LEDs are the future of car lighting but they can come with a hefty price tag (Picture © DS Automobiles)
Drivers of some of our most popular small cars could have to pay as much as £846 for replacement headlamp bulbs. New research reveals that the cost of mending broken headlights is escalating because increasing numbers of cars are relying on LED technology.
The study by What Car? shows that owners of the Volkswagen Polo, the country’s sixth best-selling car, will spend £18 on a new halogen bulb. Meanwhile, it’ll cost drivers of the upmarket GTI version £846 because it has LED headlamp units. Owners of the Suzuki Swift SZ3 or SZT models will pay just £4 for a replacement bulb. However, drivers of the more upmarket SZ5 version will fork out £684 to replace the xenon unit. Read on to find out how much you might have to pay for a new headlamp bulb.
What kind of lights does your car have?
The law changed in 2011, requiring all new cars to have Daytime Running Lights. In some cases, lights were made to come on as soon as you turned the ignition on. In other cases, car makers embraced new LED technology. If your car has DRLs in a funky shape that are always on, these are LEDs. However, it may only be the DRLs that are LED, the main headlamp bulbs could still be cheaper halogen or xenon units. To be sure, look in the user manual.
What are the different kinds of headlamps
Halogen is the most popular type of headlamp. But the bulbs have a finite lifetime and amount of light while brightness can vary. Increasingly, specialist companies such as Osram are producing halogen bulbs that have the kind of bluey white light more usually associated with more modern, xenon lights.
Xenon headlamps are frequently called High Intensity Discharge (HID) units. They are widely regarded as more efficient and give a brighter light than halogens. However, where a regular halogen headlight bulb can cost as little as £4 from a motor retailer, a replacement HID bulb will set you back about £40 or more.
LED or Light Emitting Diodes are the new kids on the headlamp block. Car makers are increasingly fitting these because they give a much brighter more adaptable light for better driver vision. They also require less energy from the car to run and light units can be shaped more flexibly than those using traditional bulbs. This means designers can let their imaginations run wild with funky light shapes. LEDs should last the lifetime of the vehicle.
LEDs have a brighter, more adaptable light and use less energy than halogens (Picture © Vauxhall)
How much do costs vary?
It usually depends on the model of car you go for. Choose a cheaper version and you’ll pay less. It’s that simple. Cheaper cars will have halogen lights. According to the What Car? research, it’s £317 to buy an HID bulb for a Vauxhall Corsa Elite. The cheaper Design version of Britain’s third best-selling car will take a £17 halogen bulb.
And while a cheaper Honda Jazz ES will use an £8 halogen bulb, the more expensive EX and Sport models will require a £714 sealed LED headlamp unit.
Why are LEDs so expensive?
LEDs are not traditional bulbs. It’s not as simple as taking a broken one out and screwing a new one in. LED headlamps are sealed units because the LED tubes are an integral part of the light unit. When one breaks, you have to remove the old unit and plug in a new one.
They look great but it’s costly to replace LED headlamps on the VW Polo GTI (Picture © Volkswagen)
When is the cost a problem?
Where cost of new lighting technology will increasingly become a problem is as cars fitted with LED headlamps get older, worth less and are involved in bumps and scrapes. If you smash an LED headlamp unit against a concrete bollard in a car park, depending on the make, model and age of the car, it might actually be cheaper for the insurer to declare the car a total loss (write it off) than to replace it. Let’s hope that in the meantime, the automotive aftermarket responds to the demand and the price of replacement LED units starts to fall.
No one is forced to buy these stupidly priced bulbs – or the vehicles they are for. As P T Barnum said, “There’s a fool born every moment.”
ii wanted to replace the daytime running light bulbs on my peugeot 3008 registered 2010… main dealer price for standard light bulb £50.00 each and £150.00 to fit them is that a rip off or what
Ray – did you go into the cost of bulb replacement when you bought the car? Or any other maintenance costs? I see the 3008 is called a “compact crossover SUV”. Is that a hybrid or a mongrel?!
I think this is a total rip off from the car manufactures they could fit led lights in a bulb which on the market there are ones for in your home lighting so why not for cars and they do not cost an arm or a leg.
If you have DLB and they are halogen they may be using the STOP/ TAILLIGHT thats 20/5 w, These are realy designed to use the 20w element occasionaly ( when you brake) so when they are on all the time you dont have your dips on they are over running and ours last about a year at most. I bought 5/20 equivalent LED they where great brighter and cooler. The Scvoda dcided they didnt use enough power though so the first time I restarted the car it turned both filaments off. The dealed whent in with the ODB2 and turned the old halogens on but it annoys me. On my A3 the daylight Running Lights are a seperate bulb and seem to last longer but if you check with the people that sell equivalent LED’s they will not guarantee them in an Audi even if they are the CANBUS type that have a resitor to burn the same watts that the halogen use. Its so wrong.
Time somebody asked the question why do headlights need to be so dangerously bright? It has stopped a lot of people driving at night because of these type of lights.They must be the cause of a lot of accidents in country areas.
Manufacturers should be required to quote replacements costs for routine repairs eg exhausts, light bulbs, wiper blades, brake pads etc just as they are required to give other data for their vehicles. This would highlight the rip off prices and take the gloss off the more expensive model variants
I am thoroughly sick, at my advanced age, to have to check for all the modern “dodges” used by suppliers and manufacturers whose sole purpose in life seems to be to take advantage of the buyer whenever possible and for as much money as possible.
It is disgraceful but appears to be the norm today – buyer beware and beware and beware again.