TYC lights: regular vs CAPA certified?

KevinMalone

KevinMalone

Joined
Sep 2, 2016
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838
Location
Seattle
My apologies if this has been discussed, I tried searching and couldn't find an answer specific to this situation.

Are TYC "regular inventory" and "CAPA Certified" light housings/lenses on RockAuto the same thing in different boxes? The price difference is very minor, so I'm wondering if there are any actual differences. They ship from the same warehouse too.

Eg:
1724097477457.jpg


Edit: this is not about saving 20c. Just curious if they are the same item
 
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My trusted body show owner says he trusts CAPA certified over the non-certified. He balances the cost between the two and chooses accordingly. At my age, I am way beyond worrying about the 20 cts cost difference. The difference needs to be much more for me to investigate.
 
TYC does make parts that are capa certified. I just put capa certified fogs in my truck and they were TYC-branded. I’m pretty sure the reflector is better made than the oem. No problem with TYC.

Years ago, my wife’s gen 1 mdx needed new headlamps. Stock was reflector. I bought TYC copies of the projector version and installed them. They did lack the little “squirrel finder” notch to identify street signs, but they were very good lights optically. The only weakness was the joint between lens and housing was weak and started to separate after 6 months, which was fixed for the remaining ownership with silicone II caulk from Home Depot. Worth it.
 
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PXL_20240925_235710917~2.webp


Here they are in all their glory. Made in Taiwan, with ECE E13 E mark for Luxembourg? 99% sure the CAPA certified was just a sticker. The spring tab had to be bent into position in order for the lenses to stay mounted. Pretty happy overall, especially for the price, and a huge improvement over the 15 year old factory lenses.
 
I recently got rear ended. Lazy body shop installed a capa certified rear bumper as they said insurance will only pay for an aftermarket part (and then if it’s not good enough to satisfy me, they’ll reach back out to insurance and argue for a used oem or new oem bumper depending on availability). Well the capa certified bumper was absolutely horrible fit and finish. The body shop could’ve tried harder to finish it themselves before paint, but they claim they’re not paid enough labor and it comes pre-primed so they simply paint them and throw them on.
 
Forgot to continue my rant. Too early in the morning.

The second trip to get an oem bumper that insurance approved after I complained only came out to $20-40 more.

That’s the same job done twice. “Cheaply” at first to satisfy insurance and save $. Then since I wasn’t happy, oem 2nd go round. Barely a price difference!
 
FWIW, there’s a set of TYC headlamps in the beater Sienna we have. They aren’t CAPA certified and have a OK light beam pattern. OEM was much better but per the smog station who aimed the lights they seemed to aim without drama.

I did have a set of Vosla HIR2s, they were replaced with Sylvania XtraVisiob 9006s with the black ceramic frit on the tips.
 
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