Was I burned and not even KNOW it?

I purchased some headlamps from a local auto store, not a chain. They are
usually busy, but not too busy. someone is usually in buying something.

Anyway, I purchased two low beam headlamps, and the box was WAGNER, the
headlamps were Phillips? or maybe it was Philips (only one l)

So are Wagner headlamps made by Phillips? or did someone "replace" the
wagner bulb with a wrong brand, and I got to be the rube?

thanks

 

You're fine, don't worry about it. The majors (Sylvania, GE, Philips,
Wagner) buy and sell amongst one another all the time, especially (but not
exclusively) on slower-moving items. Philips quit making sealed beams
years ago. They still sell them...GE sealed beams in Philips boxes! And
most of Wagner's European-type bulbs are German-made Narva units.

DS

 

I can't speak for Wagner and Phillips, but it is not unusual to get
parts interchanged like that without hanky-panky going on in the supply
chain. Sometimes it's because the parts are literally made in one
factory and packaged for several "manufacturers" (third-party labeling),
and sometimes, as in the case of TRW and Moog, it's because they both
are the same company even though the parts are actually way different
than each other. I discovered that if you order sway bar end links for
an LH car under the TRW brand, you are just as likely to get a TRW part
and a Moog part - ordered qty. of two of the same part - the boxes are
labeled as TRW, same part number, same artwork, same printing, only
difference being one box says "made in USA", other says "made in
Mexico". The parts are two entirely different designs (one has grease
fittings, the other is not, and they look completely different), but are
interchanged in the aftermarket supply system. Others have had the same
experience with that particular part, so mine was not a fluke.

If you got one and one, do they look like the same part other than
markings (i.e., they were made in the same factory - either that or
there may be some onwership or marketing consolidation agreements
between the two companies)?

DS ought to know the answer on this one.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')

 

Bill Putney: "DS ought to know the answer on this one." Do I lie? 8^)

I guess when that goes on, a part has truly reached the level of a
"commodity". So much for brand distinction, eh?

(OT) In the case of the LH car sway bar end links, some people get
irritated about it because they are dead set on getting the "Problem
Solver™" Moog part with grease fittings vs. the TRW OEM part (no zerks).
What some are doing is ordering the part number until they get two of
whichever one they are really wanting. (No one really knows if one part
lasts any longer than the other. Me - I don't care - I have the Moog on
the passenger side and the TRW on the driver's side.)

And Philips (lamps) only has one 'L" - I wondered about that. The
screwdriver has two.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')

 

Well, so much for the righteous moral indignation the US Government used
to display when companies sneezed in each other's direction. In the 1970s
when auto exhaust emission regulations were tightening up faster than most
individual car companies could keep up and still keep their heads above
water, the US automakers wanted to put together an emissions control
consortium that would pool the various companies' resources and talent to
speed and streamline research and development of emission control
technology. The Japanese were doing just that, as were the Europeans.
"Absolutely NOT!" shrieked the US Feds. "That would be a gross, stinking,
putrid, sinful violation of antitrust laws!".

*shakes head*

The laxative also has two.

 

I think the REAL burn was the outrageous PRICE for each bulb. I think it
was $16 or something.
Seems to me a commodity 9005XS low beam headlamp should be about HALF that.
Well, "China-Mart" has them for about $7.99 and the two packs for about $15.

One of the reasons I went TO that shop, was that they were very local AND I
like to buy at non-big box stores. But what a premium!! especially
considering that the bulb(s) were made offshore. OUCH!.

 

Except that 9005XS isn't a commodity bulb. It's more like an "oddity"
bulb. Chrysler likes them a lot; scarcely anyone else does (GM uses them
on a couple of models). As a result, there are very few good upgrade
options for them.

Who made the bulbs you bought?

 

I am pretty sure it was Philips (only ONE l ) heh heh without removing the
headlamp assembly and checking.

They CAME in a Wagner cardboard box, with no 'shrink wrap' ANYONE could
have put ANY bulb in that bag, though it WAS the one that fit...and works..

 

Ummm...

....assuming you got an ultra-rare-because-nonexistent German-made
Philips-made bulb, you would object to this as (implicitly inferior)
"overseas" manufactured product because...?

 

Unbeknownst to ME, I sort of figured that if I paid $16 for a Wagner bulb (the size of which I can buy at China-Mart for about $6-$7), I might just get a bulb with WAGNER on it. It would be very "cost effective" for a shop to get bulb boxes from an outside source, put an inexpensive bulb in it, and then sell it for twice as much as retail from a deep discounter. I don't care if the bulb is made by GE, or Philips, Wagner, LUX SIT, or Edison Bulbworks. I am NOT terribly informed about many brands. Having said THAT -- If I pay for a Sony TV and there is a "Kasawanga" TV inside the box when I get it home, I sort of wonder if i was hoodwinked?

That is all I was trying to determine.
Heck, all this controversy just trying to make a small purchase at a shop that is trying to make a go of it.
If I was ONLY trying to get the cheeeeepest, i could have gone to Wal~Mart and purchased a Philips/GE 9005XS shrink-wrapped bulb, parked a mile from the front door, fought insane crowds and stood in line for ten minutes to pay for it. I am not unhappy paying more for the correct item in my neighborhood, unless I make myself the victim of some retailers skullduggery

Lets have a great DAY!

To be quite irritable about it, I am amazed that Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth engineered the goofy headlamp assembly in such a manner that the hi beams can be easily exchanged (about 30 seconds), while the low beam bulbs (which no doubt need replacing much more frequently) require that the headlight assembly(s) be removed from the vehicle just to GET to the point of removing the defective bulb. THAT only takes about ten or so minutes per side, after you drop a nut or two, and have to retrieve the nut from where it rests IF YOU CAN EVEN SEE it. I won't mention that fact that the radiator overflow container must be removed on the passenger side (2000 T&C minivan) to remove the right side headlight assembly. That just makes my fingers twitch at the keyboard <vbg>

 

Chrysler specializes in engineering goofy headlamp assemblies that are a
pain to service, don't perform well and use hard-to-find bulbs. The reason
your particular lamps are such a hassle to service is that they were
engineered as a kludge fix for the truly awful headlamps fitted to the
'96-'97 T&C and the '96-'00 Caravan/Voyager (all the same lamp). Guess
the complaints of people who buy Chryslers count more than the same
complaints of people who buy Dodges and Plymouths.

 

Heh heh heh.
I hear that.

Here's a 'completely' different question, on a 91 Dodge Caravan.
Headlights on the OUTSIDE seem to have had a 'coating' or something on them.
its partially coming off, and makes the lights look dull (during the
daytime), though my son followed me for a while last night, and they seemed
to be pretty bright.

Is there something I could DO that would replace the 'film' on the
headlights? or to remove the 'raggedy' looking stuff that is peeling off?

Sorry to change subjects in mid flame against Chrysler/Dodge.....
Thanks in advance for any info.

 

They always have -- a hardcoat that protects the polycarbonate lens
material underneath from being scratched. Like cheap car paint, it
oxidizes, dulls and chalks-up over the years. You can polish these lenses
a couple times before they're completely dead, IF the degradation isn't
too severe. Use a good grade of car polish (not rubbing compound!) such as
Meguiars Body Scrub or blue-label TR3. It'll take some elbow grease. If
the coating is flaking and peeling, the lenses *are* dead-dead-dead and
you need new headlamps.

If you're trying to *see* in the '91, put in headlamp relays. Chrysler's
headlamp wiring sucks.

 

Thanks for the info.
I will give the car polish (not rubbing compound) a try. the coating is
flaking, so I suspect your right. However, when I drive the car, I can see
well enough, but not as nice as on my wife's T&C. Since THAT car still has
nice clear and shiny lens, should the TR3 or Mequiars be used on IT, or wait
till the lenses start to be less clear. Also have a '94 Taurus whose
headlight lens is crystal clear and shiny. On the 91 Caravan, it almost
looks like the lens have been 'sandblasted'. The clear PLASTIC lens for the
reflector part of the assembly is nice and clear/shiny. Is it the heat from
the headlamps which hasten the decomposition of that polycarbonate
coating???

 

Mostly UV exposure from sunlight