LED tail lights from Amazon

I've looked high and low for decent LED tail lights and now this popped up......Wow...the price is amazing, but I wonder if all is what it seems. http://www.amazon.com/Redlines-Smoke...f=pd_rhf_p_t_1

Those would look great! ... on a Honda Civic

But they have such incredible features... Lights up 200 times faster than conventional incandescent brake lights Allows an extra 17 feet stopping distance Now the 2nd item may be true if they are up to 200 times brighter as you could then see them further away. But I think the few milliseconds saved by LEDs over incandescent won't equate to an additional 17 feet of stopping distance - either for the car with them installed or the car following too closely.

LOL The features are not good selling points at all.

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+1

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Note that the 17 feet of stopping distance is gained only when traveling at a speed of 60 meters per hour. At that rate it would take me 30 minutes to get out of my driveway!

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My driveway is over 400 feet long.... you could stop a Airbus in less time. Actually you could fly from NY to FL in less time.

I was searching for a set of daytime running LED fog lights (like the newer porsches have) and stumbled across this post. Tell you what, I had to replace 1 crakced OEM tailight and for as much as I was going to pay for 1 OEM replacement, I bought the LED tailights and installed them myself (needed to solder in a set of resistors). I can't tell you how awesome they look and how much they improve the tail of the 996. Total positive upgrade over the OEM tailights and I LOVE them. It's hard to explain but without making them look like a "tricked out honda civic" (believe me I hate those and all the other tricked out Fast and Furious cars) they drasticlly improve the look of the rear - making them look modern. I still need to post some pics but I tell you it makes a big difference back there at night and during the day.

Please post your led tailight pics, I am really tempted to put some but they are not cheap and you loose the oem look. The 996 is getting old and adding non oem bits isn't as cool as it was when the car was brand new. Now you tend to look more and more like a boy racer...I 'm still tempted though

I will today or tomorrow and will put them in a new post.

Tough crowd, I guess. I don't think they look bad at all, and are probably the closest I've seen a 996 LED taillight resemble the stock unit. Sure, at least one of the claims is overstated, but it's true that LEDs do indeed respond quicker than incandescent lights, so it's not like you can turn that into a negative feature. Oh, and for the guy that said the 996 is getting old and implied that these would look out of place--go talk to my mother-in-law or 95% of the rest of the population that looks at a 996 and thinks it's a brand new car. Properly done, it won't look out of place.

I thought someone here has already bought these. 2 different set came cracked. Finally got a good set but they have the hyperflash.

Hey atx.911, where did you get your LED tail lights from?

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+1

Hell with it, I ordered a pair and we'll see how they look. At that price, they are the cheapest I have seen so far, let's see if the product is of quality ... I will report back this week when i have them on ... if they arrive in one piece !

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I like your plan...let me know what the outcome is. BTW, what type of wheels do you have? I'm looking to replace mine in the very near future.

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https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...installed.html

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I'm like you tooloud, I don't see whats the Big Deal either, I guess if its not OEM somethings gonna catch on fire.

Day late, dollar short- The place on Amazon was selling the LED tail lights for $214, 3 weeks ago! I scored a set. 2 days later he jacked them to $300. Much better than EOM red/orange. Now more of a 997 look.

And how long will they last? I bought rear LED brake lights, they lasted 6 months ...

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Mine have lasted about a year and never had an issue. Did take about an hour to install because I hadn't soldered since I was a kid.

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I didn't solder anything, just plugged LED wired plugs into the OEM sockets, per instructions. I didn't add resistors either. I had hyper flash for 3 mins and then it was fine. From everything I have read, there is only one manufacturer for these lights. Install took 10 min/side.

heck @ 214 for a pair I'm a buyer just for fun

I bought the clears just now. A little more than $300 now. The smoked are a few bucks less but I saw some pics/vids on 6speed and I think the smoked just aren't bright enough. I want it to be as more about function than just looks - so if they're just not bright enough why bother. Also, I noticed that they're running out of clears and have plenty of smoked - which could mean people have returned them for the clears ? I'll install and report back

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They dont look too bad. nice buy.

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I would only put smoked on black cars, choose unsmoked. Thanks! I was happy to get rid of orange/red ones! So dated. Maybe you missed my post - he jacked them to $300. Still not a bad price.

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Yours is a '99 so you won't have an issue with Hyper Flash. If you have an '03 or '04 you will have Hyper Flash because these LED's draw a lower current than the OEM and the computer thinks a light bulb goes out. I think those are the right years, been a while since I did plenty of research and my home work here and on 6speed before I purchased believe me... It could have been 01-04 that has the hyperflash issue with the LED's.

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I have ZERO issues with the lights not being bright enough with the smoked. LED Daytime

Hyper Blink Here it is, I found it. It's '02 and on year model 996s that will have hyper blink. Hope this helps..

Bad news, I received my tail lights from Amazon / Redline and the packing is totally insufficient to protect them from breaking. They were loose in the box and the only protection they had between each other was one layer of saran wrap ! The quality and thickness of the plastic is also very thin. Might be worth it to spend a little bit more indeed... The quality of all connector is really bad, nothing seem water tight, typical chinese danaccident waiting to happen. I'll be returning these.. If you guys find better quality ones, they did look fantastic.. Update... I tired to plug to see if I wanted a replacement or a refund and they hyperblink on my 2003 C2, meaning the turn signal flash super fast. Trying to see if connection was a problem and playing with the stop bulb I manage to damage my harness as the chinese bulb socket was so poorly done. instead of the two contact being nice and smooth there was an edge and it broke of the metallic tongue in the socket... great... anyways if anyone has one to spare part 996.631.446.00 I am taker.. damned porsche modding virus has a new victim... Update: added video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59BfAQDUlp0 Update: looking at the video I realize that my flasher test is doen while the stop brake light doesn't seem to work... so may be it doesn't hyperflash if that is plugged properly... too late to test now that my harness is damaged, I'll certainly give it another try

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Did you get ABS PSM failure warnings? ( I assume you turned the car on to check?) Thanks

I almost bought a set when they were $214 on Amazon and over the last few days was regretting not getting them. But no I saw philloo's post and am rethinking it. I did get a set of LED 3rd brake lights (fixed and spoiler) from Carnewal a couple of years ago. They worked for 8-12 months, then just stopped working. Emailed to Carnewal to see if they new of a problem, or a fix, or just how to test them. Sent 2-3 emails and never even got a response, which was disappointing. Not what I would consider good customer relations.

I posted some updated pics..by the way I also have a 3rd brake light led, in smoke color, I installed it a couple months ago still works fine, it was much better quality. I did not get any warning on the dash. I assume that is you want to spend the time and work on the wiring to make it water tight and glue things here and there, it is acceptable. AND work on the hyperflash which might involved some resistance soldering.. I really liked the way it looks but man it is so cheap... I'd like to hear from people who bought theirs at another retailers to see if they are better quality or if they are all coming from the same factory ?

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These are no different than Honda guys buying Fleabay altezza tail lights, just the $200 Porsche version. Of course they are going to be poorly made.

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the owner of carnewal is a pretty well liked guy on this board, maybe post a message to him on here, he'll probably do right by you

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That sucks that you had such a bad experience with yours but no wonder they were selling so cheap..were those used? Mine came in a similar box but were surrounded in cardboard, styrofoam protection and plastic wrapping. I am not so sure these are bad quality...they seem to me the same type of plastic housing that OEM tailights use...if not a smoother plastic..I honestly can't tell the difference.. Everything else with mine went fine and I was expecting hyperflash when I got them so I knew I was going to have to do some soldering. I tried to give you guys a heads up about hyperflash.. I still stand by mine, never an issue, straight up love 'em!

both my tail lights on my Turbo have 2 cracks in each tail light. Porsche's version is nothing to write home about in quality.

I still loved the design and I think I'll try to buy another set once / when I get refund for those. If only they can assure me the packaging will be done better. The outside look of it did not look cheap, it's only the connector inside that are scary, and that is only the part I could see. so makes em wonder about the led board themselves

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Mine were well packed with foam and cardboard and arrived fine. Once installed they looked great. (at $214 - about the quality I expected, the guys seling these for $600 on eBay, must be making a mint) Check out the instructions on the internet, the connection positions are slightly different than the stock ones, and can be confusing.

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My right taillight keeps coming loose, so I'm inclined to agree with Jim. They're taillights, not an exotic kind of tire or something.

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Philoo - any update to your tests? Did the brake lights work, without PSM/ABS error messages? Does your cruise control work? I am pretty sure you have to buy the EP35 36 LED flasher to fix the fast flashing issue.

Not sure if they have these for the C4S, but it wouldn't match the red stripe in the rear anyways... Their a nice updated look for sure, but I don't think they would do well on a 4S even if they have them available. Pretty cheap too which is a +

I returned mine as one had a broken piece on it, I will wait for a refund before I try this again. I think it is a nice DIY. during my 5 minute test I did not had any check engine light or any fault message coming up.

I think they might look okay on a C4S if you got the red version instead of the clear or smoked...

ok so I ordered a new set... They arrived in one piece Yeahh ! As you can see in the shot, they finally added peanuts inside the package, compared to my previous order, so I think they actually took note of my previous comment and you might be more lucky from now on to get some in one piece. Even though I noted that fly996 just received a broken one this week So they are in one piece...but one of them (right side) keeps on blowing my fuse A3. Everything works fine, stop , turn signal, backup light. But the simple rear red (daytime running light) doesn't work. it works with dim light when I have the running headlight on, but if I put it to city light, it is totally off.. weird.. While I am trying to pinpoint the problem is there any known way to make a test without using a fuse each time ? those little things are expensive and it cost me 30c each time I want to try something. it should be fine but if any of you have idea about the debugging that would be great. About hyperflash, as per instruction from another poster, I installed the new relay to avoid hyperflash, and that solves it. I bought the unit from superbrightleds.com, item number CF13GL-02. fits perfect on my 2003 carrera 2. See below a picture of the old original unit, FIY it is located on the top left corner, but easy to spot but touching the unit with the blinkers on. The fit of the tailight require some playing with the taillamp positinning, but it works. I added some smooth adhesive velcro at the bottom of the new headlamp so that they can fit really snug. If not they moved a little bit. They are great but it is not up to par with oem in terms of fitting. See the shot of the left tailight (oem fitting) compared to the shot of the right taillight (new led), you can see it doesn't fit perfect to the mount. I had to use the dremel a little bit to make it fit very well.

ok I managed to debug my fuse problem. At first I was quick to blame it to a faulty unit but after testing different configuration I realized that the unit was working, so I removed the left tail light, mind you only the right fuse was blowing up. And then I realized that yet again, one of the little tongue within the wiring harness socket had broken and was creating a short ! man those things are really fragile. "lucky" for me it's only the rear fog light, which is useless to me. I'll fix it later as I have another wiring harness, the one I broke a socket on last time I tried to install the led lights ! Anyways, all is good, everything works and look great. Now two questions to you out there: 1- are both of your tail light 'rear/white' bulb light up when you put reverse ? 2- are both of your tail light 'fog light' light up when you pull the light switch 2 notch ? For me even before the install I only had the rear right 'white bulb' working and only the rear left 'fog light' working. but while I am on the issue, I want to make sure I got it all working as ti should. Picture 1: broken tongue in the fogl light socket that was causing the short Picture 2: only one tail light have the rear coming on, even though I have a 'rear bulb' on each side.

Phil, you know not to plug in the little corner lights right? the ones with a flat bulb..just dont plug them, shove them back into the LED thing without plugging them..if you do the fuse will blow

Hum... I did plug those and they work just fine on my car. did you have any problem with those ? You might want to check the rest of your bulbs for a short somewhere because for me they didn't cause any problem.

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no i never plugged them in, people told me not to plug them in, so i never had issues- you dont need to plug them in! they are what blows the fuses

argh you should give it a try at best you blow a fuse as they work just fine on my setup did you had to dremel a little bit the anchor points ? or yours were plug and play ?

Damn.... These would sell like hot cakes if the manufacturer would just make this a truly plug and play..... The reviews would be great and the demand would increase. Really to bad...

I see some other manufacturer names... I just wonder if they are coming from a different factory or not...

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I agree, I really like the look, but everything about the product, from the shipping to the quality/ fitment/ design of the product seems to be bad. So, I will not be buying a set.

I thought it was over but noooo.... So I made all my testing by turning ON and OFF the light switch and all was fine.. But now that I test it with the ignition key in and ready to start (or if the engine is running), my third stop light is turning on .... Note1: that I have a LED third brake light kit installed, so I wonder if that picks up some low power that is usually in the system but not enough to lit up the blb version or... if I have another short somewhere Note2: the picture is taken with the lgiht switch on, and the key in the on position. But I do NOT have my foot on the brake pedal.. I am taking the picture Arghhh help