I have a MK2 2013 Superb Elegance (facelift) with Xenon lights. Dunno if they are Bi-Xenon or Xenon.

 

I'm getting the Drivers side Dipped Headlight warning message. Plus light wasn't working. Dunno which light, but not the side light, it was still working. Anyway, left it with mechanic to replace bulb. But replacing the bulb didn't fix it. Mechanic checked the wiring but couldn't get to bottom of problem.

 

Mechanic has told me it needs new headlight but Skoda are looking £1200 for that. Mechanic is trying to source an alternative from a scrapyard.

 

But now I see some posts.on this forum and the word ballast, which i have never heard before regarding headlights.

 

I'm hoping my car is a ballast problem. Can anyone provide some guidance as to how I should proceed.

 

 

Meanwhile any gifted folks out there should think about setting up a business reconditioning broken xenon headlights. £800 in mainland Europe for left hand drive versions. And £1200 for UK and Ireland. They are like hens teeth in a breakers yard

Easiest way to determine if the ballast is definitely the cause of fault is to swap the two ballasts around, if the fault follows the suspect ballasts to other headlamp then the ballasts is definitely the issue.  If the fault stays where it is then the fault lies elsewhere.

Ta muchly.

 

Mechanic says he has checked the ballast and that is not the fault.

 

Hoping someone else has a solution that doesn't equate to a £1200 replacement unit.

 

What could other options be.......

a) downgrade to standard non-xenon lights?

b) Find someone who can repair xenon lights?

c) is there an aftermarket alternative? I see Hella mentioned. Is this a brand name? Are they independant from Skoda? Their part numbers on their website do not resemble the part number I need.

3T2 941 018H

Apparently the 3rd digit in the part number signifies the beam dot pattern for Right Hand Drive or Left Hand Drive. 2 is Right Hand Drive

1 is Left Hand Drive.

I believe if I buy a LHD unit, then I will fail MOT on the beam dot pattern.

 

Any ideas?

£1200 for a replacement headlight on an 11yo car is extortion. Car is valued at £5k fully running. There is no way that  2 xenon headlights amount to half the value of the car

 

16 hours ago, lullable said:

Ta muchly.

 

Mechanic says he has checked the ballast and that is not the fault.

 

Hoping someone else has a solution that doesn't equate to a £1200 replacement unit.

 

What could other options be.......

a) downgrade to standard non-xenon lights?

b) Find someone who can repair xenon lights?

c) is there an aftermarket alternative? I see Hella mentioned. Is this a brand name? Are they independant from Skoda? Their part numbers on their website do not resemble the part number I need.

3T2 941 018H

Apparently the 3rd digit in the part number signifies the beam dot pattern for Right Hand Drive or Left Hand Drive. 2 is Right Hand Drive

1 is Left Hand Drive.

I believe if I buy a LHD unit, then I will fail MOT on the beam dot pattern.

 

Any ideas?

£1200 for a replacement headlight on an 11yo car is extortion. Car is valued at £5k fully running. There is no way that  2 xenon headlights amount to half the value of the car

 

Hella are just a manufacturer that makes copy/OEM parts including lighting.  See https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/468988-nearside-xenon-headlight-unit-needed-for-rhd-superb-ii/ which discusses the Hella part numbers equivalent to the genuine Skoda part numbers and also potential downgrade to halogen headlamps.  Even then the Hella parts still make a hole in a grand and a quick web search shows none in stock at moment - https://www.autodoc.co.uk/car-parts/oem/3t2941018h?search=OEN+3T2941018H.  And the downgrade to halogen would also be uneconomical.

 

Unfortunately having a component failure that is essentially uneconomical to repair is the downside of running a relatively old but still electronically complex car, so called bangernomics.  

 

All that said, I'm not convinced that the issue here can be a failed headlamp unit.  Whilst the headlamps are hugely complex bits of engineering (hence the cost) that's mostly to do with the mechanism that swivels the beam up and down and left to right for the AFS functionality (https://www.skoda.co.uk/discover/advanced-light-systems) and the bi-xenon function that flips the output between low and high mean.  I can't see how a failed headlamp would cause the xenon bulb to not ignite.  How has your mechanic tested the ballast to confirm it's OK?  Did they do the suggested ballast swap?  Is it possible to swap headlamps around to see if fault follows the headlamp (not sure if enough slack in wiring harness to reach the swapped headlamp which obviously won't fit on wrong side?)  What error codes do a VCDS or similar scan show?  Such a scan should be the first step of troubleshooting any fault on these cars and will hopefully narrow down where the fault actually lies.

Thank you @DrCorbyLee for taking the time to compose such a comprehensive reply. I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

 

I'm gonna copy and paste your response to mechanic and see what he says.

 

I'll keep you posted

On 13/02/2025 at 23:15, lullable said:

Thank you @DrCorbyLee for taking the time to compose such a comprehensive reply. I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

 

I'm gonna copy and paste your response to mechanic and see what he says.

 

I'll keep you posted

Do you have any updates per now?