Spider Cracks in 3rd Brake Light

I have a 2018 SR5 and it appears that there are some fine cracks in the third brake light. I remember seeing some threads about leaking brake lights but as far as I can tell I haven't had any leaks it just looks like some spiderweb cracking.

I plan to get ahold of the dealership and see what their thoughts are, just wanted to reach here and see if anyone else has experienced this. I want to make sure I am armed with as much info as possible before going into the dealership. I know I haven't hit anything with it so I have no idea what would have caused the cracks.

 

I set up an appointment with the dealership to look at this tomorrow morning. I will post what they say. it is a bit frustrating that I have to make one appointment to see if it will be under warranty and if it is a second to go in and have the work done. I'm 40 minutes from the dealership so not the most pleasant experience.

 

It seems like a common, and small enough (size and value) item, they could order a replacement part in advance, that way they could save you a trip. If they don't think it's under warranty for whatever reason (I don't know why it wouldn't be?) They could return or just keep, as this part has known issues with leaking.
It doesn't hurt to ask, I mean if they want a chance to earn your biz? You're not asking them to order a crate engine in advance.

 

I don't know where the mounting location is, but that does look like a result of being overtightened.
Is that the nearest dealer to you? If so that sucks, but you can go to any Toyota dealership, not just the one you bought from. I say this because I am surprised at the number of people who didn't know that.
If you don't have a roof rack or anything they can blame you for, it should be warranty.

 

If your under 36k miles it’s covered under your performance contract with Toyota i.e. the warranty...or you could just drill the sum bitch out and install something that won’t give you any trouble. Otherwise the dealer gonna have to pull your headliner down to gain access to the two bolts holding it on and most likely break a half dozen clips holding the interior trims pieces in which the won’t fix and not tell you about but when shit rattles you’ll know. Good luck!

 

I asked them about that, and they said since it was special order that if I wanted them to order it prior to warranty approval I would have to pay for it and they even mentioned the cost of labor, so I think they may have wanted me to pay for everything in advance.

There is one dealership closer, but I am not a huge fan of them and they told me they wouldn't be able to get me in for the first appointment until later next week.

I am concerned about them pulling down that headliner to do the work. Is there anyway I can check to make sure that they didn't break any clips, basically anything I should check on after they do the work?

At this point the only way I will let them do the work is if it is under warranty. I don't have anything that would have caused the damage. I even lowered and raised the softopper several times to see if it ever made contact and it wasn't even close.

 

That’s sucks OP. Definitely a disappointment. Sun damage? I’m a under tree shade parker and it stays in the garage at home. Not sure if that helps but def shouldn’t be happening. Also Not good for moister and rain. I hope they fix it.

 

That sucks, if it were me, I'd wait and see if the truck needs any other dealer visits and consolidate. Of course, hopefully it doesn't, and you may have to take it in right before your warranty expires.

 

So an update. I went in this morning and first they lost my appointment but at least decided to look at it. The service advisor had to go get the shop foreman since I was wanting to fix it under warranty. The foreman looks at it and says "yep looks like something impacted it" and started to walk off. I said, maybe a tad aggressively, "nothing impacted it". This got the foreman's attention again and then he jumped in the bed and had a closer look and said the cracks appear to be on the inside.

So with that he told the service advisor to order the parts and that I would need to make another appt. and schedule 6 hours for them to fix it. I scheduled it along with my third "free" service for early August and will figure out something to do for the 6+ hours.

 

Get one of their loaners and "impact" the hell out of it.

 

Obviously the crack suck. At least it’s getting fixed although, if u can find them in stock, I’m sure Meso has something that suits your needs.

Why does everyone put “free” in quotes for the “free” 5k, 10k, and 15k appointments? What charges are they hitting y’all for? (I’ll have to take mine in at some point)

 

I don't know why everyone else puts "free" in quotes because I'm pretty sure I paid for them somewhere.

 

The SUN DID That. When you get a new one go get a product called 303

 

Is there a step by step on how to remove the 3rd brake light from the outside without pulling the headliner? I checked on YT and no luck.

 

I was wondering if the sun contributed to it, but this is our newest vehicle and never had one that had the plastic crack like that. I don't have a garage and my driveway is in direct sun most of the day. I have been using some leftover soft top cleaner from when I had my jeep on the softtopper but when it runs out I was going to switch to 303 and if it is the same product that is safe for those lenses I will use them on all the lights.

 

I am 100% sure the sun did it. I have a 6x6x12 enclosed trailer that the sun has cracked the red brake / run light lenses on here right now . UV rays are a killer to all things plastic. Lenes, canoes kayaks air plane dashes and so on .. UV rays get everything sooner or later, red car paints yellow car paints, clear coats, fiberglass, and more . The SUN did it, and it did it contribute the Sun did it and it's just that simple. Acid rains don't help either .

303 is made for this and more as a UV protector . I use it in gel coat for one of my canoes and both of my plastic kayaks. I should have wiped down my trailer lenes before I did .

 

You wont get charged at the service, but somewhere when you bought your truck, you paid for the maint. We all did. It is hidden in the cost on one of those lines. Which is why I will use the service during those first two years, then decide if I will do it myself.

 

^ Makes sense

 

I have an independent mechanic that I really like that will get the Tacoma once the two years service is done. That mechanic even told me I paid for it somewhere in the purchase so I may as well use it for the first two years. Once that is done the dealership will only see it for any possible recalls or warranty work.

 

.
...^^^... Good advice (and probably true on the clips breaking) ... nice lights too ...