POSIBLE HEADLAMP ASEMBLY LENS TRANSPLANT

09 base taco 2.7 auto 2wd 145k****Years back when i/we concluded that Toyota was not gona repair our burned up drl lamp asembly I purchased some after market headlamp asemblys, nice looking cheapies. So off came the oems and they have been in my garage collecting dust. Since then Ive notice the painfuly obvious diffrence in oem build qaulity between Toyota and chinese headlamps. ( 400$ for the Toyos vs 150$ lesson learned) First it was moisture in the lamps that was a easy fix now i got pieces of plastic coming off where the bulb wire fastener latches on to, there good for now but there soon on there way to a shotgun death. My plan is to remove the clear lens on the aftermarket headlamps and glue them to oem asembly. ( the oem lenses are swirled and fubar ) Not sure how exact the tolerances will be for a exact fit though. If there any better alternatives, how to's or stickys please direct them my way. Thanks

 

Unless the oem lights are cracked ir spiderwebbed than you might be able to refinish them. Like you said before oem is better all around. Even the plastic is better imo.I'd try to sand through the "swirl" marks.

 

Really, you can buff out the swirls and foggy exterior and make them like new again.

 

Well... except that they DID repair the burned DRL lenses.
http://www.tacomahq.com/1040/tacoma-daytime-running-light-lenses-tsb/
Unfortunately, you apparently weren't on the ball enough to catch that while it would have been valid for you.
So they extended it to unlimited mileage and out of warranty:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/toyota-recall-melting-dtrls.336066/
Oh, but it had to be done by 2015.
Guess you were really off the ball on this one, because you had two opportunities to get them replaced for free!

If you're LUCKY, you may have logged a complaint with your toyota dealer. IF YOU DID, then there is a chance that you may be able to convince them to cover you, despite being beyond the SSC.