dodgemeister
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- Joined
- Aug 11, 2010
- Messages
- 12
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Are they worth it? Well, the initial improvement was noticeable, but not as much as the packet would have you believe. After I made up a new harness with decent size cable, the performance improved again. At a guess, the globes alone “improved” my night vision by 10%, the harness by the same. (Those figures are not backed up by any measurements!)
The driver’s side lasted 10 months before the low-beam blew. The auto parts store I bought them from told me that there’s no warranty on headlight globes (Their words were “As we have no control on how they’re handled/fitted, the condition of the car’s electrical system, etc, there’s no warranty”) and I’d have to buy a new pair. Leaving aside Australia’s consumer laws, I would have thought that if the originals lasted 6 years, then 2 years would be fair for you-beaut ones. BTW, the place I work at is a commercial customer of this company, so I thought I may have been given some leeway, but no.
I took it further and spoke to Philips, who duck-shoved me out to the Australian distributor. I spoke to them and was told that a fair life for headlight globes is 300-400 hours of use, according to ADR! That’s the industry standard, so they say. I made a fuss, a sales rep came out and took both globes away for testing and haven’t heard anything further for 3 weeks now.
Now my wife’s R50 Pathfinder has blown one of its globes and these are exactly the same as mine, albeit almost 2 years old but her car drives to and from the station, 10 minutes away, and doesn’t do much on the weekends either. I’ve had to put back the original 1999 globe, so much for the industry standard.
So, are these globes worth the $86.50 RRP? Not for me. I’ve had to remove the old ones, install the new ones, then remove the new ones, put the old ones back in, and I’ve lost one good globe and I have to chase up the bloke who took it away! I reckon you would be better off improving the wiring rather than upgrading the globes if their life is as short as mine. The lack of support from the retailer and distributor is also disappointing.
I hope this information/experience is of use to you
Regards - Roger
The driver’s side lasted 10 months before the low-beam blew. The auto parts store I bought them from told me that there’s no warranty on headlight globes (Their words were “As we have no control on how they’re handled/fitted, the condition of the car’s electrical system, etc, there’s no warranty”) and I’d have to buy a new pair. Leaving aside Australia’s consumer laws, I would have thought that if the originals lasted 6 years, then 2 years would be fair for you-beaut ones. BTW, the place I work at is a commercial customer of this company, so I thought I may have been given some leeway, but no.
I took it further and spoke to Philips, who duck-shoved me out to the Australian distributor. I spoke to them and was told that a fair life for headlight globes is 300-400 hours of use, according to ADR! That’s the industry standard, so they say. I made a fuss, a sales rep came out and took both globes away for testing and haven’t heard anything further for 3 weeks now.
Now my wife’s R50 Pathfinder has blown one of its globes and these are exactly the same as mine, albeit almost 2 years old but her car drives to and from the station, 10 minutes away, and doesn’t do much on the weekends either. I’ve had to put back the original 1999 globe, so much for the industry standard.
So, are these globes worth the $86.50 RRP? Not for me. I’ve had to remove the old ones, install the new ones, then remove the new ones, put the old ones back in, and I’ve lost one good globe and I have to chase up the bloke who took it away! I reckon you would be better off improving the wiring rather than upgrading the globes if their life is as short as mine. The lack of support from the retailer and distributor is also disappointing.
I hope this information/experience is of use to you
Regards - Roger
