HELP OEM LED QUESTION

I bought “OEM LEDS” from a seller on eBay and just received them. I’m 90% sure that at least one of them isn’t oem as I don’t see Toyota on anywhere on the housing. The other does say Toyota but is there anyway I can confirm before I reach out to the seller. I can’t find the part number anywhere on either of the headlights. The one that doesn’t say Toyota says depo, I’m guessing that’s the brand but I would appreciate any feedback at all, please advise. Thank you!

 

Does anyone know where I can find the oem part number on the housing?

 

Those look good. The part number isn't on everything.

 

Sorry second picture was the one that looks legit. Let me attach the one I suspect isn’t genuine.

 

Mine don't say depo on them anywhere. I'd recommend buying direct from a Toyota dealer.

 

Depo is aftermarket.

OEM should have embossed Toyota branding on the backside. Both of those are aftermarket housings.

EDIT:
See the second to last picture here for what it should look like: Complete! 2020-2023 Toyota Tacoma Full LED w/ TRD Headlight Right RH Side OEM | eBay

 

Can confirm Depo is not OEM.
I bought OEM taillights from a guy who had put Depo taillights on his truck. He gave them to me in the Depo boxes.

 

Depo does make some OEM housings. Can't say if they did for Toyota though.

 

I'm thinking probably not...
The Depo boxes I have say "Made in Taiwan" (same as OP's headlamp), the OEM tail lights have "Made in Mexico" on them.

OP, does your other light that says Toyota also say Made in Mexico (or another country)? If both are different CoO then it's almost certain the non-Toyota one is fully aftermarket.

 

Vehicle manufacture is a global business. Country of origin also isn't a valid descriptor of OEM vs aftermarket components.

Many parts can also even switch production lines based on demand, availability, and pricing at what appear to be random times throughout the same model year of production.

 

I believe that may definitely be the case. How can I verify? I can’t find any definite answer but if I type is depo an aftermarket brand for Tacoma the result says “yes”. Just not 100% what to believe. Obviously the country of origin is different from the one that says Toyota. I just wish there was some way I could confirm because I got the depo headlight for 250 used.

 

I have a real hard time believing that a $65 tail lamp housing could be the same quality as OEM, but I don't have anything to back that up, so...

Op, how well does the lamp appear to be made compared to the Toyota one? Are there any discontinuities like where the plastic molds came together (excessive amounts of flashing sticking up)? How about the seam where the clear front is bonded to the black rear section? Any waviness or other distortions in the plastic? Do the chrome/shiny bits (trim, reflectors) look clean and quality-made/no dust particles underneath the chrome (evidence they were made in a dusty factory)? Can you power them up at all? If so, do they have identical brightness, color, and beam pattern?

Even if all that checks out, I'd still be somewhat peeved that they weren't a matching pair had I received those.

 

I never said what was OEM and what's not. There is a drastic difference between OEM and aftermarket parts because the level of quality demanded sets the price. The looser they can run the parts tolerances,the cheaper they can sell it for with less parts rejects.

But the brand on a part doesn't determine that. Depo having injection molding capabilities only means they can make both OEM and aftermarket parts. OEM typically have a higher quality specification(and consequently, a higher finished parts rejection ratio), and many shops will run OEM parts as a supplier, then when the molds fall out of spec, either sell it to another mold company, or shift that mold to aftermarket production of the same part under their own brand where they determine the quality standards per batch instead of being an outside contractor subject to others standards.

Alternatively, it's also well known that many parts are binned based on critical dimensions/tolerances they meet near the end of the production line once the product is fully assembled. Bin 1 might be only a 1-4% deviation on a specific tolerance, where bin 2 could be for any product that hits 5-15% tolerance. OEM might only accept bin 1 tolerance, but the mfg will naturally have more product hitting bin 2 during later maintenance cycles in machinery, meaning it drives up production cost of bin 1 items, while the off cast bin 2 product is now overflowing, creating a surplus that drives that price down.

I don't know the situation of the $65 light assembly, but it's both possible it's a new aftermarket unit sold at a profit, or a surplus OEM unit that someone was liquidating inventory of.

All I'm saying is that neither the consumer-paid price or general component branding can define OEM or aftermarket placement of the product, but generally the model number will specify that.

 

This is the light assy (I was wrong, it's ~$62 at the moment):
https://www.partsgeek.com/gb8bmjs-toyota-tacoma-tail-light-assembly.html

What you say does make sense... And it's true I have seen many products sold aftermarket that were literally indistinguishable from OEM product other than maybe a brand stamping on it, however I also cannot remember such parts ever having come from China or Taiwan when the OEM was US, Canada, Mexico, or Japan... In these cases the part had always been inferior in some way, when parts having the same CoO as OEM were the ones identical.
When I see a lamp assy that has excess mold flashing, sloppy glue / bonding of the front & rear pieces together, and plastic that fades, clouds, or separates in only a few years, that seems much more like cheaper manufacturing from the outset rather than an OEM part that was rejected for being out of spec. (and is why I asked OP about that in my last post). Not necessarily saying Depo is like that (I don't know), but there definitely are others that are.

Another thing: If a part was destined to be OEM, but rejected because of tolerance (the "Bin 2" parts in your example), seems it would not have "Depo" or other aftermarket name already embossed on it... Instead I would think such item would have a scratch mark left on it where they scratched off "Toyota" if it was to be sold as aftermarket or a 2nd-rate item. The Depo light OP has is not that.

 

Those DEPO-marked units pictured above are aftermarket replacements, period. OEM Toyota LED headlamps for the 3rd gen say Toyota on them. This is what was on the rear, of the 3rd gen LED headlamps I recently sold:

 

That's a None OEM.