New headlight assembly

The factory lenses are yellow and looking pretty rough. I've polished them twice in the 15 years I've owned the truck and I think it is just time to replace them. I haven't priced new ones from Toyota and I may need to go that route, bult I'm looking for suggestions for decent aftermarket options.

I don't want anything fancy, don't want to upgrade. I just want something clear so I can see the road. What I've looked at ranges between about $125 for a set to almost $400. Inexpensive would be great, but I don't want junk. I've heard that condensation inside some of the cheap ones is a problem.

Suggestions please.

 

For clarity and quality you are best to use oem. You get what you pay for.

 

And I may well end up doing that. But it doesn't hurt to look at options.

 

in general the aftermarket suck in terms of quality and light output. Don’t waste your time on aftermarket.

 

Aftermarket will have poor light distribution and most of them leak when you get them, or will leak not too far down the road. In extreme cases you may even get one with mounting points that are not correctly positioned. Ask me how I know. :-/ Spend the $, get OEM.

 

I went aftermarket in 2017. My oem lamp assemblies were really bad, my truck is an outside truck and faces the sunrise, plus, it’s a sport model and has DRL’s which are known to be a shitty design on Tacomas as the heat from the bulbs burns the lamp assembly from the inside. After five years the aftermarkets are still holding up. I did apply some clear sealant along the seam to help prevent leaks. Despite that, one gets a little condensation when it rains hard. But, at about $80 for the pair, I am satisfied with my purchase. By five years, my oem lamp assemblies were already yellow’ed from the DRL’s. These AM’s show no yellowing and still look sharp.

 

You can buy oem at toyota online parts a lot cheaper.

 

OEM will keep the value of the truck up where is should be

A/m would be a downgrade

Just spend the dough, the truck is worth it

 

That's a good idea, but they are $300 each there. I ain't spending $600. My wife's brother owns a body shop and he can usually get parts at a discount. I'm going to check with him next week and see what his price is. I might go $300 ish total for OEM. Otherwise sub $200 for aftermarket.

 

Does your truck have daytime running lights (DRLs)? Also, what P/Ns were you looking at? I'm assuming your truck is a TRD Off Road (i.e. doesn't use the smoked/tinted style like on the TRD Sport)?

 

Got the oem headlights online for about $400.

 

what site did you order from?

 

Toyota parts online, they will send to your dealer.

 

I went back to OEMs after purchasing ANZOs from Rock Auto. I can't say the light output was all that good or bad as I didn't keep them in long. The quality of fit was terrible. Once I managed to get them in the grill, hood, and light assembly fitmit was not very pleasing to the eye.

 

No. It's a 2007 TRD. Not as many options 15 years ago, it's a pretty basic truck compared to newer ones.

At this point my old truck is just a work truck that I use to take the trash off, haul firewood and take hunting. I don't need or want anything fancy. I just want something that is clear so and I can see the road at night. Not worried about resale, it ain't for sale, and anything is better than what I have now I'm going by the local Toyota dealer tomorrow to check prices with them. Will also have my brother-in-law see what he can get them for by ordering through his body shop.

Obviously, I'd like to stay with OEM, but the factory lenses have lasted me 15 years. Even if I have to replace aftermarket lenses every 5 years I can get another 15 years out of them for about 1/2 what OEM would cost based on what I'm seeing at this point.

 

There are plenty of dealers selling through parts.toyota.com at a significant discount off MSRP. If you're unable to find any local dealers on there just expand your dealer search mile radius as Toyota offers free shipping on orders over $75.

Here are two different examples/options for you as the cheaper one comes w/o bulbs (which might suit you better in your particular case), while the more expensive one comes w/bulbs:

 

OEM. Everything else is junk

 

I went by the local Toyota dealer this morning. They quoted me $350 each. With tax it would be $750 for both. That's about 10% of the value of the truck. I haven't had a chance to get a price from my BIL. But with his commercial account I know it will be less. Just don't know how much. I'd pay $168 each if I can find them at that price.

 

You need to go here: Toyota Parts and Accessories - Official Online Store

Pick your dealer (the prices here will be cheaper than at the counter) or the closest and cheapest one for the parts you need. Select pick up at dealer and not shipped to home. Total will be closer to $400 to $450 for the pair.

Note: the search there will find what seems like too many choices. There are some options, Sport, plain, etc. And the several options come populated with bulbs or bare. It can be a bit confusing to sort this all out. The verbiage doesn't make it clear.

 

Already looked there. Price was $300 each. $50 less than from my local dealer. I might do better to pick another dealer to have them shipped to and will look at that. Since my previous post I did see my BIL. He has some sources that he can order from wholesale for his shop. Will get a quote from him tomorrow.