How easy or difficult is it to replace a broken tail/brake light cover?

[gmissad]

I have a 96 Q45t and recently backed it into something and broke the tail light cover (just the one on the side, not the long one in the middle on the trunk). I've seen that you can buy replacement one's online (i.e. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...A1318).

But just wasn't sure if swapping them out was a job I could do myself or if I need to take it to a mechanic.

Anyone else do this themselves? Any help/feedback is appreciated. Thanks.

[BLACKonBLACK98]

i haven't played with my q's lights yet but it is generally a very simple job. a couple connectors and a few nuts.

[MinisterofDOOM]

They're SUPER easy to swap out. 4 nuts per side and all are easily accessible through the pass-through for changing lamps. No need to even remove any trunk trim. They're sealed to the body of the car with an asphalt seal so they're easier to remove if it's warmer, but it'll stretch. Try not to get it on anything, it's tenacious. Just redistribute it back around the original seal area so that when you replace the tail light you still get a good seal. FSM actually recommends heating it with a heat gun prior to re-application to get the best seal. I've never bothered with that but it may be worth it.I found the easiest way to get the tail lights out is to take a pair of flat-nosed pliers and press against the bolts themselves, that'll break the seal and you can pull them out from there. Pressing on the plastic will likely just break the light.

A magnetic tool will probably come in handy to help prevent dropping the nuts down into the trunk lining.

If I recall correctly, the nuts are 8mm.

[gmissad]

Great. Thanks so much to both of you for the help.