Ok just a warning for you altezza guys.
I was driving home from work last night and stopped at a gas station to get a 6pack. I walk back out to my car get in and smell something burning, I thought it was someone elses car I smelled at the Gas Station. So I drive away and the smell gets stronger, then I start to see smoke in my car. I pull over look around the interior for a cig butt or something, by this time smoke is billowing out of my sunroof. I find nothing burning inside so I pop the hood and its clean, nothing there. I look to the back and pop the trunk and my altezza's caught fire . So i beat out the flames with a t-shirt I had in my trunk, freaking out the whole time mind you. When all was said and done it looks like it was faulty wires, I'm gonna call my insurance co today and I will post pics later after I get off work later. Damn the effin luck( I know you altezza haters are gonna eat this up so have fun you bastards )

 

wow are you serious? i didnt know they were that bad


na im glad it wasnt worst and that everytings ok bro

 

You have got to be kidding!!!!

I'm glad you alright and safe first off. How could they have caught fire? there is no wiring to get faulty, take out old tails put in new ones you dont have to do anything to the wires when installing altezza lights.

And yes this thread is going to get flamed (no pun intended) with Altezza comments.

 

Sorry about your misfortune. I guess those ghey tail lights are just bad karma. All the more reason to get rid of them.

 

man that sux...my wiring is messed up too(no fire) but one of the wires, for the adapter that comes with the lights,came loose and my break lights only work when i push the wire in and jiggle it around

 

There is no way 12v is going to cause a fire, thats what fuses are for, please let us know wtf really ahppened, this makes no sence what so ever! As gay as those taillights are I dont see this happening espally ona 12v source were there is a fuse attached.

 

Interesting point. I'd sure hope someone didnt spray them with gasoline and light it. Was it melted more on the inside of the trunk or the outside?

 

You see what happens when you dont folllow God's comandments?

Comandment #11- Thou shall not installeth Altezzas on thy car

j/k, lol. This was too tempting, I couldn't hold back. OK, that aside, I'm glad nothing IMPORTANT was damaged (ok now I'm done ). Sorry... anyways that stuff is easily replaced, so its not a big deal, you were really lucky that nothing worse happened with a fire goin inside your trunk... eespecially being at a GAS station earlier. So what is it? the adapters for the tails are crappy or the connections were bad? This should be something everyone with Altezzas should look into.

 

I'm probably wrong about this but isn't it on the same circuit as the parking/clearance lights? If you did the mod to make your corners burn brighter and replaced that 7.5 amp with a 10 amp fuse, basically you givie it a higher current draw/tolerance. Electron flow =heat, enough heat.....as Fire Marshall Bill would say,"LET ME SHOW YA SUMTHIN!!" Just a theory.

 

well atleast nothing important was destroyed, and like i tell everyone, Altezzas are bad for you health... and now they are life threatening.. oh man... this is just too good...

 

sure didn't know altezzas came with wires, I have owned 2 pair and they both didn't have any wires, I used the factory wires

 

.. thank god they dont make altezzas for my car.. hehehe..

j/k hope nothing got damaged besides the lights..

besides now u have excuse to buy the led circular ones.. those look pretty darn sweet dontcha know...

 

Man this should be stickied cause this is one for the books, this is the ultimate Altezza bashing thread.

 

I think that it is just 95-96 come with the wire harness that you plug into the stock harness and the aftermarket one holds the bulbs. That is how mine are. I have talked to other members about the altezzas and they said that they didnt have a harness come with their's but they were 97 and up.

 

No, the 95-96 Altezza tail lights come with JUST the lenses all wiring is already attached to the car, the only think being changed is the lenses

 

you should have put the flames out with a bat. or you should have taken a bat to those altezzas prior to this fire happening.

 

Yes 12v can cause a fire you can touch a live wire from your battery to ground and get a spark all you need is to throw in some gasoline. Sometimes fuses take a while to blow. I've learned this my self when I was goofing around with wiring several years ago and I had a power wire for my stereo touch ground a couple times and it brought in some pretty nice sparks with out blowing the fuse.On a TV show they were trying make a car get on fire they did everything from throwing gas all over the engine to ramming it with another car in the front and rear. The only way they could get the car on fire was through faulty wiring.

 

dam that sux... good luck on ins. claim

 

was it gen 2 attezzas that caught fire???

 

of course 12volts can start a fire! how do you think cars catch on fire? faulty wiring, most of the time its the harness;s bad grounds that causes electrical fires.

 

I believe it was first generation. Hes a 95 and I'm assuming with no Lid swap for the 97s.

 

Ok I found the cause of the small fire. One bulb had busted in the housing when I shut the trunk after I left my work, the reverse light. Well the filament was still in tact and burning strong. That heat caught to the lense housing and then to the trunk interior, etc. So to those with altezzas, make sure the bulb bracket is firmly secure in the housing using a bonding agent or tape, don't be a tard like me. As for insurance I have a $500 deductable and I know the damages aren't that much so I get to bite the bullet and drive around with a burnt tail light for a couple weeks. Pics are on my cardomain site. And now the Max reeks of burnt plastic
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/742009

 

OK pics are on page 2

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/742009

Altezza haters enjoy my misfortune..... YOU BASTARDS

 

Just so people know, that IS NOT an OEM 95/96 taillight harness. But it looks very similar to 97-99

Still thats very scary to see, I would have shat myself!

 

Did you touch the bulb with your fingers when installing them? Finger oil and halogen bulbs don't mix.

 

fckin altezzas!!!!!!!!!!

 

Wow that sux man

 

great... like this altezza hatin nation needed any more reason to to make fun of em.

 

so its the fault of a bulb so dont blame the tails for ur misfortune

 

Maybe you should have kept this bit of misfortune to yourself and saved yourself from getting raped like a 17 yr old boy in prison!!

 

Hey I'm just curious, how did the name Altezzas come about.

Were they the first manufactuter, and after that everybody just kept calling them that.

Kinda like how everyone calls plastic body filler Bondo.

 

it doesnt look that bad from the outside, the inside looks much worse, atleast the paint job didnt get jacked. I should have a spare light for you in a week, I forunately came accross a 97 lid that I hope to aquire. Only thing is you'd need to tint it to match your other tails, if you want it, you could just pay for shipping and you have it.

 

tail lights are incandecent, not halogen, so oils would not do this.

 

u know the lexus IS300? it was called the Toyota Altezza back in Japan and it was the first to feature the whole clear housing with colored lens over blub type of light which paved the way for all those "altezza" aftermarket lights and also new stock ones like the altima...i may be wrong though..

 

AH HA!
Makes sense to me.

One more question...The first time I ever saw clear tails was on an all black suburban back in 97 or 98. Now, these were not all clear, they were more like white/clear (like on the reverse lights of our stock tailights) and when he hit the brakes they shined red b/c the bulbs inside were red not the lenses. I always loved that, but heard they were illegal now I never see them anymore.
Are these out there...(white/clears)?

 

even the altezza lights themselves are sick and tired of their existence and are committing suicide.

 

I never liked them even on altezza! It's one of the grossest parts to come out for cars.

 

flaming altezzas

 

thats crazy...im so shocked

 

I think those CF Altezza's don't look that bad. They're not as ricey looking as the bright chrome ones.

If you look at a lot of cars out today, quite a few have tail lights that resemble altezza style in some way.