Projector Headlights for Gen 1-1.5 Solara Updated 22 May 05

[Jackass-Jeff]

you guys are so optimistic...

there aren't 2500 solara modders in the world... and if there are, 2500 will not be on the internet and looking for projectors.

let's just get a groupbuy on LS 430 projectors and do our own retrofitting (SC 300/400 ones if you don't have HIDs)

[jbright]

Did you tell them we had gotten a list of 50+ in a weeks time? Did they say how many they needed?

[Astro]

Man, I just find it hard to believe that those companies actually said 2,500. Do you really think they sold 2,500 units for each car they make them for?????

[jbright]

Man, I just find it hard to believe that those companies actually said 2,500. Do you really think they sold 2,500 units for each car they make them for?????

No way! That's exactly what I am saying... APC makes projectors for Ford Rangers! LOL! Tell me how in the heck they sell more of those than they would for a Solara! No way!

Like I said it's all a big joke... the crappy cars get all the fixin's.

[Jon11582]

Man, I just find it hard to believe that those companies actually said 2,500. Do you really think they sold 2,500 units for each car they make them for?????

No way! That's exactly what I am saying... APC makes projectors for Ford Rangers! LOL! Tell me how in the heck they sell more of those than they would for a Solara! No way!

YES

Look
http://www.rangerpowersports.com/forum/
25,000 members. Thats almost 10x as many as we have.

And thats just one forum. They have a few others. We Solaras only have one forum that I know of for Solaras specifically.

These companies know exactly what they are doing. The only company that I know it would even be a remote possibility would be Sonar since they make our aftermarket tails. But if those sunk (as they obviously have, since even our enthusiasts community here hates on them), then there isnt a chance in hell we'd get any kind of headlights.

"Crappy" cars get the market volume. Most modders are young, under the age of 25. Typically thier on thier thier first cars that thier parents bought them, or they bought some cheap used jalopy with the money they brought home from workin at mcdonalds for the past 2 years. These kids typically get civics, rangers, corollas, cavaliers, sunfires, focuses, old eclipses, etc. We younger Solaraguy are the fortunate few who have such a nice car at a young age, but that doesnt get aftermarket parts made.

Notice that theres no mass produced aftermarket "modder" parts made specifically for the Solara other than the taillights, corners, and body kits. Do you think any of these generated a profit? I doubt any of them did...the clear corners that everyone seems to have probably tanked too since they never made them for Gen 1.5.

In reality, theyd probably sell around 100-200 total. Headlights for old Civics are probably sellin 100-200 every year still, years after they came out. You make what sells best, Its the way business works.

We're a small group, and it keeps us unique, and the rarity of modded Solaras thats what keeps us apart from the other modders out there. Unfortunately, it keeps us out of the parts too.

[SC V6]

To think that we can get 2500 orders is rediculas.. that will never happen in one shot.. they will never make these for us unless they KNOW that they will come out ahead and made a profit worth the time and money... I think we should find a group buy on some other headlight that is very similar to the Solara, and do a retro fit of those.. to think that we can get 2500 is impossible... they won't take a chance on us just because we got 50 orders in a weeks time... that is nothing to them

[jbright]

Look
http://www.rangerpowersports.com/forum/
25,000 members. Thats almost 10x as many as we have.

Scroll to the bottom of that forum and look at when it was started (1998). They probably haven't cleaned out their member lists for the whole 7 year span. This site hasn't been up half that long. Plus you have to factor in that Rangers have been in production far longer than Solara's... so you have a lot of those 25,000 members spread over several generations, where we just have 2 gens.

I agree that we won't ever get 2500 orders from this site, but I think if they made them they would sell 2500. People will be modding these cars for years. And the members of Solaraguy only make up a small percentage of the overal number of Solara modders.

Just my 2 cents.

[Astro]

I think we should find a group buy on some other headlight that is very similar to the Solara, and do a retro fit of those

I guess we've got some searching to do then...the bad side to this is what the cost of re-wiring and body work/paint would be.

[1st Gen Sol]

**** Quick, Everybody Buy 5 or 10 pairs each per one order....then we should be able to hit 2,500 mark ****

I think we should find a group buy on some other headlight that is very similar to the Solara, and do a retro fit of those

^^^^ I would do this as an option but I don't like the fact that I would have to crack open my headlights....also wouldn't know how......probably just stick with getting HID's if projectors aren't available.

[Jon11582]

Look
http://www.rangerpowersports.com/forum/
25,000 members. Thats almost 10x as many as we have.

Scroll to the bottom of that forum and look at when it was started (1998). They probably haven't cleaned out their member lists for the whole 7 year span. This site hasn't been up half that long. Plus you have to factor in that Rangers have been in production far longer than Solara's... so you have a lot of those 25,000 members spread over several generations, where we just have 2 gens.

I agree that we won't ever get 2500 orders from this site, but I think if they made them they would sell 2500. People will be modding these cars for years. And the members of Solaraguy only make up a small percentage of the overal number of Solara modders.

Just my 2 cents.

I dissagree. Sure, we havent been around as long, but I think Solaraguy's member base represents at least 75% of all solara modders. On top of that, I think less than 10% of the all solara modders would actually buy these headlights. To top it off, the people here are Gen1, 1.5 and 2. Gen1, probably the most popular solara, probably makes up 60-80% of us. If those numbers are right, That comes out to about 100 sold.

Theres about 125,000 Gen1 Solaras out there. To get 2500, theyd need at least 2% of ALL Gen1 solaras to get these headlights. To compare, there were over 1M Rangers sold 99-01..and no one runs through generations as fast as toyota so generation specific parts like headlights probably have an even bigger market base for all other makes and models.

Best bet is going to be a member doing retrofits, much like we did with the yellow capsules in the fogs, but then we need to send in our headlights and you cant exactly drive without headlights.

[SolDoubt]

naw i seen 2 other solaras in my town that are modded and i dont think they come on this forum and thats excluding missay i dont think she has done anything to her car for a while.

[Jackass-Jeff]

naw i seen 2 other solaras in my town that are modded and i dont think they come on this forum and thats excluding missay i dont think she has done anything to her car for a while.

You've seen 2 modded solaras... but at least 10 modded civics, right?!

ok guys. it's over. Lets just do our own retrofits. Whoever wants to try (local), let's do it!

[Jon11582]

naw i seen 2 other solaras in my town that are modded and i dont think they come on this forum and thats excluding missay i dont think she has done anything to her car for a while.

Whats modded?
Just debadged or just rims isnt the crowd thats going for projectors.

IF we get a east coast retrofitter who does good work, I'd def look into it.

[TRAFFICBLOWS]

I inquired about HIDTech.com doing a retro a month and a half ago. Here's the reply I got for 1 retro, I can't see why we wouldnt get a good discount with 35+:

<<
Thanks for your inquiry. We will need you to send us your headlights for retrofitting. The whole process would take 2-4 business days depends on our word load. However it may take up to 7-10 business days. Some project we need to do it slowly and little by little each day to ensure highest quarlity.

Following is a breakdown for this project:

$450 Hella HID system including Hella Bi xenon projectors (brand new parts with warranty)
$300 Rretrofit customization cost (most Japanese and German import)
$150 Type S projector enclosure (please check http://hidtech.com/images/02171.jpg and http://hidtech.com/projects/04accord.html)
$50 Plug and play wire harness for H4, 9004, 9007 lighting system with relay
$50 Return shipping and handling within the US

Also there is a $50 dollar off discount off your total if you are paying via personal check or money order.

Let us know if you have any more questions.

Sean
HIDtech
>>

[Astro]

^^Wow, so that's about a $1000 for the retrofit?