skiz88

iTrader: (2)

Read the comment by user UV7.

http://www.scionlife.com/forums/show....php?p=3542910

Xenondepot may be based in Canada but the bulbs are made in Japan.

I'm a firm believer in you get what u paid for. 2 weeks ago HIDExtra had a sale on kits for $58 bucks! How cheap are those ballasts if they can produce and sell the kits presumably at a profit for $58 bucks?? Slyvania Ultra halogen light bulbs cost $50 at Walmart and that's just the bulbs and from one of the lowest cost retailers in the world.

elite7

So what? Doesnt matter if the bulbs are made in Japan. Not everything from Japan is always the best or top notch quality. I believe in you get what you paid for as well but in this case i really would not get what i paid for with a xenondepot kit.

Yeah that one UV guy was 1 out of thousands of customers who had a complaint. Of course there will be some people who may get a defect but 99.9% of the customers who have an HIDextra kit are extremely satisfied. I bet if i search around i can find customers with xenondepot kits that arent satisfied too.

Who cares how cheap the kit is? Just cause its a cheap product doesnt automatically make it inferior to xenondepot. That would be ridiculous logic. HIDextra is the direct manufacturer for their product. Ive seen on many sites other vendors charing $150 for the exact same kit. This kit is still high quality. I got the slim one btw which isnt $58. The reason why its a good price is because you are dealing direct with the manufacturer.

Its all about the marketing. Some companies price their products higher on purpose to fool consumers into thinking they are buying a good quality product. BTW i was reading in a bmw forum and someone said they paid $850 for a kit from xenondepot and this was from 2003. (http://www.maxbimmer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11475). I can tell you my hidextra kit doesnt just look a little better than this $850 xenondepot kit it looks MUCH better. No comparison. I have seen people review the xenondepot kit. They look decent but to me they are definitely not worth it. Im very satisfied with my kit.

Look, I got a LS430 and these are as good as the OEM LS430 HID's if not better. For $70 these are no question about it worth getting. I doubt the xenondepot kit would be better than my HIDextra kit and even if it is its probably not noticable at all. Even if something breaks on my kit who cares? I have peace of mind for 2 years. Thier customer service is top notch btw. They respond real quick.

elite7

Yep, They are true HID kits. Thier kits cost less because they are the direct manufacturer. Xenondepot is getting their components from various manufacturers and piecing a kit together. Then they are upcharging you. It would be like me buying the HIDextra kit from them for lets say $75 and selling it to you for $150 under a certain brand name. Also as Michelle explained the packaging of their kits is plain because if they were to provide fancy retail packaging this kit would run you $200. Ask Michelle who is the hidextra customer service representative and she can explain further for you.

Warranty is extremely important. Its good for peace of mind. As long as its legit, which hidextra's warranty is, then its without any doubt better to have a 2 year warranty vs a 1 year warranty.

As for steve, yeah i have seen him on this forum. I was deciding on getting a volt kit by xenondepot or a ddmtuning kit and he replied in my thread. HIDextra has Michelle and she is really active. You can read in the HIDextra review section many customers say her service is top notch. I agree.

As for your fogs, to me it would be ridiculous to shell out $200 on hid's. I never use my fogs or high beams now that i have installed the hid's into my low beams. The stock high beams are weaker than the HID low beams and the fogs dont even help at all. As long as its not foggy, i dont need to use my fog lights. Looks like you are trying to match the appearance of your lights especially if your lexus came with HID's stock.

Then again its your money so do as you chose. Hope i at least provided some decent information as i am trying to help you out.

Regards.

malmon

Totally agree with you. And no need to search, I already posted earlier that I wasn't satisfied with the Xenondepot's kit. The bulbs do not have the same light output, the left has a yellow hue while the right is totally white. And good luck installing that wiring harness, its a big waste of time.

The kit I bought from HIDextra is far superior in quality, easier to install and cheaper. And just because its cheaper doesn't make it inferior, it could also mean that you are getting a better deal.

malmon

That's my point. The wiring harness will take longer than 5 minutes to install. Your previous post of it only takes an extra 5 minutes to install the harness is BS.

You wrote it took you 40 minutes to install everything, and you also wrote it will only take you 5 minutes on each side without the wiring harness. That leaves 20 minutes, not "extra 5 minutes" like you stated earlier.

Don't try to exagerate, the OP is asking for opinions/experiences. Just give him the facts and let him decide. If he wants to spend more money and contribute to Xenondepot's better website, that's his problem.

skiz88

iTrader: (2)

Ok the Facts....

FACT - it took me 40 minutes and I had no clue what I was doing as it was the first time I ever installed HID lights.

FACT - If I were to do it again with the same wiring harness setup, it would take me 20 minutes tops now that I know what I am doing. Connecting a wire to a battery involves removing 1 screw from the positive terminal.

FACT - My lights do not have 2 different Color outputs. Perhaps you are one of those .001% people who had an issue or maybe you installed it wrong.

FACT - Ultimatehidkits.com offer a 15 year warranty. If you firmly believe a longer warranty equates to a better product, it appears you chose the wrong one.

FACT - User UV7 experienced problems with ballasts failing and then the replacement ballasts failing. Perhaps it was pure coincidence but it seemed like a quality issue.

All that being said, I personally would not spend $200 on HID Fog lights. I'm not sure I would even spend $75 on HID Fogs which is precisely why I took a shot at the Nokya halogens for $14 bucks.

skiz88

iTrader: (2)

You are comparing a Kit that was manufactured in 2003 to a kit produced in 2010. I'm no expert but I would have to guess a lot has changed with digital ballast technology between 2003 and 2010.

Does your kit look better than a $200 xenondepot kit sold in 2010? That would be a fair comparison and I would be interested in seeing the two side by side.

elite7

I am not trying to be a douchebag. Just noticed that you had pics up of your kit.



Yeah i checked it out.... In my opinion Thats their non-volt kit? Wow .

Honestly thats not even close to my Hidextra kit. I got the 5000k kit on my LX470 which doesnt have a hint of blue. Its pure white.

Some members have nice pics of thier HIDextra kit. For example this is 6000k on a GX470 which has a slight hint of blue not present on my kit:





This is 6000k on a Lexus gs:

elite7

It was just to demonstrate that just because a kit is expensive doesn't mean its good. Also it was to show that xenondepot always tends to be higher priced even back in 2003.

From your pictures my 2010 5000k HIDextra kit destroys your 2010 5000k xenondepot kit. There is no comparison between our kits. My color is much more White whereas yours looks yellow and my kit outputs much more light whereas yours kit looks dim. Plus you mentioned that you installed a relay. This was not necessary for my kit. HIDextra sells a relay and they include a capacitor free with your order if it is mentioned. However Michelle can help you out and tell you if you need a capacitor. I did not need a capacitor or relay.

Xenondepot misinform consumers. They show their extreme vision kit starts at $159 which is FALSE. It would run me $195 shipped even with the CL $25 discount applied at checkout.

Their diagram on their website comparing HID Kits shows that the extreme vision kit has a 3 year warranty and the volt kit has a 2 year warranty which is FALSE. Maybe it used to be 3 years when they charged $850 per kit.




When you click on the extreme vision kit it shows:

In the box:

2 x 5000k Laser Calibrated HID/Xenon Bulbs
2 x Xtreme HID Digital Ballasts
2 x Complete Wiring Harnesses – 1 per side
Mounting Hardware
Complete Instruction manual
1 year ful replacement warranty

When you click on the Volt Kit it shows:

In the box:

This product will include:

2 x 4300k Laser Calibrated HID/Xenon Bulbs
2 x Digital+ Ultra-Slim HID Ballasts
Mounting Hardware
Complete Instruction Manual
1 year Legitimate warranty

So if they are misinforming consumers on this type of information i would not even be surprised if the components aren't from Japan. Even if the components are from Japan so what? My 5000k HIDextra kit still looks better than their high end extreme vision 5000k kit .

Regards.

skiz88

iTrader: (2)

What year is your GX? I agree your GX does look better than mine, but I don't think it's simply because of the 'kit'. Your headlamps look brand new & crisp/clean. My headlamps are straight outta 2001. I assume your GX has reflectors correct? Otherwise again that wouldnt be a fair comparison.


The GS picture you posted doesn't look any better than mine, it just happens to be a closer picture. It has 6000k, mine has 5000k. Do you really see a noticeable big difference in the GS picture you posted vs my GS? Your GS has city lights installed and mine are temporarily removed. Your's also has yellow fogs, mine has lousy stock halogen.

I'll post new pics when I get the city lights and Nokya fogs installed and then maybe we can do an apples to apples comparison between the two GS's. I hope to have the city lights and fogs installed this weekend if they come in the mail today or tomorrow.

PS - the $159.00 is misleading, I don't disagree there.

KA8

iTrader: (1)

ebay! For $38.99 shipped can't beat it lol. Had them on all of our cars including previous 06 C230 and current ML350. The one on C230 last 2.5 yrs before we sold it. Of course I needed to add capacitors so that it doesn't flicker and give error messages. If one breaks just buy another set and have spare parts for future.

elite7

Hey this GX isnt mine. Its someone elses on this forum. My LX470 has projectors which i believe this GX does as well. However my HID's are more white with really no hints of blue. There is a tinge of blue at the edge of the cutoff line against a wall but head on its pure white. Also my LX470 is 2002 but it should even look better than that GX. I got glass headlamps and they are clear which they should be considering the vehicle has 15,xxx miles on it. That GX most likely has plastic headlight housings which may or may not affect the light output.

Even though those gs lights are 6000k they are still more white than your 5000k which is interesting. 4300k and 5000k are supposed to be more white than 6000k. The 6000k on that red gs makes your lights look yellow in comparison. Also they look quite a bit brighter. Anyhow this gs isnt mine, Michelle from hidextra posted the picture in a hidextra review section.

Yeah the pricing and warranty information is definitely misleading in terms of xenondepot. With HIDextra they tell you right away if you ask Michelle that the warranty is 2 years for a clublexus order whereas normally it is 1 year for non-clublexus members.

Regards.

robertoyou

iTrader: (1)

okay everyone. im the op. im back.

ive read all your guys' posts. good job on everything.

but idk if you guys are even arguing about the correct thing.
just cus one looks dimmer, or one looks brighter doesnt mean ANYTHING.
in fact, i think that, that's EXACTLY what hids producers ttry to do the most, just make their bulbs look "in your face" bright. they just try to blind ous so we think their hids are all that great. just cus ones brighhter or dimmer than another doesnt mean one is better or worse. we'd have to compare all the actual specs and how it all comes down to it on the GROUND, where we actually need the light.

now idk if theres anyway to do this, since each one of us will be repping our own kit, i mean after all, thats why we bought it, cus we probably belive it was the best for us, or best deal for our money.

i wish there was some hid manufacturer that would just sepcifically produce good quality kits, for the purpose of giving out good light. most kits now, are just out there to make money and compete with everyone else.

i have my doubts about xenondepot now, but i still dont feel too much stronger about hidextra. i cant say that a cheaper price means cheaper product, but it is true, you get what you pay for. i dont see how hidextra can afford to make business at such low prices, especially if they claim theirs are of so much quality.

i dont think hids are anything to be even messing with to some extent. geeze if we buy the damn things, its cus their most likely going to be our source of light at night when we drive, if anything, hids should always be made to the best and highest standards. .. and this is out to the manufacturers of hids.

back to the argument, idk how we can prove which is better or not, idk if any of you guys are engineers, but im sure not. otherwise id open up the damn ballasts my self and compare. or we could do a comparison between the two, but the best way to do that would be in person, with same light output range on same car. ...and thats hard to do.

i dont think xenondepots expensive kits, necesairly mean the best. but i also dont see how hidextra is any better, or how they can afford to make such "great" product at such a low price.

i just dont even see how hids got so damn cheap.

in my original thread i just asked for people to post what brands of HID's they use and/or what website they got them from. i dont mind all the opinions and facts beeing thrown around, but i dont think any of it is proving which is best. like i said earlier, who gives a damn about the warranty. i think none of us should rely on the warranty that much. in my eyes, if im worrying about the warranty THAT Much, its cus im pretty concerned about the product failing, which is not what i want. i'll definitely consider warranty coverage, but usually when i buy a product from a vendor, its because im comfortable enough or have done my research well enough that i know their reliable for selling quality products that last or that are genuinly good. WHICH is probably the reason why im willing to pay so much for just fog hids. to me 200 isnt much for hids. in fact, when i even thought about them i expected twice as much. and when i asked mr jokster and he sent me a link with hids from ebay for like 40 bucks, i was blown away. i mean just thinking about it, hids for 50 even 70 dollars, doesnt that seem TOO TOO cheap? really?
i forgot who said it earlier, but yeah, the silverstar ultra BULBS alone are 50 bucks. yet they wana offer a full hid kit for about the same price? thats ridiculous. we cant compare prices like that, cus im sure il get **** about it anyways. its all marketing and prices. cus im sure it costs sylvania a lot less to produce those bulbs and 50 for the ultras are at retail prices

well keep the opinions coming. i really dont know if there is anyway to really settle whos better HIDextra or xenondepot.

i really wish steve from xenondepot and who ever uses the hidextra user long in, would come in here and give us some real info.

robertoyou

iTrader: (1)

WHOS BEST!??!?!?!

been getting arguments back and fourth from a few people on my "best HID's" thread.

now i want everyone who uses xenondepot and hidextra to really say their experiences

KA8

iTrader: (1)

When HID first came out I spent $700 for 7500K made by Hella. Output was better but not great. The ballast lasted only 2 yrs. Now go spend 40 for 4300K kit and compare to more expensive $400 10000K kit you'll get more output from cheaper one. Point is if you want most output, get 4300K or 5000K max. If you like spending $300 for peace of mind then by all means go for it. From my experience there was no difference between $40 kit and $400 kit. Cut off line was identical to oem and output was much better with 4300K kit like factory if you have projectors. I will post some pics when I have a chance.