In regards to aftermarket bulbs burning out OEM wires, this does happen quite a bit, although rare with HID, it is very common. Two ways this can happen, one the wattage and "power draw" (amp) is higher than what the OEM wires can handle, hence the fry, or second - the bulb itself isnt built that well and ends up shorting out, which in return puts a load on the wires / harness / plug and you have problems galore that can make their way as far as into the inside of your ride. Now once again, with HID's it is rare that this will happen due to their low wattage, but it is quite possible, and it's just one of those pot-luck things that happens to some and not to others.

Now about your lights working and then not and then working again after you put the OEM back in, you could have still screwed up the connector and have the light work, but without seeing it first hand, I can't say much on that, but if thats what the dealer said, thats probably what happen, and if he installed your lights back in (even for a charge) and down the road something happend, he'll need to fix again, so to cover his rear, he needs to make sure what he's going to do is the right fix, the first time.

I'm not one to take side with a dealership or anything like that, but having worked in such an enviroment (BMW) and been there first hand, I know all too well where the guy at your service center was coming from...

You have to understand, sometimes there are problems you simply cant see, and I understand your point of view, thinking what could a simple light bulb swap do, but from what you're saying, and the events at which things happened (bulbs worked, then they didnt, then you went back to oem), something got screwed up!

An attitude from anyone, specially the service center is NEVER warranted, but there's two sides to every story, so I can't shoot them down, but what I can say is (know from experience) from what you claim happened to your car, from what you did - and what the service center told you, it's not unheard off and yes it could happen and be 100% true...

 

I just took my car in for it's 7500 service and I went to a Nissan dealer insyead of the Infiniti dealer. I gotta say I lioked my experience alot better and it was $105 cheaper!

 

i have a better explaination for this, before infiniti launched the g35 and the fx series, most people drove infiniti were middle-aged men and house wives(i30, i35, q45, qx45 etc) who were just taking the sa's word for it , so the services advisors were used to playing them dumb and probably would never had to deal with modded cars, but now we have a group of younger more knowledgable customers show up at their doorstep and they're having a difficult time to deal with the new customers. advise to infiniti of na, time to retrain those services advisors or hire new ones cuz the customers are changing and so should the service department.

 

i agreed.

 

I just had my car serviced today too but have to say that Infiniti Service Department is ****tier than that of Hondas. They are always slow, don't know jack sh*t. I swear, they will never become like Lexus if they keep doing this. I probably know more sh*t than the service manager. Service manager is not a manager anyway, just a writer. I had one guy who asked me how to fix the radio instead of them know. It's like what kind of fuc*in sh*t is that?
Infiniti makes nice cars but with all these problems with the car its selft and the service department, it really make me think twice about getting one.

 

I also agree I must have misunderstood. I thought he meant that there is now something wrong with his OEM lights I did read it kind of fast.

 

Thank for the support..

I would like to clarify a few things:

1)The service director did not refuse to work on my car, he was just trying to tell me it is most likely the connectors burn out and it is my fault

2)I was trying to install the bulbs back by myself, but for some reason I dont seem to be able to take out the bulb.. and some yellow wire was loose from nowhere.. under such circumstance, I prefer to take it back to Infiniti to have them inspected rather than taking back to my shop because shop tech may not be total professional in infiniti/nissan in such details.

3)My XTEK is about a year (according to the manufacturer, ballast is one year warranty and bulb is 5 yrs!!!!).

I have some updates:
I went to a friendly shop called 2020 in city of industry, CA, and they did a full dissembly (take out my front bumper, take out my headlight unit) and installed my OEM bulbs. Guess, what, they work fine!!!!! I know it is never the connector problem. Someone in this forum ever said there are always fuses to protect electrical surge. I don't think connectors can be so easily burnt, especially the bulbs are brand-recognized.

I would say there are a certain amount of G owner in Japan that mod their cars like crazy. I do not think cars are designed just to equip everything OEM. Even by law, dealors need to "prove" that it is the aftermarket part that causes the problem before they can even void your warranty.

Look at what SCION is going after? Cars with characteristics. SCION is made to make changes based on personal preferences. I believe there is something that most Japanese Imports inherit - a privlage to mod your car in your way without losing a leg and an arm like German cars. Imagine no one can modify their cars... all car online communities, including this forum, would be bored like h*ll and that makes my life bored like h*ll!!!


I called Infiniti HQ and filed a complaint. In addition, I called Infiniti of M**clair and talked to their Sales Manager, who said he would forward my info to the GM. I really don't know whether these guys would give a damn about how I feel... But when I feel supportive people in this forum, I am relieved. Thank you all!!!


At last but not least, in another post I talked about not only my HID bulbs, but also my side marker, and my OEM spoiler lights are dying. This happened after 15k miles maintenance service. I highly suspect that during the maintenance that something might have gone wrong and burn a few fuses... I will keep you guys posted!!!

 

sorry to hear about that ..

 

either way, the service people didnt have to be rude. Damn, Infiniti are trying to compete with Lexus and Merc, come on now?? I actually go to Montclair sometimes and they're pretty kickback with me, but I left my car overnight and when I picke dit up from them, there were spots all over it, they said it was a paint defect and to take it back to glendale where I bought it from. Turns out, it was birdcrap that messed up the paint while it was sitting in their lot.

 

That sux... Maybe you can go to Costa Mesa (although I think they do lousy jobs on maintenance, for oil change ok, but definitely not for the big maintenance) because they've got a 2 floor parking structure

 

Gotta love having Grubbs Infiniti sponsoring our club!