After 8 years, one of the original headlight bulbs in our Honda Odyssey burned out.I discovered that Sylvania had these really cool replacement bulbs that were brighter and whiter than the OEM ones.Not wanting a yellow (oem bulb) and a (new) bright white one, I replaced both bulbs with the Sylvania type, the 9003/HB2 "High Performance Lighting".It cost about $[...] for two. Everything was fine for about 7 months until one of them burned out.I thought that was weird, so I bought a new one, installed it, then looked for the warranty statement on the replacement bulb package.There is none.I wrote to the customer service at www.sylvania.com/auto, expecting them to be really embarrassed at the short life.They weren't. Here's the important part of their reply:"The life of any halogen bulb varies based on vehicle type, vehicle voltage, amount of time the bulb is on, road conditions, proper installation, and correct application. The average life of SilverStar® headlights are approximately one year. If the bulbs do not meet your expectations, we will replace them within a year of purchase when obtained through an authorized US retailer.
With our SYLVANIA SilverStar® products, the primary goal is to offer the brightest, whitest light. Research has shown SilverStar® headlights improve driver visibility and reaction time. However, since our SilverStar® headlights are up to 35% brighter and our SilverStar® ULTRA headlights are up to 50% brighter than standard halogen, they may have a shorter life span compared to our other products.
We offer a wide variety of products to satisfy customer needs including brightness, durability, color options and increased visibility.We recommend evaluating your lighting annually as part of your regular maintenance."They then included instructions for replacing the burned out bulb - a ONE TIME courtesy.That's RIGHT, WHEN it happens again, I'm out of luck as evidenced by this closing:
"If you experience similar performance with the replacement product please contact us again so that we can make an alternate lighting recommendation for your vehicle."
So, to summarize:
1. Silverstar bulbs aren't engineered to last.Much like a meteor, they're designed to be very bright and burn out quickly. But, meteor shows are free and Sylvania Silverstar bulbs cost $[...] a pair.
2.The website lists the performance rating as 200 hours. Yes, for an AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCT.If you use your lights ONE HOUR a DAY, these aren't designed to last even a YEAR.
3. Sylvania gives NO CLUE on the packaging that you're signing up for a once a year replacement schedule at $[...] when you start down this road.
4. Sylvania will grace you with ONE replacement under warranty if it fails before a year is up, but that's it. After the first failure, you're out of luck.
This is a TERRIBLE PRODUCT only because I'm not interested in having headlights burn out while I'm traveling or at other random times at one year intervals. Especially when it's a product that's a little tough to replace (you can't get any finger oils or other oils/dirt on the bulb during installation or it will kill it prematurely - this is standard for any halogen or xenon bulb gas product). OEM products last 7-10 YEARS or more, but even 5 years on this product would be acceptable.1 year or LESS is NOT for this type of product, and Sylvania is scamming people for doing this.
This is a SHAMEFUL product that Sylvania should be embarrassed to offer for sale.NO one should buy it - EVER.I would give it 0 stars if I was allowed to.
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Product Description:
Sylvania SilverStar High Performance Halogen Headlight is fashioned for brighter and whiter light. It has dual filament for both high beam and low beam. This operates with internal gas pressure which significantly reduces the rate of tungsten evaporation. Its analogous non-halogen incandescent lamp operates the same filament temperature with greater luminance and efficiency. This combined effect of higher pressure and the halogen cycle give halogen lamp much longer life.
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