rear light bulb change

[arctic blue]

not that bulbs have failed yet,but, any idea how to change /get access to rear of light unit in boot. lights on the bootlid have a cutout in lining for access. looks to me that the complete side panel linings in boot have to be removed for the stop, tail, indicator bulbs to be changed . or is there some other way, staring me in the face.
awaits response

[gstewar1]

hey!

As far as i am aware you cant change those lights, due to the fact that they are a ring of LEDs rather than one bulb! The reversing lights and the fog can be replaced I think cause they are one bulb but if they brake, tail and indicators fail it will probably have to go to a *******!

I am be wrong but this is my understanding!

[iaint]

Yes, the rear lights are LEDs and are supposed to be guaranteed for the life of the vehicle, as are the indicators in the mirrors.

If you look closely at the rear lights you'll see they are made up of quite a few LEDs, not just one so I would imagine you could lose a few without any problem.

Cheers
Iain

[Quatrelle]

Mine (saloon) has a cut out panel on each side of the boot liner to allow access the rear lights.

[shropslad]

When my wife dropped me off this morning I noticed that the passenger side brake light wasnt working,, if these are LED's could it be a loose wire?,, also would a bulb faliure light come on in the dash?

[martin1810]

Rear indicator, tail light and brake light are LED clusters instead of bulbs. Each "bulb" is a collection of LED's arranged in bunches of 4. The ECU allows for failure of up to 4 LED's before flagging a fault. (In theory). Main problem is that if 1 LED fails, it sometimes takes out all 4 in the bunch. This loss of 4 puts a strain on the others and they go shortly after. In theory LED's last a long time. Anyone with LED Christmas lights will know this is not always true.

[arctic blue]

shropslad,
never had a rear light out yet. but funnily enough a front dip beam went on me last week. i was pleasantly surprised with the dash message. fr l/h dip bulb failure, and an orange bulb icon flashed up too. damn clever. i was even more surprised at how easy it was to change. just push fit.
washer fluid empty, tyre pressure low, service due. great stuff.
i wonder what would come up if it knew front tyres were on limit, wipers need renewing, 33k on clock, and good wash needed. TIME TO SELL THE CAR.
i take delivery of new golf thursday.
enjoy your passat lad, i certainly did

[rempsel]

but if i need do remove the rear light, how can i do it?

[martin1810]

Saloon...pull off trim cover, undo three nuts, take off connector, pull light unit off from outside. Estate...open tail gate , pull off black bit of trim next to light, remove one nut and connector Pull and push towards outer edge. Swear alot until it comes off. (bit of black plastic trim may break).

[rempsel]

Saloon...pull off trim cover, undo three nuts, take off connector, pull light unit off from outside. Estate...open tail gate , pull off black bit of trim next to light, remove one nut and connector Pull and push towards outer edge. Swear alot until it comes off. (bit of black plastic trim may break).

Thanks, done it with alot of swears