Sourcing Rear Light Parts

[samcole28]

Hi all,

I am having a bit of trouble. I have managed to crack my rear drivers side light lens. The light still functions absolutely fine, the plastic has just cracked and broken off.

I have sent the day trying to source just the clear plastic piece and have had 0 luck. Ideally I would not want to buy a whole new light as the dealer has quoted me something like £640 for the part alone, when mine still works fine.

If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them. I would even consider running without it however I highly doubt the inside is waterproof without the lens.

Thanks.

[s111dpc]

samcole28 said:

Hi all,

I am having a bit of trouble. I have managed to crack my rear drivers side light lens. The light still functions absolutely fine, the plastic has just cracked and broken off.

I have sent the day trying to source just the clear plastic piece and have had 0 luck. Ideally I would not want to buy a whole new light as the dealer has quoted me something like £640 for the part alone, when mine still works fine.

If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them. I would even consider running without it however I highly doubt the inside is waterproof without the lens.

Thanks.

I assume you’ve tried eBay, as there is usually one of two cars being broken for parts on there?

[samcole28]

s111dpc said:

I assume you’ve tried eBay, as there is usually one of two cars being broken for parts on there?

I have yes, tried all of the listings and they will only supply the lights as whole units, and the only RH one not sold is from a legende GT so it is the clear version when I need the standard red one.

So unfortunately no luck there.

Thank you for the suggestion though.

[Peter.R]

The lens is bonded to the light unit so i don't think there is much chance of getting the lens separately. It will be complete light unit or nothing.

[k_m]

Peter.R said:

The lens is bonded to the light unit so i don't think there is much chance of getting the lens separately. It will be complete light unit or nothing.

Yep, that's the case with all cars nowadays. If you catch a stone chip at a front lens u have to buy the whole unit, not just the glass

[samcole28]

Thank you both for your help.

So looks like it's a new light then.

In the meantime do you think there is much of an issue running without the lens?

As in, am I likely to cause any electrical damage without it.

Or if anyone happens to know anyone who has a full light unit for sale I would be extremely interested.

[samcole28]

Also, if anyone knows a place that would take my existing light for at least some money that would be amazing. As it still completely works, it is only the lens that is cracked.

[neon_fox]

It makes me really sad that from an environmental point of view we are so screwed when it comes to repairing even simple things.

[timbo999]

Might be a good option pro tem:

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/tools/fuses-elec...

[samcole28]

So after lots of research, and after contacting every scrappy I have found 0 luck in sourcing any part, and as a result have just bitten the bullet and bought a new light for a lot more money than I would have expected as I would like it sorted asap.

Sooo if anyone wants to buy a fully functional taillight which only has a cracked off lens for cheap, please let me know haha

[biggles330d]

I think at the cost that seems to be quoted for a new unit, unless I were selling the car or it was an MOT failure I'd have gone with the clear sticky tape solution and lived with it until one did turn up at the scrappy. Call it patina of a car enjoyed.

[samcole28]

biggles330d said:

I think at the cost that seems to be quoted for a new unit, unless I were selling the car or it was an MOT failure I'd have gone with the clear sticky tape solution and lived with it until one did turn up at the scrappy. Call it patina of a car enjoyed.

I got some quotes from different places on LH lights they have in stock (of course they all have the LH not the RH, my luck) and they seemed to float around £450 with delivery.

So at this point to get it repaired tomorrow rather than waiting an unknown amount of time for <£200 premium and a brand new part. I thought it was just worth it.

If it was more like £250-300 from a scrappy I might have waited but even they are charging so much.

[LE62NDE]

I have my car booked in for a replacement rear light to be fitted tomorrow. I was asked to pay up front for it last week ('niche part, niche car, might change your mind'...and this with an Alpine dealership...) before the order was placed, and today had a phone call to say that they ordered the part but it hasn't arrived. They will call in the morning, just in case it comes in, otherwise I'll have to re-book...

Fingers crossed that it's a glitch and not Alpine supply shenanigans...

[LE62NDE]

The rear light cluster has arrived in time, so thankfully no problem there. The service agent at the dealership said that he thought the quoted labour cost for the job was too high, and that it might be less than that; I said I was happy to hear it, but believed that the rear bumper had to come off. He said that he would hold the price regardless.

He has now phoned to say they will need the car all day because is indeed a bumper-off job...

[LE62NDE]

To follow up: the light unit was fitted within four hours, with the bumper removed. Alignment was a bit iffy, but was adjusted by loosening the bolts on the rear edge of the boot, and lining up with the outline left in the dirt! The n/s clip (the one that can cause corrosion) has not been refitted correctly, leaving the bumper slightly loose, i.e. not clamped to the wing. If it's simple, I'll sort it; if not, it's going back. A good thing I only live 3 miles from the dealership...

[Maxym]

LE62NDE said:

To follow up: the light unit was fitted within four hours, with the bumper removed. Alignment was a bit iffy, but was adjusted by loosening the bolts on the rear edge of the boot, and lining up with the outline left in the dirt! The n/s clip (the one that can cause corrosion) has not been refitted correctly, leaving the bumper slightly loose, i.e. not clamped to the wing. If it's simple, I'll sort it; if not, it's going back. A good thing I only live 3 miles from the dealership...

How annoying. :-(