Headlight upgrade for older parent's 2010 Gen. 3

You can just get the brighter bulbs. Since she doesn't drive at night much, they should last
a while.
And maybe clean the lenses if they are fading...

 

I used sylvania. They have 3 levels I think. I used the 2nd.
Then I ordered some online to test them. They were just as good, or better.
And about half the price. But I don't remember what brand they were.
Just search ebay...
Go two steps above standard.

 

I believe those are the brightest ones. Are her's LED's from the factory?
If they are, then you should get LED's. They are bright.
But if they are the hologens, then that's what you want.

 

Okay, same as mine. Those upgraded sylvania bulbs will be a huge improvement over
the stock ones.
Is the bulb yellowed, or the light assembly lens?
You can use sandpaper to clean it up and then polish it and improve that also.

 

This is what i use and they’re way better than any LEDs.

https://a.co/d/gd5UBUL

https://a.co/d/dEg7MQg

 

Just open the links, they're on Amazon. If you get phished, you can report me to the manager

 

What PriusChat might be warning about is the use of the link shortening service a.co, which seems like it might be a short domain registered by the Amazon people, but I am unable to find any registration record for it here:

ICANN Lookup

I can see how the use of a link to a domain with no available registration data might trigger a warning from PriusChat.

Generally, if you just make a link to a product on Amazon using the original amazon.com URL, instead of this odd shortened one, that will work just fine.

In fact, explicitly making a link to the amazon.com URL works better for more people than just pasting in the address. The reason for that is that the PriusChat software aggressively looks for text in your post that looks like an Amazon URL, and turns it into a blob of JavaScript that shows ads. Then anybody who is browsing PriusChat with protective JavaScript settings doesn't see your link at all, just a few inches of blank space.

Making the link yourself prevents that from happening.

 

The problem with the brighter halogen bulbs is they burn out quick, sometimes in months. I have seen people use them, not realize one has burned out, only to have no headlights (low beams) when the second one burns out.

Cleaning the yellow haze off the headlight assembly makes a difference. Do it.

I have gone with direct replacement LED H11 equivalents. I tried one priuschat recommendation but replaced with a better. Pics and links below.

Sylvania Headlight Restoration
This kit is very good and does not require power tools. Follow directions closely and wait on the final uv coating until both headlights are ready for it.



Lasfit H11 LED Low Beams



These bulbs will be far superior to factory halogens even when the halogens are in brand new headlight assemblies. Low beams have a defined distance and height cutoff so the aimed area with these Leds is a very bright white light with good side to side coverage.

Realize that older people lose night vision, eg the ability to see shadowy forms in darker areas not directly illuminated, eg by moonlight or other distant light sources.

In the end, older drivers may want to minimize driving on pitch dark roads or heavy rain. Or think more about safety over cost and buy a recent car with lane tracing and active braking.

 

There’s an old thread on here about someone using beam tech LEDS throughout their car. It said the brake lights on the gen 3 are the only LEDs from the factory. Do a search for that. Similar to @rjparker ‘s suggestion.

 

Yes those are the leds I have. The yellowing on the headlights is like dark sun glasses, effectively reducing the light. Usually by varying degrees depending how bad they are.

Some retrofit leds seat at the wrong angle, shifting the beam from an even horizontal plane to a glaring vertical angle.

Meanwhile truck lifts raise their lights by a foot or more fouling up the low beam distribution again. Made worse by retrofit leds that may be five times brighter.

 

Not especially. It's just that a cloudy lens can block more than half of the light your bulbs put out, no matter what they are.

A much brighter light source would potentially create a glare and heat retention problem- you aren't worried about nothing. It's just that your replacement bulbs, while noticeably brighter, aren't brighter-enough to cause those potential consequences.

 

Gen 3s in trim V (early years) or 5 (later years) had LED low-beam headlights. There's no replacing those LEDs though. If the OP had those and they conked out, the headlight assemblies would need replaced.