Honda Odyssey Brake Light: The DIY Method the Dealer Doesn't Want You to Know
The auto shop quoted $450 to replace a brake light on my Honda Odyssey. I did it myself in under 10 minutes — and so can you.
Equipment You May Need
Worth the fix?
Anyone can do this and save a lot of money
The Fix
A $450 quote to replace a brake light on a fifteen-year-old minivan. A quick search for the part on Amazon turned up one for about $70. I figured if I could change my own rotors and pads I should be able to replace a brake light. Really, how much labor could be involved to justify $500 for a brake light? Well, the fact is you're generally going to be charged a minimum amount for just about anything. Just to log your car into the shop, get into place, get the tools and parts ready is gonna cost you no matter how small the job is.
This one landed on our salvage inspection list, so it wasn't really optional. Honestly, we had no idea the light was even cracked. You could walk by it every day and not even notice. But every single light on the van had to work to pass. If you want to know how old and worn your car really is, bring it to an inspection.
This is an easy job, real money saved. No excuses on this one.
How I Actually Did It
Work slowly on this so you don't break any wires or clips you may have. I removed before when I replaced the sliding door roller. So the light came out quite easily and I had a general idea of how it came out. The trickiest part of these plastic items is finding out where the screws and any clips holding them in are. Check YouTube videos, articles and AI to locate them.
Use a plastic trim removal tool if you have one, it tends to be a little more agile and gentle on plastic. This light pulls straight back and has a guiding hole near the front but no actual clips holding it in -- just two screws hidden by caps. The actual bulbs just require a counter-clockwise twist. For this model the socket sizes for the bulbs are different, so you won't have to worry about which bulb goes where.
Putting it back is just as easy. Bulb in, socket twists back, push into guide hole, fasten screws, done.
This is another no-brainer. You need to do these types of fixes yourself. They are easy and rewarding. If you are replacing bulbs, the process is the same.
The Honda Fix List
Salvage/Inspection List
- Rear Top Brake Light
- Brake Light
- Rear Wheel Bearing Assembly
- Front Struts - still editing
- Lower Control Arms - still editing
- Rear Shock Dampener - still editing