Accord 2005 hybrid headlights

This car has the worse headlights of any car I've owned since the early
90's. Consumer Reports rated the headlights fair. Anyone have any success
improving the headlights on their accord?

 

Are those different from the headlamps on the standard Accord? I ask
because the headlamps on our 2003 Accord EX V-6 are the best of any
car I have ever owned. I haven't counted lately, but I'm sure I have
owned more than 30 cars and pickups.

Dick

 

I agree with Dick, the headlights on my 2004 Accord LX (4-banger) are by far
the best headlights I've ever had. Are you sure they are aimed properly
(and working properly). Heck, I frequently don't even bother to use
high-beams in areas I could because the low-beams are so good.
....lightyears (pun intended) better than my former car a @&#*$$$$!!! Dodge
Intrepid (BY FAR the most unreliable hunk of junk I've ever owned and that
includes an Austin Healey Sprite, a Jaguar E-type, 2 Fiats, a Peugeot a
couple of VW's, and a Corvair ragtop, even though the Dodge was the first
car I ever bought new.)

 

Art is known for bitching about petty issues. Hell, he ditched a 2001
Toyota Avalon for a variety of reasons, including a crooked dashboard. This
is a guy who thinks that Crapsler makes high quality cars.

 

"Worse" in what way? Too dim? Try GE Nighthawks.

You can (if you want to spend the money) try investigating the replacement
of your US-spec lamps with ECE (European) ones. I understand the ECE lamps
are far superior to US-market units.

 

They are not bright and they are not wide and they have very fast drop off.
They seem to be focused right based on how they look when I turn them on
facing the closed garage door. My 2006 Odyssey has much better lights. So
did my 1999 300M and my 2001 Avalon. My 94 LHS had lousy lights, typical of
the time.

 

Yeah, the Low beam pattern is more European, designed not to blind
on-coming traffic. Very different than usual USA practice. Better bulbs
will help a little, but that sharp cut off has nothing to do with bulb
output, that's designed into the reflector. However, I do not agree
that the light isn't as bright as other OEM headlights, I think they're
about the same.

Use high beams when you can. Maybe add auxilary lighting designed to
supplement low beams if you care to spend some money towards solving
your problem. While my vision is good enough to pass the test without
glasses I find wearing glasses at night helps a lot.

 

Consumer Reports just started rating headlights when they test cars a couple
of years ago. As I said in my original post they gave the Accord 2005 just
a fair rating for headlights. I guess next time I won't buy a car that has
anything less than a CR rating of good for headlights. The lenses and
internal reflector sure look pretty.

 

Dick said

I'll have to agree ... the leadlights on my 2003 Accord EX V-6 are
excellent as well.



Casey

 

If you like the car, adding auxiliary lighting is the way to go. For
example, the Hella FF75 fog light kit sells for under $100. For another
$100 you should be able to get your shop to install them.

Look for HID headlights next time you are car shopping.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they are different. Headlights and tail lights
are the things car makers usually play with to differentiate year to year
model changes.

 

Was it a 97 or earlier Intrepid? They indeed had pathetic headlights. My
94 LHS had very poor headlights too.

 

And I was right about the deterioration of Toyota quality:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/25/news/international/bc.autos.japan.toyota.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes


I had 4 Toyota's and the 2001 Avalon was crap compared to the other 3. It
was crap compare to my 99 300M too.

 

Looking at the 2006 hybrid brochure it has halogen multi reflector
headlights which I guess describes most models these days.

 

Just noticed that Honda offers fog lights for the hybrid. I need to check
to see whether the car has them. (It is my wife's car. I drive the
Odyssey. She is gone with the hybrid for the day.) If not, does anyone
here have the Honda foglights installed on their car? Are they any help?

 

Read Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor.

 

Please don't feed the trolls.

 

In hybrid models the Prius offers HIDs in an option package. (I didn't
say you had to stick with Honda.)

However, spending a few hundred bucks to add auxiliary (halogen)
lighting to a car you like is a good investment, IMHO.

 

It sounds like they take quality very seriously. If GM or Ford ever
delayed a launch because of quality concerns, you know that the
problem must have been catastrophic. The Detroit companies can only
dream about achieving the quality levels which Toyota has deemed
unsatisfactory.

 

I'd say they're average.

My 05 HAH has suffered from endless defects. The build quality isn't
bad but the engineering quality resembles a cheap American car. It's
likely that your headlights are defective or a software bug is producing
a low voltage on the 12V system.