Tail lights leaking in my new 2019 Prius LE :(

Light condensation or standing water?

 

I'm certain that the dealer wouldn't install non-genuine lamps.

Are they legal? Last thing the authorities want is for everyone with super-bright reversing lights - TOYOTA would have gone through ensuring the originals are compliant - and the dealer wouldn't risk installing them.

 

Condensation is normal since that part of the light assembly is not sealed. If it was sealed you wouldn’t be able put in your ridiculously bright LEDs.

 

Condensation is generally no big deal, it's going to happen anyway with normal weather. A few minutes in sunlight clears them out.

Filing up with rainwater is not normal though. That would be a threshold for action by a dealer.

 

How much of a seal do you need? There's safeguarding human life in Earth orbit and there's keeping horny spiders out. Toyota taillights are closer to the latter. Moist air can get in, then the assembly can get cold and boom you've got condensation.

 

Pictures......or it never happened.

I'm thinking that if I'm Toyota I'm going to slow-roll you on the reverse lights.

I mean, yeah.....they'll pretend to care....maybe....if they think you're going to buy another car from them..... but at the end of the day the backup lights will still illuminate when you put the little joystick thingy in "R" and if there's a little condensation in the rear lamp assembly then it's not likely to detract from the....ah......."beauty" of the car.
After all.....I get condensation on the windshield all the time but I'm not expecting the dealer to install a new windshield.

If I were you I'd install the illegal backup lights and maybe also put in a desiccant pack if it's possible to do so in the space provided because you're already planning on hacking the lamp assembly anyway.

Then?
Relax and try to enjoy the car.

Good Luck!

 

I don't want to sound unsympathetic- I realize it's less than ideal to see any water in there. But it also doesn't sound like it's anything beyond nuisance-level.

I don't see this leading to a dealer removing or opening the taillight assemblies, so it isn't a way for you to skip the effort of putting in your new bulbs. If you take it in, they'll have the shop idiot point a hair dryer at it for 10 minutes, and chances are it'll work, no disassembly required.

 

He could roll the dice and hope that their "ace mechanic" melts the plastic....

I'd be interesting to hear if the dealer finds out anything else that "needs fixing" while the car is in for repairs.....

 

One of the very few problems we've had with our Hyundai Accent was water intrusion into the 3rd brake lamp assembly, causing electrical failure.

When I got the replacement unit, I applied some tracks of MEK along the accessible seams of the thing to fuse the plastic together.

It has now gone more than 2x as long as the original. No way to know if it was their work or mine that made it last, but I'm happy with the overall result.

 

It's 25 years since I had condensation in a light on a newish car - yes, on some old cars or back in the days when they didn't make them very carefully.

I'd be taking it back to get fixed.