Just curious is there any more wear on your headlights/interior lights for driving long distances at night?

I have a 5 hour drive to make, and debating on going tonight vs. tomorrow morning. I was curious if 5 hours with the HID headlights on and interior lights on causes any more wear than normal?

 

I mean, it will just wear out the duration of the bulbs but that's not a big issue

 

From my delivery date of 12/31/05 to my trade in date 8/31/12 with 171796 miles on my 06 G35 I never had even one bulb fail. Made numerous trips to Florida from NJ driving 8 or 9 hours with the headlights on. It is also the law in NJ that the headlights must be on when wipers are on.

This is not something I think you should be worried about.

Just my $.02

Telcoma

 

Headlights are designed and intended to be used anytime it's dark for as long as it's dark. That's what they're for. I doubt people who live in the extreme parts of the north closer to the pole are concerned about premature headlight wear during the long dark winters. They're going to last for X number of hours whether you burn them continuously for those hours or intermittently.

Is this your first car?

 

5 hours LOL. You can keep them on all year and i doubt they'll burnout.

 

First off, I would recommend you turn your interior lights OFF while driving at night, since they would obviously have negative effects on your night vision. If anything, your lights would last longer if their on/off interval was longer. In other words, bulbs left on for 2 hours at a time will last longer than spending the same 2 hours flicking them on and off.

One way or another, I would not be concerned about your headlights. They will eventually burn out. That doesn't mean you should avoid using them any time you need to. I wish I could explain this to people in Houston with regards to their turn signals and headlights in the rain. Headlights aren't just for you, they're for other people too!

 

let's just get it out of the way. 5 hours of driving and using everything on your car will be fine. you don't need to worry about your headlights, tires, engine, brakes, the paint falling off your car because of 5 hrs in the wind, etc...

 

Mine come on as soon as I start the engine, day or night. EDIT: and can't be turned off.

Never had a burn out in four years with my 07G35 and still going strong with my 2011 lights.

Why are you driving with interior lights on?

 

This question would be relevant if it were about running the same tire set up at a le mans 24hour series.... not using your headlights for a couple hour drive.

 

Actually w/ the pathetic Infiniti paint you might have to worry about it chipping off the car, but not all at once

 

true...i didn't think about that.

 

Ummmm.....what is the alternative? Turn them off at night?

File this under 'life is too short to worry about these things'. Enjoy the car.

 

With HIDs from what I've read, it's not how long they've been on, it's the number of actuations that can shorten the life.

 

If you're that worried about a $30 bulb burning out due to driving withthem on for a 5 hour trip then I think your priorities are a little skewed.

On a side note: I read an article somewhere that said that driving with your head lights on or with daytime running lights on makes you 400xs more visible to other drivers on the road, which may be a reason why there are discounts on your insurance for having DRLs.

With that said, if you want to be safe and drive with them on then go for it, but if you're worried that they will burn out it cause harm them don't drive with them on (unless it's night).

 

You are going to spend more on gas going up the first on ramp. The bulbs are like what, $125 or something? I think $30 is only for aftermarket...OEMS are more. But let's be conservative. So maybe $250 for both, which is way, way overkill. Lets say you get 2500 hours, that's 10 cents per hour. G's are a dime a dozen around here and I have never seen a padiddle.

Edit...$30 each for 2000 hours is 3 cents per hour or 15 cents.