tail light assembly

[ariggan]

I need to replace the tail light assembly on my 2005 prius. I have a new assembly. Anybody know how to install it? Or better yet, is there an easier way to just replace the clear lens? That's the only piece broken.

[zenMachine]

Each assembly has two bolts along the inner edge (closer to the center of the car). Each bolt is covered by a plastic cap that's used to hold the wirings. The picture below shows the bottom stud for the driver side tail light (yellow circle). Follow the black wire upward and you'll see a second one near the top.

Best way to get to those studs is to pull the rear trim out halfway like you see here (three screws and a few plastic panel clips are all that's needed.) Just pull the white plastic cap straight out. Very easy. Then use a 10mm socket to unscrew the nut. Do the same for the top one. Detach the light's wiring harness (green circle) then push the whole assembly out. The outer edge has two round plastic studs that will pop out without any force at all (red circle shows the receptacle where the bottom stud goes in).

I don't know if there's any way to replace just the outer lens. BTW, ignore the blue wire taps and black round beeper in this picture. They didn't come with the car.

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