I was quoted $50 to replace the brake light bulb of a Camry 2005.
I happened to check a Youtube video and it looks like it's p*ss easy to do it.
Are the bulbs pretty much the same in most vehicles and will this one do? https://www.bunnings.com.au/narva-stop-indicator-globe_p0047…
Solved. Thanks everyone for your help.
I haven't taken it out yet.
take it out then.
I will when it stops raining.
Who quoted that? They're a jerk.
Pink slip check.
Hahah, of course they did… they prey on the thick and the desperate.
They always play the “We failed it because of the busted light… so you will have to re-book for late next week… OR, we can have our guy do it today and I’ll pass it on the spot… for an extra $50.” in the hope of scaring people into just saying “yeah, just get it done, I need it done today…”
Bulb fitment at sca is like $15 or $12 for members if you 100% get stuck.
Brake light generally super easy assuming bolts not seized to access.
Comes down to how much you value your own time to run around.
Cheers, I forgot about SCA. And they have "Fits Your Vehicle" filter.
lol I had to change the front headlight bulbs in my Navara many years ago and for the freaking life of me I could not dislodge the holder from the main body to disconnect it… asked sca and the guy said yep no problems … in the end practically had the whole team out at my Ute trying to disconnect the freaking thing. 40 min later manager said ok..no we cannot fit it off sorry, we’ll refund your install charge lol
I used to work there and had a few doozies lmao, some cars are just terrible for access (especially if you have big hands). We weren't really allowed to take much apart for access
What did you end up doing?
@HeWhoKnows: said f' it and basically just bent the pin until it deformed enough to allow me to dislodge the holder.
replacing the bulb was 1 second work.
then re-bent the holding pin to correct angle and aligned it again.
Every time ive needed to change a headlight globe in a modern car its been a hit-fight. Theres something about the location plus that stupid clip thing on fop of axtually removing the plug without damaging yourself or the plug…
The quote sounds about right but I did just take the old ones out and go to sca to match it.
I remembered the "let's deploy to production" video from your profile pic. Oh my God, it cracks me up every time. ROTFL 🤣😂
Are the bulbs pretty much the same in most vehicles and will this one do?
I believe the later to your Camrys are a two stage bulb (tail light/brake light in one), not sure about your one, if it is a two stage, then they are about $16 for a pair.
https://www.repco.com.au/globes-batteries-electrical/globes-…
Anyhow, take out your globe and buy a matching one from repco or SCA.
Pro tip, if one side has gone, the other side isn't far behind. So replace both at once.
They are not talking about multiple “Camries”, they are talking about possession, and possession is noted by an apostrophe…
As in “the Camry’s tail lights…”, albeit written poorly. It should have been more along the lines of;
I believe the later to your Camry’s tail lights… are a two stage…
Added to that, “Camry” is a proper noun, and you don’t “ies” proper nouns, so it would be one Camry, or 12 Camrys.
So, not only did you get it wrong, you also failed to pick up the actual error.
Pro tip, if one side has gone, the other side isn't far behind. So replace both at once.
It's a 20 year old car, that would be overcapitalising.
Globes come in pairs, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You can buy a single globe from Toyota.
Do It Yourself OP. It’s relatively easy job as seen on YouTube videos. Bulb itself should cost no more than $10-$12 a piece.
Get a quality bulb so you can replace now & have at least 10-15 years trouble free motoring.
You may or may not experience brake light switching on every time. It’s usually a rubber grommet piece that has disintegrated to bits that’s the issue. Search “brake light stop turning on all the time Camry” on Google to get a big picture of the problem.
Goodluck!
For $50, you can get the bulb and all necessary tools to DIY with spare change..
I just get LED's off AliExpress for $10 and replace them proactively,
Haven't had one fail in 6 years.
Be careful though of the head and brakelights, they can be blinding.
I bought a replacement brake/tail lamp LED a while back. Ended up not using it because the brake and tail light brightness was too similar. Tail light was too bright, brake light not enough.
Gotta make sure it's right before full installation when you buy cheap.
The proper bulbs for each light will be listed in your factory manual.
Have a look at your existing light. Is it a conbinatio. Brake and tail light? Ie one globe does both? If so, the one youve linked is incorrect.
Could be this combo:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/narva-12v-21-5w-bay15d-incandesc…
Unless it's blade (not bayonet) or they're talking about the third brake array in the rear window.
LMAO - husband was recently showing daughter (24) how to do some basic stuff under hood of her car. This included changing headlights.
Muppet was using torch from his iPhone to help everyone see.
Muppet dropped iPhone into some dark recess under bonnet and they couldn't reach to get it out.
Tried to go in from under, both sides, over top, even used "find my iPhone". no chance they were getting that baby back.
Had to call roadside assist and fess up to what they had done. Cranky pants declared this not a case of roadside assist and refused to help. Lady on phone had to send some confirmation text to the phone they had registered - uh huh - the one stuck in the car no
One could get to.
In end, husband told RACQ he needed to retrieve phone cos daughter needed gps feature on phone to know where she was going.
Roadside assist man was not a happy camper!
I agree with the roadside person, not something they would 'cover'.
Roadside assist man was not a happy camper!
I can understand, cranky pants was right.
Muppet and anyone else involved was an entitled tosser to think that this was a roadside assist problem. What next- you're going to call roadside assist because the ice cream melted in the boot when you parked it for an hour in the sun and you want a new ice cream?
Can't believe that you posted this up thinking it was even vaguely reasonable.
Some coins fell out of my pocket, in between the seat and centre console, and I can’t reach them, tried under, both sides, over top, no chance I’m getting them back, thing is I need the coins to purchase a GPS so I know where I’m going. Guess I’ll call RACQ.
Couldn't see where the phone was. I guess they weren't courageous enough to drive the car incase the phone become dislodged and got stuck somewhere it caused some damage to the car.
What else could he have done? Drove it and hoped for the best? Hired a retrieval dog? Towed it to the dealer?
Couldn't drive car. Seemed like a roadside assist problem to me.
What else could he have done?
Obviously it wasn’t that complicated because the roadside assist was able to help. He could have done whatever they did to get the phone? Not sure if they unclipped the bottom cover, or used a torch, or what, but roadside assist isn’t exactly a workshop with a hoist and an X-ray machine.
What else could he have done? Drove it and hoped for the best? Hired a retrieval dog? Towed it to the dealer?
They could have been responsible adults and paid for the problem to be fixed, rather than offload the problem onto some guy who had no responsibility for it.
Yeah, tow to a garage would be one option. A magnet on a stick would be another. And a third would be paying for a mechanic to come out rather than abusing a service.
In end, husband told RACQ he needed to retrieve phone cos daughter needed gps feature on phone to know where she was going.
I mean, you're relating this like it's something to be proud of, rather than ashamed of.
If you have done all of the research needed yourself then why waste peoples time on OZB.
That aside, if you cannot simply change a brake light bulb then hand back your drivers license.
Didn't get tested on that in my driver's test
Thatd be an eye opener. Secondary test: Check fluids, air pressure, locate jack and spare, replace wiper blades and globes.
Get one from a Toyota dealer, it won't cost that much, just give them your rego and they'll look it up. Aftermarket globes are rubbish and don't last long.
$138 from Toyota because it comes in a Toyota box with a Toyota bag inside, but the globe has “Phillips” on it, or $5 from SCA for exactly the same globe, just minus the “Toyota” branding.
Toyota do not make their own light globes.
I bought a genuine interior light globe as I couldn't find an 8w aftermarket one, it was only a few dollars and made by Toshiba.
I can understand where you come from in terms of dealership pricing for parts, however replacement incandescent bulbs are one thing dealers are generally better value than aftermarket.
Amayama sells the OEM 90981-13044 part for $3.50. Cheaper than retail stores such as SCA and is better quality than any aftermarket bulb. Philips supplies Toyota with Halogen headlights and HID lamps only. Signal/Indicator lamps are sourced from Japanese OEMs not available in the aftermarket such as Koito, Stanley and Toshiba.
Stop/Tail lights are usually 5/21 watt. You can get 21/21 watt but don't use them. Tail lights will be too bright.
I was quoted $50 to replace the brake light bulb of a Camry 2005.
It's not all bad. It's forced you to do some research to learn some basic maintenance.
I happened to check a Youtube video and it looks like it's p*ss easy to do it.
If it were that easy, you would have just done it yourself by now.
I need to source replacement bulb first.
So I guess the process isn't as easy as you thought then?
Yes, it is. When the replacement bulb is delivered tomorrow, I'll just pop it in.
Yes, it is
You needed to ask an online forum on how to identify and source the correct globe though.
@magic8ballgag: It was raining and I didn't want to get out and pull out the dead bulb then.
Someone might have recently had the same problem or work in the area or have domain knowledge like @BingChilling.
Likewise, anyone who has questions about real estate, investing, edible gardening, etc. I try to share my domain knowledge where I can.
@ihbh: I don't think they are comparable, but whatever excuse (possibly getting wet?) will do.
Either way, there's a reason auto store/mechanic services exist, and you just proved it by creating this thread.
@magic8ballgag: Were you born being able to write garbage, or was it something you learnt along the way? Perhaps OP is cable of learning how to change the light bulb.
I learnt that genuine bulbs are probably better value than aftermarket jobbies that only last a year via this thread.
Either way, there’s a reason downvotes exist, and you just proved it with your comments.
For the 2005 Camry Brake/tail combination light should be a W21/5W type.
For longevity I'd recommend the OEM Toyota part 90981-13044 which shouldn't be very expensive to source from the dealers directly, Amayama sells them for $3.50 each but shipping would take a long time. Aftermarket bulbs don't compare to the OEM Koito/Toshiba/Stanley made bulbs in terms of longevity.
Thanks mate. I've taken it out and it's exactly as you describe.
https://autoparts.toyota.com/products/product/bulb-909811304…
No worries! I would recommend looking at replacing the other side together even if its still working. If one side has failed the other might not be far behind.
Standard 21/5W Stop/Tail Bayonet Globe. There is also an LED upgrade if you wish, few more $$ and you do both sides together.
If you were local, being a 2 min job i would have knocked that over as a freebie + bits.
Cheers. I have the replacement bulb coming tomorrow. I've taken the old one out so yeah, 2 min job. Just making sure I sourced the right part.
Check if you need to wear gloves when touching the new bulb to avoid putting oil on it
Cheers, I've been using gloves as a practice run taking out the dead bulb.
If $50 too expensive just DIY on these older models.
Pray that the lights do not go out on a newer models with LED arrays as they are not DIY friendly and would cost $1000+ for the unit itself (pieces of the light assembly are not replacable appratently..) + whatever they charge for a half a day of labour these days
When you pay someone to do something you aren't just paying for the replacement part, you're paying for their time/expertise as well.
They aren't really making any real money from it, either. Even if it takes 10 minutes all up, that is 10 minutes that they could have spent working on a job they'd actually profit from. I think people compare their own salaried hourly rate to what services that they need to pay for cost.
OP should just change it themselves. YouTube and a couple of household tools.
Does it match the old one that you took out to examine?