CAPA Certified parts or not and save $$

floridafitz

Original poster
Member
Jan 2, 2012
151
Winter Springs FL
Planning to replace both OE headlight assemblies that are functional but look 100 years old (already did the lens buff out treatment). RockAuto has several "Various Mfg brands" and TYC as replacements. Units all look the same and priced equally. Then there are TYC CAPA certified headlights that cost 2.3X the regular TYC's. RockAuto phone rep not much help other than saying there may be higher quality components and a guaranteed OE fit. HUGE price difference. Can anyone shed any "light" on this. Thanks.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Your cheap alternative... :twocents:

[EBAY]130661569193[/EBAY]
 

JosueLT

Member
Nov 20, 2011
315
Just remember, you get what you pay for!!

Aftermarket lights usually don't fit for shit, and are almost guaranteed to condensate on you in no time...
 

Spyw

Member
Apr 23, 2012
45
I'm looking at rock auto now and it looks like the price is $99 for CAPA and $42 for not. IIRC, one of the big problems with non-CAPA certified lights is they generally aren't sealed well and will let moisture into the assembly. Someone else can chime in to add if sealing the cheap light will help. I don't have any experience with that.

My two cents is to buy the CAPA assemblies from rock auto.
 

Irishboy02

Member
Apr 1, 2012
222
If the seals are the only issue, i would just buy them and $3 tube of silicone and reseal them myself. Save $100
 

floridafitz

Original poster
Member
Jan 2, 2012
151
Winter Springs FL
UPDATE:
Got in touch with TYC brand parent company rep in Southeastern region office. Seemed kinda green but he did put me on hold to get clarification. Bottom line: their CAPA and non CAPA OE-style headlight assemblies are all DOT / SAE speced. He said there's no difference other than the certification. All materials are the same. My 20 yo son smashed his KIA Spec5 and the replacement headlights were TYC (I know because the ship box was left in his car). That was over a year ago and other than premature bulb failure, they've performed and look great. Fit seems perfect. Guess I'll take a shot and provide feedback to GMT. Thanks for the input.
 

Irishboy02

Member
Apr 1, 2012
222
I just checked my invoice from the part list with my accident. TYC was the company i used. Perfect fit
 

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