Replacing the license plate lights

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by C Clay, May 10, 2026 at 12:51 PM.

  1. C Clay

    C Clay Member

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    It looks like this could be a lengthy job, I can't seem to find any YouTube posts of this being done, which makes me think perhaps it isn't done that much on a 7 year old Prius- yet here I am needing to change the lights. However, I will check to see if new lights work with existing wiring before taking off the Back Door Outside Garnish

    I was staring at this job with the back door trim removed and looking at those 10 bolts thinking that they should be removed, but it was getting dusk so I stopped. So the steps are pretty much
    1. remove inside trim
    2. remove bolts that hold the outside "garnish"/trim
    3. remove the outside garnish/trim?

    This would be a good time to replace those clips- does anyone know the part number?
     

    Attached Files:

    #1 C Clay, May 10, 2026 at 12:51 PM
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk MMX GEN III

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    3rd gen has a couple of small access panels you can pop out, you're not seeing anything like that?
     
    #2 Mendel Leisk, May 10, 2026 at 2:23 PM
    Last edited: May 10, 2026 at 2:29 PM
  3. C Clay

    C Clay Member

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    I don’t have 2 panels. I only have the one on the center for …I assume emergency opening of the latch.
     
    #3 C Clay, May 10, 2026 at 3:39 PM
  4. AzWxGuy

    AzWxGuy Weather Guy

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    I have a small 2" X 3" access panel on the inside of the hatch opposite about the middle of the license plate. I don't know what is under that cover. The license plate illumination, LED on my vehicle, is inside the exterior garnish/trim piece that gets removed per the above attached instructions. For the OP, are your bulbs regular filament?
     
    #4 AzWxGuy, May 10, 2026 at 3:46 PM
  5. C Clay

    C Clay Member

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    No, they are LED. I believe you and I are in agreement on how they get removed, but it isn’t only by removing the exterior piece unless you are able to pull them out, I think they have to be pushed out from the inside.
     
    #5 C Clay, May 10, 2026 at 3:48 PM
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk MMX GEN III

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    That's a misstep. Gen 3 access panels:

    IMG_3870(1).jpeg

    Maybe being LED, they figured they're more dependable. One or both burnt out?
     
    #6 Mendel Leisk, May 10, 2026 at 4:53 PM
  7. C Clay

    C Clay Member

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    Both- but it has 207,000. If they were on for all of those miles, it would seem like time to be replaced
     
    #7 C Clay, May 10, 2026 at 5:18 PM
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