Replaced tailgate around Christmas after a collision, and now noticing condensation inside a taillight. Body shop says they’re not responsible and are quoting $250 to replace. Please advice.
Edit: Thanks for all your advice. I’m going to ask my insurance if they’ll cover this as part of the original collision claim. btw, I posted the same thing to /r/mechanicadvice at the same time, and haven’t received a single reply there till now. Happy to see lemmy doing great as a reddit replacement.
Update: Thanks for all your advice. I spoke to my insurance and asked them if they would cover it as part of the original repairs, and they’ve agreed to do so!
Those things are supposed to be sealed. Even if they did nothing wrong installing it, they’ve installed a faulty taillight with a busted seal.
Id argue with them along those lines “It’s no one’s fault, but I didn’t pay for a broken tail light”.
Unless you replaced it with a used tail_gate_ they pulled from a junkyard, in that case you’re on your own.
You can get a new tail light for not a ton of cash.
That is a factory light. It’s a 2022 CRV. They’re saying they only pulled it out as a unit and put it back in, and this seal failing has nothing to do with them.
It’s not on them. They don’t pay to fix your wreck, it’s the other way around. It’s part of the wreck that wasn’t noticed when it was being fixed. It happens, and it can’t be helped unless they park it outside and let it rain and then check it and nobody does that.
If insurance paid for the wreck, get with the insurance company to pay for a new one. If you paid for the wreck, you could have paid for it when it was fixed but it wasn’t noticed so you pay for it now.
Yeah the other party insurance paid the bill but through my insurance. I’m going to ask them to include this as well.
I’m with the other people here saying the same thing, that’s a salvaged tail light that was damaged in a wreck. That it was your tail light before it became salvage doesn’t make it ok.
And just because I know how those shops work, if at any point they said something like “we’re gonna reuse your old tail light” and you signed off on that, you might be out of luck.
Maybe your insurance company might be able to cover it under the same claim? It’s worth a phone call or email at least.
If you don’t want to DIY, definitely shop around for a better quote, but you might not find a cheaper total price. I wouldn’t burn a bridge with that shop.
The insurance has agreed to cover the repair, thanks for your advice!
Hell yeah, congrats!
Thank you
Tell your mechanic the indicator fluid is leaking.
where blinker fluid?
There’s a good chance the seal for the tail light was damaged during the collision and the body shop did nothing to damage it.
No body shop will admit this especially if it is months after the repair. Condensation is typical in such repairs since the adhesives they use are not most of the times proper and the fitting is not the best.
Those lights are bolted in, there’s no adhesive. There’s probably a seal but that’s to keep water from getting into the tailgate.
Does that mean this is shoddy workmanship but I’m shit outta luck?
Those lights are supposed to be a sealed assembly, so if there’s condensation then you need to replace the assembly. If the shop didn’t replace the assembly themselves then they’re never going to accept responsibility for an original post-collision taillight assembly.
It’s worth looking up the cost of a replacement assembly part and watching a video on how to replace before you decide to go back to the shop though. I don’t know about your car specifically, you’ll have to do the research, but on most cars I’ve worked on this is an easy repair. Good luck
You can always just drill a tiny hole at the bottom of the light and that will allow it to drain it’s a 5 minute fix and nobody will ever notice it
Don’t know if this applies to the chr I mostly talk about my older cars. I have seen too many lights with water to trust all the adhesives and seals to keep water out. At the first sign of condensation I drill a small drain hole. Won’t keep atmospheric humidity out so theoretically there is a expiration date on the lights board but I think I have saved more lights than lost.
If it’s a factory part it should be an easy warranty replace. They’ll still charge labor probably but the part should be free.
put a bead of clear silicone around the top and side seals of the light (where the light sections come together, not where the light seals to the car)
https://youtu.be/H2_uUZ3moYw?t=26 follow from 0:26-0:46. Pull the housing off the hatch and remove the lights to air out. Inspect for any damage.
I had a similar issue with my Civic from the factory. Not to take their side on it, but same issue. Driver side rear light, and the section on the trunk.
I took it as an opportunity to do some work on my own, and replaced all the rear lights (the single replacement OEM light was like $200, and a new set of sequential LED lights was $300 and looked much better). It’s not too bad of a job, took me an afternoon cause I’m way overly cautious with stuff. Around the same time frame too; mine is an '18 and I did it in '21 I think.
