LED Headlights: Reviews & Lifespan

Hello everyone,

I'm currently in the process of choosing a replacement vehicle, and now it seems that LED headlights and taillights are much more common than xenon headlights.

What is your experience with that?
Can the LEDs in the headlights be replaced separately, or is a new headlight assembly required in case of a failure?

Are there any statements about the lifespan of LED headlights? Does the light intensity decrease over time?

It would also be interesting to know if there are now replaceable modules available for the taillights, as I heard from someone in my circle of acquaintances about a Golf Plus where individual LEDs in the taillights were defective, which resulted in a rejection by the TÜV (German technical inspection authority), and then a new taillight costing €400 was required.

Best regards,

Holger.

Holger247 wrote:

What is your experience with it? Can the LEDs of the headlights be replaced separately, or is a new headlight required in case of a fault?

Hello Holger,

"Nothing can be replaced individually. However, since the most expensive part of the headlight is likely the LED module with its cooling and control system, replacing just the module would be almost as expensive as replacing the entire headlight."

Holger247 wrote:

Are there any statements regarding the lifespan of LED headlights?

I only have a general understanding of LEDs. The lifespan of LEDs primarily depends on their maximum operating temperature. As long as the cooling of the LEDs is well-designed, they should last throughout the vehicle's lifespan. (Nowadays, LEDs used in the interior of cars also rarely fail.)
BUT: Especially in the hot engine compartment, with high LED power and therefore high heat to be dissipated, this is precisely one of the challenges. Active fans often help in this case, but they are less durable than the LED itself. I cannot say whether the fan can be replaced individually in each case, and it is probably not uniform across all vehicles.

Holger247 wrote:

Does the light intensity decrease over time?

Regarding the lifespan of LEDs in general: Yes, slightly. However, this is less of a factor for vehicles with short usage times (10,000 hours is already a lot). More important is that the optics and lenses should not become cloudy, dusty, or scratched, etc. Again, this is likely to vary depending on the vehicle.

Holger247 wrote:

Regarding the taillights, it would also be interesting to know if there are now replaceable inserts available, as I heard from someone in my circle of acquaintances about a Golf Plus where individual LEDs in the taillights were defective, which was then noted by the TÜV (German technical inspection authority), and resulted in a new taillight costing €400.

"No, there isn't. What would be the point? The price of the LED module would probably be just as high as the price of the entire light fixture. The entire light fixture probably costs less than 20€ to manufacture; the rest is company policy. But 400€ is quite a lot. I just checked the price for a 2010 Golf, and the list price for the left outer LED taillight was almost 150€. For the Golf Plus, it's even 99€ (although I'm not sure if those are LEDs).

The cause of the failures in the first generation of LED taillights, roughly between 2006 and 2010, was mechanical damage: The reflector expanded differently than the circuit board with the LEDs, which sheared the LEDs off the board. The internet is full of pictures showing this. So, in this case, it wasn't the LED lifespan that was the problem, but rather a poor design.

LED headlights have only been in widespread use on the road for less than 10 years. Therefore, it is only possible to make limited statements about the lifespan of specific current designs. However, I am also very curious to see if anyone else has more information on this.

In particular, employees of the authorized workshops might be able to provide us with some interesting insights, as the initial problems likely would still have been covered by the warranty and therefore might not have been widely discussed in online forums.

Greetings.
Sure, here's the translation:

"Guste" is a German word that means "gust" or "gust of wind." It can also be used to describe a sudden burst of something, such as laughter or anger.

For some customers with original LED taillights, individual LEDs were not working - I've never had any problems with the TÜV (German technical inspection) because of it, but the inspector might complain if several LEDs fail. I don't think the LED headlights will last forever, just like the xenon headlights, which were advertised as "lifetime" - blah blah blah. Unfortunately, I don't know if the LEDs in the headlights can be replaced individually! I should take a look at the T6 when it's back with me!

Certainly, the headlight lens made of plastic will, after a few years and depending on the manufacturer, become more or less cloudy, regardless of the type of bulb inside.

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your answers.

It's interesting that mechanical issues were the cause of the rear LED lights failing, but it makes sense since their actual lifespan should be longer.

I hadn't even thought about cooling the headlights. Of course, especially in stop-and-go traffic, the temperature could build up quite a bit.

The advantage of using Xenon is that you can also purchase Xenon bulbs from other manufacturers. This eliminates the possibility of being locked into a specific company's products or policies.

Best regards,

Holger.