georgelv1999

I did a search but didn't find anything so here it goes....

When I bought my car I noticed that it came with a Depo passenger side headlight, while the driver side is OEM. I was wondering if anyone has opened a Depo headlight before. I want to clear them out, and maybe paint them. I have switchback bulbs from my Maxima that will fit this car, but with the amber on the headlight it will look dumb.

Anyways, anyone opened Depos before?

sauceja

iTrader: (2)

AckTL05 or JnC have.

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

Was your car in an accident before? Thats weird that only one headlight was replaced. How do the beam patterns and output differ between the OEM unit and the depot one? Any chance you coul provide pictures of the cutoff maybe? Sorry that doesnt answer your question, but I was curious if Depot uses junk no name projector components compared to the OEM ones.

Acura604

Depo cutoff and headlight quality is junk.

Dealer replaced my OEM with depo and I complained.

Firstly :
-mega condensation
- beam pattern was real messed up
- poor fitment.

Dealer replaced them with new OEM.

nttstt444

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I can imagine there is quite a difference with an OEM and a Depo on the same car. The cutoff must be all screwed up?

24no7

iTrader: (2)

I never had any fitment issues, condensation, etc.. when i put depo headlights on my car. Nevertheless, when opening them up, i was very disappointed. The material they used looked very cheap, and so did the job done inside the headlights. After that, i ended up going with oem.

georgelv1999

It's 11:30pm, just got to work, I'll see if I can go out and take a couple of pictures with my phone. The patterns are all messed up, but I don't have enough to buy a new/used passenger side OEM headlight.

Anyways, 24no7: you were able to open up the headlight? I want to paint the inside, and take the amber out.

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

I've opened up DEPO headlights for other cars before, slightly less quality than oem but better than other aftermarket headlights. however in terms of output, no aftermarket projectors can match oem TL because the TL projectors are among the best bixenons available. however on a car with subpar oem projectors, depos would blend in just fine

georgelv1999

I can definitely tell the difference in projectors. Light output isn't bad, but the pattern is definitely different. I might just stick with these lights, mod them for now, and when I get a chance change the passenger side up. I was looking on eBay and even for a broken tab light with no ballast they run around $200. The light I have isn't broken, so I might just deal with it for now. Maybe with it painted and all it might not look bad. Hey paperboy, what part of Alhambra are you? I live by the theaters on Main and Garfield

24no7

iTrader: (2)

Yes i did. Nothing wrong with opening up the headlights but be very careful when doing so. The way they put them back together is just... let's say horrible. Make sure you clean the channel well; the place where the glue goes on.
You should have no trouble removing the amber; at least i never had trouble taking the amber out. Believe me, this is not like the OEM. Good luck

georgelv1999

Sounds good, thanks for the advise. I'm going to buy some Nissan Butyl sealant and redo the seals on both headlights. I've opened my Maxima headlights about 3 times before, so I have a general idea.

msturge01

I would go OEM and then open and mod Depos no good