Headlight cover restoration

All of the aftermarket lamps (such as those ones from 1A Auto), whether they're original-looking or restyled, are trash. The low price is attractive, but the quality, performance, and durability are all substantially and dangerously inferior to the genuine items.

There is no optical engineering behind any of these; they are trinkets made from physical copies of the originals, which is not even close to adequate. One might as well make a mould of your eyeglasses lenses and expect to be able to cast new working eyeglass lenses from the mould. The level of shape precision required to accurately focus the beam can only be achieved with optical engineering. Copies don't even begin to get in the ballpark. Light distribution is way, way out of line with what it should be. Usually the DOT and/or ECE safety approval or certification marks are fraudulent or counterfeit.

"Perfect OE fit and performance" is often promised in the ads for the copycat lamps. This is an out-and-out lie. Take a look at this, which is the report on a large, formal test of OE vs. TYC and Depo versions of simple, cheap American-vehicle headlamps. Even though TYC is widely regarded as the least-awful of a pathetic bunch, still a complete failure by the TYC & Depo units (see page 21 and 30 if you don't have time to read the whole report).

And that report comes to you from the website of the "CAPA Certified" people pushing this garbage. That's right: on the website of the lobbyists pushing your insurance company to install this junk on your car is a report showing that it's junk. Which should give you a clue as to how out-to-lunch they are.

Parts quality matters. Especially on life-safety equipment like lamps.