Thread: Replace DIC bulbs??

Originally Posted by SDGTP99

-BTW, it's easier to get yourself to a salvage yard and buy a used DIC than to waste time replacing bulbs. Used DIC's are cheap.

That sounds good in theory, but I am not so sure. I did that route too, and while the unit might be cheap, so are the bulbs (I think I paid about the same or slightly more for the used DIC than for all the replacement bulbs for both units).

The other issues I see are that most of them from a yard have the same problem and you end up doing bulbs anyway (and if you are worried about time you would be crazy to put an unknown unit back in the car not knowing how good it is and how long the bulbs in it would last), you know the history of yours and not the junkyard unit, the parts store is probably closer than the junkyard (and the bulbs probably have a warranty), and the time to change the bulbs is not an issue--it takes much more time to pull the unit from the car than to change the bulbs out of the unit once removed from the car (which must happen anyway).

From my perspective the way to save time is do it right the first time. This can be done with a junkyard unit or your own (assuming both are working properly), but I personally wouldn't put either back in the car without new bulbs (they are probably 10+ years old for hell sakes). Same line of thinking why you replace a water pump when you do a timing belt (not on our cars obviously, but the majority of FWD cars)--the time is not in changing the pump itself, it is in the labor to get to it.