Taillight and CHMSL Incandescent Bulbs - photos with bulb numbers

Sterling Archer said:

Technically it does have a rear LED but it's just the tail light the brake and signal are not.

If you ever get behind a Sierra Elevation at night it's the same idea, LED tail light and incandescent bulb. To me it looks cheap.

Click to expand...

Totally agree. Feels like them even putting "LED" in the description is manipulative. I love the idea of being able to replace the bulbs myself, so kudos to them for doing that, but labeling the whole things as LED's and still using incandescent bulbs is a cheapo deception move.



I don't understand why it's so hard? We want LED's to simplify, last longer, and be brighter. Instead, we are forced to get packages that would force you to replace an entire housing for gross amounts of money because nothing inside them is interchangeable. I can't even count how many new vehicles I see on the road daily that have one DRL working and the other not working. One - they probably don't even realize it and two - if they knew how much it cost to replace they probably wouldn't bother. Now factor that in for headlights and turns. I'm honestly not sure what's worse - getting the crappy bulbs and having to replace them, or getting the expensive housings and hoping they work.

When I got my Tacoma I was so happy about the headlights, only to learn they used the yellowest of yellow cheap bulbs literally everywhere else, including in the cab. Plus, they had the ugliest brake lights, I had to get the Meso kit for $150 after seeing other Tacoma's on the road and going "Wth is wrong with their taillights?" Here is the difference:


The stock brake lights were so ugly. And the sad part was that if you got the upgraded black version instead of the chrome ones, there is a whole portion that leaks through the sides and remains lit - the ones they use on the TRD Pro models. The headlights I love - but not interchangeable. If something goes out it's either aftermarket sequentials which are even more then OEM unless you go cheapo Amazon ones that will likely fog up and/or die again or OEM that are barely cheaper than some of the 3rd party sequential options. The "cheaper" ones on Amazon are still like $600, so why risk it? I'd rather be confident in what I'm buying than have to buy them 3 times.

On a 2023, with all the new features of the ZR2 - I expect better. Quality has not increased very much overall (The 2nd gens are very nice trucks and really the only feature they lack are ventilated seats and adaptive cruise) and we are still paying for safety packages that should be standard in all models now days - so why can't we have simple features like this? Feels like the shortages are less of a shortage and more of a carefully planned attack that is being drawn out to milk every penny from the consumer. Just saying...

It's things like this and the constant not so buggy more of a pure negligence and more a lack of QC on new vehicles (all around - not just first year models and certainly not limited to the twins production) that are making me reconsider this move all together. I saw it on both vehicles I bought in 2021 and never noticed anything like it before those years. If you label it as LED's - put LED's in it. If you put a 4 cylinder in it - make it more efficient than the last model. If your machines suck at painting - let a human do it. Otherwise, what is the point? Pay more for less? No thanks.

Even trying to remain optimistic is hard. You see one post on here with some random issue and it just drains you. Even something as simple as this - because they 100% are listing these tail lights as LED's. Things that should not happen in 2023, and I can't blame people for their attitudes when it happens to them or when this stuff gets exposed. It's stressful. So much of our lives rely on these vehicles now days and to some people, making that move is a jump into debt that may not have been the smartest - but if the quality was there at the very least, once it's over, you have a vehicle that has lasted and that in itself, is worth every penny to most people. Instead, most people plan to spend more money to make a new vehicle work for them and when it doesn't, you feel ripped off. Vehicles now days hold the same value as a house because of how reliant our society is on them, and also the mass amounts of people currently not able to afford housing so they turn vehicles into them!

Grr /rant

We want LED's that function properly in the proper housings and are user replaceable! Stop being cheap! The more I see, the more I feel like the whole thing isn't worth it.