H4's V's LED's - Real World Test

A h4 v T5.1 would be an interesting test to see, the led are always going to be much bettter
 
The key is whether the lights either don't conform to the standard VOSA requires or a reasonable person would consider is unsafe In a court of law. Comparing H4 to LEDs is interesting but the difference doesn't mean that H4s are wrong, it just shows the benefit you get by spending an extra 1.6.k
 
@Stueyhants , the key is actually the test results between h4 and h7, and we aren't saying they don't meet standard for the road traffic regs, just that they are shite, and what the hell are they doing fitting candles that belong on a '60s car to a 30k odd vehicle? Why not drop the h4 option, and just give h7 or led? Oh and read back to my comments ref unsafe etc and VOSA
 
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T6 Dave said:
Thanks for the update @BIgben , please let us know how you get on. I actually enquired ref new h7 units at my dealer, and was surprised at how cheap they were in relative terms.

And I agree ref the infighting comment :whistle:
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Got a reply on Messenger today. It says a case has been set up with customer care and I will be contacted within the next 24 hours. They appreciate my patience, they've been experiencing with trouble with their messages lately..
 
Good luck @BIgben as you have made great progress in breaking your own path. At least VWCV are prepared to take you seriously and listen to your concerns. You may wish to invite VWCV to discontinue the H4 headlights and make the H7 lights the minimum standard as you are not the only owner to have concerns and the H4 system is damaging the VW T6's reputation as being an improvement on the T5. Entirely up to you, of course, but the fact that you are not alone with your concern may cause VWCV to make a very careful, even scientific, comparison of the systems to establish whether the H4s are acceptable.
 
Good luck @BIgben , I think the h7 lights came in at around the £200 mark each from dealer, so as VW have them in stock, all it will cost them is dealers time to rectify this under a goodwill gesture for you if they change your h4 lights for h7, and they get your original lights back. So in reality is a small ask of you to have them changed over. Keep us posted :thumbsup:
 
Wow....Thats just shocking...Now i can see what your all screaming about :eek:

Glad i went the LED route now :)
 
Ok this is the first time I have seen the photos and I am surprised at the difference, the LED's are like having a set of Cebie Super Oscars shining down the road. The H4's are adequate for what they do is most likely the reply you will get and no doubt pass the requirement issued by the Government. In truth looking at the difference you can get by with H4's but most cars now have H7's and or LED lights so why not the Vans. But then you could say that about most things. My car has a lot of extra's on it my Cali does not and the fact I went for Grape yellow made me have to have the exterior pack which gave me the same headlights as the Cali Ocean which are H7 They seem ok by being as I only drove it in half light on the way to work on a wet day I cold not say how good they were. Wet days make most headlights look crap as the road surface seems to adsorbed the light. VW may be sympathetic but unless every T6 driver in the country stands up and shouts I doubt much will change
 
@Roadrunner someone has to be the first to get a goodwill gesture, and then the rest can follow, so whilst I appreciate your comments I really wish people would stop being so dismissive of the "little mans" complaint being effective, there has been numerous "call to arms" ref this issue, and I think that point has already been made. I have made several points ref quality of tests, just for it to be implied that it's not worth bothering as VW won't do anything by a non h4 owner, until recognition by @DaveyB (thank you). I do think that VW will be more open to sorting this quietly if possible with a goodwill gesture given enough complaints, rather than being slated publicly in social media where ther will then have to take the stance of defending their product.
 
@T6 Dave you have my full support and I'm sorry if I seem dismissive. People should not be given bad quality products just because they use a van for work. Face it they cost as much as a high end car in most cases so why can't they have the same quality lighting. I sincerely hope something comes of it
 
BIgben said:
Got a reply on Messenger today. It says a case has been set up with customer care and I will be contacted within the next 24 hours. They appreciate my patience, they've been experiencing with trouble with their messages lately..
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Hi Bigben What did you actually say to them i know you contacted them on Facebook but am not a subscriber to that nor do i wish to be When i contacted VW customer care i was just fobbed off as i think you are aware i posted there reply on another thread since then my van has been to my local dealer and had the lights checked and adjusted but in my opinion they are worse I was also told that as i had changed the bulbs that this is a modification and would not be covered under warranty ???? So if a bulb blew and i had to change it would that also be a modification????
 
I guess we also need to look at it from VWs point of view - they've just been and are still being massively hit by the emission scandal. They're now being faced with increasing demand to sort out rubbish lights - it's all their fault but I should think they are squirming and probably more wary than usual.
If they DID admit they have fitted sub standard lights, they'd have to spend a fortune retro-fitting better ones. And if LR got away with their lights on the Defender (way worse than the T6 H4s) for decades then I suspect VW will too.

The best angle to take IMO is using weight of numbers and finding a way to present this - individual complaints won't get far. It needs to be a high profile campaign with numbers; far harder to dismiss than single complaints which probably aren't counted anyway.
Something like a Twitter campaign #WeCantSeeTheRoad or something with a lot of followers. Individual letters and complaints can be "lost" and fobbed off, a very shouty campaign with some coordination cannot.
Yes scientific results can be useful but I have a feeling the lights DO comply with minimum requirements which seem to be based merely in output wattage not lumens; it could be a waste of time.
But 1000+ annoyed customers cannot be ignored; they have deeply irritated loyal customers by clearly cutting corners on lighting - a critical safety feature . They need to be told it isn't good enough and they need to be presented with a "cost" of action versus no action. There may be nothing to present (TBH I think the light issue stems from complacency - "our vans are good enough; customers won't move brands just because we've fitted ten bob lights from the pound store.") but a very loud noise can still be made and I think Twitter is the best platform. Add an FB group and get as many was possible to join it and you have yourself a high profile, high impact campaign that should help.

I've chased BMW and VW before on social media with great success so it can be done.

I'm afraid I'm extremely wary of lawyers having had them spend a lot of my money on failed debt recovery (I'm certain they knew from the start they wouldn't win) so would be very hesitant to take that route but it could be an option too.
 
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Another thought; the brakes on the T6 seem pretty good but what would happen if they fitted barely adequate stoppers that only just pass minimum requirements? There'd be uproar and sales would be awful.

Well lights are safety critical too; why have they tried to get away with such poor units?
 
Because they save money that way and boost profits. They sell equipment the passes the minimum requirements to start with then charge more fore upgrading to better. I.e. H4 lights meet minimum requirements if you want better they cost more . They have not caught on that if you sell something that people are happy with then people will snap it up and not complain
 
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