2007 GMC Yukon XL Denali - 39803 km - Silvania Silverstar Headlamp Bulb

From 2007 GMC Yukon XL Denali

The driver-side headlamp on our GMC Yukon XL Denali burnt out on the weekend. It's such a pet peeve of mine seeing cars with only one light that I went out and bought a pair of Silvania Silverstar bulbs and installed them as soon as I could. However, I also had to mutter under my breath at the GM designers who made the simple car maintenance task of changing a light bulb such a pain in the neck. Basically, on the Yukon you need to loosen the wheel liners, grille and front bumper in order to get access to the headlamps. But there was no way I was going to pay the dealership to change a light bulb for me.

I originally wanted to buy Silverstar Ultra bulbs which are supposed to be 50% brighter than stock bulbs but Canadian Tire didn't have the right size (H13/9008) in stock. I had to settle for the regular Silverstars which were $10 cheaper but only 30% brighter. My initial impression of the Silverstar bulbs is that they are definitely an improvement over stock. After being used to the European-spec HID headlamps in my 1999 VW Passat and the stock HID headlamps in my 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, I never liked the quality of the lighting in the Denali at all. The Silverstar bulbs give a noticeably whiter light without any hint of blue common in cheap aftermarket bulbs. The biggest problem with high performance halogen bulbs is that they have a much shorter lifespan. Silvania states on the package itself that they are expected to last only 1/4 the life of a stock bulb. However, I will gladly pay for better performance even if it becomes an annual cost. I also disabled the DRL to see if that will help with how much used I get out of these Silverstar bulbs. They do come with a 1 year warranty. Besides, now that I've changed the headlight bulb on the Denali once, it will be much easier--and less time consuming--the next time....

And the next time will definitely be sooner than later because the marker light in the driver-side headlamp is also burnt out and I'll need to buy a new wedge bulb to replace it.