If you own a Thule, Yakima or Prorack towbar rack, the rack brand's own light board is the obvious first search. They are decent products. They are also imported, priced accordingly, and designed for markets where the number plate rules are different from ours. Here is how the NZ-made alternative stacks up.
What you are comparing
| Thule / Yakima / Prorack boards | Safelite Panel V2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Fits | Mostly their own racks, some universal | Two-pole, single-pole and most other towbar racks |
| Supplementary plate mount | Varies; some need a separate holder | Pre-drilled for the NZ Licensys plate size |
| Power | 7-pin or 13-pin, adapter sometimes needed | Standard NZ flat 7-pin, 1.4 m cable |
| Made in | Imported | New Zealand |
| Warranty | Varies | Two years |
| Price | Roughly $149 to $249 in NZ | $155.99, or $209 with the plate ordered and fitted |
| Delivery | Depends on retailer stock | $12.50 overnight courier NZ-wide |
Prices for other brands are what we have seen at NZ retailers and change often. Check current pricing before you decide.
Fit: the thing that actually matters
A brand light board is built for that brand's rack geometry. Change racks, borrow a mate's car, or buy a budget rack for the second vehicle and the board may not go on. The Safelite Panel V2 was designed the other way around: it fits the rack you have. Two-pole racks are the ideal fit using the main mounting positions. Single-pole racks mount through the centre indent. Everything else uses the left and right mounts beside the lights to pull the panel tight and centred. Four bungee cords hold it at four points.
The plate problem
New Zealand requires an official Licensys supplementary plate, fixed flat and lit at night, whenever a rack covers your rear plate. Several imported boards assume you will hang your own plate off a bracket or clip. The Safelite panel has the plate holes pre-drilled to the Licensys size, and with the Panel V2 with Supplementary Plate we order the plate, fit it and ship the finished unit. One order, legal out of the box. More on the rule in Do I need a supplementary plate with a bike rack in NZ?
Built for NZ roads
The panel is UV-stable, waterproof aluminium composite, so it handles salt spray on the coast road and gravel rash on the way to the trailhead. The LED clusters are made to Safelite's own specification for visibility at the 200 metre distance the rules require. It comes in a recyclable box that doubles as storage between trips.
When the brand board is the better buy
Fair is fair. If you have a premium Thule platform rack with the integrated light kit already built in, or your rack has a factory light board slot, use it. If the board you are looking at is a generic trailer light board being sold for bike racks, read Bike rack covering your lights? What NZTA requires before you buy, because most of them have nowhere proper for the plate.
The short version
Same job, fits more racks, plate sorted, made here, cheaper to buy and to ship. Have a look at the Safelite Panel V2, or go straight to the one-click legal kit with the plate included.