Why incandescent turn signal bulbs?

[ridetime]

Why in 2024 do manufacturers use them? You can buy LED's for next to nothing. In some cases I'm sure it is to separate trim levels but the Canyon Denali for instance still has old school turn signals. It just doesn't seem right to introduce a new Tacoma in 2024 with technology from 1879 (light bulb invention) especially mixed with LED brakes and headlights.

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[Ruissimo]

I agree with you. I installed my own LED rear turn signals on my current car a few days after buying it new. They were the only lights on the car that weren’t LED. The problem with having to do this is that even though they’ve worked 99% of the time in the last 5 years, it will occasionally throw an error, and worse, they’re way too bright and I’m sure annoying for those behind me. This wouldn’t be an issue if included from the factory, but the aftermarket manufacturers don’t really care to follow all the rules.

 

[bking]

It's probably a profit center for dealers. For every person out there smart enough to change their own bulbs, there's 50 people who will take it to the dealer to get replaced. While that's happening they're also staring at new cars... either that or every one is a dime cheaper and over thousands of cars it adds up. Who knows. I'm sure there is a reason.

 

[Drakka01]

I suspect it's because turn signals use a "make-and-break" relay to create the blinking effect. Those would not work well with LEDs so they'd have to reproduce it in the car's electronics. Additionally, people are used to the clicking sound created by said relay so that also would need to be reproduced synthetically through a speaker.

While all that is doable, it really adds almost no value. There's no significant power consumption/heat production savings for turn signals because they are on so infrequently compared to other lights on the vehicle. If you're in Ohio, they are, in fact, apparently never on.

So re-engineering that and adding premium costs which may be only a few dollars per vehicle but adds up when you're producing 100s of thousands of vehicles really just doesn't have a good ROI while actually adding complexity and more failure points.

 

[Ruissimo]

I suspect it's because turn signals use a "make-and-break" relay to create the blinking effect. Those would not work well with LEDs so they'd have to reproduce it in the car's electronics. Additionally, people are used to the clicking sound created by said relay so that also would need to be reproduced synthetically through a speaker.

While all that is doable, it really adds almost no value. There's no significant power consumption/heat production savings for turn signals because they are on so infrequently compared to other lights on the vehicle. If you're in Ohio, they are, in fact, apparently never on.

So re-engineering that and adding premium costs which may be only a few dollars per vehicle but adds up when you're producing 100s of thousands of vehicles really just doesn't have a good ROI while actually adding complexity and more failure points.

This is a great answer. And they're never on in New York either, so it's not just your state.

 

[ridetime]

This is a great answer. And they're never on in New York either, so it's not just your state.

Or Oklahoma. If you signal the car your trying to pass has warning your trying to "cut them off"! If you just bust a move on the other hand you use the element of surprise and catch them "slippin"!

 

[Diode Dynamics]

This is a great question!

It comes down to serviceability from an outside perspective.

Halogen bulbs last for quite some time and then need replacing down the road. This ends up being a few quick minutes and dollars out of pocket.

Toyota could have implemented an integrated LED board for the turn signal function to provide a more modern appearance but if this part failed the entire headlamp would need to be serviced by an authorized shop.

That's one of the major reports my manufactures today. Parts do fail and integrated LED boards require major service or a complete replacement of the headlight housing.

In the meantime, this leaves aftermarket lighting brands to fill the gap with plug-and-play bulb options for specific bulb locations.

https://www.diodedynamics.com/by-vehicle.html?find=2024-toyota-tacoma-542090&sid=7wyg8K9lER

However, it's important to note that aftermarket turn signal bulbs do require resistors to be added in-line to avoid hyper-blinking or bulb-out error codes due to the low power draw.




https://www.diodedynamics.com/led-resistor-kit-pair.html

While some users will state there are brands with bulbs with built-in resistors, these units get very hot. If you know LED bulbs, heat is the number one killer of LED bulbs if the heat is unable to dissipate. That's why our team has not made the transition and remained with external add-on resistors.

If you have any questions or concerns, our team will be happy to help!

 

[MJE]

If you're in Ohio, they are, in fact, apparently never on.

Had to laugh at this. True here too.

 

[Visa_Declined]

It's like having extra headlights. These do turn amber when signaling.

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