Your Questions Answered: What's the best fix for dim headlights?

I have a VE Commodore Omega that has birthday candles for headlights. Low beam is especially bad. I can’t see much at all in front of me at night. I got the headlight lenses polished (they were pretty faded) and while that helped a bit, I can’t say the light output is much better. What if I swapped the lights from a Calais V that came with projector headlights? Or what if I fit LED headlight globes, will it really work – and are these legal anyway? – Jordan

Answer: Hey Jordan, Holden reportedly spent a billion dollars on VE Commodore development, but I reckon they blew all but the last $4.50 before they realised they still had to engineer the headlights. The VF Commodore that followed was no better. The projector-style low-beam lights on upper-spec models were not much of an improvement over the VE Omega or VF Evoke, which used a standard halogen reflector design.

You are correct in saying that LED replacement globes fitted to headlight housings intended for halogen globes are not compliant. The replacement globes must be the same type as those originally fitted to gain Australian Design Rule certification – that is, halogen globes in the case of your VE.

Early aftermarket replacement LED (and HID) globes were known for not dispersing light correctly on the headlight reflector. Newer ones are allegedly better.

It’s such an irony that a modification that can make night-time driving much safer (LED globes) is deemed illegal on safety grounds. While many say these work well, using an LED light conversion is at your own risk, especially if you have not checked headlight beam aim and are blinding oncoming drivers. That could get the attention of other motorists, including the police.

However, there is no law stopping you fitting LEDs if you don’t deploy them on the road, and it’s remarkable how thriving the aftermarket LED headlight globe industry is for non-road use.

The only way to let you sleep at night knowing you’re totally compliant is to buy certain aftermarket halogen globes. The ones that offer higher light output despite being the same wattage as standard (not that they are sold much anymore, but you don’t want high-wattage bulbs, which burn hotter and therefore risk melting the plastic headlight housings). If you want the best light colour output, don’t be tempted by the 6000K-plus ‘white’ light-colour globes. Not only do they put out less light, if the colour is blue enough, they are illegal. The 4000-4300K range produces the best light and is legal.

There are many such halogen options, many marketed as having something like 5000 per cent better light output, but that’s probably only an estimation based on how truly bad the original globes are. Having tried such uprated halogens to improve lighting on a VF Holden Calais V, I can tell you not to have high hopes.

I’m trying to decide between an Amarok PanAmericana and a Ranger Wildtrak. Which one do you reckon would be the better overall choice? It’ll mainly be used for towing, so I’m particularly interested in towing performance, stability, engine/transmission, comfort on longer trips, reliability and overall capability. Would you pick the Amarok or the Ranger, and why? – Jackson

Answer: Jackson, we did a towing test comparison a few years ago as part of an Amarok-versus-Ranger (and HiLux) comparison. As I’m sure you’re aware, Ranger and Amarok are platform-shared vehicles with few differences – but one of them is suspension tune.

We found the Ranger to be more supple, with less abrupt suspension compliance than the Amarok, including when towing. If you were sold on the VW, then an aftermarket suspension upgrade would likely help make it more comfortable for towing, but if you’re keeping it stock-standard, our pick for towing ride comfort is the Ranger.

I am wondering about complimentary manufacturer’s roadside assistance that may be offered with or without dealer servicing when buying a new car. Is this similar to RACV, NRMA and so on, and if so, should I cancel my long-standing membership? What conditions apply and what does it include or exclude? Does it work if I’m halfway along the Birdsville Track or the Gibb River Road, or if my EV runs out of electrons in the back of nowhere, or the tyre repair kit doesn’t work? – David

Answer: Hey David, this is an excellent question. I have been with the NRMA since the dawn of time, so I understand the reluctance to break the chain of continuous membership. The offer from manufacturers is often very similar to motoring organisation (or motoring club) breakdown cover. As ever, though, it pays to read the fine print, because you may find yourself in a situation where the cover is not what you thought it was.

Have a read of what both your motoring organisation membership and any manufacturer roadside assistance package cover.

Some differences might include premium-tier cover from some motoring organisations covering any car you are driving (so the cover is essentially tied to you, not a specific car). Manufacturer cover is tied to the one specific car. Also, your free tow under manufacturer breakdown cover is often to the closest dealer workshop, which may be booked out or not convenient for you.

Depending on the level of motoring club cover you have, there is often more flexibility.

It’s a personal choice, but clearly it doesn’t make a lot of financial sense to be paying for duplicate services. Motoring organisations often offer discounts on services and holidays, and even provide general motoring and road-rule information, so it might be useful to hang onto your membership for those benefits.

As for breaking down in the middle of nowhere, I’m assuming you’re talking about an off-road 4x4. The key word in roadside assist is ‘roadside’. If it’s a gazetted road, you’re usually okay for either a manufacturer or motoring organisation to get your vehicle fixed or towed, but from a bush track or beach, forget it – you’ll pay the recovery cost, and it can be thousands of dollars. A 4x4 insurance company called Club 4X4 does offer this as part of its comprehensive insurance policies, with extra-cost optional add-ons to boost the coverage limit.

As far as a spare tyre or flat EV battery is concerned, yes, breakdown-assist providers will generally come and get you and take you to a tyre shop or public EV charging location – but check what the kilometre distance cap is.

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