Tail light out and inspection is due...DIY?

The rear tail light is so easy to do it's probably hard to find a how to video or instruction for it... All you do is open your back hatch and open the plastic door in your car that's directly behind the tail light and reach in and unscrew light buld counter-clockwise one quarter turn then pull out. Then remove old bulb and put new bulb in and reverse previous steps.

Let's hope the headlight problem is just a random anomaly that most electronic devices do from time to time. The headlight requires partial unbolting of your front bumper and it's more easily done by people with smaller hands. Here's the how-to video for it:

 

The tail light is a 5-minute job. Anyone should be able to do it. If you can do an oil change you can do the headlights as well. I have HID, so I had to remove the bumper and the entire headlight assembly - not sure what you have. It took me about an hour. Do it while the weather is still nice out.

 

Fog lights are separate circular light assemblies and located below the front bumper.

The fog light switch is located on the headlight stalk and rotates.

It sounds like your car has regular halogen headlights and does not have fog lights.

 

the tail light bulb you want costs about a buck and looks like this


except smaller.

there is a curved plastic cover that comes right off when you push a tab.
Then you are looking at the back of your bulbs they make about a 1/4 turn and come out.
You pull the little bulb out an put in the new one and do the opposite 1/4 turn and struggle with the cover.

 

No, the HID bulbs are more costly and potentially more finicky as more can go wrong. If a bulb is not working the problem might be the bulb or might be the electronics producing high voltage for the bulb.

 

I replaced my tail lights with (red) LEDs (see signature for a link). I am very pleased with them. It was a simple job.

I replaced my head light, without removing the bumper, just a few rivety-things. Took me about 10 minutes.

Where in Maine are you? I am in Edgecomb, if you need help.

 

Yea and she's doing it the easy way... If you take it to the dealer and they do it by the book they take the front end off entirely rather than just unbolting one side of it. As you might imagine this kind of repair is a money maker.

It's understandable though... I mean getting everything to fit into such a small car is not easy!

 

Hey Julia2001: Maybe your headlight is fine and it was just an anomaly related to the current geomagnetic storm? We lost electricity in our neighborhood this morning because of it and the Cafe I was at this morning lost their internet because of all the power surges related to parts of the grid going down... I'm also having problems with early signs of HV battery deterioration right now as well...

More info on the storm we're having right now:

As expected, a coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetic field on Sept. 3rd at approximately 1200 UT (5 am PDT). The impact induced measurable ground currents in the soil of northern Scandinavia and sparked bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. At the time this alert is being issued, a moderately strong (Kp=6) geomagnetic storm is underway. Check http://spaceweather.com for photos and updates.

 

Julia, your car is a 2007. Mine is a 2008 and I have HID headlights (there is a color shift when I first turn them on at night). My HID lamps burned out at ~65,000 miles, which using some back of the envelope calculations, is consistent with the typical lifetime of ~6000-7000 hours. Taking the front bumper off is not really a big deal.

 

I just went through this.

The HID lights fail in a different way than a house light bulb. Initially they will blink off. You can cycle your light switch and they'll come back on. After a while you'll also notice they are dimmer than normal. The failures also become more frequent as time goes on.
Dealer quote parts and labor for two lights was $600.
I watched a few videos on YouTube and bought the lights on Amazon.
After watching several videos I decided to try the replacement without removing the bumper.
It was easier than I expected. Took about 30-40 minutes for both lights and cleaning all the grime off my hands. I really don't like to work on cars, but saving a few hundred dollars motivated me.
My wife is so glad we can drive at night now.

 

If you go on Amazon and input Prius Headlight, it will bring up a guide for your make and model to make sure you are purchasing the correct bulb.
Best of luck.