I just recently had someone hit my 350z while parked in a parking lot. The body shop swapped out the headlight on that side of the car with the 26010CF40B headlight but not the original Nissan Koito, instead they used a DEPO version. The headlights seem pretty well the same in most aspects other than the plastic plate over the blinker on my OEM headlight is yellow. No other signs of yellowing to infer this is aged yellowing but I cant find anything on the difference between 26010CF40A(no longer available) and 26010CF40B nor can I find the original Koito headlight to compare against the DEPO. Pictures of both are attached, trying to find out more info regarding yellow blinker plate, is this an OEM feature or is this just degradation of the OEM clear plate? Unfortunately the way insurance works, if they repair your car but it doesnt match because of wear, they consider leaving you with a mismatched car a favor and up to you to upgrade the rest of the car to match.








Any info regarding that yellow plate over the blinker and or these model numbers/vendors would be greatly appreciated.

Shawn

 

Man, there are a lot more differences in those headlights than just the orange globe over the signal light. Make the insurance give you the right damn light. I don't believe they're allowed to give you anything other than an original part, if that's what you request. I'm also in FL, and I had my company want to substitute an aftermarket radiator, until I said that wasn't acceptable, and they had to comply

Maybe you can get them to give you the cash equivalent and buy a set of DEPO's yourself on eBay, and then you can sell the good OEM on the left side? I'm a bit OCD, but two mismatched headlight would drive me insane.

 

I wouldn't have driven that home after seeing it like that. I would've walked away and told them to fix it. IF tthey say what, I'll say compare them. lol.

 

So I brought up the headlight issue and the repair shop stated that they couldnt replace the other headlight to match without reason but that it was on the insurance company to make my car whole or universal, they stated I could just request from the Insurance company and get it replaced later during a lunch hour. This is just one of many issues I have had with that authorized Geico repair center. But I want to make sure I go after this with as much ammo as possible. If I find out that the OEM or the original A version of the headlights came with yellow reflector covers, I have all I need to force them to make it right.

Also odd is that I cant find these DEPO 315-1148R's anywhere, only the 1148R-AS version which are very different and also only cost $115 vs the $800 the body shop charged for the headlight.

 

If the yellow is magically due to aging, all I have to go on right now is the fact that one headlight clearly displays DEPO embossed on its face and the other clearly has Nissan embossed on it. That is something but probably not enough.

 

You may have to look closely at your policy for specifics. The FL law says "same fit, quality and performance", but I guess that's open to some interpretation. I've never seen a '06> Z headlight without the orange signal globes. If all else fails, sell the left 9and right) headlight and buy a set of Depo's that match.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DEPO-BLACK-D2S-HOUSING-PROJECTOR-HEADLIGHTS-FOR-2003-2009-NISSAN-350Z-JDM-LOOK-/311447914157?fits=Model%3A350Z&hash=item4883be06ad&vxp=mtr

 

The high beam flicker and the turning cover was white for mine and the shroud over the lens was almost transparent where people usually do the iron man mod that's what I notice the difference from oem and depo

 

next time you'll know to smash the other headlight before letting the insurance company know.

 

they got the cheapest light to make the most profit

 

That's the reason they're a preferred shop. They save ins co $, and some folk walk away happy. You could prolly buy 06+ oems (pair) with ballasts for $800. gl

 

OP: For what it's worth, I owned a set of DEPO lights on my Mitsubishi Eclipse, and they were absolute GARBAGE. I'd INSIST with the insurance adjuster that the light be changed out with OEM so that you are made whole in good faith and so that you're not going to be forced to "lawyer up." Don't sign-off on the work until it's done to your satisfaction.

Here's a review of the DEPO lights that I wrote back in 2007:

I tossed my Depo projectors last weekend and re-installed the '03 factory lights. The Depos peeled like crazy. It was depressing as sh-- that I spent so much on those. They also fogged up all the time and the beams never did adjust right. Biggest pieces of crapola I've put on my car to date. I tried buffing out the peeled lights using a plastic buff-out cream, tried wax remover, scratch-X and a claybar. I even tried applying a new clearcoat. Didn't do a thing. Throwing them in the garbage was probably the best thing I could do with them (at least I managed to save the bulbs).

 

First I would see if they can just solve the problem which should be their responsibility.

However, if you get stuck with that lens, is there a little plastic piece bent around the orange bulb? If that is what is yellowed I would guess something is wrong with the seal around the bulb and the weather / moisture got to it. Normally parts yellow if the UV coating on the polycarbonate plastic wears off. I've never seen this part yellow inside the headlight. If you are willing, you can open the headlight and remove that piece (mine no longer has those). I've done a lot of work on my headlights and taking them apart isn't as bad as it would seem.

Again, only do this as a last resort. It can be pretty time consuming to heat and break the lens seal, it would also probably void any warranty.

 

mine had a yellow tint, and my lights were fine

 

So here is the kind of ammo I was looking for, would be good to have it captured better than this but here is a pic of a 2006 I found on this forum, clearly new on a showroom floor. It looks to me like that is a yellow reflector plate over the blinker.->

 

okay that looks vaguely yellow. But all the ones I see online for sale seem to be yellow, though could be from age. I think it may of only been on the 2006's that had the yellow though, I dont see it on the 07/08's and suspect it may be the 26010CF4A version of the headlights which late 06/07 forward they used the 26010CF4B headlight it seems. Anyone else here have a 2006 with OEM headlights that can tell me if they have white or yellow shrouds over the blinkers?

 

every used 2006 OEM headlight on EBay has a yellow shroud.

 

Well, I just looked at my '08 for you, and AFAIK, all the Z's from '06> have the same B-Xenon headlights. And, FWIW, the car in the pic you just posted is an '07 or '08, as it's an HR car. The square cover over my car's signal bulbs is clear on both headlights, even though the right headlight was replaced in '12 due to a minor collision. The insurance company gave me a new OEM light, and because the "damaged" light had only a tiny scratch, I polished it out and sold the light.

Here are a few pics of that light. Notice the signal cover is clear, but it does look orange because of the bulb inside - look closely and you'll see what I mean. On my car now, I put LED's in the signals so there is not even a hint of orange in those enclosures.



So, the question is, do you have the same bulbs in the signals on both headlight?

 

i had the stealth bulbs, and mine had a little yellow tint

 

So call me crazy but that headlight you posted seems to have some yellow to the shroud. If I look at the two original pics I posted, I feel that your headlight looks more like my OEM yellow shroud vs the visibly crystal clear shroud on the Depo.

 

Here's a closeup I just shot:



Looks clear to me.