Aftermarket LED Tail Light Quality
 

I've been considering getting either the Spyder, Valenti, or Toms tail lights for a while now, and it just occurred to me: how long do these LED tail lights last??

The bulbs on the stock tail lights are at least easily replaced, but what happens when the LEDs go out? I know most of the aftermarkets have a one year warranty with the vendor, but then what happens after that. How long do LEDs last?

I also realize that the after market tail lights haven't been out long enough, but maybe someone has had after market tail lights installed on their older cars before.

I bought TOM's figuring they are a big enough company that replacement bulbs will be available. I have no idea how to change them, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

"LEDs have a general life expectancy of 50,000 hrs. If you use your lights for 10 hours a day, this should be 13.7 yrs."

That's typically true, but I think we've all had LEDs burn out in a month or two as well. I think the question being asked is which category these fit into.

Yea but what about the strip/tube like lights? I know that if I have to replace an led, I'll ultimately be able to if I break them open, but I'd rather not do that.

If an LED is going to get out like you said they usually go pretty quick. In that case I would pick a light that has a nice warranty like a year or so just to be safe.

^what he said. under most typical situations, cheap led's will normally start to fail within about 3 months of normal use. but that said, if there are multiple failures across multiple sets, it's very likely that other led's will fail later on in the lifespan of the product, and i'd personally recommend to avoid any product like that.

the hidplanet forums led section have had some older examples of using cheap ebay led's(most common chip used was the '5 chip superflux') in tail light modifications, and many would predictably start failing within that 3 month time frame, with more failures occurring sporadically later on. the same threads have also documented severe color differences in batches of led's due to lower quality standards of no-name led's(a batch of 25 'red' led's can have any shade from pink to red to orange)..

due to that learning experience at hid planet, anyone seeking advice on custom building led tail's are recommended to purchase lumiled superflux, or cree superflux led's, as they have a proven OEM reliability, and have much more stringent quality control.

It's not just aftermarket. I see Audi, BMW and Mercs with faulty clusters not long after they've been put on the road. The difference is the warranty cover and/or the ease of replacing components. Most aftermarket lights will require whole housing replacement is my guess which makes it expensive to rectify.

The things that kill LEDs:

1. Moisture
2. Heat
3. Current

Moisture shouldn't be an issue with aftermarket tail lights unless they are as leak-prone as the OEM units.

Heat may or may not be an issue depending on how often you drive your car on a hot summer's day with your headlights/taillights on. It also depends heavily on how the well taillights are heatsinked (not sure that's a word, but just go with it).

Current is the biggest killer of LEDs. An unregulated current feeding an LED will kill it much quicker than if it had been properly regulated with something like PWM.

In other words, let the spark-E's do their job so you don't have to worry about it.

To the guy who said you can easily replace OEM light bulbs - yes, you can replace your blinker pretty easily. How do you plan on desoldering and soldering in a new LED on the rings, though?