Do the tail lights ever burn out?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Higgins909, Dec 25, 2023.

  1. Higgins909

    Higgins909 Member

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    2010 III trim 199.7k. JBL sound but no multi display. I've noticed I have a different style of tail lights. A bunch of dots, while virtually every other gen3 I've seen has these tall red and vertical tail lights.

    I've been wondering do these ever go out? Is it a bulb or would I have to replace the whole taillight? I've gone through about 3 sets of low beams in 2 year when I first got it. Then I put in a LED kit. Which seems to work pretty well with the halogen projector low beam. Very bright reflector highbeam though. LB didn't get any brighter or more clarity or become blinding. Just turned it blue and I think it's about 2 years old now.

    I also need to find a quality marker light. Is it 168 bulb? I've tried 2 different led ones and they both flicker. I want some big bright marker lights like Tacos have. The halogen 168 bulbs that I took out were extremely dinky. Barely passed for a map light.
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    2010 and 2011 had different tail lights compared to 2012 to 2015.
     
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  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    That's the 2010 very similar to the 2009 or the generation 2 The tail lights can be disassembled and the board that holes those multi-dot that you see with your LED non Cobb type and I have pictures of the tail light completely disassembled and you could or if you had disassembled these before and had the pieces laying in a box You could swap them out I imagine somebody that's creative could find aftermarket something or rather that could easily be fixed into place but with the cost of aftermarket tail lights seems kind of move but some people have lots of time. But I have some pictures of the 2009 and maybe the early 2010 disassembled and it's just a board with a bunch of little LEDs on it that sits against the black plastic backing frame of the light assembly and then when the chrome plastic piece drops over that You can remove the chrome plastic pieces for the turn signal and for the very bottom light this is the 2009 but the 10 is very similar in many ways most people would just take a tail light from a breaker yard for 40 or 50 bucks at most they don't sell for much more than that now the newer ones from 2011 mid-on up with the curved lines on them they sell for about 75 a pop the aftermarket has you covered on both.
     
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  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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  5. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    LED bulbs generally don't burn-out; but hot incandescent bulb filament tend to break when your constantly slamming the trunk at night after a long run. Marker/running lights usually go first, since they are on most of the time.
     
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  6. Higgins909

    Higgins909 Member

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    Is there a typical age that they burn out? Hopefully they will last the rest of my ownership. However long that might be. I seen some Amazon spercials for about $100-150. Would a 2012+ style fit the 2010? I think it would be interesting to change the style, if they ever go out.
     
  7. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Yes the later model 3 curved shape type bolts right up to the 2010 dot type plug right in works no problem have both here. They should last pretty much forever I've had some go intermittent but usually cleaning up the stuff and all of that they seem to work again so .
     
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  8. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    LED taillights shouldn't "burn out" in any manner similar to incandescent bulbs, which generally have a somewhat defined life expectancy until filament failure. Instead, LEDs will slowly dim with age, but should still last the life of the vehicle unless heat dissipation design is inadequate.

    They can still outright break for various reasons, such as poor manufacturing processes or harsh environment, but these would not be associated with any sort of "typical age".
     
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  9. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Some have a circuit board that the LEDs are fed off of the brake pedal switch I think it's a green wire that feeds a board that has a bunch of I don't know what on it and then another plug runs up under the board up the tail light assembly to the LEDs apparently the boards are very stout and if they look clean they work but the LEDs are before the cob design and they tend to burn out or they will burn very dimly compared to the other side I've seen both of these instances here tail lights are pretty cheap I've been paying like $40 a piece for a nice looking working ones.