Yeah, as an owner of a vehicle with these fucking things. I hate them but there’s literally nothing we can do. All vehicles sold have them now, and the manufacturers have no options for softer lights. I’ve tried for months.
Do what I did and write your MP. This needs to be legislated.
One problem is the manufacturers have made headlights into assemblies that cannot be repaired or really disassembled, forcing you to replace the entire thing if anything goes wrong. Also they can be expensive.
Yep, driving around without lights is dangerous, it could get you pulled over. The people designing these setups know this and want to force you back to the dealership.
That 2005 model headlight also has a much shorter lifespan than most LEDs (assuming proper cooling in their enclosure). Up to 1,000 hours for a traditional headlight, and up to 50,000 hours for an LED headlight.
You do realize their goal is less bright lights, with these LED assemblies there is often little to no aftermarket, and when there is it is brighter. Example: 2023-2026 Acura integra
Well you gotta give it a few years for an aftermarket to develop. I’m happy that there are people on Lemmy privileged enough to afford a brand new car, but most of us are driving 12-14 year old vehicles, in which there’s almost always an aftermarket available in that age range unless you’re driving something obscure (in which case you’d have a difficult time finding even OEM parts for!).
Canada used to have regulations about the maximum lumens that could be output by headlights, but corporate lobbyists undermined this with a rule that exempted cars that rolled off the dealership lot with brighter lights in the late 90’s when the manufacturers started using the bright blue halogens. Then LEDs came out and they got the same bypass automatically.
I voted against the political leaders that supported moves like this for years, but most of the population doesn’t.
Yeah, we are very strict regarding max light output, but depending on what we measure, it’s Candela or Lumen. And bright beams (> 2000 Lumen) need to automatically limit how far they reach to not blind people when driving over a hill for example, etc. Without all of that, it would be carnage.
This is unfortunately just not true. I’m also from Germany and I drive a lot at night, where I get absolutely blinded by random headlights every couple of minutes. My car sits very close to the ground and the average SUV headlights are way above my trunk and hood, shining directly into my cabin. It’s gotten so bad in recent years. One day I’ll probably crash into a tree or something because yet another idiot trusts their Matrix LED high beams to recognize my car in time.
If I illegally modified my vehicle in a way that made it worse, it would be.
This is a factory vehicle from the dealership with no alternative light options. I’m not responsible for anything with regard to the lights on it unless I’m running around with my brights on, which I don’t use.
Not sure how you think the law works, but that’s not it.
I’ve looked all over for aftermarket options, and asked the dealership repeatedly for options for 4 years… And I have no responsibility because I won’t go spending inordinate amounts of money to try and engineer a potentially worse solution…
Dude. I wasn’t joking. They make tape for this. It’s all over amazon. Search for “headlight filter tape.” We’re talking like $7 and 20 minutes of your life to have a lower chance of getting in a wreck. So do it!
what you are asking for is practically impossible, and actually literally impossible without spending multiple tens of thousands of dollars finding and paying someone to reverse engineer a car’s lighting system, including the car’s whole computerized network that likely controls the lights and their electrical environment, then find and pay someone to manufacture a custom, one-off modification, and finally find and pay someone to actually install it.
the result may not be legal, may void a car’s warranty, may cause a car to fail a mandatory state inspection, may be unreliable and cost insane amounts of money to fix if/when needed
this is a wildly unreasonable request and expectation that you’re making.
If it’s from the factory, it’s likely not as bad as the aftermarket ones. The problem with aftermarket is the light housing is designed for a bulb in a particular location. The aftermarket ones will often be in the wrong location, so even the low beams will shine higher than they should be. (Low/high beams have to do with height, not brightness.) Your lights might be bright, but I suspect that your low beams still don’t shine upward very far. If they do, name and shame the manufacturer of your car please.
Its bad enough that people constantly flash their lights at me because they think I have my brights on. At stop signs I literally need to flash my brights back to prove they aren’t. (It would be impossible, the brights will not stay on when there are any red or white lights in front of the vehicle unless you manually pullback and hold the control stick.)
I never use the brights on this thing. The headlights are already too bright
Mentioned in another thread, this is a Dodge. And Mopar makes sure no aftermarket parts exist. Dodge doesn’t provide any alternative light brightnesses.
Yeah, as an owner of a vehicle with these fucking things. I hate them but there’s literally nothing we can do. All vehicles sold have them now, and the manufacturers have no options for softer lights. I’ve tried for months.
Do what I did and write your MP. This needs to be legislated.
Yes you can! You can get them adjusted at a mechanic, or get the internal reflector swapped out
One problem is the manufacturers have made headlights into assemblies that cannot be repaired or really disassembled, forcing you to replace the entire thing if anything goes wrong. Also they can be expensive.
https://daxstreet.com/cars/419253/10-cars-where-a-headlight-assembly-costs-2000-dollars/
Also sometimes the new headlight needs to be programmed by the dealership to work correctly
Wtf, on my 2005 car changing the lights costs 30 bucks. They are purposefully low price because you don’t want people around going without lights
Yep, driving around without lights is dangerous, it could get you pulled over. The people designing these setups know this and want to force you back to the dealership.
That 2005 model headlight also has a much shorter lifespan than most LEDs (assuming proper cooling in their enclosure). Up to 1,000 hours for a traditional headlight, and up to 50,000 hours for an LED headlight.
this is one of many reasons I won’t buy a newer car.
Then get aftermarket headlights! Why are you guys acting like OEM housing is the only way?
You do realize their goal is less bright lights, with these LED assemblies there is often little to no aftermarket, and when there is it is brighter. Example: 2023-2026 Acura integra
Well you gotta give it a few years for an aftermarket to develop. I’m happy that there are people on Lemmy privileged enough to afford a brand new car, but most of us are driving 12-14 year old vehicles, in which there’s almost always an aftermarket available in that age range unless you’re driving something obscure (in which case you’d have a difficult time finding even OEM parts for!).
I’ve checked with different spots for 3 years. Maybe for some makes and models, but not for dodge.
I have them as well and a lot of others around me and they’re awesome!
As long as they’re regulated properly. I’m in Germany and we love regulating stuff!
Canada used to have regulations about the maximum lumens that could be output by headlights, but corporate lobbyists undermined this with a rule that exempted cars that rolled off the dealership lot with brighter lights in the late 90’s when the manufacturers started using the bright blue halogens. Then LEDs came out and they got the same bypass automatically.
I voted against the political leaders that supported moves like this for years, but most of the population doesn’t.
So, here we are.
Yeah, we are very strict regarding max light output, but depending on what we measure, it’s Candela or Lumen. And bright beams (> 2000 Lumen) need to automatically limit how far they reach to not blind people when driving over a hill for example, etc. Without all of that, it would be carnage.
This is unfortunately just not true. I’m also from Germany and I drive a lot at night, where I get absolutely blinded by random headlights every couple of minutes. My car sits very close to the ground and the average SUV headlights are way above my trunk and hood, shining directly into my cabin. It’s gotten so bad in recent years. One day I’ll probably crash into a tree or something because yet another idiot trusts their Matrix LED high beams to recognize my car in time.
Never had that issue with my normal cars (like Golf class). What kind of Tarnmobil are you driving?
It’s a lowered 1989 Mercedes E-Class. Sitting in the car my level of sight is at about 110 cm.
Yeah well. That might be the price of lowering. Cool ride though.
Oh and fuck SUVs 😑
True, I don’t even want to know how bad it would be in a MX-5, SLK or even a Smart Roadster.
I still like that MX-5 though.
pay to get them replaced with something that’s not dangerous
it’s your vehicle. you are responsible for it too.
There are no replacement options, see other threads.
Just build your own sodium bulb how hard could it be
Transparent yellow filter tape time
bare minimum, yeah
go custom or eat the loss. at least tint the housings and lenses.
this is your problem because it’s your vehicle, don’t make it everybody else’s
If I illegally modified my vehicle in a way that made it worse, it would be.
This is a factory vehicle from the dealership with no alternative light options. I’m not responsible for anything with regard to the lights on it unless I’m running around with my brights on, which I don’t use.
Not sure how you think the law works, but that’s not it.
Removed by mod
You have a warped view here, I have to say.
I’ve looked all over for aftermarket options, and asked the dealership repeatedly for options for 4 years… And I have no responsibility because I won’t go spending inordinate amounts of money to try and engineer a potentially worse solution…
Right… Great viewpoint you have there.
Dude. I wasn’t joking. They make tape for this. It’s all over amazon. Search for “headlight filter tape.” We’re talking like $7 and 20 minutes of your life to have a lower chance of getting in a wreck. So do it!
what you are asking for is practically impossible, and actually literally impossible without spending multiple tens of thousands of dollars finding and paying someone to reverse engineer a car’s lighting system, including the car’s whole computerized network that likely controls the lights and their electrical environment, then find and pay someone to manufacture a custom, one-off modification, and finally find and pay someone to actually install it.
the result may not be legal, may void a car’s warranty, may cause a car to fail a mandatory state inspection, may be unreliable and cost insane amounts of money to fix if/when needed
this is a wildly unreasonable request and expectation that you’re making.
Why did you buy it?
Needed a vehicle and I won’t buy older than 10 years. Every vehicle in the last 10 years has led lights. That’s it.
I held off with the 2014 as long as possible, but when its maintenance costs got to be unreasonable, it was time to replace it.
Oof
If it’s from the factory, it’s likely not as bad as the aftermarket ones. The problem with aftermarket is the light housing is designed for a bulb in a particular location. The aftermarket ones will often be in the wrong location, so even the low beams will shine higher than they should be. (Low/high beams have to do with height, not brightness.) Your lights might be bright, but I suspect that your low beams still don’t shine upward very far. If they do, name and shame the manufacturer of your car please.
Its bad enough that people constantly flash their lights at me because they think I have my brights on. At stop signs I literally need to flash my brights back to prove they aren’t. (It would be impossible, the brights will not stay on when there are any red or white lights in front of the vehicle unless you manually pullback and hold the control stick.)
I never use the brights on this thing. The headlights are already too bright
Mentioned in another thread, this is a Dodge. And Mopar makes sure no aftermarket parts exist. Dodge doesn’t provide any alternative light brightnesses.
My car has them too, from the factory. Maybe there are tints that can be applied to the light thing. Maybe that’s illegal tho 🤷
The factory ones are bright but not blinding. Its always the aftermarket’s that aren’t set up properly or regulated that are blinding.
nope, the factory ones are blinding too
For reference where are you located?
The factory LEDs from any north american car manufacturer are absolutely blinding.
Spray-on tint lol.