Complaint 446902

Complaint Summary

EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS

Owner Narrative

I PURCHASED A NEW 1998 GMC ENVOY (VEHICLE IS BASED UPON THE GMC S-10 "JIMMY" MODEL) IN JANUARY 1999. THE VEHICLE AS OF 12/2003 HAS ONLY 15,400 MILES. FROM TIME TO TIME THE RIGHT HIGH INTENSITY DISCHARGE ("HID") LAMP DOES NOT FUNCTION AND THE VEHICLE OPERATES WITH ONLY ONE HEADLIGHT AT NIGHT. INITIALLY, I SOUGHT TO HAVE THE RIGHT SIDE HID LAMP REPLACED BUT AFTER DOING A SIGNFICANT AMOUNT OF RESEARCH DISCOVERED THAT THE MANUFACTURER OF THIS PARTICULAR HID LAMP NO LONGER PRODUCES IT AND THERE ARE NO AVAILABLE "LIKE-KIND" REPLACEMENTS ON THE AFTER-MARKET. GIVEN THE SPECIFIED USAGE HOURS FOR HID LAMPS, THIS TYPE OF HID LAMP MAY BE LATENTLY DEFECTIVE AS THERE ARE MANY REPORTS OF THIS PROBLEM, PARTICULARLY CONCERNING THE PASSENGER SIDE HID LAMP. FURTHER, OWNERS/OPERATORS OF VEHICLES WITH THIS TYPE OF HID SYSTEM WILL NOT KNOW OF THIS HEADLIGHT SAFETY PROBLEMS (E.G. DEFECTIVE LAMPS THAT DO NOT HAVE AN HOURLY USE LIFE AS SPECIFIED AND INABILITY OF GMC/MANUFACTURER TO PROVIDE AN ADEQUATE SUBSTITUTE) UNTIL YEARS AFER PURCHASING A VEHICLE. PRELIMINARY RESEARCH ALSO INDICATES THAT WHILE A "RETRO-FIT" MAY BE POSSIBLE, THE COST OF SUCH ACTION FOR BOTH HID LAMPS IS IN EXCESS OF $1,200 AND IN SOME INSTANCES A MODIFICATION OF A SAFETY SYSTEM (NIGHT TIME DRIVING LIGHTS) ON A VEHICLE MAY BE PROHIBITED BY STATE LAW. *AK

Owner-submitted narrative on file with NHTSA. Complaint narratives are self-reported and have not been verified.