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"Yaris" fog lights vs OEM fog lights

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by Dark_matter_doesn't, Apr 15, 2010.

  1. Dark_matter_doesn't

    Dark_matter_doesn't Prius Tinkerer

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    My passenger side fog light lens took some kind of serious hit sometime recently & shattered in the middle leaving a 1" hole . I decided to splurge & buy an OEM replacement - I had installed the "Yaris" kit a few months ago. The new unit came yesterday & I got it installed last night.

    First, the OEM unit has a glass lens, the Yaris fog light lenses are plastic. The OEM unit is noticeably clearer when compared to the Yaris, which means more light from the OEM unit. The reflector geometry looks the same between the two, and the outer housing looks identical. The OEM unit is made in Belgium (??).

    I bought Silverlight H11 bulbs for both sides, and discovered that the Yaris wire harness connectors don't fit the new bulbs properly. The connectors won't lock onto the bulbs & appear to be a bit too long. After fighting with the problem in near-darkness last night, I grabbed some electrical tape and wound some around the connector & bulb base to keep the connector secured. I suspect the original, low-cost bulbs & connectors in the Yaris kit came from the same Chinese source, and that company didn't quite succeed in copying someone else's connector design.
     
  2. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    So are you going to take a sling-shot and see how the lenses hold up? Just curious.
     
  3. ScottG10

    ScottG10 Member

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    I have the Yaris kit from the EBay source and the lenses are glass. I know this because one of them took a rock hit and broke and it became even more painfully obvious although, the broken lense doesn't leak. I understand this is a trait shared by the official toyota parts.
    As for the sockets, I had no problem at all installing the bulbs - it was a perfect fit.
    As for them being a lesser quality, thats fine with me. The stock lenses were $177 each form my dealer and the yaris parts were $40. Niether one lights the road worth a darn so the Chinese parts are just fine IMO.
     
  4. hlkc

    hlkc New Member

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    I am 100% with you. My eBay Yaris kit is also glass and touch wood if it broke one day I still have to break 4 times ($40@), all 8 of them before it cost equivalent to 1 OEM unit cost.
     
  5. Dark_matter_doesn't

    Dark_matter_doesn't Prius Tinkerer

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    Correction: my old, Yaris fog light lens IS glass, not plastic. I pulled it out of the trash and examined it more closely. What made me think plastic was the lack of sharp edges around the shatter point and comparing the weight/heft of the Yaris light vs the OEM light - the Yaris light weighs significantly less. So the glass on the Yaris light is either thinner or a different grade of glass. It is less transmissive.

    As far as the relative lifetime of the two fog lights, that will be an experiment. The first Yaris light lasted about six months, which disappoints me.

    I also played with the alignment mechanism on the broken light. The reflector rocks up and down, not the bulb. I've found these to be challenging to align to any degree of accuracy, so I'd recommend that before installing the housings, take the bulb out and look into the front, checking to see if the hole in the reflector is centered on the bulb mount. That at least ensures that the lights point straight forward.
     
  6. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Yes, let us know how they hold up. I will be ordering another set of OEM style in June but I will be adding a clear film to the lenses to see if that helps.
     
  7. hlkc

    hlkc New Member

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    For the experiment part, I would say it is hard to do. It will be hard to have the similar impact for your current OEM one in the future to test it.

    Also, I sure hope the OEM is higher quality then the OEM style eBay $50 one.

    The only delta we have here is - the OEM $170 is "THAT" better lightning than the the OEM style $40 one?
     
  8. hlkc

    hlkc New Member

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    IMO this will be the best bet!