Lately I've been noticing that the headlights on my Yaris seem to be getting dim. I knew they were a bit scratched/hazy, but now it seems at least one of them has had a failed seal and is collecting moisture. The Yaris is just my commuter, so I try not to spend big $ on it unless it's necessary. Unfortunately, OEM Toyota parts look to be about $175 per corner. There are TONS of replacement parts out there, most with unrecognizable brand names, but available at less than half the OEM price. About every third or fourth review on most of them mentions the lights failing and collecting moisture. I suspect some failures are a result of improper reinstallation of lighting hookups or switching to aftermarket/LED units that aren't properly weather sealed, but it still seems like a pretty high failure rate for most of them. Most negative reviews also indicate manufacturers tend to "ghost" after the sale is completed.
SOOOOO . . . any hive members know of a replacement company that 1. is a decent quality product and 2. stands behind their product? No huge hurry on this one, but I'd rather do the job before the snow flies around here.
After polishing the OEM headlight lenses on my wife's Odyssey a few times I finally bought a new set of non-OEM housings. They were about $125 each a few years back but this summer I noticed the clear coat is coming off in big strips. I'll get it through the winter and evaluate options in the spring.
The G35 had Spec-D assemblies in it when I bought it. They were pretty horrible.
I ended up building my own using the Spec-D housings and Hella guts.
My old '05 Outback had been hit in the front passenger side and someone replaced the OEM housing with a Depo. I liked it so much, I bought a matching one for the other side. The projectors in them actually seemed to be better quality than OEM.
Depo is typically pretty decent. I also have used a number of TYC (Tong Yang Company) headlights from Rockauto and my local Certifit. No real compaints about them either.
Depo, spyder, and tyc are the ones i go after. Great success with all of them.
I have bought TYCs from both Rock and Amazon. My need was accident repair. I have little to comment about how well they dispersed the actual light. My focus was that they looked just like factory units and the mounting worked as intended. I would buy again.
Reading this I now recall that TYC was the maker of the housings I bought.
I think buying from a Taiwan company will get you a better product than from China,
I've also had TYC, Spyder, and Depo lights on various cars that I've been happy with. The only exception was a set of GMT400 Depos that had very thin reflector chroming that I didn't notice in time to return exchange, but other sets were fine.
I did TYCs and LEDs on my tcoma in 2018. Been through some rugged NE winters and still look great.
Before:
After:
The story:
https://www.neow.net/topic/119859-2003-tacoma/?tab=comments#comment-1852234
Here's the official after-action report: I ended up going with Depo brand. They were a VERY good replacement for the OEM parts as far as fit and design goes. Obviously, longevity remains to be seen, but they look fantastic out of the box. One oddity was that the driver's side had the wiring harness and a new rubber seat for the main bulb, the passenger side needed all those items transferred over. Total costs with a pair of new name brand bulbs was about $180 IIRC. The change out time was longer than I would have hoped. Total project took about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. This is partially due to my habit of making unforced errors. As a measure of this, the first one took about 3-4x longer than the second. It was also partially due to Toyota having designed the Yaris in such a way that the front clip has to be removed to change the headlight housings OR ANY OF THE BULBS! (Seriously, someone in engineering should have to clean the toilets with a toothbrush for that one, right alongside whomever from Mazda chose the Miata's oil filter location)
Under the "pics or it didn't happen" header:
Pre: 
Post: 
Nice! It's amazing how much new, clear headlight housings improve a vehicle's appearance.
$175? The headlights for the 991 I had were almost $4000 each. I would have jumped for joy at a $175 OEM replacement.
In reply to maj75 (Forum Supporter) :
Yeah, I wouldn't have batted an eye if it was for the Miata, but the goal with the Yaris is to keep it rolling down the road at the lowest cost possible.
Post script: Adjuster on one of the lights is broken out of the box and it's pointing about 15 feet in front of the car. Looks like I get to fight with Amazon first, then do the whole job over again.
Replaced the headlights in the Saab 93 with a set of TYC. They are good units. Perfect fit and are much better than the ones that were in the car. I actually can see now.
My old 1990 Chevy truck had wide not tall plastic headlights. Yellowed and chrome flaking off reflector. Found glass replacements for $58. ;~ )
Ya the chrome flaking and fading in the headlight reflectors was the big reason for my replacement on the Saab. I polished them out a coupe years back and it did not help with the performance of the lights. I knew it was time to replace them.
When I bought my 2010 Forte Koup, the headlight lenses were heavily weathered. It wasn't just the lense surface either as there were thousands of tiny cracks that went all the way through the lense.
Nighttime headlight performance was terrible. I was commuting mostly at night and decided that replacing the assemblies would be the best way to fix the issue.
I bought a pair from Bezos' evil empire from a company called VIPMOTOZ. The assemblies were about $77 each. I had low expectations since most made in China light assemblies have horrible quality control. I was pleasantly surprised with these though. The beam pattern was exactly the same as stock and the only fitment issues I encountered were the stupid access caps on the back side. I simply used the caps from the factory lights, as they fit way better.
Before:
New compared to old:
Light output is probably 100% better. I have had no issues with condensation or premature bulb failure since I changed the housings in June 2019.
ddavidv
UltimaDork
10/25/21 7:23 a.m.
The adjusters are frequently the complaint I get from shops that use aftermarket lights. Aside from that, for the price difference you really can't go wrong. If the OEM's can't make a headlight that lasts may as well buy the 3rd world equivalent for 1/3 the price. Worst case is you wind up replacing them again in 5-10 years.
However...what I do not recommend is using any aftermarket light on any computer controlled headlight such as the latest ones with LED technology or motorized height adjustment. We've had lots of issues with the aftermarket ones not working with the body control modules. In this case I'd try to get remanufactured OEM ones. Lots of vendors out there doing these now such as Brite Star, Headlamps Depot and others.
Last "after action report". Total time invested depends on whether you count the time spent arguing with Amazon or not. With that time, total project time is about 4 to 4 1/2 hours, without it, 3 to 3 1/2. If I never have to take apart the front end of the Yaris again, I'll be a happy camper. It's very frustrating that I had to do it twice because a BRAND NEW part was broken. As ddavidv mentioned, the issue was a broken adjuster. My burning hatred for the Beez was only made worse by the amount of time it took me to convince Amazon that no, I would not be sending them the broken part before I received a replacement since headlights are required equipment in my state and removing one would take my DD out of commission. It would also require that I either be without a vehicle while waiting for their part or I end up driving it without a required item and (perhaps more importantly), having to disassemble and reassemble the front end of the car one EXTRA time. It took forever before a CSR said, "Yeah, that makes sense. We'll mail you the part, just send us back the broken one once you receive and install the replacement." There, was THAT so hard? Of course this took 2 emailed conversations with the seller and 2 with Amazon to get to that point. I probably won't buy car parts from the Beez again. It just isn't worth the hassle.
Cliffs: You get what you pay for. I probably won't order car parts for anything I actually need to drive from Amazon again.
My F-150 had Spyder projector housings when I bought it used, and they were hot trash. You could barely tell the lights were on in the complete dark, even after I put brand new bulbs in. Replaced them with used OEM headlights off of Craigslist, 1000% better.
