I need a left tail lamp assembly for my '94 940 wagon and was wondering how good the aftermarket lamp assemblies are. Lampsandlenses.com has them for $59.95, and Fcpgroton.com has them for $75.00(with the originals selling for $135.00). Anyone here have any experiences with either of these assemblies? I have bought front turn signal assemblies from both of these companies and was very happy with the quality, but want a second or third opinion on the rear lamps. Thanks again, John
--
"It's hell to get old!"

Fit and finish isn't as good, and the housing is made of a much softer plastic that is prone to melting. The '90 has aftermarkets, replaced just a little over a year ago, with both brake/parking light housing melted, and the area over the reverse lights and fog lights (which I had to ditch and use as brake lights, since the light socket wouldn't even go into the parking/brake one now) showing signs of melting. I've since gone with LED.

With this experience, even a scratched up but intact OEM is a better bet IMHO.

-- Kane
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Blossom II -'91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles -'74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup -'86 245GL/AW70
The Wayback Machine -'64 P220/M40 ... The ParaBox -'90 745GL/AW70L

Pic taken from 3.2MP camera, cropped, and repieced together - Right click and save as (661k)

-- Kane
--
Blossom II -'91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles -'74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup -'86 245GL/AW70
The Wayback Machine -'64 P220/M40 ... The ParaBox -'90 745GL/AW70L

Wow, tailight_POS is a good name for that pic!
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Norm Cook Vancouver BC; 1989 745T 204,000KM

Well, what else am I suppose to call it? :)

I never had any issues with the OEM taillights. Such said, I recently did buy a set of aftermarket all-clears off ebay that will be modified to meet legal requirements. The way the vehicle code reads (at least here in CA), if lenses are clear, then there must be a lens behind it that is the proper color. That is the reason why current altezza-style lights with an internal red lens and reflectors are legal. I can always meet the red reflector requirement with DOT-compliant reflectors elsewhere on the back of the car.

Turn signal, reverse, and auxilliary lights do not have such requirements, so all I have to modify is the brake/parking light area.

-- Kane
--
Blossom II -'91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles -'74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup -'86 245GL/AW70
The Wayback Machine -'64 P220/M40 ... The ParaBox -'90 745GL/AW70L

This happened to the fog light "hole" on my aftermarket 245 tailight. So I wasted about $ 50.00.

I sure wouldn't want a melted lamp assembly. Maybe the oem is the way to go. Hopefully more people will chime in with their experiences.

I converted my upper fog lamps to a parking/brake lamp so when the brakes come on there are 4 bulbs burning(5 if you include the high center lamp). Just having the 2 lower lamps glowing looked kinda cheap. I never used the fog lamp anyhow so it isn't missed. Thanks for your experiences with the aftermarket lamps! John R.
--
"It's hell to get old!"

Melted? oh heck. How long did that take Professor Peabody? :)
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Volvo #6: all wagons.... 1972 145S, 1976 245 DL, 1983 245 GL, 1986 740 GLE, 1990 740 GL, now a 1995 940...What's Next?

The parking/brake light, I'm not sure, as they were melted already when I bought the car in November. For the drive home, I switched the brake light to the rear fog position. Service records indicated that the previous owner had all lights replaced in January.

Subsequently dealing with the whole burnout-bulb issue in January, I noticed the housing over reverse and rear fogs have warped.

FWIW, they were all just standard bulbs, not halogens or anything. I've since gone to LED bulbs on the brake/parking lights, living with it on the reverse bulb.

-- Kane ... though I need to replace the LEDs on the parking light circuit too. APC (the very same company that sells all the ricer mod stuff) sure lives up to their name ... (A)ll (P)roducts (C)rap! The brake bulbs I'm using from superbrightleds.com are fine.
--
Blossom II -'91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles -'74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup -'86 245GL/AW70
The Wayback Machine -'64 P220/M40 ... The ParaBox -'90 745GL/AW70L

John;

I don't have direct experience with replacing tailights (just backup light lens) but common board sentiment is go OEM, the aftermarket are poor quality.

Update: BTW if you don't want to spend the big $$ for new OEM, try and find a good used part.

--
Norm Cook Vancouver BC; 1989 745T 204,000KM

I have feelers out for a good used lamp. Hopefully something will show up soon.
Thanks!, John R.
--
"It's hell to get old!"

I *just* replaced my right rear tail lamp assembly in my 1995 940 Wagon.
The $59.00 L&L replacement is pretty nice. It's not OEM of course, but the fit is actually rather good. I'd recommend re-using the rubber gasket from your old taillight - as the one that comes from the L&L is stiff and gaps a bit at the top. It is definitely worth the 59.00. Clean, clear, perfect function. Lens plastic is *well* attached and unlikely to fall off like some of the dealer lights. Looks brand new from the dealer. Plus, it has all four bulb mounts (new dealer taillights no longer have the upper rear foglight.

The only drawback is that the tollerances are a *little* different, barely noticable, but the lens is just slightly closer to the tailgate. That and they lack the color-coded stickers that help you wire the thing back up correctly.

The service I got (via e-mail) was very prompt. I had an answer to my question about the foglights in <10 minutes. Shipping was prompt as well.

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Volvo #6: all wagons.... 1972 145S, 1976 245 DL, 1983 245 GL, 1986 740 GLE, 1990 740 GL, now a 1995 940...What's Next?

Thank you for your experiences with the L&L replacement tail lamp assembly. I was worried that the amber and red lenses might not match the original, but you don't mention this so they must be okay. L&L quickly shipped out a front lamp assembly when the original lens decided to commit suicide by falling off while I was driving. Thanks again for your comments, John
--
"It's hell to get old!"

Yeah, the colors are a prefect match.... It this "melting" thing I'm a tad worried about. Visually the lenses are great, they hold my OEM bulb holders perfectly.
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Volvo #6: all wagons.... 1972 145S, 1976 245 DL, 1983 245 GL, 1986 740 GLE, 1990 740 GL, now a 1995 940...What's Next?