Just purchased a 2008 Touring. LOVE IT! But the headlamps are dim (compared to past vehicles). No dying, flicker, or "one dead one not" issues. Just dim. Suggestions? Replace with Phillips or MAXLUX? Thanks!
I think that's just how they are, noticed my 2007 to be quite dim compared to relative's fairly new Jetta. Do the bulbs actually get dimmer overtime? I'm not sure but totally waiting for one of mine to fail so I can replace them with something brighter
I don't think they get dimmer over time, they're just dim overall. I'd like to replace them; I'm just wonder which bulb I should use, not so much from a compatibility standpoint, but from a brightness standpoint (i.e. the brightest bulb I can get).
If (big if) it's a Touring, it should have HIDs. I find our HIDs quite bright. If you have HIDs the recommendation I got was to replace them with the OEM Phillips bulb. I bought mine from Amazon.
It was listed as a Touring when I purchased it from the Toyota dealer; it's a 2008 with leather, nav, Bluetooth, etc. Yes, I do believe it has HIDs; there are separate bulbs for low and high. I think, after reading as much as I can find here and elsewhere, I'm going to get the Phillips D4Rs from Amazon and report back. Any ideas on how to scientifically measure the brightness/luminosity to compare before and after without buying expensive equipment?
After additional research, I think you might be onto something regarding the Touring. While I have leather and nav and fog lamps and all that, I have 15" tires. I haven't checked the strut stripes yet, but if it turns out to NOT be a Touring I might have to have a convo with the dealer. Regardless, how can I definitely tell if it has HIDs?
Well, I think you're right. I have 15" tires with six spokes and my struts have a blue stripe and a red stripe. Crap.
It seems to be pretty common, unfortunately. When I was looking for mine, I learned about the Touring model here. The stiffer struts, deeper spoiler and larger wheels were appealing to me. I saw several listed as Tourings, but most weren't actually Tourings. I only saw 2-3 actual Tourings and at least one of those wasn't advertised as such. You can take a look at Toyota's brochure on the 2008 and get a good idea of what your car has. If you've got Navigation, it's got to be a package 5 or 6 and both of those have HIDs. The HIDs also have a more pure, a bit blueish, white color. They also seem to flash briefly when they come on. Be aware as well that changing headlights on a Prius is a bit more difficult than on other cars. The official procedure is to remove the front bumper, but I followed these instructions and was able to do it without.
If it helps, I drove a 2005 non-Touring with identical miles before we bought our 2007 Touring. I didn't feel that the Touring rode or handled substantially better. If I drove them back to back I might feel the difference, but the Touring is no sports car. The difference seems to be pretty subtle. That said, I'm glad I ended up with one simply because I like the look better. If you weren't attracted to the visual difference (and since you didn't know what that was until after, I would bet you weren't), you aren't missing much in how it drives. The non-Touring will get a couple more MPG too. Now, if you paid more thinking it was a Touring, that's another issue.
I see there are three models: Base, Standard, and Touring. In what order should they be? B, S, T or S, B, T? (I ask because I'm trying to price them out on KBB/Edmunds/Nada and need to determine which model I have). Regardless, I'm certain I have package 6. In terms of preference, after purchasing this 2008, I'm wondering if I should have gotten a 2010+, as I like that style better (or at least I do online). Oh well, next purchase. FYI, I purchased this 2008 with 84,500 miles for $12,699 in the 48103 area code. I won't be able to see the cost delta until I determine if I have a Standard or Base model. Back on the original topic, thanks for link to the video. I have read that it's relatively easy to change out the bulbs IF you know what you're doing (by watching the videos and researching online). Even if the only option was to remove the bumper, I'd certainly figure out a better way.
According to Edmunds I have a Base (the order is Standard, Base, Touring). With my options, in "clean" condition, the dealer price is $13820, so I think I did alright at $12,699. Options I have are: AM/FM/CD Changer/MP3 Audio System Anti-Theft Alarm System Auto-Dim Rear View Mirror Auxiliary MP3 Audio Input Bluetooth Cargo Area Floor Mat Carpeted Floor Mats Front Floor Mats Front Fog/Driving Lights JBL Audio Leather Seating Leather Steering Wheel Trim Navigation System Rear Floor Mats Rear View Camera Stability Control Steering Wheel Phone Controls Universal Remote Transmitter Xenon High Intensity Discharge Headlights
Changing the bulbs is a whole different procedure than changing the headlight, which is Salgoud was talking about with pulling off the bumper cover. Had to do that bumper cover pull with our Camry, but for a change, husband did most of that work (he doesn't really mess with the Prius -- has to do with him borrowing it at two weeks of age while I was on a trip --- after I told him not to drive it -- and then smashing up the front left corner to the tune of $979.00).
The factory procedure for changing the bulb is to remove the headlight which requires removing the bumper. That's why dealers charge $300 to change a HID bulb.
I'm not quite sure about the models, I think the standard might be the most stripped down model. I'd go by the Toyota brochure I linked to, it's got the option package breakdown at the end.
Roger that, Cyber. Hope my last line didn't come off as snarky. Was simply saying that I'd find a way a la Scotty to do without a bumper removal if that's what it took to do the bulb.
REALLY -- who came up with that stupid design. Yikes. Tell me it is not the same on the base!!! I learn things I don't want to learn everyday! No, ZeePri, you are not the snarky one -- they usually accuse me of that around here.
Then we're peas in a pod (re: snarkiness). I don't know if the bulb replacement is the same on the Base. I'll find out, as the current bulbs are too dim for my liking (no issues: flickering, tied to dash diming, etc.) - just dim. Question: are the Phillips bulbs (D4RC1) the brightest I can get? I read the max legal lumen limit is 4100. Do the Phillips output that?
There was some talk here that other bulbs don't last as long, stick with the OEM Phillips. These already are bit short lived for HIDs, I guess. Mine were replaced by the dealer at 50K-ish and I just replaced them again at about 115K. I think that the procedure is the same for all headlights, but I'm not sure. Bumper removal isn't that hard, I guess, but I was glad to avoid it.
