Headlights

[mrfixer]

Some post-2015 Auris had LEDs...

We recently sold a GT86.. was one we had taken in P/X against a BMW. On prepping the car we found one of the LED headlights had failed. Possibly due to a tiny crack in the housing. Over £900 from Toyota. That was the profit gone...

[Tyfan]

Thanks Guys for all the posts regarding Led/Not Led headlights. The photos from Greggs post show that mine have the round Led lens as in the photo, not the larger as the non Led one is shown. Looking at these it would seem that the Unit photo looks very similar."Magic boy" would also seem to confirm this. Long may they last, as I shouldn't think they will be covered by Warranty, unless it is the unit assembly at fault.

Thank you all again. John.

[MagicBoy]

Photo of my LED headlight :

I did have a quick google, found a brochure dated March 2016 which lists Bi-LED headlights as standard on the Excel.

[Tyfan]

Hi John, That is my Headlight Assembly. Thank you for that. At last I am a believer!  Led's all the way. I thought I would never get a definitive answer. It does go to show as I said earlier, it may not be the bulbs and the settings are important too. I hope that this saga will help others.

John.

 

[Beekeeper D]

Thanks - for owners of the facelifted (late) Auris Mk2 there could be the theoretical option of installing pukka Toyota led headlights, but it ain’t going to be cheap! 
However, even that possibility doesn’t apply to those of us with the pre-facelift (early) Auris Mk2. 

For us the procedure is

- get the alignment properly checked (including that the bulbs are properly secured) 

- inquire about the Technical Bulletin (swap headlight units for the intended ones, free) 

- upgrade to Optiwhite bulbs (or if illegality isn’t a concern, upgrade to led bulbs). 
 

Me? I think it’s about time to try the Optiwhites... 
 

[Gerg]

1 hour ago, Beekeeper D said:

inquire about the Technical Bulletin (swap headlight units for the intended ones, free) 

As far as I know, the headlamp replacement was only offered for free during the warranty period, unless there are exceptional circumstances (see below), but I would love to be proved wrong.  I have tried motivating Toyota customer services to get them take some interest in my own car (now out of warranty), but they eventually told me to discuss it with my dealer (who would then picking up the bill themselves? - er, unlikely).

There was a recent post from October where the car had an MOT advisory on headlamp beam pattern:-

The original poster never reported back as to what happened next with his situation.  I eventually sent a personal message the original poster, but again no reply.  In order to follow this further, out of exasperation, I rang up the dealer mentioned in the post and asked them what was the outcome for this car.  I was surprised to find that the dealer had replaced these headlamps free-of-charge for the customer at the dealer's expense.  Although I don't know any more background to this than that mentioned in the post.  

But, on a completely different warranty claim, I found out that, if a fault was reported by the customer within the warranty period, but was not acted on by the dealer at the time, then after the warranty has expired the dealer is judged at fault and liable for fixing this at their own cost.

Perhaps someone can clarify this who knows more about the subject.

The newer headlamps have had their beam widened so that the view to the immediate left and right of the car is better.  The beam is no different in the straight ahead position.  

The Optiwhite bulbs have life expectancy of 500 hours, according to their packaging, and from personal experience fail in very, very quick succession - definitely worth carrying a spare bulb or 2 if you fit these.

[Beekeeper D]

Thanks Gerg. My headlamps were swapped while under warranty. They aren’t quite so bad at the side, but I still habitually use the fog lights for their slight lateral illumination. 
My bulbs must now be more than 5 years old, so probably even new standard bulbs might be an improvement. 
 

I’m thinking of Toyota’s Optiwhites despite their finite life- 10p per hour would be worth it if they give a satisfactory output! But I discover that there are alternatives- anyone used “Arros”? 

[eygo]

as far as i am aware PIAA have always be known for lighting products

i am sure the rally cars of the past used to use PIAA lighting on their cars

[snowBALLs]

20 hours ago, Beekeeper D said:

- upgrade to Optiwhite bulbs (or if illegality isn’t a concern, upgrade to led bulbs). 

Me? Upgrade to hid/led. Optiwhites is feeble compared to those 2. 

[snowBALLs]

On 12/31/2019 at 2:58 PM, mrfixer said:

Some post-2015 Auris had LEDs...

We recently sold a GT86.. was one we had taken in P/X against a BMW. On prepping the car we found one of the LED headlights had failed. Possibly due to a tiny crack in the housing. Over £900 from Toyota. That was the profit gone...

All in one unit? So a whole headlight unit needed to replace?

Led can be done cheaply like replacing bulbs when they are blown. But some car makers choose to have sealed units. This is either very incompetent design or pure greed, think it's the latter. 

[Beekeeper D]

15 hours ago, eygo said:

...

i am sure the rally cars of the past used to use PIAA lighting on their cars

I had 4 Cibiés on my Mexico back in the day... and Biodes in place of the standard headlights. 
I am in shock at the current value of those Biodes... 

[Beekeeper D]

14 hours ago, snowBALLs said:

Me? Upgrade to hid/led. Optiwhites is feeble compared to those 2. 

While LEDs might possibly be mot-legal, there is no disputing that fitting hid (xenon) bulbs to a headlamp unit not designed for them is specifically forbidden, to the extent of now being a straight mot major fail, and as such could even invalidate insurance. 
Bright but a dim choice! 😉

[snowBALLs]

2 minutes ago, Beekeeper D said:

While LEDs might possibly be mot-legal, there is no disputing that fitting hid (xenon) bulbs to a headlamp unit not designed for them is specifically forbidden, to the extent of now being a straight mot major fail, and as such could even invalidate insurance. 
Bright but a dim choice! 😉

U maybe very knowledgeable on other topics, but u are not correct on this and assumptions also just like frostyballs. 

[Beekeeper D]

Not correct on what? 

Zero guesswork, unfortunately. 

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/consumer-news/94753/dangers-of-illegal-hid-headlight-conversion-kits-explained 

And this is the government view

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/aftermarket-hid-headlamps

Added - for the detail, click the link under Documents. 

[snowBALLs]

Projectors units are not standard halogen lens reflector type. Anyway u and others can keep using halogen it's your choice. My choice is hid/led and not fuss by what other thinks. 

[Beekeeper D]

29 minutes ago, snowBALLs said:

Projectors units are not standard halogen lens reflector type. Anyway u and others can keep using halogen it's your choice. My choice is hid/led and not fuss by what other thinks. 

I am only concerned with the situation IN THE UK.

Here it has nothing to do with projector/reflector, as such.  
It ain’t legal unless the headlamp unit is type approved with hid. 
It also ain’t legal with hid unless there are functioning washers and self-levelling. 

Your choice is up to you, but it’s my choice to point out that you seem to be advising others to break the UK law, potentially invalidate their insurance, and thus more seriously break the law. 

You posted that I was guessing and not correct. 

What did I post that was wrong, about the legal position in the UK?

[FROSTYBALLS]

57 minutes ago, snowBALLs said:

U maybe very knowledgeable on other topics, but u are not correct on this and assumptions also just like frostyballs. 

Toyota Owners Club is UK based, as are the vast majority of members. 

Changes to the UK MOT (annual test for roadworthiness) from May 2018 included specific requirements re aftermarket HID fitments which could result in vehicles failing the MOT.

Most aftermarket LED bulbs sold in the UK are not E-marked which is why manufacturers such as Osram, Philips, etc have disclaimers in their lighting catalogues re retrofit LED bulbs. See Osram's disclaimer in respect of their retrofit LED bulbs below:

"These  products  do  not  have  ECE  approval.  This  means  they  must  not  be  used  on  public  roads  in  any  exterior application.  Use  on  public roads  leads  to  cancellation  of  operating  license  and  loss  of  insurance  coverage.  Several countries  do  not  allow  sale  and  use  of  these products.  Please  contact  your  local  distributor  for  information  on  the availability  in  your  country."

So for the majority of Toyota Owners Club members (Ie UK residents) information provided by myself within this topic isn't an assumption and is quite correct. 

Also please cease using textspeak within posts - these are topics within an owners forum, and not part of a texting conversation.

[Beekeeper D]

It looks as though these are e-marked and thus legal... 

https://www.extraljuskungen.com/bull-bars/toyota/auris-13-15/

 

But I think I’ll probably try Optiwhites first!