I picked up my new Prius (2011 IV) a week ago and am getting used to it. Coupla questions: a) is there a way to install a lock on the main glove box under the dash?; b) how can I tell if it has LED or "regular....whatever that is" headlights.??? So far....I LIKE IT. TKS, John N.
The iv has halogen headlights. If it has one projector beam in the assembly, the car has halogen. The led headlights have two projector beams per headlight assembly. Not sure about the lock for the glovebox. Toyota may make one but I just don't know. Try sigmaauto, they usually have everything aftermarket available for the prius.
Welcome Aboard, John! :welcome: The answer to your first question is "yes" and "no". Yes, you can put a lock on the glove box under the dash, but unless I'm mistaken---and I might be since I drive a II, there's no OEM glove box lock for the G3, which means you'll have to graft a non-OEM lock to your glove box. No...You probably don't want to. In my never-to-be-humbled opinion, a thief who has already broken into your car will not hesitate to pry open your glove box (causing damage to same) to see what you have locked in there. It's plastic. A six-year-old could almost gain access to its interior with a McDonalds straw. Additionally...any of a thousand "non-OEM" locks that you put on the glove box will look like a bag of a$$. If you really need to leave something valuable in your car that you can't take with you (I have a CCP, so I've done the noodle dance on this subject!) Your best strategy would be to hide the item rather than lock it in the glove box. Usually, the low octane types who break into cars are after something that they can see from the outside (purse, wallet, GPS, i-thingy, etc...) and they're usually too pressed for time to do a detailed search of your car’s interior. LED headlights? I do not know, since I drive a II. Good Luck!!
Thanks ETC........I wasn't thinking so much of a thief as valet parking attendants' curiosity....I too have a CCP but never leave it in the box........ J.
Paradox is right on the money. You don't have LED lights, you have halogens. Your lights can be upgraded to HIDs using a plug & ply kit or by doing a high end retrofit.
Welcome to PriusChat:welcome:. Better to remove sensitive materials from the glovebox before the valets get car.
Can LED's be done on a 2010 IV? What is he price for the HID's? What would be the approximate price of the LED's IF they could be done.
Led for headlights forget. Hid's, not much, $200 give or take if done yourself or installed at a shop.
I saw comparison photos in another thread (looking from the car at night in the same location) of standard headlights and upgraded ones. I thought the upgrade was to LED's, but not positive. The difference was dramatic, I would have rated it a 100% improvement.
Congratulations on the new Prius. You probably want to add the details to your profile (shows on the left of the page). That way it makes it easy for readers to know what year and package you drive. Tom
Are you referring to Paradox's comparison thread? It does show the difference between halogen and LED quite nicely. This was not an upgrade but a comparison between two different cars. The difference was night and day. :;p An HID retrofit would produce similar if not better lighting. It would less costly as well. Simply sticking an HID in the stock halogen housing may not produce as good of results however. Here is discussion on the subject at HIDPlanet.com Prius LED vs halogen vs hid comparo Another option which I found helpful was to outift the car with an HID projector "foglight" kit. Even better would be to retrofit a normal driving light like the ones offered HERE into your factory foglights! Obviously this doesn't help with long distance vision but it does help for normal driving.
Yeah, as F8L mentioned, that was probably my thread and was just showing comparison photos of my car (Prius V) with the LED's and my dads (Prius III) with the Halogen.
I clicked on the link F8L provided to go to that thread. The difference was REALLY dramatic, night and day. Since the LED upgrade for the IV does not appear to be an option, my question is would the HID's provide a similar dramatic upgrade? The Prius is my wife's commuter car. During the winter, her commute is pretty much in the dark both ways. She has poor night vision, we need the best headlamps possible.
I think it would be from the posts I have seen but since I do not have a GenIII and have not personally done the mod on one I cannot say for certain. According to those who have upgraded to HIDs, the results are good and they seem happy with the mod. It's pretty cheap to try it out and if you don't like it you'll only be out $50 or so. IMO I would try a kit from TheRetrofitSource or DDM Tuning. The former is more expensive but the kits (Morimoto or Denso) are of higher quality, at least the bulbs are for sure. Be sure to stick with the 35w kit. The 50-55w kits may produce too much heat with aftermarket bulbs.
