Upgrade Your 2017-2019 Toyota Highlander's Lighting with These LED Options

The Toyota Highlander has dominated in popularity among SUVs. With no less than 20 different options and many incredible benefits in any of them, such as expansive cargo space and seating capacity, and smooth steering and handling that make owning a Highlander a pleasure. However, the lighting options are a letdown.

To that end, we asked an avid automotive repair YouTube blogger, Dan, to talk about his experience and advice on LED lighting upgrade projects on the Toyota Highlander! This applies to those who are doing a lighting upgrade on a highlander for the first time or those who are just looking to make their ride safer for the road.

* Pictures are from the video posted by Dan @Doing Things Dan's Way. Product review and video by Dan with permission.

Hello everyone! My name is Dan Holt, and I live in Southern California.  I am an Electrical Engineer by day and YouTuber on the weekends making DIY videos for my channel 'Doing Things Dan's Way'.  I have really enjoyed the process of upgrading my vehicles with LEDs and posting videos about each one, and AUXITO has been a great partner to work with when selecting LED upgrades.

About The 2017 Toyota Highlander LED Lighting Upgrades

There are several things I like about LEDs.  I love the brightness most of all.  I don't want to blind people, but being able to clearly see the road, and be seen with bright turn signals is amazing.  I also like how fast LEDs turn on/off.  It gets the attention of others when your bulbs turn on immediately vs. the slow turn-on of incandescent bulbs, especially in sub-freezing weather.  Finally, I like the color of LED headlights and interior lights.  Driving at night feels totally different when everything has bright vivid colors like during the day.  Grass is green, flowers are visible, and signs pop out bright...  You don't get that with the warm incandescent bulbs.

LED Headlight Bulb With Clear Cut-Off Lighting

I started with the DRL/High-Beams.  The high-beams are amazing when out in the country.  I feel like I can see a full half mile ahead with them on. 

My car has automatic high-beam disable when someone comes towards me, so this combination is really amazing.  Next I replaced the headlight low beam, and the additional brightness and color accuracy really makes a huge difference.  I was very happy to see the top cutoff stay sharp.

I have never been flashed by oncoming drivers, so despite the additional brightness, the angle remains accurate because the Auxito LEDs have the same point-source as the original halogen bulbs. 

Fog Light - Better Visibility And A Cool Look

Next I replaced the fog lights.  I started with amber, but I honestly didn't like the look, so I installed those bulbs on my wife's C-Max and I ordered white LEDs for my Highlander.  I don't drive in the mountains enough to worry about having amber honestly.  I drive with my fog lights on all the time.  More light, better visibility, and it just looks cool.  

CANbus Error-Free Turn Signal Light - Prevents Hyper-Flash Conditions

After all this, I recently upgraded the turn signals with the Auxito CAN BUS turn signals that have the resistor built in which prevents Hyper-Flash conditions.  Otherwise the highlander requires the decoder resistors to prevent hyper flash.  I really don't like installing extra components, so the new LEDs with built-in resistors are the best option out there.  

Reverse Lights And Interior Lights

My next upgrade was the backup lights.  I really like how they make the backup camera so much more usable at night.  It doubles the range in all directions that the camera can see, and again the colors are much more accurately represented. 

Finally I replaced all the interior lights with LEDs.  They are VERY bright, but man can I read easier in the car now!

The Best Lighting Upgrades In Highlander

I think the best three upgrades for the Highlander would be the headlights, turn signals, and backup lights. The headlights give you amazing brightness and color and are easy to install.  The turn signal replacements give you very bright lights that can't be ignored by other drivers, and the backup lights makes the camera work so much better at night.  If you drive in fog, then I would definitely get the yellow fog lights as well.  All the other LED upgrade options make the car look great, and help to see better as well but those would be my top three.  These are also pretty easy to install as well. My videos on YouTube show you how to do all of these on the Highlander individually, anyone can install these bulbs.

Suggestions For LED Lighting Upgrades On The Highlander

The fog lights are the hardest to remove and install because of their position under the bumper. During installation, you have to remove a couple of panels and lay on your back, but again this wasn't a reason not to do it. 

Another thing to note is that you may need CANbus decoder resistors when installing the turn signals, you can purchase the resistors spare in advance or just go for the CANbus error-free LED turn signal bulbs.

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