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Which Headlight Bulbs last the longest?

5K views 32 replies 17 participants last post by  PassatFam 
#1 · (Edited)
PIAA bulbs last longer than Silverstars?

The dealer told me the OEM halogens will be replaced for free for the first 4 years. I am considering to change over to Silverstars, Phillips or PIAA and since there seems to be no clear winner in terms of lighting performance, I wonder which one lasts longer (with and w/o DRLs).
Please share if you've had yours for more than 2 years or if they failed much sooner. Thanks
 
#2 ·
That's like asking whether Hanes underwear is better than Fruit of the Loom. You won't get a real answer, just a bunch of people saying crap that theirs lasted X months/years and you'll end up getting whatever one you wanted in the first place.
 
#3 ·
luvmyb5 said:
That's like asking whether Hanes underwear is better than Fruit of the Loom. You won't get a real answer, just a bunch of people saying crap that theirs lasted X months/years and you'll end up getting whatever one you wanted in the first place.

I second that!

Usually oem type bulbs are fine. Or name brand ones for the regular consumer market.

The cheap ones usually burn out faster, but that could be from mis-handling, etc.
 
#4 ·
PassatFam said:
The dealer told me the OEM halogens will be replaced for free for the first 4 years. I am considering to change over to Silverstars, Phillips or PIAA and since there seems to be no clear winner in terms of lighting performance, I wonder which one lasts longer (with and w/o DRLs).
Please share if you've had yours for more than 2 years or if they failed much sooner. Thanks
First of all, get that in writing. Bulbs are only covered under warranty in the first 12 month / 12k warranty as they are considered (I believe) a wear and tear item.

Second - the OEM halogens will probably outlast most other bulbs. They also will underperform them in terms of lighting output. Go to www.danielsternlighting.com. Very informative!
 
#5 ·
By reading through all the other thread it is clear that the light output preferences are spread about equally between bulbs and I wasn't looking for anymore input on that. I wanted to see if it is possible to establish a trend among manufactures in terms of durability. On average each manufacturers bulbs would be used under similar conditions, be mishandled the same ... provided that enough people post their experiences.
I haven't made up my mind yet which one to get but wouldn't want to spend a lot on bulbs that consistently fail after 12 months or less.
 
#11 ·
Sylvania Cool Blue (no, they don't emit cheesy, fake HID blue light).

I can't vouch for longevity, but the slightly-whiter-than-stock light is an improvement. However, if you are interested in longevity for the dollar, you should really just pick up a $10 pair of GE or other OEM/generics from Walmart. Even if you get half the life of the nicer ones, you're still better off. It's not like changing the bulbs is a big ordeal or anything...
 
#13 ·
wut model number r our bulbs? i went to autozone and picked up some sylvanias H7's. I went home to install them and i realized that ther wer only 2 prongs on the sylvanias and they wer way too small, but the guy at autozone looked it up on his computer before i bought them and said that they would fit my car.

TIA
 
#17 ·
So it seems like the Sylvanias are rather short lived. I wanted to replace the OEM bulbs with something a little brighter, whiter and still legal without a cheap blue tint. Of course HID would be perfect, I just cannot cough up the 800-1000 bucks for OEMs and the kits are not cop proof...
Are PIAAs the way to go then? Maybe the Xtreme White Plus? Will they last longer than 2 years?
 
#19 ·
Yeah, i checked out the cool blue on sylvania's website but they are not as white nor bright as silverstars and last about as long (or short). That's why I'm thinking PIAA. Visually they are supposedly the same or better than Silverstars.

Anybody out there with information if PIAAs last longer?
 
#21 ·
I had similar experience with SilverStars... brighter/better, but short lived.

Good news is sylvania/osram replaced them for free under warranty, and I did it all via their website customer service.

ALso followed the advice on this site... ordered European osram silverstars, and disconnected the DRLs.
 
#22 ·
The Silverstars :rolleyes: and Sylvania's :crazy: from my experience are a joke :puke:. Across several applications (91 Galant VR4 and 92 Subuaru SVX), after going through 2 pairs on each car in an extreemly short period of time (less than 6 months) I returned to the regular bulb and never had an issue after. Not to mention I believe I got better light distro from the stock set up. Really IMO the HID rig is the only legit improvment in automotive lighting in some time.
 
#25 ·
Yeah, but what is the best option if you don't have the cash for HIDs? I don't expect the bulbs to last as long as OEMs but I also don't want to replace them every 6 months.
So if Silverstars and PIAA are garbage what about Phillips CrystalVision or VisionPlus?
 
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