Services & Pricing
Headlights
First, we start by opening your headlights which will have a base price depending on the style of your headlights, from there we add on whatever you’d like to make your cars styling your own.
Open & Resealing
At the base of all retrofits, each headlight must have the outer lens separated from the housing. We pride ourselves on as little as possible pry marks as possible when opening, and this is just one of the many things that separate US from THE OTHER GUYS (yes that’s an actual job we had to repair).
Some headlight manufacturers use butyl which poses very little risk to the headlight while opening, this is most seen in import cars such as Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Scion & Subaru + more. Domestic headlights such as Ford, Chevy, Dodge, etc use Permaseal, which creates a superior bond and protection against dirt and moisture. However, these are more susceptible to minor damage while opening. You can read more about it HERE.
Some headlights are so difficult to open the conventional way with heat, that they must be cut open. We use a special cutter for this job to allow for minimal damage and seal it with industrial sealant. You will be notified should this route need to be taken on your headlights.
Warranty: 6 months on OEM housings. Aftermarket housings carry a 14-day “no leak” warranty guaranteeing a perfect seal, however do not carry a condensation warranty due to common “under engineering” flaws with air circulation within the headlights.
Paint
Get rid of that chrome! Each part has the chrome removed before being primed and painted. Other basic colours can be requested at no additional cost. OEM colour matching is a terrific option that elevates your headlights to the next level. Pricing varies per colour. 3 stage paint will be outsourced.
Demon Eyes
Demon eyes are a single led (or small cluster depending on your choice) that illuminate behind the projector. These are NOT your new low beams, and they will be easily overpowered by your low beams if both are turned on at the same time. To ensure the longevity of your demon eyes, do NOT run them at the same time as your low beams. Heat is an LED’s worst enemy and will drastically shorten its lifespan.
Warranty:
GT RGB w/ Bluetooth App – 1 Year Warranty
Diode Dynamics RGB w/ Bluetooth App – 1 Year Controller Warranty, 3 Year Demon Eye Warranty
Includes: Demon Eyes & Bluetooth Controller
Customer Installation: Demon Eyes are installed simply by attaching the power wires from the Bluetooth controller directly to the battery. Powering on/off will be controlled solely with your phone.
Switchback Halos
These Diode Dynamics halos are incredibly bright and can be used as standalone DRL’s and turn signals. Your OEM turn signals will continue to flash as they did normally, however the halo will now also flash and then automatically turn back to white once your turn is complete.
They can also be backlit behind certain OEM shrouds, or on custom shrouds and 99% of shrouds available with a bi-xenon projector retrofit.
Customer Installation: Diode Dynamics halos have 2 power inputs (High & low power), Turn Signal, and Ground. If you’re able to provide us with the wiring harness, we will do the wiring work for you, tapping high power into your OEM DRLs, and low power into your parking light, as well as the turn signal wire into your turn signal and grounding the ground wire. If you aren’t able to take the wiring harness off the car, you will need to do these steps yourself. Don’t worry, we provide instructions & support.
Product Warranty: 3 Years
Sequential Switchback Strips
A flexible switchback LED strip, with a chasing switchback turn signal feature. These strips are sure to catch the eye of others. While not quite as bright as our Diode Dynamics switchback halos, the flexibility of these strips allow for awesome designs.
Customer Installation: Our sequential strips require power (red wire) & ground (black wire) from a constant source such as your battery. They also have a signal wire that is used to tell the white LEDs to turn on, and a wire for the turn signal. Typically we have customers use an “add a fuse” plug from Canadian Tire/Princess Auto/Harbour Freight/Amazon/eBay to attach the white wire to provide an “always-on” feature for the strip. Customers will be required to provide their own wires to reach the battery/ground, as well as an ignition source and turn signals, as well as eyelet terminals for a good connection.
Product Warranty: 1 Year
RGBW Chasing Halos & Strips
Similar to RGBW Halos, these RGBW Chasing halos have an opaque coating while off, and allow the LEDs to shine through when turned on. The RGBW Chasing Strips have a silicone sleeve to allow for standalone use or can be removed to hide behind OEM diffusers. GTA Retrofits uses the highly sought-after Blueghozt Module which allows for start-up & shutdown animations, a selection of different turn signal styles as well as the ability to edit the prebuilt show modes to your liking.
Pricing for this can vary greatly due to multiple methods of installation including custom hand soldering, as well as the ability to “daisy chain” components.
Customer Installation: Customers will need to attach the provided 12-5v power converter to the battery. They may also need to tap into a DRL power source, same with our sequential strips, we suggest using an “add a fuse” plug to provide an always-on feature for the strip. They will also need to tap into their OEM turn signal power wires should they wish to use the turn signal feature.
Warranty: 1 Year.
Please read our warranty information here https://www.gtaretrofits.com/warranty-shipping-faq/ regarding addressable LEDs.
Projector Lens Swaps & Tuning
Many OEM projectors come with “Fresnel lenses” which are intended to soften the output for the driver. This works for most people, but for those looking to get a little more out of their projectors, a clear lens swap may be the answer. Depending on the projector that your headlight comes with, you can get 10-15% extra output (typically intensity in the hotspot). If it’s available for your headlights, we’ll do it! Output tuning for the blue colour flicker that many love is included.
The below example was from a G37 headlight, which is one of the most responsive headlights to a clear lens swap. Not all get to be that “mint”, but they do see a large upgrade.
Includes: New lenses with installation & tuning.
Projector Lens Etching
While typically done on your aftermarket replacement lenses in conjunction with the aforementioned swap & tunes, this can also be done on the OEM lenses.
Bi-Xenon/Led Projector Retrofit
More and more people are getting fed up with their stock output. And we agree, some car’s output should be illegal…and we’re not talking about LED Civic headlights blinding you! A few years ago, swapping to an HID projector was the only way to go, but now with the introduction of LED projectors, (which are more than just a LED bulb in a projector), you’ve got options.
What does the “Bi” stand for in Bi-Xenon or Bi-LED? Simply that the projector functions as your dedicated low & high beam. If your stock high beam is in a different location than your low beam (aka your DRL spot), you will now have 2 high beams per headlight.
Pros & Con’s of HID vs LED Projectors
Bi-Xenon Projectors
- (Optionally) If your car came with OEM Hid projectors, we’ll select a projector that can reuse these parts, as OEM bulbs & ballasts have a much longer lifespan than aftermarket
- Smaller footprint & lightweight. Aftermarket HID projectors come in a variety of sizes and don’t need large heat sinks, so they can fit in smaller places often found in aftermarket headlights.
- Bulb burnt out? No problem, remove the cap in the back, take out the bulb, and put in a new one. Unlike LED projectors, where the entire headlight will need to be opened for a replacement.
- Cheaper. At the end of the day, we/you can select if you want $455 in parts or $195 in parts, they’re both going to way outperform your stock headlights, especially halogen reflectors.
Bi-LED Projectors
- Tired of waiting 10 seconds for your lights to warm up? LED may be for you.
- Want to have an output pre-tuned from the factory for maximum output without the risk of not inserting the bulb properly? LED may be for you.
- Downsides? If your projector burns out… you (or we) have to open your headlights. If you thought removing your headlights to change a bulb was too much work, opening it might not be for you. Some LED projectors (Morimoto Mled), have external drivers, and sometimes that could be the issue. But other like the NHK IV, the projector is an all-in-one unit, and if it fails….everything must be swapped.
- For this reason, we’re still not recommending Bi-LED projectors to customers we are retrofitting them into a halogen reflector, as we use a nut & bolt method to make them as secure as possible….which also makes them very difficult to remove. But if you’re using an adapter bracket…fire away!
Pricing: Pricing can vary greatly, from a budget HID set up costing $250~ in parts, up to $600~ using OEM brands. Labour will typically be an additional $200-300 depending on the specific headlight.
Customer Installation: In most cases, customers will be required to connect a relay harness to your battery, as well as plug-in ballast/drivers/canbus components. You will also need to find suitable mounting locations for the components. Customers will also need to be able to adjust their headlights to proper driving height after mounting their new headlights on the vehicle.
Warranty: 2-3 Years (Parts dependant).
Tail lights
GTA Retrofits (infrequently) will also work on tail lights. Taillights typically start at a higher cost as they MUST be cut open. Sometimes they can be cut open along the back of the housing, and sometimes the lens itself must be cut between the housing and the outward facing face on the lens itself, in which we paint a gloss black trim piece to hide the cuts. If we can get away without it, we prefer not to do it this way.
Pricing starts at $350 for cars with 2 housings, and $450 with 4 housings (ie 2 outer, and 2 in your trunk). Pricing is subject to change once the housings are seen in person
Red vs Clear Lenses
Many taillights come with red lenses from factory. GTA Retrofits cannot change this. We also do not provide a “clearing” service, as so many people ask. That would involve creating a mold of the red lens and completely reforming clear plastic to its’ shape. You cannot simply sand off the red. If you want clear tail lights, you must find an aftermarket set that you like, or find someone that is offering clear lenses for your tails (some people do make and sell them, we’re just saying we don’t).
Chasing Leds
With the introduction of our 12v Chasing leds, GTA Retrofits is happy to offer them in your tail lights to function as your parking & turn signal lights. However, we typically refrain from using them as your brake lights for safety reasons, up to and including refusing the job. They can function in tandem with, but not solely as your brake lights.
Chasing LEDs can change to any colour you wish, however, if your taillights have red lenses, everything colour you change the led to will be red, or a mix of red. For this reason, we would only provide this service to customers who can provide clear lens taillights.
LED Arrays
GTA Retrofits is proud to work with illumaesthetic to offer LED array kits for your vehicle. GTA Retrofits can only offer an array for your taillights if illumasthetic offers/makes it. We cannot/will not hand cut & hand drill boards to fit your tails as the holes for the LEDs need to be 100% aligned to ensure a perfect appearance. This can only be accomplished with a CNC machine. GTA Retrofits will be happy to work with you & illumasthetic to make a kit to your specifications should one not exist, however, extra fees may be involved including shipping, along with longer turnaround times.
Disclaimer
Customers are responsible for reading all information on our Warranty & FAQ Page here: https://www.gtaretrofits.com/warranty-shipping-faq/
Custom headlights are a major decision and we’re here to help you get the most out of your headlights.
This is not an exhaustive list, we’re open to new ideas and projects. Please feel free to inquire about items you’ve seen us do that aren’t listed, or have been done by others.
GTA Retrofits does NOT offer any onsite installation or wiring services. All customers will be responsible for delivering their headlights off the vehicle. We ask that you take a moment and clean any dirt, grease, anti-rust coatings off the housings to allow to to maintain as clean a work environment as possible.