In relation to my recent post about one of my headlamps getting busted by road debris, this post is my initial review of my CAPA certified replacement lamps. In short, I'm impressed so far.
I ordered these lamps from RA and the brand was stated as "various", but when delivered, these lamps were DEPO brand, CAPA certified. FWIW, I believe that DEPO also has a cheaper line that is not CAPA; I used them on another vehicle in the past, and they fit terribly and were very inexpensive. These lamps were $289 for the pair, and look and fit every bit as good as OEM. The only visual difference is this one small ring inside the housing - on the OEM units this piece is plastic chrome, whereas on the DEPO unit it is clear textured plastic, like the piece it connects to. This is not a bad thing IMO, since the 'chrome' pieces on the factory units were peeling badly.
The rubber gasket/surrounding piece was also pliable EPDM rubber on the DEPO units, which is something that could easily have had a cheaper rubber material. What really impressed me, however, was the quality of the bulbs included in the new units. The turn signal and running light bulbs seemed to be generically marked, like OEM. But the low and high beam bulbs impressed me... the low beam bulb is an H11B, which IIRC is only used by Kia/Hyundai. They are rare and expensive, like $20+ for a basic bulb, so cheapo aftermarket bulbs are commonly used. Not here, as the DEPO units came with the OEM spec German-made OSRAM H11B. And the high beam H1 bulb, which has more cheapo aftermarket options than you can count, is also the OEM spec German-made Philips H1. Little details for sure, but things that could have easily been cheaped-out on.
Another small but nice touch is that they included a turn signal spreader/diffuser on the outer lens. This feature did not show up until later on in this vehicle's life cycle, but definitely helps with magnifying the turn signal, especially from the side. I'm glad they included it, as my van originally did not have these (I think they added them around 2010 or so).
I don't do much night driving, but I'll try to get out sometime this week to check the beam spread and aim the lamps as well. I will report back after that.
I ordered these lamps from RA and the brand was stated as "various", but when delivered, these lamps were DEPO brand, CAPA certified. FWIW, I believe that DEPO also has a cheaper line that is not CAPA; I used them on another vehicle in the past, and they fit terribly and were very inexpensive. These lamps were $289 for the pair, and look and fit every bit as good as OEM. The only visual difference is this one small ring inside the housing - on the OEM units this piece is plastic chrome, whereas on the DEPO unit it is clear textured plastic, like the piece it connects to. This is not a bad thing IMO, since the 'chrome' pieces on the factory units were peeling badly.
The rubber gasket/surrounding piece was also pliable EPDM rubber on the DEPO units, which is something that could easily have had a cheaper rubber material. What really impressed me, however, was the quality of the bulbs included in the new units. The turn signal and running light bulbs seemed to be generically marked, like OEM. But the low and high beam bulbs impressed me... the low beam bulb is an H11B, which IIRC is only used by Kia/Hyundai. They are rare and expensive, like $20+ for a basic bulb, so cheapo aftermarket bulbs are commonly used. Not here, as the DEPO units came with the OEM spec German-made OSRAM H11B. And the high beam H1 bulb, which has more cheapo aftermarket options than you can count, is also the OEM spec German-made Philips H1. Little details for sure, but things that could have easily been cheaped-out on.
Another small but nice touch is that they included a turn signal spreader/diffuser on the outer lens. This feature did not show up until later on in this vehicle's life cycle, but definitely helps with magnifying the turn signal, especially from the side. I'm glad they included it, as my van originally did not have these (I think they added them around 2010 or so).
I don't do much night driving, but I'll try to get out sometime this week to check the beam spread and aim the lamps as well. I will report back after that.