2004 Toyota Sienna

Just purchased a used Sienna and immediately replaced the bulbs with Philips X-treme Vision 9005/9006.

Thinking down the road when these need to be replaced to go with Philips 9011/9012.

Will I notice a tremendous difference between the 9011/9012 and the X-treme 9005/9006?

Thanks

JMSinMD said:

Will I notice a tremendous difference between the 9011/9012 and the X-treme 9005/9006?

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I did on my '01 Corolla, when I changed the HB4 for the HIR2. I have to be careful repolish the lenses frequently (probably am wearing them dangerously thin) to keep the glare down (the haze makes any lamp more glaring, with the extra light from the HIR2, it's important to keep that down). The X-Treme Power HB4s I had were great, except the life on one of them was shorter than I'd really expected-- and I disabled my DRLs long before getting them, so it's not like I wore them out prematurely with the DRL.

I'm sure the HB3-to-HIR1 upgrade is just as fantastic.

Just make sure those lenses are in good shape and the lamps are aimed properly.

If I decide to replace my headlight assemblies as they are 10 years old are there any aftermarket that are comparable to OEM at this point? I remember in the past reading a study that compared TYC, DEPO, etc to OEM and found their performance severely lacking, has anything changed?

JMSinMD said:

If I decide to replace my headlight assemblies as they are 10 years old are there any aftermarket that are comparable to OEM at this point?

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Nope.

I remember in the past reading a study that compared TYC, DEPO, etc to OEM and found their performance severely lacking, has anything changed?

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Nope. Why should it? People still buy TYC, DEPO, Spyder, and the like, compliant or not. They either go on price, or by how "cool" they look (angel eyes, sleepy eyes, hungry eyes, private eyes), or think that "the law is just written to keep the OEMs in control of everything".

parts.olathetoyota.com might be your best bet for low prices on genuine Toyota parts.

You're lucky you've got the halogen lamps. $243.65 each for the complete halogen lamp assemblies; $822.01 each for the HIDs. (OUCH.)

JMSinMD said:

If I decide to replace my headlight assemblies as they are 10 years old are there any aftermarket that are comparable to OEM at this point?

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No, the aftermarket units are all trash, not worth getting even at their relatively low price. Get the real Toyota items.

Alaric Darconville said:

You're lucky you've got the halogen lamps. $243.65 each for the complete halogen lamp assemblies; $822.01 each for the HIDs. (OUCH.)

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I was considering picking up the HID lamp assemblies but the owners say they aren't that much better than the halogen lamps.

The halogen lamps on the Sienna are well designed and good performers. So are the HIDs, which do give better performance than the halogens. Be careful of internet "reviews" -- remember, we humans are no damn good at accurately assessing how well we can see (or how well a headlamp works). But that being said, the cost-effectiveness of an HID headlamp swap is not real clear; the halogens are good and can be made better with a simple and inexpensive bulb swap.

JMSinMD said:

I was considering picking up the HID lamp assemblies but the owners say they aren't that much better than the halogen lamps.

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Being Koito/NAL, both lamps should be good, and the HIDs should be better-- but not $578.36 *each* better.

Granted, the owners aren't really qualified to say which is better than the other, but still. I can't believe they'd be objectively nearly $600 better than the halogens.

Just a follow up, looking at the OE headlamps the assembly looks exactly the same between the halogen and the hid headlamps. What exactly am I not seeing that differentiates the two? If one had a halogen projector vs. hid projector I understand the difference but please enlighten me (pardon the pun) as to the difference between a non projector halogen vs. hid headlamp. Thanks.

JMSinMD said:

Just a follow up, looking at the OE headlamps the assembly looks exactly the same between the halogen and the hid headlamps. What exactly am I not seeing that differentiates the two?

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For the same reason why if we picked the same frames, my eyeglasses would look exactly the same as yours. Let's swap glasses, want to? Of course you don't, because my lenses are for my eyes, and your lenses are for your eyes. The headlamp reflectors are NOT the same. They're the same size and shape and general design, but the actual optics are different. That holds true whether we're talking about reflectors or projectors.