[Wolverine51]

Why does the 2019 Insight Owners Manual say you should have an authorized Honda Dealer inspect and replace all LED lights?

Is there some risk in doing this ones self? (there are no DIY videos on YouTube as yet)

 

[insightfully]

I think some of the listed lights (Headlights, Fog Lights, Door Mirror Side Turn Lights, Brake & Tail Lights) are built into the assemblies and take more instruction/skill than Honda expects from the average DIY'er.

For the Fog Lights at least, the kit installation instructions mention that “the LED bulb is part of the fog light assembly and CANNOT be replaced by itself.”

I'm sure DIY videos will come but will be more technical than "screw in new LED bulb."

 

[Verdier]

It seems that a lot of the newer LED headlamps (etc) are not actually changeable without replacing the entire assemblies. I figure if you're good with soldering and have knowledge of how to disassemble the lights you might be able to change bulbs, but in many cases they aren't considered serviceable anymore for blown bulbs.

 

[insightfully]

Hopefully alternatives like soldering become available. Soldering wouldn't be OEM recommended practice, but would be much cheaper than replacing the full assembly. As a pricing example, replacing the Right Headlight assembly (33100-TXM-A01) would run $500-$600. So replacing BOTH Headlight assemblies would be $1k+.

 

[Mr. Natural]

I’ve seen the life expectancy of LED headlights quoted as anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 hours. Even at the low end it should be several hundreds of thousands of miles before one should fail, right?

 

[insightfully]

Hopefully the life expectancy is that good. If so, even a worst case, super extreme scenario (20k hour bulb life, 10 hrs of use per day) would yield 5.5 years of life. I'm hoping for the long end coz I started adding up the cost of these assembly replacements (x2 sides) and had a pit in my stomach...

 

[andrew28]

LED lights should last at minimum 10 years. The 2009 Honda Civic I sold still had working original incandescent headlights even though they were kind of dimming after 9 years. The only problem with Honda LED lights burning out fast were from the Accords I have read here...Accord's LED Daytime Headlights Burn Out - Honda Problems

 

[insightfully]

Fingers crossed that the 2016-2018 Accord Daytime Running Light issue from your article has been addressed. The 2019 Insight design is described as having an "Accord front end" and the 2019 Insight started selling while the 2018 Accord was around. 10k hour life on the Daytime Running Lights would be disappointing, since those lights RUN ALL THE TIME. The assembly for the Daytime Running Lights include the Front Turn Signal and Front Side Marker, which is why the article quoted high side cost of $1400 for parts & labor for each side. Ouch.

 

[Mr. Natural]

One would hope that Honda having to replace all those headlights under warranty was enough of an issue for them to have solved the problem.

 

[andrew28]

I think the Insight has a different headlight design than the Accord/Civic. One of the reasons I chose the Insight over the Accord Hybrid was the Insight's "Good" headlight rating given by the IIHS. The Accord/Civic headlights were rated Poor(Civic Touring LED Trim) and Marginal (Accord Touring/Hybrid LED Trim).



https://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/honda/insight-4-door-sedan
https://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/honda/accord-4-door-sedan
https://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/honda/civic-4-door-sedan

 

[insightfully]

The article @andrew28 referenced with known/reported defect was for the daytime running light (+ turn signal + side light) assembly, which is different from the headlight assembly. But agree with your point that the headlight design is different between vehicles.

 

[KlumzyDriver]

I don't know this specifically for the led's in a car, but in general terms I believe what shortens bulb life is, not so much as using them, but instead the number of "on-off" cycles. I don't use the automatic headlight feature for turning on and off the high beams for this reason, I prefer to do it manually as needed.

 

[andrew28]

I don't know this specifically for the led's in a car, but in general terms I believe what shortens bulb life is, not so much as using them, but instead the number of "on-off" cycles. I don't use the automatic headlight feature for turning on and off the high beams for this reason, I prefer to do it manually as needed.

I sort of disabled the headlights flashing when locking/unlock door option for this reason but left the automatic headlight feature on cause I'm too lazy to switch the headlights on/off when I enter/exit tunnels during the day. Just like you I'm just assuming and don't have evidence that having the leds going off/on constantly kills them faster. :smile:

 

[insightfully]

Temperature (thermal stress) and usage (currents and/or electrical stress) are main factors affecting LED lifespan.

 

[Wolverine51]

High Replacement Cost of LED Lamp Assemblies

General Warranty Coverage for 2019 Insight is 3 years or 36,000 miles (whichever comes first). Doesn't this include all lamp assemblies and bulbs?

Surely Honda would not define lamp assemblies and bulbs as "maintenance items" such as those named in the following reference:


Page 13 of the 2019 Honda Insight Warranty says:

"These Warranties Do Not Cover:

Replacement of maintenance items
such as, but not limited to, spark
plugs, filters, hoses, belts, coolant,
or lubricants beyond their first
required maintenance point"

Or am I being naive?

 

[andrew28]

General Warranty Coverage for 2019 Insight is 3 years or 36,000 miles (whichever comes first). Doesn't this include all lamp assemblies and bulbs?

Surely Honda would not define lamp assemblies and bulbs as "maintenance items" such as those named in the following reference:


Page 13 of the 2019 Honda Insight Warranty says:

"These Warranties Do Not Cover:

Replacement of maintenance items
such as, but not limited to, spark
plugs, filters, hoses, belts, coolant,
or lubricants beyond their first
required maintenance point"

Or am I being naive?

Accord's LED Daytime Headlights Burn Out - Honda Problems
Honda will replace them under the 3 year/36k warranty.

 

[insightfully]

General Warranty Coverage for 2019 Insight is 3 years or 36,000 miles (whichever comes first). Doesn't this include all lamp assemblies and bulbs?

Officially, the LED lights ARE covered under the 3 yr/ 36k warranty as part of "Federal Emissions Warranty." It's interesting/odd to be part of emissions coverage, but I'll take it!

If you haven't seen it yet, there are 'overall warranty manual' and 'tire-specific warranty' documents available here for download: https://owners.honda.com/vehicles/warranty?year=2019&model=Insight

 

[Wolverine51]

Yeah, I guess "High Efficiency Light (LED)" must include all LED bulbs and assemblies. Good hunting!

 

[andrew28]

Officially, the LED lights ARE covered under the 3 yr/ 36k warranty as part of "Federal Emissions Warranty." It's interesting/odd to be part of emissions coverage, but I'll take it!

If you haven't seen it yet, there are 'overall warranty manual' and 'tire-specific warranty' documents available here for download: https://owners.honda.com/vehicles/warranty?year=2019&model=Insight

Is the Federal Emissions Warranty different from the extended emissions warranty certain states require? Does the extended emissions warranty cover the LED Head lights? I'm just curious after the recent discussion about the extended emissions warranty in another thread.

 

[insightfully]

Is the Federal Emissions Warranty different from the extended emissions warranty certain states require? Does the extended emissions warranty cover the LED Head lights? I'm just curious after the recent discussion about the extended emissions warranty in another thread.

The Emissions warranties are layered...
- U.S. coverage starts at the Federal level/list first, then
- Certain states get Extended coverages adding-to or exceeding the Federal minimum second.

The Federal Emissions Warranty includes the "High Efficiency (LED) Lights" (p17), so every U.S. Insight's LEDs are included in this first level of coverage at 3 yr/36k. (NOTE: This 3 yr/36k standard Emissions coverage 'sounds' the same as the New Vehicle Limited Warranty, but the Emissions-warranty is called out separately allow for differences from state to state.)

Emissions components receiving "Extended coverage" are detailed in this parts & systems list, side-by-side with the standard Federal coverage. The LED lights are not listed as getting "extra" coverage, so the warranty ends at 'just' the 3 yr/36k Federal limit.

Hope this helps clarify...