Cheap eBay LED taillights installed - impressions

[elsenorfon]

Let me start by saying that I just got my Boxster S in February and just recently found this site. In just a few weeks I found so much invaluable and helpful information here at renntech, and also at babblers, so I'm trying to give a little back. It's not much, but it's hard to find out REAL information on these products. I also want to be very clear that I have nothing to do with the manufacturer or seller and have no vested interest. These are just my thoughts, and although I do not have any Porsche experience, I do have a lot of tuning experience so I'm pretty familiar with what is and is not a quality product.

I know some people out there must be curious about those LED taillights on eBay that are only $200. I actually gave them a shot so I wanted everyone to know what to expect. I'm sure most people don't expect much :)

Install

Install of the taillights is very straight forward. Remove the plastic nuts from the rear trunk and they pretty much pop right out, not much else to say here.

Quality

These taillights are made in Taiwan and although the exterior of the light looks very slick, it is apparent where it's made when looking at the inside of it. The screw posts aren't as long as the stock taillights' so 2 of the plastic nuts could not be reinstalled which annoyed me a bit. My bet is that these lights are hit and miss when it comes to that, I'm sure some actually fit perfect, but these ones on my car do not. You get what you pay for right? Very mediocre fit and finish.

Final Thoughts

The pictures I have attached tell the tale the best. If you like the look of them, then it's a great deal. I can get past the mediocre interior fit and finish because the exterior of the lights actually do fit quite well and have a very nice flush look to them. I do notice that they are maybe 1mm smaller than stock and do not quite hug the taillight groove, but it's VERY hard to notice unless you're really looking for it. I would like to note that it's important to tighten the screw rods farther than it feels proper to do, this is what gives it a flush fit. At first I did not do this because I was afraid they wouldn't hold up to the torque and they looked terrible. They did indeed hold up to a little torque and they now looks miles better!

So far so good with the LEDs, they work great. The first pic shows the LEDs lit, but I'm using my Blackberry camera so it's a little hard to tell what it looks like. Overall I'd say it's a decent product and if you like the look of it then it's a no-brainer considering they only cost $200. There are a couple of sellers on eBay selling them, and although I will not include a link, if you just do a search for "boxster led smoke taillight" you will find them. Please hit me with any other questions I may have neglected.

Edited April 11, 2009 by elsenorfon
remove excessive font sizes (really bad on cell phones)

[elsenorfon]

One more!

Edited April 10, 2009 by Loren
remove excessive font sizes (really bad on cell phones)

[Loren]

In the future please feel free to post your product reviews in the Reviews section here.

[boggtown]

I actually torqued one bolt off, so yes, they do break. The gap at the top is the only caveat to these lights in my opinion.

[jmatta]

Thanks, but I'll stick with OEM.

[cbbepop]

One more!

Great review I had the same problem on mine...they didn't fit like an OEM so I had to adjust them.

Now all that remains is to splice a wire so that the rear fog lights come on when u hit the break. The LEDs are not that bright (shouldn't blind anymore) if anything these LED rear fogs should make it more safe by letting people see you breaking earlier.

[elsenorfon]

One more!

Great review I had the same problem on mine...they didn't fit like an OEM so I had to adjust them.

Now all that remains is to splice a wire so that the rear fog lights come on when u hit the break. The LEDs are not that bright (shouldn't blind anymore) if anything these LED rear fogs should make it more safe by letting people see you breaking earlier.

that's an interesting idea. i didn't realize there was a rear fog, any idea which wire i need to splice to hit it? and is it red or am i blinding people with reverse lights when doing that?? :P

[mylamb]

I like them! Good job on the install.

[pierow]

that's an interesting idea. i didn't realize there was a rear fog, any idea which wire i need to splice to hit it? and is it red or am i blinding people with reverse lights when doing that?? :P

Thanks for the write up - I've been wondering about these for a while now. This post has the low-down on the rear fog lights.