OK I think my 2004 Prius is haunted. Last week both brake lights (just the upper, red part) stopped working. A day later the right/passenger side light came back on. Then the next day, the left/driver side light resumed working too. Great, right? Nope. Today both went out again. Then the right side came back on. What's going on? A bad fuse? loose wire? A dying LED? A Poltergeist? Any suggestions?
Haven't checked, Everything else working fine, all lights, etc. Dealer wants $800 to replace BOTH tail assemblies, he says both LEDs are giving out. Ouch!
Well there's your answer. You need to replace both units. Yes it seems wasteful but that's just how it is. You can get aftermarket rear lights on ebay for much less, though you need to check that they're legal for use.
It’s possible to repair rear lights by replacing leds. You just have to cut hole into housing and replace leds that way.
I believe you can buy aftermarket tail lights for less than $100 each. I bought a new driver's side light at Camelback Toyota for $177, installation wasn't too difficult. I would be cautious in buying used, many would replace their non working LED tail lights and put them on ebay.
FWIW, I've seen a lot of second gen driving around with headlights on but no tail lights. Actually my first conversation with a Prius driver came about thus. I was walking down to my train connection, noticed a Prius go by, back completely dark. Caught up with the guy in a parking lot, mentioned what I'd seen. He seemed to know about it, guess it was an ongoing issue. We started talking mpg, and maybe that's when I got the bug: we had a Civic Hybrid at the time, lagging Prius mpg by about 10%, at it's best.
Before going to replace the lights, I would make sure that the associated chassis common connections are clean and tight. They are located under the rear hatch. You need to take out the rear deck to access the wiring harness.
2-3 LEDs in my brake light clusters work intermittently and sometimes flicker. Do LEDs flicker? Is that a sign they're heading to LED heaven or reincarnate into future Prii???
Taillight Update: Took the Prius to Prestige Coach Works, a AAA-approved repair shop in Marina del Rey CA that has helped me in the past. Unlike the Toyota dealer, these guys did check the wiring. But they came to the same conclusion: I needed both lights replaced. I then went on eBay and bought a PAIR of brand new aftermarket lights, with a 10-year warranty (Toyota warranty is for 1 year) and free shipping, for $125 (they came from AM-Autoparts). Repair shop charged $50 to install them. Everything looks great and works great, and I saved over $600 compared to Toyota's outrageous estimate. My 2 takeaways: 1.Research pays off, and 2.Dealers are thieves! (actually, one more: When you find a good repair shop, it's like striking gold.)
You can't really compare OEM parts costs vs aftermarket parts costs. The fit and finish of the product will be different. Yes there is a savings by going aftermarket, but many times, you will find out, you get what you pay for. But for a savings for $500, I would go aftermarket too. If you would have chosen the DIY cost with original OEM replacements from discount online retailers, the cost would be around $177 each light.
