# Headlights.... Newer car headlight don't last very long.



## RockinEZ (Apr 29, 2015)

I started driving with my headlights on ..... well for a while. 
My halogen bulbs burned out pretty quickly. 
It cost $28 to replace both bulbs (you are supposed to replace both). 
The package said the bulbs were guaranteed to last 120 hours... WTF?

I am from the Sealed Beam generation where we replaced the bulbs twice during the life of the car. 

Sylvania says (with a straight face) that their halogen bulbs will last 120 hours. 
They also say the average driver only uses their headlight for 100 hours per year.

I cry BS!

I am sure not going to use the headlight any more than necessary by law. 
I do have daylight running lights that are not halogen, and now I understand why the car has them.


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

It is a major problem. I believe they generate a lot of heat. The connectors often develop problems. I believe you can buy ceramic replacement connectors. In the taxi, if one light burns out we replace one light. In my personal car, I replace them both at the same time, because the second lamp is bound to go within a month of the first.

As for running with your lights on during the day....... The fact is, you are way more visible to other cars. I always run with my lights on, but then again I'm not paying to replace them. I pay an hourly lease fee so I can complain what a sadist lunatic our mechanic is.

120 hours? That sounds low. Are they the absolute brightest lights known to mankind? I thought you could buy them in varying degrees of brightness to longevity.


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## RockinEZ (Apr 29, 2015)

Huberis said:


> It is a major problem. I believe they generate a lot of heat. The connectors often develop problems. I believe you can buy ceramic replacement connectors. In the taxi, if one light burns out we replace one light. In my personal car, I replace them both at the same time, because the second lamp is bound to go within a month of the first.
> 
> As for running with your lights on during the day....... The fact is, you are way more visible to other cars. I always run with my lights on, but then again I'm not paying to replace them. I pay an hourly lease fee so I can complain what a sadist lunatic our mechanic is.
> 
> 120 hours? That sounds low. Are they the absolute brightest lights known to mankind? I thought you could buy them in varying degrees of brightness to longevity.


I hear you. If I was not paying I would have them on all the time.

No I bought the medium bright bulbs. I will not buy the higher lumen lamps again. I will stick with the standard 200 hour lamps. Still not so good.

If they produced more viability I would go for it. They don't. There is only one business. "separating the money from the people".


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## YouWishYouKnewMe (May 26, 2015)

It's all the idling and daytime running and night driving stuff , had to change em out twice 40k miles


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

RockinEZ said:


> I started driving with my headlights on ..... well for a while.
> My halogen bulbs burned out pretty quickly.
> It cost $28 to replace both bulbs (you are supposed to replace both).
> The package said the bulbs were guaranteed to last 120 hours... WTF?
> ...


I have been driving delivering pizza since 1998 and the lights on newer cars have all lasted longer than the ones with the old "replace the entire light" setup.

I drive mostly at night and can't think of a time when I haven't driven at least 30 hours a week at night. I had a 2005 Ford Focus that I had replaced the headlights ONCE in 146,000 miles, most of those at night, and after that a 2013 kia soul which was totalled after less than 2 years with 47,000 miles and I never replaced one light on it.

When you do replace them are you handling them with bare hands? The oils supposedly shorten the life. I always held them with tissues if I did replace them on the Ford.


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## RockinEZ (Apr 29, 2015)

Fuzzyelvis said:


> I have been driving delivering pizza since 1998 and the lights on newer cars have all lasted longer than the ones with the old "replace the entire light" setup.
> 
> I drive mostly at night and can't think of a time when I haven't driven at least 30 hours a week at night. I had a 2005 Ford Focus that I had replaced the headlights ONCE in 146,000 miles, most of those at night, and after that a 2013 kia soul which was totalled after less than 2 years with 47,000 miles and I never replaced one light on it.
> 
> When you do replace them are you handling them with bare hands? The oils supposedly shorten the life. I always held them with tissues if I did replace them on the Ford.


No... we do not touch halogen bulbs... and 2005 is not a newer vehicle.
It has more reasonable lamps.


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

RockinEZ said:


> No... we do not touch halogen bulbs... and 2005 is not a newer vehicle.
> It has more reasonable lamps.


I found a list of reasons why lamps may burn out quicker than others. Excessive vibration, poorly installed, grease or dirt. The car's electrical system itself was mentioned.

Apparently the voltage that a car runs at, can dramatically effect the life of a car bulb. Newer cars have all sorts of electronics on them. The Euopean standard is 13.2V for a car. However, with all the electronics onboard so many modern vehicles, apparently, that can get bumped up. Supposedly, a 5% increase in running voltage can have a pronounced effect on bulb life.

I have zero clue if that source was accurate..... I will ask an EE buddy of mine his take on the running voltage/bulb life conundrum.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

RockinEZ said:


> No... we do not touch halogen bulbs... and 2005 is not a newer vehicle.
> It has more reasonable lamps.


Well I guess it was newer to me. I was comparing to the late 60s early 70s cars I've driven in the past.

What about the kia soul? The lights on my 2013 definitely lasted a while (2 yrs 47,000 miles) and would have been longer if the car wasn't wrecked. I have a 2015 now but only 19,000 miles. At least two thirds of that is at night though.


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## rtaatl (Jul 3, 2014)

Of the vehicles I've had I never had to replace a headlight on any of them...and I've kept them for a lot longer than the average car buyer. Guess I just got lucky.


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## KGB7 (Apr 23, 2015)

Never had issues with Sylvania. They all lasted way over 500 hours.

The chepo blue tinted bulbs on the other hand dont last very long.

Make sure you dont touch the glass when installing. Even if your hands are clean, a small finger print will ruin the bulb.


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## Fauxknight (Aug 12, 2014)

KGB7 said:


> Never had issues with Sylvania. They all lasted way over 500 hours.
> 
> The chepo blue tinted bulbs on the other hand dont last very long.


I lost one of the OEM bulbs on my Prius after around 20 months. I bought some cheapos to replace and both burnt out within a couple of months. Now I have 1 OEM and one Sylvania in, no issues for quite some time now, likely just freak chance that I even lost an OEM to begin with.


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## Adieu (Feb 21, 2016)

RockinEZ said:


> I started driving with my headlights on ..... well for a while.
> My halogen bulbs burned out pretty quickly.
> It cost $28 to replace both bulbs (you are supposed to replace both).
> The package said the bulbs were guaranteed to last 120 hours... WTF?
> ...


I run my bixenons about 60 hours a week.... So far so good.


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## JonC (Jul 30, 2016)

There is NO reason to replace both headlight bulbs when one burns out. I've run cars for years on one new, one old headlight.

That said, with a PHEV, I will probably change them both out for LED when the first one goes, just to cut battery load.


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## Mikedamirault (Jun 22, 2016)

JonC said:


> There is NO reason to replace both headlight bulbs when one burns out. I've run cars for years on one new, one old headlight.
> 
> That said, with a PHEV, I will probably change them both out for LED when the first one goes, just to cut battery load.


I have been debating on doing this myself on my 2010 Prius, my OEM headlights lasted for about 5 years until I noticed my night visibility instantly decrease when a friend of mine was driving it (she was on her temps and needed some night driving time), kept telling her to turn the lights on, she kept telling me they were on, otherwise she didn't know how, didn't even know my headlight went out, we swapped and I started driving, thinking she just didn't know how all the settings in my car, only for me to notice that sure enough they were on, got to our destination only to find out the driver side light went out

Went to WalMart to replace them, they barely lasted a month before burning out (and I didn't even touch the glass portion of the bulb), replaced the bulbs again, burnt out yet again, got so fed up with it I thought about just replacing them with LEDs and forgetting about crappy halogens

Basically everybody I asked though said it was a bad idea, as while LEDs are bright, they are bright when you look at them, but not when you are using them to see while you are driving, causing horrible visibility


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