Interior Light Remedy

[Sensha]

One of the most egregious omissions from the Toyota (and Scion) iQ is that of adequate lighting. The "eyeball" light as delivered with the car is weak, tightly focused, and completely inadequate to show the location of the keyhole, anything on the floor, or even a map.

Generally, where there is a problem (especially a pronounced problem) with a car, someone is willing to come up with the solution. And, your very own David Phillips, of Essex County, has done just that. While he is known to many hereon, I feel that what he has done should be prominently posted as a "sticky", so that it quickly comes to the attention of those wanting a well-lit interior but who don't want to screw around with custom fitting LED fixtures and the like.

David's solution is to revise the original Toyota/ Scion part so that a more intense LED is mounted in the fixture (he calls it a "puddle light"), and to move the location of the emitter much closer to the lens. The result is a wider, more intense beam of light that covers about half of the passenger compartment when aimed straight down.

Not content to accomplish just this, David has also devised a rear compartment LED, which is connected to the car's wiring with a simple plug-in fixture wired (neatly wired, I might add) to his revised "eyeball" light. Two birds with one stone, as it were.

The resultant "system" is simple to install. The front light is just a matter of unsnapping the fixture from the headliner, then unplugging the light. The "new" fixture is plugged in and snapped into place. So simple that the most clumsy among us could do it with ease. The rear light will be simple to wire, if a bit more difficult to install. However, you can always just go with the front unit.

Pricing for over here is £50.00 plus your fixture (he reworks them and sends them out as orders are received.) The rear light will cost more, but it's a drop in replacement for the front unit. Contact him directly through radiowindy at hotmail.co.uk.

Perhaps the best solution would be to send David over to Japan, where he could modify each iQ as it came off of the production line. I don't imagine that he'd be up to the rate of production, though...

[Soeley]

I too have one of Davids much improved dome lights, he also added to sockets to mine to allow me to install two front and two rear lights. I improvement is how it should come from the factory in my opinion.

You can see the additional lights on page 4 of this thread http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/129716-boot-light/page-4?hl=soeley

[chezwot]

The standard interior light is not a problem for me, I never use the car in the dark!

[Sensha]

Some of us are vampires, don't forget...

[MarkyPancake]

The interior light is weak and lack of rear lighting can be annoying.

[Darth IQ73]

If there's a 'LIKE' option or 'can I recommend enough' button, then David will indeed score top marks here.

Not only has he swapped over my original interior light to the MUCH MUCH superior LED upgrade, but he also very kindly hooked up my Satnav and hid all the very unsightly cabling, but has also installed my new Blackvue 500HD unit.

Again taking superb care in every detail of this install, there are no ugly cables to be seen, but more importantly has shown me some fantastic mods he has done to his own vehicle.

Thank You David for the sublimely professional job you've done.

[Guest]

I think David needs a medal for services rendered and jobs jobbed. His well laid out photo/descriptive updates to his car have inspired a number of others to do the same, or more simply to have David do it for them. Such a professional approach surely requires mention in the hall of fame for 'doers corner,' for those that do a better job on the iQ than Mr. T. did by not asking the customer the right questions, if any.

Reminds me of Mutley from ***** Dastardly and Catch The Pigeon, only, David does not hanker after a medal, but he deserves one all the same. What say you Administrators/STAFF?

[dash]

I agree with the sentiments in the previous 2 posts.

David absolutely deserves that medal.

He resolved the interior light issue by supplying me a replacement high power LED version, and provided invaluable advice when our car Battery failed.

;)

Dave

[Sensha]

I finally got around to installing Dave's rear light into our iQ this afternoon, and am really pleased with the result. The fixture is unobtrusive, it floods the rear compartment with light, and operates in tandem with the front fixture, including the slow dimming at the end of the "lights out" period.

Making the "fish" (David calls it a mouse, but that's probably a UK term) isn't that hard. I used a computer fish tape, taking care to cover all sharp points and edges on the loom and the fish tape, as I had to work around both the passenger side and the rear air bags.

Removal and replacement of the door and hatch gasket was simple. In fact, I had more trouble making a large enough hole through the headliner than I did with anything else.

I'll try to send the original fixture back later this week, David. It may be next week, though - we're scheduled pretty tight here. I may also do an edit on your instruction and photos and send that along as well.

Maybe you there in the UK can agitate for a knighthood for the man...