Replacing the Buick taillamp... (1 Viewer)

[Henry Gale]

....or, why did I buy another American car?
"The assembly for both sides is one piece..."

Yes! And it is just under 4 and 1/2 feet long. For a tiny little bulb replacement.

I also have a parking lamp out in the front that apparently requires the removal of the entire headlamp assembly.
I'm not really qualified for this sort of thing, just had to make the 20 mile roundtrip into town for a 10mm deep socket.

 

[KeithAP]

I just replaced the builb in the tail light of my 98 Buick Regal GS. I would guess it consumed 5-7 minutes of my time and required no tools.

What is the year and model of you Buick? (just wondering)

-Keith

 

[Mike Slade]

I once backed into a Buick LeSabre and luckily only the corner of my bumper knocked a small piece of the tail light plastic out. However when I agreed to pay for the repair, I had to buy that entire tail-light assembly that stretched across the whole rear of the car. I did luck out and the place I got the replacement from gave me the wrong part at first (a smaller, less expensive single sided piece) and I ended up paying less. I think the whole assemly was going to cost like $180 but I only paid like $80 for the price of the original incorrect part. It does seem crazy that they would make something one piece like that.

 

[Henry Gale]

Keith,
It's a 2000 LeSabre Limited. The book says I need to remove 7 nuts, I've removed 9.
Think I'll replace both bulbs while it's off.

 

[Scott Leopold]

I have a '98 Buick Century. I tried to replace my headlight once. Once. I let my mechanic handle it now. While $17 to replace a turn signal bulb is outrageous, my experience with the headlight showed me that I need to forget about trying in the future. I yearn for the good old days with my '80 Chevette. I only had two screws left on the passenger side, so replacing that headlight was a breeze.

 

[DaveMcS]

Its not just American cars..I had to remove the battery from my wife's VW Golf to replace one of the headlights. Turned a 2 min, job into a PITA 45 min ordeal

 

[Philip_G]

try replacing the air filter on an audi 200 turbo, it's about a 3 hour process.

 

[Henry Gale]

Finished.
I came so close to getting this done correctly.
Thought there was ONE bulb on each side, so I bought two, so I could replace the good one also.
But, at the last moment I spotted the second right side tail lamp, and since I knew those had both been out I replaced it with my extra.
Reassembled the whole shebang and after dark, lit her up!
The right side is a marvel of red glow. The left side is half so. It had one dead bulb as well.
Crap.