Valenti Tails Reliable?
 

I sees a lot of FS posts around FB with valenti tails w/ problems -- condensation, LEDs out are mostly what I see..

Before I go spending a decent amount of coin for lights...

Are these things reliable??

If you see all the negativity being posted about them, don't you think you've found the evidence you're looking for?

Not really.

I've seen a signal of unreliability in the marketplace (LEDs out, leaking..) Doesn't mean there is big problem with the product. A certain degree of faulty items is expected.

There could be a bias -- that the people with broken lights are the ones wanting to sell.

By opening up this convo to people who aren't selling I feel we can get a better understanding of what's really going on.

Ultimately I want the lights, I just don't want to pay for pretty junk , if that's what it comes down to.

I agree to a point. I've wanted the blacked out Valenti tails for a few years. All the YouTubers I've seen put them on, have taken them off within a year due to failing LEDs and condensation. The only great praise I've heard is from people who haven't owned them for long.

On several other platforms this is also a common theme; LEDs failing and poor sealing. It could be that nobody ever replaced their tail light gaskets, I'm not sure. But the reviews and repeated failures I've seen have made me pretty happy to save money and hold onto my stickers. Just coming from the same point of view as you and wanted to chime in with what my conclusion was :)

Bought mine 3 years ago from thespeedline.com. No problems at all. YMMV I guess

honestly, theres a really good market for used tail lights, id probably find a set on one of the frs/brz buy/sell/trade pages on facebook, much more active than the forum marketplace. that way ur worries about reliability will be even less if you are buying at 1/2 price. youll know which ones are junk or not, itll just be obvious. for example, dont buy from a guy who has typos in his product title lol

I have been running Valenti FT86SF CBW tail lights since two years without any problems.

not reliable enough for me. they seem to put design aesthetics ahead of build quality, which means that the failure rate is higher than other aftermarket designs.

i get the impression non-failures are in the minority, which is never a good place to be for a $400+ life-safety component.

Failures are definitely in the minority. You only see the negative reactions, never the perfectly fine ones. Just like anything else, people are way more likely to write about something going wrong than everything working out as expected. The more units sold, the more individual complaints you'll see. Simple statistics. This gives you a skewed impression of any product.

The LED burnout was mainly from early models, although it's always possible on anything. Additionally, there is a high correlation with tail light issues and the over-torquing or otherwise improper installation of the lights and gasket. If you take out improper installation from the reported issues, the fail rate becomes significantly smaller. You'll see this on any tail light.

Purchased the red/chrome sequentials from The Speedline 3 1/2 years ago. Now on sale for $199.98 http://www.thespeedline.com/12-gt-86...d-lens-chrome/
No leaks or condensation and all LEDs functioning.
Agree with sharpsicle. Improper installation, over or under tightening the 8mm bolts and not aligning up the gasket properly will cause leaks.

I purchased mine from a vendor here and also had them for 3 years and no issues so far.

I bought mine and have them for a 3 months. Now we're getting a bit of rain in Cali and my driver side is getting condensation and flooding my trunk. The fitment is off and water is leaking through. Im assuming all the other people who have had trouble with it their LED and whatnot is experiencing the same.

I wasn't aware of the water until recently and mold started growing in there from my car washes.

I had my valentis for a little more than a year before some of the LEDs burned out. Definitely looked great but bummed that they only lasted a year. I also put a different gasket from ninja gasket to prevent water from getting in and it worked.

Last time I'm going to post this on this forum.

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https://www.harborfreight.com/14-in-...nch-63881.html
Got mine for $14. with a 30% off coupon.