Borrowing my Dad's Caravan for a few weeks as I'm currently 'between vehicles', I noticed a few days ago that one of the headlamps burned out. Needing it fixed ASAP due to some bad weather coming that night, I went to the nearest AutoZone and bought a Philips 9007 standard replacement (yellow package) bulb, noting that it said something about Germany on the back after a quick look. Great. Sold.
Installing it into the headlight assembly, I noticed that the bulb clearly says 'Made in China' on it. Huh? Looking at the back of the packaging a little closer, it did indeed say 'Designed in Germany' but no clear country of origin. My fault for not looking more carefully but shame on Philips for not making it crystal clear. The bulb installed fine and does work, but I was disappointed to see that the color temperature is slightly yellower than the nearly decade-old (and German-made) Sylvania it replaced. Also, the beam pattern is a mess. While the old Sylvania on the other side has a nice sharp cutoff, the new Philips is just a big soft blob, and also projects much higher like the bulb isn't centered in the housing correctly. I understand that a new bulb may require a small readjustment of the headlight assembly aim but this is excessive.
After buying mostly Sylvania and GE headlamp bulbs in the past, this is my first Philips purchase and I'm not happy with it. I doubt there will be another.
Installing it into the headlight assembly, I noticed that the bulb clearly says 'Made in China' on it. Huh? Looking at the back of the packaging a little closer, it did indeed say 'Designed in Germany' but no clear country of origin. My fault for not looking more carefully but shame on Philips for not making it crystal clear. The bulb installed fine and does work, but I was disappointed to see that the color temperature is slightly yellower than the nearly decade-old (and German-made) Sylvania it replaced. Also, the beam pattern is a mess. While the old Sylvania on the other side has a nice sharp cutoff, the new Philips is just a big soft blob, and also projects much higher like the bulb isn't centered in the housing correctly. I understand that a new bulb may require a small readjustment of the headlight assembly aim but this is excessive.
After buying mostly Sylvania and GE headlamp bulbs in the past, this is my first Philips purchase and I'm not happy with it. I doubt there will be another.