Upon recovering from the shock of the cost of replacing my 2017 Prius III brake light (around $400!), I surveyed the prospects for DIY. There is a dearth of such posts, and those that exist are not encouraging. I have made what I consider a successful peace with Toyota's desire to impoverish me, and here is what I did: For the 2016 - 2019 Prius, the LED assembly includes the circuit board. The Toyota Part No. is 81536-4220 and the price is about $35, although I also saw it as low as $23. You do NOT need to replace the whole lens assembly, just the LED assembly. The board is mounted on the heat sink/assembly base, and the LED is mounted on the circuit board. The only thing between the LED assembly and the brake light voltage junction powering both sides (only the passenger side failed for me) was a low-risk cable wire. I took a different perspective on the repair, and thought the task seemed more appropriate for a collision repair shop than a dealer service department. That turned out to be a VERY key decision. I took my Prius and the LED assembly to an excellent collision repair shop that had done work for me before. They confirmed that, yes, the rear bumper DOES have to be removed to access the brake LED. They will do the whole job for $112. With the $32 I paid for the LED assembly, that's close to 70% cheaper than any Toyota dealer is reported to charge. Just a FYI that can save you some decent bucks.
if "simple" repairs on the Prius 4th are so ridiculously expensive why does anyone own it. I dont know what the frequency of light failures are on the gen 4 but these topics are worrying. I bought another Prius because I like the fuel savings ( and petrol is getting expensive ) but if these cost savings are going to be offset whenever the prius needs a trivial repair im just gonna bin this car. I already find the drivers seat really uncomfortable compared to me old gen 2.
Thing is - headlights should last the life of the car - unless you have a collision - then it's insurance. But lights on many cars aren't cheap - I recently heard of a $600 "PART ONLY" price for an AUDI Headlight.
Indeed. And this is (mercifully) the knocked-down price: https://parts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-composite-headlamp-8114047711?c=bD0yJm49U2VhcmNoIFJlc3VsdHMmYT10b3lvdGEmbz1wcml1cyZ5PTIwMTcmdD10aHJlZSZlPTEtOGwtbDQtZWxlY3RyaWMtZ2Fz Anyone for sealed-beams: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/search-results.html?q=sealed-beam%20headlight
Thanks for the explanation of the tail light LED assembly. Regarding the headlight comment, wouldn’t $400 expensive as it is before the whole plastic lens assembly? Can’t you just replace a bulb?
