Insurance issue..., On projector headlights Options

[tto010]

The problem is, if i change to Projectors i get into serious trouble if they find it if something happens... Like i gotta pay the insurance pay-out if someone crashes into me.

Will it look good if i just keep original outers and put the clear inners inn? Long lights isnt that strict compared to near-lights.

Was thinking of using yellow protective foil on them as well, or maybe gunsmoked.

[Nihil]

There is a way of making the LHD blinds yourself on projectors, someone here recently opened/revived a thread about it, but don't remember who....
The thing is that you must place a plastic blind in your headlight to ensure enough of a "curtain", so you do not blind the drivers on the other lane.

You might want to check the forum for that thread, or somebody will be kind enough to link it

What you definitely don't want to do, is to drive around with RHD hedlights. Some guys here don't mind their LHD-unadjusted projectors, but i absolutely hate the idiots that blind me at night...

[rave2n]

How are they going to know what headlights you had if they hit you head on?

I seriously doubt insurance companies know the difference in lighting applications on celicas. I just believe the chances of getting "caught" with such a setup is slim to none, unless you are running some seriously bright lights, then you should take every precaution to not blind people. If that is the case, they can be modified.

I understand your annoyance Nihil, but I also have an annoyance. Every car that passes me, blinds me. I also don't run HIDs, standard bulbs non-modified projectors. I actually aimed them down just in case, I lost some of my field of view for the sake of others.

This post has been edited by rave2n: Feb 14, 2013 - 1:05 PM

[SwissFerdi]

Seems to me less of a lighting issue and more of a spec issue. Norwegian government would want to see Norway-approved units. Plus there is inspection, like British MOT but I think even more strict.

To answer one of your questions, putting the projectors into the stock housing would diffuse the light through the opaque lens like the stock headlights do, so the effect of projectors would be ruined.

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Feb 14, 2013 - 1:15 PM

[UndaGrwnD]

its in dutch, but you can see what has to be done for LHD.

http://celicagt.nl/v1/Tuning/Exterieur/projectors.html

[Nihil]

On some annual car inspections (here as well) they put some sort of box/monitor in front of your headlight, where they can see how your headlight projects light.. No-one with RHD headlights will pass the inspection (unless the inspector is sloppy).

[Special_Edy]

I don't know the rules and regulations of your country but your best bet would probably be to ask a certified inspector at a state inspection location.

Here in Texas in the USA it doesn't matter if the bulb, lense or housing are certified or approved by a government agency( the DOT Department of Transportation for us). They DO have to meet regulation though. That means that upon inspection they will need to meet legal standards, but they don't have to have any kind of label stamped on them. I'm not sure about Norway though.

As SwissFerdi said the non-projector lense is designed to diffuse the light, this may have an adverse effect on the projectors.

[tto010]

On some annual car inspections (here as well) they put some sort of box/monitor in front of your headlight, where they can see how your headlight projects light.. No-one with RHD headlights will pass the inspection (unless the inspector is sloppy).

Yeah, i was working as intern on a car-shop.

We in norway have EU-control. Here we have 1 hour to go over the car and a checklist.

They check the hight on Near lights, and light up a wall just to see if it is ok.
And some even read on the glass if they can find the E...

I belive the long light only have to be DOT approved because they dont have any LHD or RHD spesifics and they should not be on when somebody else is near anyways.

if something is wrong with lights, you get 2(1) points.
-1 is a broken blub...
-2 is wrong adjusted, have to be fixed and showed before the car passes... OR aftermarket xenon, or if they are wrong-ish...

But, there is alot of sloppy-heads, and many wierd things have passed...

We also have the 3point wrong, which means the car cannot be driven because its dangerous.

Here it is also illegal to drive when something does not work.... If i remove my fogs without removing relays, it is not legal...

But, alot of people dont realy care, and i meet alot of ****-heads running HID on Hiaces from the 90's and here the other day i saw a Peugot Panther with Camber on the rear wheels, on stock height....

I am acually modding my outers with everything perfectly done, but since the E isnt on the glass, i am realy skeptical to mounting them... I even made them light like they where OEM for driving on the right side of the road.




But, don't want to risk half my bank account just so my car looks cooler... then i'd rather buy a trackday car that i can modify the much i like without worrying about the stricktest most car hating "last communistic state" on the surface of the earth.

Last winter they even did this thing where we could only drive alternating days of the week...
monday- plates ending in 1,3,5,7,9.... thirsday- 0,2,4,6,8.... Wednesday, 1,3,5,7,9.... and so on....
and this worked because we have "passes" that trigger every time we drive through a "gate" where we have to pay to use the road we are driving on, and if we drove in the wrong place.... here you go mr.... a ticket for you!

[TheCreatorOf]

On some annual car inspections (here as well) they put some sort of box/monitor in front of your headlight, where they can see how your headlight projects light.. No-one with RHD headlights will pass the inspection (unless the inspector is sloppy).

Yeah, i was working as intern on a car-shop.

We in norway have EU-control. Here we have 1 hour to go over the car and a checklist.

They check the hight on Near lights, and light up a wall just to see if it is ok.
And some even read on the glass if they can find the E...

I belive the long light only have to be DOT approved because they dont have any LHD or RHD spesifics and they should not be on when somebody else is near anyways.

if something is wrong with lights, you get 2(1) points.
-1 is a broken blub...
-2 is wrong adjusted, have to be fixed and showed before the car passes... OR aftermarket xenon, or if they are wrong-ish...

But, there is alot of sloppy-heads, and many wierd things have passed...

We also have the 3point wrong, which means the car cannot be driven because its dangerous.

Here it is also illegal to drive when something does not work.... If i remove my fogs without removing relays, it is not legal...

But, alot of people dont realy care, and i meet alot of ****-heads running HID on Hiaces from the 90's and here the other day i saw a Peugot Panther with Camber on the rear wheels, on stock height....

I am acually modding my outers with everything perfectly done, but since the E isnt on the glass, i am realy skeptical to mounting them... I even made them light like they where OEM for driving on the right side of the road.

But, don't want to risk half my bank account just so my car looks cooler... then i'd rather buy a trackday car that i can modify the much i like without worrying about the stricktest most car hating "last communistic state" on the surface of the earth.

Last winter they even did this thing where we could only drive alternating days of the week...
monday- plates ending in 1,3,5,7,9.... thirsday- 0,2,4,6,8.... Wednesday, 1,3,5,7,9.... and so on....
and this worked because we have "passes" that trigger every time we drive through a "gate" where we have to pay to use the road we are driving on, and if we drove in the wrong place.... here you go mr.... a ticket for you!

holy cr@p dude you must live in china! what if you install the regular ones for the inspection take them off and save them and swap the projectors back on, as long as you modified them and they wont hurt anyone I don't see why you shouldn't use them. here in the united states they now only inspect cars for emissions, they don't check anything else anymore which is awesome, so I smoked my side markers and turn signals and installed a set of alpena LED strips under them and I havent gotten pulled over yet lol

[timdog1720]

[/quote]
holy cr@p dude you must live in china! what if you install the regular ones for the inspection take them off and save them and swap the projectors back on, as long as you modified them and they wont hurt anyone I don't see why you shouldn't use them. here in the united states they now only inspect cars for emissions, they don't check anything else anymore which is awesome, so I smoked my side markers and turn signals and installed a set of alpena LED strips under them and I havent gotten pulled over yet lol
[/quote]


Where in the USA are you refering ? cause that sure is not the case in NY especially in NYC.... in fact any car made b4 1996 dont even do emissions test. but we are subjected to a saftey inspection

[Galcobar]

I'm surprised the Celica didn't come with projectors in the EU, given that Europe is far more progressive than the U.S. on lighting technology and standards.

However, you should be able to install ECE-approved aftermarket projector units into the Japanese housings, since the beam pattern is determined by the projector module and not the housing.

Rather than asking us, why not ask an insurer? If you're worried about revealing yourself, ask a company other than the one from which you get your insurance. That said insurance companies do tend to look for any excuse to deny coverage if it will cost them anything, and having unapproved equipment on a public road would likely be grounds for cancelling your contract, since it was you who was breaking the law. If you get hit, your insurance might not care, but the other driver's would. The lack of an E is easy to determine -- that's why it's stamped on the outside of the part.

I should note, this is an issue in the U.S. as well. If you give police a reason they will check for equipment which is illegal to use on public roads; the antiquated DOT beam pattern requirements are cars imported to North America have lagged behind in lighting quality.

[tto010]

The insurance company say if it is not 100% legal, you can get consequenses. They dont know very much about it, but dont want to take any chances.
If i do major changes, like other springs, bigger brakes, bigger tires, they gotta write it in as a comment on my insurance. And i gotta go to the part of the govurnment that has to do about roads and cars, and show them what i have done... And they need a piece of paper from Toyota Norway (Jæger) confirming what i have done and that it has been done right.

But, if i put a insert in the headlamp, i have opened the headlamp and then the lamp is not approved any more, for some wierd reason... But i have already done that...

I think i will just put the inners on first and then i have infinite time to fix the projectors so they will be both legal and look OEM. just to be certain.

This post has been edited by tto010: Feb 16, 2013 - 4:48 AM

[Galcobar]

The insurance company say if it is not 100% legal, you can get consequenses. They dont know very much about it, but dont want to take any chances.
If i do major changes, like other springs, bigger brakes, bigger tires, they gotta write it in as a comment on my insurance. And i gotta go to the part of the govurnment that has to do about roads and cars, and show them what i have done... And they need a piece of paper from Toyota Norway (Jæger) confirming what i have done and that it has been done right.

But, if i put a insert in the headlamp, i have opened the headlamp and then the lamp is not approved any more, for some wierd reason... But i have already done that...

I think i will just put the inners on first and then i have infinite time to fix the projectors so they will be both legal and look OEM. just to be certain.

Well, you can't just stick a projector or an HID module into a reflector housing and maintain legality -- it's like mixing parts from a diesel and gasoline engine. You might with enough jury-rigging make it fit, but it won't work correctly. My suggestion of purchasing aftermarket projector housings was due to the housing being certified. It does all the work. The exterior clear plastic lens is just a protective cover, and therefore doesn't matter if you source it from a Japanese car or a European one.

[Special_Edy]

Ask a certified vehicle inspector. They will know for certain whether the stamp or actual function is more important.

[TheCreatorOf]

Where in the USA are you refering ? cause that sure is not the case in NY especially in NYC.... in fact any car made b4 1996 dont even do emissions test. but we are subjected to a saftey inspection
[/quote]
I live in NJ I think we have around 2 years already that they dont do the inspection only emissions, my father took my celica for inspection after I bought it from NY and the driver side headlight has half od the glass missing because it was in a small fender bender and the car passed without a problem, he told me they just hooked it up to the computer and it passed