Hitachi rear projection TV

HI

I hope someone here can help me. I have a Hitachi LCD Rear Projection TV model # 42V525. It is approximately 18 months old.

For the past couple of weeks, the picture has been getting 'less crisp and bright' .. at first I assumed it was my glasses being dirty, or dust on the screen since I am having some tile work done in my house.

Yesterday, it became so dark as to be impossible to see, until it went completely dark. Sound is fine. Now, it won't even turn on. The lights in the bottom right corner flicker, then the TV shuts itself off.

My problem is this: I live in Mexico and bought the TV locally at Costco. (Yes there are Costcos in Mexico) and when I looked in my Operating Guide for a service center, there don't seem to be any.

So my questions are: Is this a common problem, and if so what do you think it is? We paid around 2,000 USD for this TV so it's not ready to be replaced, however, I am not sure if I should be spending time/money trying to import parts that might be expensive if this is a BIG problem. On the other hand, the manual says something about a 'lamp' needing to be replaced occasionally .. so if this is sort of a regular maintenance thing, then of course I can do it. However, would this explain the other issue of the TV not staying on for more than a minute before turning itself off ?

Please help. We are retired on a fixed income, and this was a large purchase for us, and can't afford to throw away money on a TV that might just become a money pit.

Thanks.