Gen3 2010 2011 Headlight bulb longevity - upgrade to HID?

First off, adding HID into a housing not meant for HID is usually a problem because the optics scatter the the light. HID's are brighter and makes the scattering of light much worse where you blind other drivers. Since newer generation Prius uses projector based housing, the light output is much more in control.

Second, HID's not using the HID D2S/D2R/ETC are using what we called rebased bulbs. The bulbs are placed in a housing not made by the OEM manufacturer. Rebased bulbs do not have the same longevity as OEM bulbs. 2-3 years are generally what I see and what I experienced back in the days.

Third, most that upgrade to HID goes for an upper color range (5000k+) to get the "cool blue" or purple look. That color is tiring on the eyes and runs less lumens than say a 4200 that OEM HID kits use.

Fourth, you need to run a WIRE HARNESS not an upgraded wiring light. You need to power the HID kit from the battery (which is at the back of the Prius) and your headlight wire will be used to close/open the circuit.

Fifth, cheap HID kits do not use OEM ballasts. They don't offer the protection nor the lifespan OEM does. I've seen everything from failed ballasts to blowing the HID bulb to water leaks. I haven't heard of frying the car electricals but not really interested in finding out.

Take the info for what it is. I've ran retrofits in my Integra, Accord and Rav4 and before I retrofitted, I ran HID kits in the Integra (before retrofit) and my motorcycle.

 

I reviewed the TSB and realized that this wire is being added in series with the original headlight power wire, so Toyota's TSB fix is to reduce the voltage fed to the H11 headlight bulb, not increase it. It appears they're adding about four feet of the very skinny wire, and without knowing what gauge wire it's hard to guess how much voltage drop this fix creates. They could also be making the bulb connector more robust with this TSB wire than before.

 

The outrageous action Toyota took is to offer a bulb at a high price to make the lights operate rather than issue a recall to correct this engineering error. A technical bulletin was issued but owners had to find it and ask that it be performed. My wife lost both low beam lights one dark night when both bulbs blew. SHE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED! After this incident I trust Toyota much less.

 

Perhaps I've been lucky. My Prius is over 6 years old and I've never had to replace a bulb of any kind.

 

Then perhaps you should.

Halogen bulbs dim over time, so unless you have LED lowbeam headlights, then you should definitely see an improvement by changing your bulbs (pun intended).

 

Mine haven't dimmed enough that I've noticed it.

My understanding is that unlike traditional incandescent lights, halogen lights typically have a very flat output curve over time and generally fail by the time the loss of output is of the order of 10 - 15%. I doubt that this degree of light loss is readily noticeable when driving.

For this reason and the variability of lifespan, it appears to make sense to run them until they eventually fail.

 

If that's true, then the conventional explanation of the problem (too much resistance in original wiring, corrected by upgraded wiring with less voltage drop) is totally incorrect. And vice versa.

After 15 months and about 14,000 miles, I've experienced zero headlight problems so far. Having acquired the Prius at about 41K miles, I don't know whether the bulbs are original, or what kind they are if not. These seem the brightest low-beams I've ever used in any car---at least up to their extremely abrupt cut-off at the top of the beam pattern.

 

After replacing the low beam bulbs twice under 50k miles I'm just waiting for them to pop again on my 2011 prius. I now have a cloudy passenger's side lamp full of condensation.

I'm pretty fed up. I'm now going to buy a new whole passenger's side headlamp housing along with this conversion kit.

Is this the correct kit needed below?

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/complete-retrofit-kits/morimoto-retro-quik-system-toyota-pruis-2010.html#.Vq5osrIrLIW

There are several options on this kit and wonder options are needed vs. recommended.

 

nope, not what you want to buy/
if you buy this kit, you have to open your headlights by baking them in the oven/
what everybody does is just switching to the hid-bulbs/
so what you would need is this one here:

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid-systems/morimoto-elite-hid-system-h11.html

I finally ended up with this combination (6500k/50w) & it gives nothing but white light, not yellowish nor bluish, just pure white.
easy to put in, max. one hour for both sides/
don't forget to order the H11B version, the A version will give you a ground shadow/

 

Thanks StarCaller!

What is the benefit of the "Anti-Flicker Cap Link" option?

 

you don't need that/
it's for certain cars which constantly check if the headlight bulb is working or burnt out/

well, I was happy with 4500k/5500k, too - but now my preference is 6500k with 50w ballasts/

 

Thanks!

Are the 6500s easy on the eyes? I would like the clarity of vision but not having to put on sunglasses while driving at night. I see some cars on the road that are like a knife in the eye they are so bright.

 

they are WHITE/ like a cold white/
I guess you would be better off if you choose the 5500k with the 50w ballasts/
this combination goes a little bit more in the warm white direction/

 

Thanks again!

 

The 5500 will still be more white than blue or yellow right?

 

right/

 

Thanks!

I just ordered the OEM fog light set from PCS. Anyone have the fog light set with this h11 morimoto kit? Wondering how these will come out with the 5500's low beams with the OEM fog lights.

 

your fog lights will look totally yellow compared to your head lights/

 

All the more reason to put yellow 2500K H11 bulbs in the foglights.

 

or 3000k.... ;-)