I know there have been many comments here about standard Tourer headlights, but another year has passed and the dark nights are here again, so I thought it worth sharing my thoughts and seeing if anyone has any news.
Firstly my car - March 13 registered Vauxhall management Exclusiv 165 CDTi Auto. Bought 30th July with 2100 miles - now on 12252. Love the car, good seats, great engine now it gets regular work outs. I spend half my time in London and the rest up and down the motorway network so 44-50mpg is good. Running the standard tyres and wheels on the ECO setting of 41psi all round and the ride / grip are excellent.
Anyway, on to the lights - they are terrible, in some conditions I would even say dangerous. From Luton, I drove to Liverpool at night a couple of weeks ago and to Taunton last Monday night. On both occassions I had several hours to study my light intensity and spread on the road compared to others. Ignoring cars with Xenon or LED lights and concentrating on 10 plate and newer, I would say that anything on the road has better lights than my car. Even city cars like Hyundai i10's and Fiat Pandas.
A few weeks back I had my car looked at by my dealer, which is located on land previously part of the Vauxhall factory here in Luton; as a company they have been around at least 40 years and some of their service department managers have been with them since they were boy apprentises, and they say the lights are to spec. However, they gave me a Corsa as a loan car and the lights were just as they should be, with a bright even spread of well coloured intense light, illuminating the road properly.
Speaking to the technician, he explained that the Tourer has a new type of light. The single filament bulb doesnt move or change, it is the 'eye ball' lens that is mechanically adjusted to swap between dipped and high beam.
Looking in Halfords for an upgrade I noticed that their Bulb list shows seperate bulbs for dipped and main beam, so I insisted the lad come and take one of my bulbs out. He was somewhat amazed and dismayed to find a single bulb, with what appears to be a unique socket for the wiring to connect in place. Nothing they have comes close, and even his registration number linked database shows the wrong bulbs.
What are we to do to get safe illumination?
Does anyone know of upgraded bulbs that fit without any adjusting?
These cars have been around for over 2 years now, and they aren't exactly rare, why aren't there replacement bulbs, even standard ones, readily available outside of a Vauxhall Dealer Parts Department?
Your thoughts, comments and solutions would be greatly appreciated.
Edited by Steel188 - 30 minutes ago at 8:08pm