Aftermarket Headlights: Poor Optics

What kind of bulbs are in the said housings that may be the problem. I haven't tried but one or two brands and they seem okay but I'm not real light sensitive so you know I haven't spent hours and hours going over cibe and hella and osram tech in a looong time like since Z beam tech.

 

How do your lenses look? Are they fogged up and need sanding & polishing to be clear again? They make kits for that. Very easy to do.

As for upgrades, there's HID headlights and Halogen Headlights for Gen2 Prius... The HID are garbage due to ballast failure issues so I often switch them to halogen. Catch his the headlight lens for HID are not compatible with 9003 Halogen, so to get rid of the HID garbage you have to buy replacement headlight lens/assembly, but way cheaper to manage if you already have 9003 Halogen lenses.

So assuming you aren't mistakenly referring to an HID system, your problem is most likely some low-grade LEDs for a 9003 Halogen type socket and a pair of new halogen bulbs that are brightest ($50) will solve most of your problems. Of course the brightest Halogens have a very short lifespan, so you might want to consider slightly less bright halogens ($30) or up in the over $100 range for some super high performance ultra bright LEDs would be good.

But 9003 LED bulb market online has change so much in recent years so we need your help in researching that for Gen2 if you go in that direction because all the posts on here for LED bulbs for Gen2 are way too outdated to be useful today.

Also because this car is new to you, it also might be that you're already running the rights bulbs and you just aren't used to the poor quality design? If that's the case, there's not much you can do...

The super bright ones cost about $50 and last a year and the other ones are $30 and last several years of longer:

 

Depo or TYC both made in Taiwan

2008 TOYOTA PRIUS 1.5L L4 ELECTRIC/GAS Body & Lamp Assembly Parts | RockAuto

 

It can be done. But a projector is needed and is a lot of work.

I did the same thing. New Halogen housings with LED bulbs. Awful splotchy beam pattern. Poor results. I just went back to normal Halogens as the reflector is designed for omnidirectional light sources. LEDs are very focus in their beam pattern which is why they require a projector.

 

As mentioned TYC for the lens etal replacement...as well as for cabin filters. My mechanic was highly impressed with TYC headlight assembly..especially 18 months later
Kris

 

Thanks for the TYC recommendation. I've seen some of their parts advertised but hadn't tried any yet.

I had great luck with DEPO brand headlamps on a different Japanese car. Very high quality, much cheaper than OEM.

 

TYC is an OEM supplier and has a solid rep. I have used them for more than a decade and have no complaints.

 

What kind of LEDs did you try? And do you think if you bought more expensive LEDs that are more omnidirectional you could have better results than halogen?

 

I bought these off of Amazon
$38.99. They are of high quality but obviously have a directional LED.

Beam tech H4 LED Bulb, S1 Series...

but I could see if I got some others that have a brighter LED pattern it would work better with the stock reflector.

 

Don't forget you have to align the lights when you replace them. Otherwise they don't work well.