In March of 2011 I bought a pair of LED tail lights for my 997.1 from Ray at RotTec Carbon through a group buy. Ray’s presence on the forums and communication was why I chose to do business with them. Over the course of the next few years I also bought the front LED lights, some interior bulbs, and replacement HID bulbs for my 997 all from RotTec.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that some of the LED lights were out on my right rear side. I contacted RotTec on August 8th to see if there was anything that they could do to help me. After a high number of email attempts over the past 2 weeks to get some help they finally got back to me today and told me that I am out of my 1 year warranty and that the best thing that could do for me was to sell me one light at full retail plus shipping ($425 + $35) for $460. Ouch!

I personally think this is very poor customer service and expected better from them. Did I expect them to give me a new light for free…? Absolutely not, but I’m sure the life expectancy of these lights should be more than 2.5 years. Given that I expected them to at least cut me a deal on a replacement light and perhaps want my broken one back to see what went wrong. After a few emails back and forth they stood strong that buying one light at full retail was their only option.

I have posted numerous times on these forums that RotTec has been good on customer service and a quality product. I can now officially say that I was in error. The product did not last and they did not stand behind their product or their customers when push came to shove.

I told them I would get a new pair from somewhere else and that’s what I intend to do. For those considering RotTec I would think again.

I’m now on the look for a new set of LED Tail lights. Anyone have any suggestions or good experiences? Perhaps I'll try the depos this time.



Cheers!

 

That sucks! LED lights should last a lot longer than regular incandescent bulbs. They should at least fix your light at a lower cost than buying a new one.

 

sorry to hear that, that's why I still stay with the oem tail even I really love led tails.
My led drl has been last for a year and half, but I feel like I am just waiting for it to get bad.
When my led drl go bad, I will just put oem one back on again or maybe give it a a little bit yellow tint.

 

IMHO i have mixed feeling about aftermarket LED light (Rottec, Dectane, Depo, etc...). Buy new, last 1 - 2 yrs if that, buy used...well good luck.

Just upgrade mine to a set of OEM TT all red tail lights...and I LIKE them.

Until these mfg can stand behind their product for at least 2 yrs...stick with OEM. I bet all internal are from Taiwan.

 

I saw similar complaints from others. Dectane seems to be the better of the two for aftermarket LED lights.

But I stick with OEM for two reasons. One, that's the way my Porsche came and I want to keep my 911 as authentic as possible. Two, who knows where and how these aftermarket lights are made.

 

Bad news... Will be interesting to see if RotTec steps up. The real test of any firms commitment to their customers and products is their support. We will see I gues.

Matt

 

I have been debating about these LED lights and yes they look awesome, but these are Made in China or Taiwan or whatever part of CHINA. Their quality control simply SUCKS, all they offer is for looks and nothing more than that, once you paid for it, there is no way to get your money back. To be honest, I have tempted to orders these Rottec or Depo lights, but lots of post on this forum about poor quality control of these products, hence I never pull the trigger. I probably stick with my OEM lights, until someone in Germany or USA decided to make these LED lights.

 

i would try dectanes. if the quality is the same for all of these lights made in china, (subjectively) the 997.2 looking dectane 911 tails look better.

sorry to hear this.

 

Hi Stacey, I've actually asked factory for warranty after your first email and they denied right away since it was over 2 year old. For all aftermarket 997 LED lights (ROTtec or Dectane), they're all seal unit and even vendor won't open them to fix. So there is no refurbished unit for any vendor to sell as replacement. Our inventory lights only comes in pair and I try to break them up to give you a solutions. Hope you understand!

 

i have dectanes for 2 years now with no issue. rottec seems to have the vast majority of rear LED light issues. sad to see that they wont help out a repeat customer with at least a discount.

 

Actually, I don't understand. While I appreciate you breaking up a set, it's the full retail price plus shipping that is the concern. This one light would be 68% of what I paid for my set through the group buy. I find it concerning that this is the best you stand behind the products that you sell and your customers.

I will take my business to another vendor. Cheers!

 

Give the Spyders a shot, they work great. I found them after the ROTtecs broke.

They have gone through 9 track events with no issues. These are the blacked out ones.

 

My RotTec lights did the same thing, I bought them used and posted a buyers beware and got flamed on the board. I wasn't trying to say RotTec's we no good, just to watch out with aftermarket LED lights. So watch out you might get a backlash from members just look at my Rep power rating.

 

Elusive, thanks for sharing your experience. I had these, in addition to the fronts, bookmarked for purchase. After reading about how they responded to your situation I most certainly won't be giving them my business. If you end up going with another vendor, would you mind posting an update so we can learn which set you went with?

 

I have no problem with ROTtec as Ray replaced my leds out of warranty. Ray couldn't get the smoked ones from his source anymore so he sent me the REDs (still boxed). I had used Spyder leds on my Escalade and came across them on eBay or Amazon, (can't remember). Spyder had several different smoked versions so I figured I'd give them a try. I think the are sourced from the same Manufacturer as Ray used because the design and product numbers and packing are identical to that of ROTtec.