What headlights can I buy in the US that will fit a 2006 Toyota Voxy?

July 29, 2015 1:30 PM

Some friends of mine are visiting the USA from Guyana. In Guyana they drive a 2006 Toyota Voxy. This car is not sold in the US. They want to buy brighter-than-stock headlights for it while they're here in the US, to take back to Guyana with them. But because the car isn't sold here, they can't find any information on which headlights might be compatible.

They contacted Toyota USA but they said they have no information on the Voxy and we'd have to contact Toyota Japan. Doing so has been difficult, so I thought I'd ask here instead. Mefites, do you know what halogen or other bright headlights can be purchased in the US that would fit a 2006 Toyota Voxy? Thanks in advance.

posted by Vorteks to Technology (8 answers total)

Your friend's owner's manual should specify which halogen bulbs are required (it'll be a code like H4, H7 or 9007). Once you have that information, you can locate brighter bulbs.

Right now there are three headlight options on the market:

1. Upgraded halogen bulbs like PIAA or Sylvania/Osram offer. These are guaranteed to work (assuming you buy the right ones) and are simple to install. Do NOT buy a higher wattage bulb than is specified for the car. You run a very real risk of melting the headlight's reflector, housing and wiring. Good upgraded halogens use the same wattage as the stock bulb but put out a whiter, crisper light.

2. HID replacements. HIDs can be problematic because they requite a large external ballast to power on. It can require some improvisation to find a good place to mount the ballast. HIDs come on quickly but take a few seconds to really warm up, which is a consideration when using them as your high-beam. Also, HIDs that replace dual-filament bulbs like H4s are extra problematic. HID dual-filament replacements actuate the high/low beam by means of a servomotor that moves the HID unit forwards and back in the reflector. This makes dual-filament HIDs longer front-to-back than the halogen bulbs they replace. Also, those servomotors are not entirely reliable. This might be a big consideration in Guyana. I suspect that HIDs are shortly going to be made completely obsolete by LEDs.

3. LED replacements. LED replacement headlights have been around for a long time but they haven't been good for very long. Fourth-generation LED headlights typically have a heat sink and fan mounted to the rear part of the bulb. This makes them longer than the halogen bulbs they replace. LEDs also have ballasts like HIDs do, but the ballast is much smaller and easier to stash somewhere in the installation. Unlike HIDs, LEDs are instant-on and well-suited to high beam replacement.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions, feel free to MeMail me.
posted by workerant at 2:08 PM on July 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: @workerant Thanks. I assume the owner's manual is currently in Guyana, and by the time they get back to check it it'll be too late to by headlights here in the US. I tried searching the internet to see if I could find the owner's manual somewhere, but all I've found is spam decoys. I tried looking on http://toyota.jp for the manual, but either it's not there or my Japanese isn't good enough to find it.

Does anyone know where else I could find the bulb number, if I don't have the owner's manual handy?
posted by Vorteks at 2:25 PM on July 29, 2015

Not sure how much help this is but google suggests the current part is the D2S D2R Philips Xenon Bulb.
posted by Cosine at 2:36 PM on July 29, 2015

This site looks legit for manual downloads but I'm not willing to register (don't own any Toyotas.) Of course, I can't tell if the Voxy's manual is actually on this site, but it's a start.
posted by workerant at 2:53 PM on July 29, 2015

According to this, it's a D4R. According to this, it's a D2R.
posted by General Malaise at 3:23 PM on July 29, 2015

According to this, they're the same except the D4Rs are mercury-free.
posted by General Malaise at 3:25 PM on July 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

The bulb number is also typically, but not always, in small print somewhere on either the bulb or the headlight.
posted by box at 5:58 PM on July 29, 2015

I looked around and it says they use D2R (D2 is the bulb base, and R means it's designed for reflector base)

It's possible they use D4's in the latest models as Prius and and Lexus have moved to D4s. But 2006? Chances are it's using D2.

D2 bulbs are actually low wattage HIDs... 35-65W Xenon based HID. So far there are no "upgrade" versions from Phillips.

The only "upgrades" I see are the aftermarket "HID/LED kits" that are sold online, but I don't know if they actually throw any more light. They seem to be mostly change colors and looks. And I don't know if those break down how they'll fix them in Guyana.

I actually think that the headlight polishing kit would improve the light output. A headlight from 2006 would have yellow'ed out a bit.
posted by kschang at 10:43 AM on July 30, 2015