[Q451990]

I got whacked today and need a new left headlamp assembly. Insert every stereotypical "Family Guy" type humor about Asian female drivers and I've told you the story about the wreck!

Anyhow, has anyone used the "OEM equivalent" headlights off of eBay?

NISSAN FRONTIER 01 02 03 04 LH HEADLIGHT LAMP XE M : eBay Motors (item 280437416307 end time Feb-09-10 11:52:06 PST)

For less than $40 I'm tempted to try one. If it's not an exact match I can buy the right side one and still be way ahead of the factory replacement cost. Both of mine are (well, one still is) in excellent condition, so I won't have one foggy lamp and one good one. Of course, if you guys have tried them and found them to be crap, I'll do something else...

Heath

 

[Jiffycake]

There are probably a few higher quality head light assemblies on Rockauto.com for around the same price.

 

[upcominZ]

I once bought a set of non oem headlamps off ebay for my dads lincoln navigator. They looked good but the light distribution sucked. The beam disbursement was 60% what the originals were. There is a liquid that is cheap and really cleans foggy lens. It sorta like paint thinner, not a polish. Lasts months but I don't know what its called.

 

[flip]

I have "oem equivalent" headlights, I used that solution to clean up the factory ones but a year later it was time to do it again, so I just bought these, they're by a company called eagle eyes, $35 a piece and theyre 3 years old now and still look like the day i bought them, I haven't had any issues at all.

 

[Ramjet1804]

Bought a set of the "Euro Style" diamond crystal off of ebay approx 3 years ago. No probs with light pattern, work just fine.

 

[Idleone]

Make sure any lamps you buy are CAPA certified.

 

[Q451990]

What is the CAPA certification? The one I bought is said to be DOT and SAE approved, but no mention of CAPA.

Thanks!

Heath

 

[Q451990]

Well, I ended up buying this one on eBay.

HEADLIGHT nissan FRONTIER TRUCK 01-04 head light 03 LH : eBay Motors (item 180458187782 end time Feb-17-10 04:36:21 PST)

It showed up today and I installed it this afternoon. My only issue was that the stud on the outside bottom corner of the replacement was smaller than the OEM one, so it wouldn't lock into the socket in the truck. Not an issue because the old one was fine, so I was able to swap them out.

The brand of the light was Apache, and I have to say I'm impressed with it... they did a very good job of replicating the OEM fixture, and even included Sylvania bulbs (same as the factory) pre-installed. When it said it came with bulbs I expected some no-name ones to be installed in there. The only problem I have now is that the new one looks a little better than the other side. I was afraid of that, but mine were in such good condiiton due to the previous owner's maintenence, that I thought I had a chance of them matching. I'll have to see if it bothers me enough over the next week or two to shell out another $40 for the other side.

In any case, if anyone reads this in the future, I had a very good experience with this eBay seller "discountbodyparts" - ordered it around midnight on Wednesday and it would have arrived on Saturday, but there was a weather delay. Apparently I can thank Pro Flowers contract with FedEx to get my headlight delivered on Valentines Sunday. Guess they decided to play "catchup" on everything in the warehouse.

Heath

 

[Idleone]

What is the CAPA certification? The one I bought is said to be DOT and SAE approved, but no mention of CAPA.

Thanks!

Heath

CAPA Introduces New Quality Standard for Automotive Lighting