[jsjonason]

Has anyone else noticed that the 2017 Highlander vanity mirrors are very dim? The ones in our 2011 were much much brighter...I know its kind of minor, but the lights are so dim, they are pretty useless. Wondering if anyone else noticed and is it possible to upgrade to brighter ones?
:think:

 

[StatCoder]

They are dim, especially, if you upgrade your other interior lights to LED. I don't think there is an easy LED replacement because it needs to be a small, side-facing LED, with a short base.

 

[jsjonason]

They are dim, especially, if you upgrade your other interior lights to LED. I don't think there is an easy LED replacement because it needs to be a small, side-facing LED, with a short base.

We don't necessarily want an LED replacement, just something brighter. Would it be possible to replace the OEM bulb with a higher wattage, say 5W? The current one is only a 1.26W according to the owners manual. Thanks

 

[2017Highlander]

You want LED unless you don't mind melting something with the extra heat a 5w bulb will put out. You can get a warm white bulb so you don't have that pretty blue light look in your face.

 

[rockett1021]

Can't you just turn on the personal interior light (the one above the rear view mirror) if you need more light?

 

[jsjonason]

Can't you just turn on the personal interior light (the one above the rear view mirror) if you need more light?

Yes, i can, but its still not as effective as the vanity lights in my 2011. Its just annoying to have to do that. Hoping there will be a replacement LED bulb in the future. We love our Highlander but just wanted to see if anyone else had noticed the difference in the lights compared to 2nd generation

 

[Bitter]

What bulb does the vanity light use? There's tons of different styles of LED bulb out there, I'm sure one for your application exists.

 

[rockett1021]

Check out this thread:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/333-3rd-generation-2014/1199122-2015-highlander-vanity-bulb-mirror.html

 

[wth]

The HL sun visors & vanity lights are a real down grade from our 2010 Venza and our 2013 RAV4. First Toyota cheapened them with the current vanity light since you have to pull open the cover. The good/better older style had the slide open cover over the mirror. Second, when our sun visors are up, both don't touch the headliner, as there is about an almost half inch gap, so if you put a parking permit there, the sun visor won't pinch hold it up there because the visor has a gap between it and the headliner.

 

[jsjonason]

The HL sun visors & vanity lights are a real down grade from our 2010 Venza and our 2013 RAV4. First Toyota cheapened them with the current vanity light since you have to pull open the cover. The good/better older style had the slide open cover over the mirror. Second, when our sun visors are up, both don't touch the headliner, as there is about an almost half inch gap, so if you put a parking permit there, the sun visor won't pinch hold it up there because the visor has a gap between it and the headliner.

I agree the sun visors themselves are thinner and less sturdy feeling than the ones in our 2011. There is so much I love about the 2017 model though. We upgraded from a base V6 to an XLE and I just love the new safety features in addition to better backup camera, better bluetooth, heated leather, navigation, sunroof and power tailgate. I would love brighter vanity lights but I can live without them. Just need to put on my lipstick before I leave for work.
:x

 

[Bitter]

I wonder if it would be possible to swap the better visors from the earlier year to the later models? I've swapped all manner of odd parts between makes and models of cars, I currently have Mazda 4 jet washer nozzles on my Celica!