1d ago

Is there an active mechanic advice community on lemmy? Looking for advice.

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.

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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

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.

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.
  
  This is plausible, btw
  
  What components did they replace with the original work? Did they just replace the bumper cover?
  If you were charged for a new tail lamp/light assembly in the previous work, then this is on them. If they only pulled the original tail lamp as part of other work, and reinstalled the original tail lamp, then the tail lamp was probably cracked in the collision. That damage would be easy to miss and can take a long time to become apparant. It sounds to me like this component was not replaced in the original work and you are only now discovering damage that was sustained in the collision.
  
  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.
  
  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 tailgate was replaced due to a collision but they didn't install new taillight housings?
  I haven't had to make an insurance claim for an accident but years and years ago my parents neighbor backed into their car and left a big dent in the C-pillar (right behind the back passenger side door) and the insurance adjuster went as far as stating the trunk lid and bumper would need to be replaced even though they has no damage.
  I'm surprised your insurance would reuse parts physically housed in the very tailgate that was damaged since they were likely damaged as well.
  Apart from arguing with insurance about having it fixed again, my only suggestion would be replacing it yourself as it's typically very easy. RockAuto has these listed for $60 (from TYC).
  
  They're bullshitting you. Dealerships break things on purpose to get you to spend more money. Get a quote from another shop and demand they pay for parts and labour.

Tell your mechanic the indicator fluid is leaking.
- where blinker fluid?

!mechanicadvice@lemmy.world !automotive@discuss.tchncs.de !cars@lemmy.world
and many called diy on just about every big instance !diy@slrpnk.net !diy@sh.itjust.works !selfrepair@lemmy.ml
- Nice, thank you

I've worked as a mechanic at a dealership before. A bit of condensation is petty normal, even on luxury cars. Walk across a Mercedes parking lot early on a cold morning and you'll find that most cars have a bit of moisture in their headlights. It's not very "premium", but it'll go away after having the lights on for a minute.
To answer your other question, there's !mechanicadvice@lemmy.world.

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.

!cars@lemmy.world (is not specifically for mechanical advice, but it's small enough that we'll help if needed.)
These tail light assemblies should be sealed plastic units (two clamshell halves) that are glued into a cavity in the tailgate. Most of the time when I see condensation it's because the vent on the inside of the cavity, open to the car compartment, is blocked. Less frequently the two halves of the light assembly are not glued together right but it can also happen.
Removing the bulbs and shooting compressed air inside for a few minutes usually dries them out.
- I've never seen the lights like this glued in. The lights have studs in the back, they go through a hole and you put a nut on them.
  
  Depends on manufacturer, maybe a misuse of words on my part... They do use studs and nuts but the sealant is often a rubberized sealant (similar to windshield adhesive) that acts like a glue. Some manufactures use foam gaskets, which suck balls.
  Personally I use silicone glazing sealant (dow 1199) when I reinstalled my Honda tail lights and it works fine.
  
  Yeah they're off a bit on the description as the taillight is simply bolted in but consists of two halves of plastic glued together (inner shell and outer lens).

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

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?
  
  Did your insurance cover the repair? If so, you might be able to use them as leverage. Most insurance companies will work on behalf of a customer who gets fucked over by the collision department.
  My 2010 Highlander was involved in a front-end collision. When Shit Collision, Inc, replaced the plastic bumper they broke the two body panel brackets that held the quarter panels above the wheels to the new bumper. Rather than admit the mistake, suck up the cost as a mistake, and carry on, they told me it's "supposed to be like that" (i. e. sticking out an inch and a half from the rest of the car's body).
  No matter the amount of bullshit I called on them they wouldn't budge. So I called my insurance company. After a tense exchange between Manager McNuts and Adjuster Andy, the body shop still said no so I went elsewhere, insurance covered it, and Shit Collision, Inc., is an empty brick building now.
  
  If this was an insurance repair, contact your insurance company. They have policies for when additional repairs are needed afterwards. Tell them it's something you noticed later. And if it's anything that could plausibly be related to the accident, they should cover it. It's possible there is still concealed damage that is putting stress on the light causing it to separate and let moisture in. If your insurance company OKs it, I would let a different body shop handle the repair and check out the previous work.
  If you paid out of pocket, you're probably out of luck at this point.

If it's any consolation, it happened to my brand new Subaru as well, and our older Hondas too. It tends to burn off quickly.

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.

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.

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