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I have recently installed the Xtreme 4300K HID Kit from XenonDepot and I have decided to share my experiences on this forum in the form of a review. As many of you are aware, I have had HIDs on my CT pretty much since I bought the car. They were no name, generic kits installed by my mechanic.
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Why I Swapped Kits
My experiences were not good with these generic kits. The only good thing I can say about having it installed is that you don't get your hands dirty. The kit brought a guarantee, but I had to replace the ballasts on 5 separate occasions and I got the Kit installed in September. A new car should not be opened up that much. They tried everything to stop me from coming back with complaints. The first problem was the projection looked ridiculously wavy, they told me that's just the way it's going to be because of the added brightness. NOT TRUE!!!! I was relentless and then they got me a different set of bulbs. They in fact did remove the waves in the projection and told me because the kit was 10000K and not as bright. ALSO NOT TRUE!!!! Then, I had the issue of the lights not lighting up on the first attempt. Then, I had the issue of the lights randomly turning off. It got so bad I found myself pulling up behind cars just to check if they were both on. The problem with those cheap 30 dollar kits is that you're taking a shot in the dark when you buy one. You could get a good kit or you could not. It's that simple. Then you have to make a claim to the company and send the kit back to them at your expense, where ever that is. They'll send you one back but you're still running that same risks. I finally got fed up and shot an email over to Steve from XenonDepot.
Customer Service
I sent Steve an email and in his reply, he asked if we could discuss what kit to get over the phone, which was incredibly surprising. He in fact is a very cool guy and you can tell he's really trying to help me. This kind of customer service from an internet company is unheard of to me. All other companies keep it strictly at emails and just let order what you want without any feedback. He really wanted to make sure that I was buying something I would enjoy and left no stone unturned before I finally made my purchase. The item was shipped that same day and received the item in less than a week. If anything is wrong with the lights and I do need to return it, they will pay the shipping costs. That's extremely rare and added another level of comfort to my purchase. I can't get that kind of service walking into some stores lol.
Product First Impressions
Immediately after opening the box, I saw an huge difference between the kit I removed from my car and the Xtreme Kit. My old kit did not have a relay because I was told a relay was not needed. After my experiences, go with the relay. The Xtreme Kit ballast was much smaller and had a sleeker design than the generic ballast. The Xtreme ballast looked properly assembled and just plain better. I felt I was putting a good kit in my car.
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Installation
I did install the kit myself but was not able to take pics because it was wayy too cold and I wanted to get it done ASAP. There are few installation posts up on the forum and I followed CCT's method. I jacked up the car, removed the front wheel for the side I was working on, removed about 5 clips and the screw in the fender well, and pulled the cover back to work on the lights. The only tricky part was installing the passenger side relay. I had to remove the engine covers, the radiator brackets, and run the wires through there. Very easy to do once I figured it out lol. The bulb fit right in without having to shave anything down (I had to do that with my 08 sedan). The complete installation took me about 2 hours (Only because I've seen the car get taken apart so many times lol).
How the lights work
So far, the lights are awesome. I have not yet had a problem with the lights. I thought I had a problem but it was because I did not tighten the bulb in properly (smh). They always ignite thanks to the relay, have yet to flicker or fade. It is at the proper brightness in seconds. There are no error messages. The projection is straight without the waves I was complaining about. There's only so much I can say I will let the pics speak for themselves (no fogs in these pics).
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Conclusion
The Xtreme HID Kit from XenonDepot is the best HID kit I have put in any of my cars. The entire process was excellent from the customer service to the prompt delivery to the product itself. I have had this kit for more than 3 weeks and have not had any issues. By this time, I had already opened up the car twice to replace the ballasts on the other kit. You can find cheaper kits on eBay but you get what you pay for and this kit is worth the extra money. I am very critical about anything in I put in my car and I can say that the Xtreme Kit is excellent and would suggest it to anyone that is interested in putting HIDs on their car.
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Why I Swapped Kits
My experiences were not good with these generic kits. The only good thing I can say about having it installed is that you don't get your hands dirty. The kit brought a guarantee, but I had to replace the ballasts on 5 separate occasions and I got the Kit installed in September. A new car should not be opened up that much. They tried everything to stop me from coming back with complaints. The first problem was the projection looked ridiculously wavy, they told me that's just the way it's going to be because of the added brightness. NOT TRUE!!!! I was relentless and then they got me a different set of bulbs. They in fact did remove the waves in the projection and told me because the kit was 10000K and not as bright. ALSO NOT TRUE!!!! Then, I had the issue of the lights not lighting up on the first attempt. Then, I had the issue of the lights randomly turning off. It got so bad I found myself pulling up behind cars just to check if they were both on. The problem with those cheap 30 dollar kits is that you're taking a shot in the dark when you buy one. You could get a good kit or you could not. It's that simple. Then you have to make a claim to the company and send the kit back to them at your expense, where ever that is. They'll send you one back but you're still running that same risks. I finally got fed up and shot an email over to Steve from XenonDepot.
Customer Service
I sent Steve an email and in his reply, he asked if we could discuss what kit to get over the phone, which was incredibly surprising. He in fact is a very cool guy and you can tell he's really trying to help me. This kind of customer service from an internet company is unheard of to me. All other companies keep it strictly at emails and just let order what you want without any feedback. He really wanted to make sure that I was buying something I would enjoy and left no stone unturned before I finally made my purchase. The item was shipped that same day and received the item in less than a week. If anything is wrong with the lights and I do need to return it, they will pay the shipping costs. That's extremely rare and added another level of comfort to my purchase. I can't get that kind of service walking into some stores lol.
Product First Impressions
Immediately after opening the box, I saw an huge difference between the kit I removed from my car and the Xtreme Kit. My old kit did not have a relay because I was told a relay was not needed. After my experiences, go with the relay. The Xtreme Kit ballast was much smaller and had a sleeker design than the generic ballast. The Xtreme ballast looked properly assembled and just plain better. I felt I was putting a good kit in my car.
Installation
I did install the kit myself but was not able to take pics because it was wayy too cold and I wanted to get it done ASAP. There are few installation posts up on the forum and I followed CCT's method. I jacked up the car, removed the front wheel for the side I was working on, removed about 5 clips and the screw in the fender well, and pulled the cover back to work on the lights. The only tricky part was installing the passenger side relay. I had to remove the engine covers, the radiator brackets, and run the wires through there. Very easy to do once I figured it out lol. The bulb fit right in without having to shave anything down (I had to do that with my 08 sedan). The complete installation took me about 2 hours (Only because I've seen the car get taken apart so many times lol).
How the lights work
So far, the lights are awesome. I have not yet had a problem with the lights. I thought I had a problem but it was because I did not tighten the bulb in properly (smh). They always ignite thanks to the relay, have yet to flicker or fade. It is at the proper brightness in seconds. There are no error messages. The projection is straight without the waves I was complaining about. There's only so much I can say I will let the pics speak for themselves (no fogs in these pics).
Conclusion
The Xtreme HID Kit from XenonDepot is the best HID kit I have put in any of my cars. The entire process was excellent from the customer service to the prompt delivery to the product itself. I have had this kit for more than 3 weeks and have not had any issues. By this time, I had already opened up the car twice to replace the ballasts on the other kit. You can find cheaper kits on eBay but you get what you pay for and this kit is worth the extra money. I am very critical about anything in I put in my car and I can say that the Xtreme Kit is excellent and would suggest it to anyone that is interested in putting HIDs on their car.
