LED headlights on new build?

[Vendee]

I'm currently specing out the new Puma I hope to order. Its a dangerous and expensive game. I original thought I'd be happy with a base line Titanium with just metallic paint added. Now I'm up to a ST Line X with metallic paint and parking assist. I'm looking at adding the LED headlight option at £700 and I'm wondering if they are worth the extra. I'm not concerned about how cool they might look, I'm too old for that. I want to know how much better/safer they are driving at night. We plan to keep this car for 10 years possibly more so I want to get it right at the buying stage. Thanks

 

[TomsFocus]

Worth noting they're fixed LEDs, not adaptive ones.  So the answer is no, that's not worth £700...   But yes, they give a better light and will help you see a bit more within the same field of vision.

They're standard on the Vignale so if you're adding any more options, might be worth checking if that works out cheaper.  Some of the paint options are cheaper on the Vignale too which could balance it.

[Vendee]

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Worth noting they're fixed LEDs, not adaptive ones.  So the answer is no, that's not worth £700...   But yes, they give a better light and will help you see a bit more within the same field of vision.

They're standard on the Vignale so if you're adding any more options, might be worth checking if that works out cheaper.  Some of the paint options are cheaper on the Vignale too which could balance it.

Thanks for that, I'll give them a miss. Nice try getting me to think about Vignale upgrade......... you don't work for Ford do you?  🤣

[unofix]

You will never ever get your money back on adding options to a car. £700 for LED headlights plus Parking Assist, plus metalic paint, plus, plus, plus !!!!

If you are going to keep the car for many year then go the whole hog and get the Vignale, it will hold its value much better, you will enjoy it more and in ten years time when no can buy a real car with a real engine anymore you will thought of as a very wise man to have purchased such a car !!

PS. I also don't work for Ford 😉

 

[StephenFord]

I have no idea what comes with the car, but one of the most requested 'modification' sought on these here parts is a reversing camera, so if is not standard, I would tick that box...

[MarksST]

55 minutes ago, unofix said:

You will never ever get your money back on adding options to a car. £700 for LED headlights plus Parking Assist, plus metalic paint, plus, plus, plus !!!!

If you are going to keep the car for many year then go the whole hog and get the Vignale, it will hold its value much better, you will enjoy it more and in ten years time when no can buy a real car with a real engine anymore you will thought of as a very wise man to have purchased such a car !!

PS. I also don't work for Ford 😉

 

Options can make it more desirable and easier to sell through but, you’re buying a car for you not the next person and should add things that you want, need or will use.

I’d happily pay the £700 to upgrade, the light output is a lot better, doesn’t matter that bend round corners etc.

Go for the ST if you’re going the whole hog.

[MarksST]

43 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

I have no idea what comes with the car, but one of the most requested 'modification' sought on these here parts is a reversing camera, so if is not standard, I would tick that box...

Upgrading the headlight lamps is requested far more.

[TomsFocus]

3 hours ago, Vendee said:

Thanks for that, I'll give them a miss. Nice try getting me to think about Vignale upgrade......... you don't work for Ford do you?  🤣

I don't work for Ford...  But I could sell you a Focus Active Vignale for less than the price of the Puma...

 

[Vendee]

Thanks for all the replies. Just to clarify..... I am specing the car for myself and as I'll be keeping it for 10 years or so. The impact of any options on the resale value are of no importance to me. I'll have to have a look on youtube to see if I can find any sort of comparison check between halogen and LED headlights on the Puma. Does anyone know if LED headlights bounce off fog and mist as bad as halogen lights do?

[StephenFord]

11 hours ago, Vendee said:

...Does anyone know if LED headlights bounce off fog and mist as bad as halogen lights do?

Good question. I do know that folk who think they are 'upgrading' their halogen fog lights with LEDs are actually destroying their functionality as a fog light for that very reason. The LED wave lenth of the LED emission just bounces back off fog, and doesn't cut through it at all. Better off in this instance to stick to the old fashioned yellowish halogen. I wonder if a factory fitted LED headlight does better?

[Nismex]

Correct me if I am wrong, but the standard projectors will be LED Bulbs no? Like the Fiesta comes with Projectors with sealed LED Bulbs?

if not, and I’d they are halogen I’d go full LED, can’t go back to halogens, the LED projectors bulbs on the fiesta are so much better. But seems odd the Puma would go back to halogen bulbs from LED Bulbs on the fiesta?

[TheMcSame]

On 6/12/2021 at 5:35 PM, MarksST said:

Options can make it more desirable and easier to sell through but, you’re buying a car for you not the next person and should add things that you want, need or will use.

I’d happily pay the £700 to upgrade, the light output is a lot better, doesn’t matter that bend round corners etc.

Go for the ST if you’re going the whole hog.

Agreed. One does have to consider resale in the event they may sell it off afterwards, but first and foremost, your own needs should be your priority.

 

As for the LEDs? I find that LEDs are pretty great, especially a good set. Really makes things more visible with the headlights, and I can only imagine it helps on those extremely sunny days where lights might be harder to pick out... Though I'm running aftermarket ones, the headlights especially make short work of loonies who don't dip their high beams when you're coming at them. Let's just say a pair of 9000 lumen units blasting right back at them is highly effective at getting the message across. Can't speak for Ford's oem units but I presume a lot of the advantages carry over, perhaps not as much as some Autobeam 'bulbs', but they're still there. Personally, I find it a lot easier to pick out an LED indicator at night vs a halogen if the car in question doesn't have that whole 'turn off the nearby dipped beam to make the indicator more visible' thing a lot of modern cars seem to have now.

That being said, £700 is pretty damn steep for something that might cost you £400 at most and a bit of time to do yourself. Though granted, I can't imagine there's too many aftermarket Puma LED units knocking about so you'd have to make do with something like autobright LEDs and potentially have to swap out the headlight bulb come MOT time.

But yeah, it's always seemed quite silly to me really. Like, IIRC powerfold on the Fiesta were like a £300 option but you can retrofit them for like £150 or so. Even less if you pick up the mirrors from a car being parted out. You see it all the time with wind deflectors as well. £100, £150. In fact, I was speccing out a Lexus LS the other day just for the sake of it, as you do... £970.70 they're asking. Just shy of a grand, yet you could probably go out and buy a decent set like some Hekos for £30-£40 or so and fit them yourself. It's mad that they do this.

[Nismex]

Problem now TheMcSame, is that at least on the fiestas. The dipped beams are LED Bulbs, but they are sealed in the headlight unit, they aren’t replaceable, the high beam and indicators are still halogen though so they are replaceable, presumably the full fixed led headlights have a higher lumen output that the led bulb in the projector unit? Not sure on this though?

again not sure if the puma comes with LED Bulbs sealed in the projector headlight unit.

 

[TheMcSame]

11 hours ago, Nismex said:

Problem now TheMcSame, is that at least on the fiestas. The dipped beams are LED bulbs, but they are sealed in the headlight unit, they aren’t replaceable, the high beam and indicators are still halogen though so they are replaceable, presumably the full fixed led headlights have a higher lumen output that the led bulb in the projector unit? Not sure on this though?

again not sure if the puma comes with led bulbs sealed in the projector headlight unit.

 

I mean... If the dipped beams are already LEDs that's just less bulbs to swap out for LEDs. I'm talking more specifically about replacing halogens with LEDs rather than a lumen boost (though it is a nice bonus). I'd happily make do with some LED bulb replacements in place of the other lights over a straight up LED unit (unless the unit has something special about it I.E sequential indicators) for half the price. It's just one of those silly things about buying new cars. Options tend to be grossly overpriced. Fair enough for outright stereo and speaker options, that's an involved job and might need extra wiring. But for stuff like an upgrade to full LEDs from a LED/Halogen hybrid unit or wind deflectors, I just don't really see the point paying twice as much, if not more, for the sake of saving yourself a fairly easy job.

 

Everyone's different though, but to me £700 and the hassle of having to replace the entire light once part of it stops working isn't really worth it.

[Nismex]

51 minutes ago, TheMcSame said:

I mean... If the dipped beams are already LEDs that's just less bulbs to swap out for LEDs. I'm talking more specifically about replacing halogens with LEDs rather than a lumen boost (though it is a nice bonus). I'd happily make do with some LED bulb replacements in place of the other lights over a straight up LED unit (unless the unit has something special about it I.E sequential indicators) for half the price. It's just one of those silly things about buying new cars. Options tend to be grossly overpriced. Fair enough for outright stereo and speaker options, that's an involved job and might need extra wiring. But for stuff like an upgrade to full LEDs from a LED/Halogen hybrid unit or wind deflectors, I just don't really see the point paying twice as much, if not more, for the sake of saving yourself a fairly easy job.

 

Everyone's different though, but to me £700 and the hassle of having to replace the entire light once part of it stops working isn't really worth it.

Agreed, for me the LED dipped would be priority, if they come standard, that's all I'd personally look for. Like you I don't think I'd pay the £700 if it was just upgrading the full beam/indicators. For the £700 I'd be wanting something that is either much brighter etc. or offers something else.

However if the dipped LED bulb fails in the current projector headlamp units (not the full LED unit), the entire headlamp needs replacing sadly 😞 No idea why they sealed the LED Bulbs in, guess they had to for regulatory reasons? I wonder what cost difference there is between the LED projector unit and a fixed LED unit.

[TheMcSame]

18 minutes ago, Nismex said:

Agreed, for me the LED dipped would be priority, if they come standard, that's all I'd personally look for. Like you I don't think I'd pay the £700 if it was just upgrading the full beam/indicators. For the £700 I'd be wanting something that is either much brighter etc. or offers something else.

However if the dipped LED bulb fails in the current projector headlamp units (not the full LED unit), the entire headlamp needs replacing sadly 😞 No idea why they sealed the LED bulbs in, guess they had to for regulatory reasons? I wonder what cost difference there is between the LED projector unit and a fixed LED unit.

Yep, the price is the main thing for me.

 

And yeah, that part does suck. But on the flipside, it's only the one set of lights that need a whole unit replacement if they fail rather than all the sets. Of course, in theory it shouldn't be an issue at all. Though I'm sure we all know the lifespan of LEDs isn't quite what it's made out to be.