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A couple years ago, I decided to swap my front bumper, hood, fenders, and headlights with those from a Jetta to achieve a more unique look for my car. The standard Jetta headlights aren't that great, so I took that chance to upgrade to some European spec headlights which offer a better beam pattern with a sharp cutoff. I found a set of non-OEM headlights manufactured by Depo, which offered the same beam pattern as the European OEM Hellas, but for a much lower price. Other VW owners I talked to said that the Depos had cheaper finish and mounting, but otherwise were good value and had good light output, so I picked them up.

I had been very happy with them until the summer, when my passenger headlight started working only intermittently. I opened it up and found a very corroded and frayed wire, so I cleaned it up, crimped on a new connector, and put it back together. I figured it was just bad luck and didn't think much more about it until my driver's side headlight stopped working. Opened it up and found a badly wire which apparently got hot enough to melt the wire away and blacken the connector

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/IMG_2822.jpg

Cleaned up terminal on the headlight, crimped on a new connector and wire, and now everything works again.

So, it seems that there's some sort of flaw with these headlights causing the wires to corrode. As a result, I've become a little paranoid and am checking them for signs of corrosion every time I have the hood opened.

The moral I've learned: Don't cheap out on important car parts. It's not worth it.

:( Hopefully that's the last of your issues!!

Learnt a similar lesson, it didn't get that far with me however. I promptly switched back to the oem.

Some dielectric grease on the connectors might help if you haven't done that already.

Good idea, Tim. I'll have to do that.

The headlight connectors on the Prius came pre-greased; some of
the very few that seemed to have it around the engine bay. I
guess they run hot enough once the lamp warms up that Toyota
considered it worth doing right up front.
.
Maybe I should smear a little more "blinker fluid" (http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/maint100k/part6.html) on them at
some point just to make sure it's a solid coating..
.
_H*

I have seen this on OEM connectors for headlights. My personal opinion is that the problem has less to do with a poor electrical connection and more with to light a gauge wire. When I repair these I use 14 ga wire and heat shrink connectors.

Good idea, Tim. I'll have to do that.

It also works for Battery Terminals.