Say your motorhome or tow vehicle’s headlight goes out. Or even your regular car’s headlight. When replacing a headlight, do you routinely replace the other one at the same time? Or would you wait until it went out to replace it—replacing them one at a time?
Some of you may figure, “Why not just get it done now?” After all, headlights are usually about the same age and if one’s gone out, the other probably isn’t far behind.
Replacing both at once saves you the hassle of doing the job twice and keeps you from being caught off guard at night.
On the other hand, maybe you’re the type who doesn’t want to spend money until it’s absolutely necessary.
If the other headlight is still shining bright, you might prefer to let it run its full life. Why fix what isn’t broken, right?
And then there’s the practical side—where you happen to be when the light goes out. If you’re at home or near a parts store, you have choices. But if you’re already on the road, in the middle of a trip, you might just swap them both out for peace of mind.
After you vote, feel free to leave a comment and explain your answer. As always, we’re curious. Thanks!
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RVT1229b
In todays world of “on time delivery” and “stocking” by inventory control many headlights for older cars and trucks are not “in stock” or are just “obsolete”.
I had a headlight go out on a 3 year old car, so I bought 1 new headlight and replaced it. My older brother said that I should replace them both, because they are both as old as the other but I refused. Well, 1 week to the day, the other headlight went out. I never told my brother that he was right, and I should have replaced them both.
Another reason to replace both, is that the older one will have a difference appearance than the new one. Halogens ‘yellow’ with age.
Plus, not all lights have the same color temperature.
I used to replace both. However, I have revised my practice. My recent experience says automotive lights are far more reliable than they were. If one light goes out, it may be a year or more before the other fails or even dims. Case in point, I just replaced my 1st brake light bulb (still incandescent) on my 2011 Subaru Forester. I had to buy the bulb in a twin-pack. I put the spare in the storage area. The last time I changed a bulb was on a 20th century vehicle.
Dealer wanted 325$ to replace one lamp
I looked in u tube, found an article on how to do it quickly and in less than 15 minutes
Dealer was going to remove inner liner and bumper. Didn’t do any of that
I do, but my husband doesn’t. But my last car required removing the whole front of the car. It was $200+ for that and 2.95 for the light. I had all the bulbs changed.
Don’t remember replacing a single headlight since halogen and LED bulbs have replaced sealed, incandescent bulb headlights. But on older vehicles, I only replaced one at a time. Have replaced plenty of tail lights in the recent past, however!
I have observed that GMC & Chevy’s have the most often burned out headlight or driving lights. Whenever we see a one eye vehicle we always say…is it a GMC and usually it is
I had to replace one of the headlight bulbs, but they were sold in two-packs. The left over bulb is still in the glove compartment and over eight years old. Now that I said that out loud karma will find me using that second bulb pretty soon.
Only if I have to because the other light is burned out too…..
(JK)
At this moment, 63% have no understanding of how lightbulbs work. I will also bet when 1 Smoke Detector battery needs to be changed, these same folks just change that one battery leaving 2 or 3 others with old batteries. Just saying.
Yes, because they come in packs of 2
The last time I remember replacing a headlight was in 1972, in my 1962 6 volt VW camper van, when it went out on the bridge crossing the Mississippi in New Orleans. Doubt the parts store on the other side of the river has any 6 volt in stock anymore.
If the bulb burned out I do, if bulb broke for some reason I don’t.
I always have spares for the headlights, will replace a bad one as needed since the cost of the LED light are a bit higher….
I change them as needed unless I am concerned one will be brighter than the other due to different suppliers.
If a bulb goes out in my house, I don’t conclude they’re all used up and replace ‘em all “cuz they seen the same use” so just because the left headlight goes out, it doesn’t mean the right headlight, dash lights and park lights are close to follow.