I think so, dealer disagrees, haven't called customer service yet...I had a light burn out, low beam, costs $20 for light, $100 for labor. Figured it was warranty, esp. since they paid for a different burnout about six months ago, but said that they should not have paid out previously. I cannot believe that you can buy a X-fire, have the headlight burn out the next day, and it's not under warranty. Not listed as one of the covered items like brakes or wiper blades for 12K miles, therefore should be up to 36K miles. The dealer is claiming that the light bulb falls under 'maintenance' I said that those maintenance bulbs are the tiny bulbs that go with lighting various systems, not a high performance head light bulb. Any thoughts, or has this come up with anyone else?

Thanks,

Mike

 

The short answer is that it is not covered. According to the Crossfire warranty paragraph 3.3, "Maintenance Costs Not Covered", "bulbs" are specifically listed. Unless the cost to replace a bulb was the result of another repair it is not a warranty item. Not what you wanted to hear I'm sure, but they've got it in writing in their favor.

If you were burning out bulbs in the same position repeatedly, or were burning out numerous bulbs around the vehicle it would be indicative of an electrical problem which would likely be covered under the warranty. But for a couple bulbs, it is seen as routine part replacement.

 

Bulbs have never been covered under warranty (to my knowledge) unless they were proven blown by something specifically covered.

 

That sounds REAL EXPENSIVE to me! Go to your local auto parts store and buy a bulb (NAPA list them for $13.99) and replace the bulb yourself. Even the most mechanically-challenged members of this forum should be able to do it in less than 15 minutes.

 

are you kidding me... $100?? changing out a headlight bulb shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. go to your local auto barn or pep boys and buy an H7 bulb; change it out yourself for less than $20.

it has to be easier to go to the auto parts store than going to the dealer for these kinds of things --

 

I wanted to address this. Most dealerships have a 30 day used car warranty on cars. I don't know if this would help but most people do not know this about used cars.

 

I swore off pep boys, so I already paid the $120 bucks...the dealer and a friend of mine says it is a real pain to install bulbs in the head lights, that's the reason for the price. I say the 'bulb' mention under maintenance, are not geared towards head lights, but to the tiny bulbs that are through the car, in my opinion. If it is maintenance, then it would be something that my upkeep affected, and there is no way for me to prevent a bulb burnout I think.

Mike

 

a bulb by definition is a lamp enclosed in glass. headlamps are bulbs. i'm sure the warranty is carefully worded by chrysler. they didn't say little bulbs. you'd think that it wouldn't be a big deal for them to just warranty all the bulbs for three years but they have specifically excluded them. it could be that they expect some will go bad and they just don't want to spend the time or money to replace them. they might also avoid warranting bulbs and fuses because they are probably the most common issues found during state safety inspections. and when people have safety inspections done it usually makes sense to just let the inspection station perform the repair. chrysler probably wants to avoid having to deal with or deny customer claims for repairs that were performed by third parties.

 

He's either lying to you or he's never actually changed a Crossfire headlamp before because it's ridiculously easy. Open the hood and look at the back of the headlamp. You'll see a little rubber dust cap. Grab the tab and pull it off. Reach into the back of the headlamp pull the wiring harness connector straight off. Disengage the spring clip (it's hinged so you won't lose it) and pull the lamp out. Reverse the procedure to re-install. Total elapsed time: about 5 min per side.

 

Bob is on the money. Dealer told me the exact story, $20 and $100 as it "was a full hour of difficulty" and "they don't make them serviceable anymore". The first time took me 15 minutes with the learning curve. When the other side went it was less than 5 minutes.

 

Any bulb is covered by warranty for the first 12 mo or 12,000 miles. after that it is customer pay. And to my knowledge you have to remove the headlight assembly to do this. I removed mine to install fog lights and it is not easy to do.