast are expensive; plus there's a self leveling system built into them that can break. I had them on my previous car and didn't have any failures in 5 years. I did know of another vehicle which was the same model but a few years older, it had multiple ballast failures plus the leveling mechanism in the headlight broke.
I tend to think with cars becoming more and more expensive to fix more and more people will be keeping new cars for the warranty period then replacing them.
I stand corrected on Australian options for the Kizashi. Did not know HID was offered there until now.
I wouldn't worry too much about ballast failure with HIDs unless you have a cheap aftermarket kit from ebay. HID bulbs and ballasts tend to last a long time, but when they do fail, they cost a pretty penny to replace.
Given that replacing most of the normal incandescent bulbs requires the bumper and headlights to come off, having HID in the Kizashi is a benefit in my opinion as HID bulbs generally last much longer than incandescent bulbs.
I wouldn't worry too much about ballast failure with HIDs unless you have a cheap aftermarket kit from ebay. HID bulbs and ballasts tend to last a long time, but when they do fail, they cost a pretty penny to replace.
Given that replacing most of the normal incandescent bulbs requires the bumper and headlights to come off, having HID in the Kizashi is a benefit in my opinion as HID bulbs generally last much longer than incandescent bulbs.
2025 Mazda CX-50 Preferred Hybrid
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Sold)
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Sold)