Lesson learned

[lloyd3]

I needed to replace a damaged taillight lens on this old Ford 150 so I found one on Amazon for like $18. A score, right? Not really, it was made in China and looks noticeably different. Fit and finish were fine, but visually it's just not the same.  I really need to either get another China copy for the passenger side or just go hit a junkyard for an official Ford part. I just wish I had more time.

[draftingmonkey]

Check with a local wrecking/junk yard. Many now are tied in nation wide when it comes to parts searching. Or go to an online source like http://autotrucksalvage.com/ and check there. Of course to get old OEM Ford parts, or any other maker, they can get a little pricey.

[Troy]

Yep car-part.com is a junkyard parts lookup site. If you're looking for replacements make sure they at least say "CAPA" (which I think means they meet the "direct replacement" qualifications for insurance companies to cover them. On my Toyota I just bought sets of lenses for the front that I thought looked better than the stock ones - but I was able to find CAPA tail lights that matched perfectly.

Troy