All too often you find that a device that says it is made for 12V car systems is not really made well for such systems... Most of the time they are only made to work at 12V and nothing higher. This is a no go when it comes to cars seeing as cars don't actually run at 12V.When a car is running (engine on) and idle is above 1000rpm the charging system of the car will easily put out 13.8V to the rest of the car. meaning that your 12V device is actually getting 13.8 volt instead of 12V. Even batteries don't put out just 12V. A car battery when it is good will put out voltage up to 12.7V (typical is 12.65V). While these numbers may seem rather small in difference to you it makes a world of a difference when it comes to LEDs, cell phone chargers and so on.The vast majority of cheap products are made so cheaply and only designed to work at 12V only. So your device ends up running hot and the LEDs get burnt out in a year or less because they get too much power.This is the first reasonably priced product I've seen in some time that doesn't have those issues. I hooked these to my lab testing equipment to test for several hours before I considered installing these in my car. I left the supply at 13.9V for several hours and the lights only got warm to the touch and the supply box was only mildly warm as well. and by warm I mean even with using my laser temperature sensor and even a temperature probe I didn't get temperatures over 90 degrees F. Which is well within the tolerances of electronic devices. This was also done in a garage that was sitting at 84 degrees for the majority of that time. So while some heat was produced I was also over driving them by 0.1V which can easily happen in an automotive situation.These lights have performed well beyond my expectations. I would however say that if you want to make the system look nice and clean but don't want to cut the wires of the existing system just get a stand alone 12V socket and just attach it to the back of your existing 12V power socket in your car and then you can hide the wires wherever you want. Just remember that you never want to coil wires that have power running through them. It creates an electromagnetic field that can heat up metals near it and start a fire. So it may be in your best interest to cut the excess wires...Also the lights themselves put out good light and the color options are pretty good. Though it would be nice to be able to fine tune the colors if you like a specific color but that's not that big of a deal. IMO. It also has a memory of the last used settings so if you like a particular setting it will keep it that way.I would recommend running these lights dimmed while riding at night as it will help with eye fatigue. If you are not familiar with that you should definitely look up that subject. In relation to lights while driving at night.Bottom line. Get this if you have a desire to get different colors at your feet in your car and know that the system seems to be rather well built.