# Camry Brake Light + The Obvious



## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

I knew one of my brake lights was out. The left one, to be precise. But apathy reigned supreme for a few days last week and I thought, "meh, I'll get it fixed tomorrow". Completely forgetting that for some unknown reason my vehicle seems to attract cops like moths to a... umm... light bulb.

So of course America's Finest decides to pull me over and highlight the obvious disadvantage of my being too lazy to fix the light, which I now know takes the form of a $25 fix-it ticket.

Laziness continued to be a personal theme, so I took the Camry into Pep Boys, bought a stop light bulb and asked them to fit it. The guy behind the counter said he was going to check in his online workshop manual and then looks up half a minute later. "That'll be $110 in labor", he said.

"Huh?", I said.

"Yeah, it's 1.25 hours' labor; apparently you have to take the trunk trim apart to get to the bulbs."

So I left with my new bulb and took it to a local back street shop. The guy there also typed the VIN number into his computer and consulted some kind of manual. "$68", he said. I tried to think of some kind of "how many mechanics does it take to change a light bulb?" wisecrack, but I had nothing.

Enough was enough. It was time for action. I popped the trunk of the car, removed two pushpin-type fasteners holding the trunk trim against the chassis, pulled back the trim, reached my hand in and pulled out the old bulb. Then pushed the new one in, then replaced the trim. Time elapsed, approximately four minutes.

So, the (obvious) moral of the story is:

Forget Ubering, open a car repair shop and make bank.


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## Kalee (Feb 18, 2015)

This is a beauty. LOL


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

elelegido said:


> I knew one of my brake lights was out. The left one, to be precise. But apathy reigned supreme for a few days last week and I thought, "meh, I'll get it fixed tomorrow". Completely forgetting that for some unknown reason my vehicle seems to attract cops like moths to a... umm... light bulb.
> 
> So of course America's Finest decides to pull me over and highlight the obvious disadvantage of my being too lazy to fix the light, which I now know takes the form of a $25 fix-it ticket.
> 
> ...


Just don't forget to get ticket signed off and paid or you may have an arrest warrant issued for you.

Also, my 25 dllr cellphone ticket turned into 176 dllrs, with add on BS fees.


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## Fauxknight (Aug 12, 2014)

Word to the wise, if you know a light is out replace is ASAP.

Also doing your own maintenance can save a lot of money, most bulbs, filters, and the like aren't really that hard to replace. Having items replaced at a dealer or shop usually means either the item is marked up significantly or you pay the installation fees. Go to a cheap auto store, use your Momentum discount (I've used the 10% Auto Zone a couple of times) if you have no other coupons and just buy the item and replace it yourself. Most of these items that you can/should be replacing yourself have directions in the cars owners manual.

Going to have Toyota order me replacement wiper blades soon. Most places sell you the whole assembly that goes on the J-hook, but if you can get just the OEM rubber blades they're a lot cheaper.


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

I got a Lyft ping last night from the cop who gave me the brake light ticket. She didn't recognize me at first; she was just chatting away with her boyfriend about her being bored when she wasn't at work. The boyfriend responded by saying that he wanted her to put him in the back of a squad car. She was quite hot, so thoughts of her twirling a pair of handcuffs and such things had also crossed my mind.

Anyway, she was pretty normal, except after I told her I knew who she was - after that she went into cop mode. At the end of the ride, instead of saying the usual "at the corner's fine" she said, "pull over ahead where it is safe to do so" LOL. But she was still pretty nice, and she did sign the fix-it ticket for me.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

elelegido said:


> I knew one of my brake lights was out. The left one, to be precise. But apathy reigned supreme for a few days last week and I thought, "meh, I'll get it fixed tomorrow". Completely forgetting that for some unknown reason my vehicle seems to attract cops like moths to a... umm... light bulb.
> 
> So of course America's Finest decides to pull me over and highlight the obvious disadvantage of my being too lazy to fix the light, which I now know takes the form of a $25 fix-it ticket.
> 
> ...


I just sweet talk the O'Reilly guys into doing it for me.

Hey women make 78 cents on the $. I use what I have!


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## HotUberMess (Feb 25, 2018)

I have changed six headlights on my Mazda since I started driving because I drive a lot at night. It takes no less than an hour and a half, a jack stand if you have breasts, a good memory since the fog lights aren’t even listed as the right bulb in WalMart’s parts guide OR in Autozone’s computer, a screwdriver, a ratchet set, replacement fasteners since you will break your brittle old fasteners, and the ability to work blind since you can’t see **** when your own arm is wedged in there unclamping the bulb.. oh and if you’re on the passenger side you have to do it left-handed..

If I could afford to pay someone to do my headlights I definitely would.


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## dctcmn (Sep 21, 2017)

HotUberMess said:


> I have changed six headlights on my Mazda since I started driving because I drive a lot at night. It takes no less than an hour and a half, a jack stand if you have breasts, a good memory since the fog lights aren't even listed as the right bulb in WalMart's parts guide OR in Autozone's computer, a screwdriver, a ratchet set, replacement fasteners since you will break your brittle old fasteners, and the ability to work blind since you can't see **** when your own arm is wedged in there unclamping the bulb.. oh and if you're on the passenger side you have to do it left-handed..
> 
> If I could afford to pay someone to do my headlights I definitely would.


The headlights on my Subaru are ridiculous to replace. I let the 'pros' at Valvoline Instant Oil Change replace them for $29 each. It usually takes them an hour and 3-4 'pros' to get them changed. Seeing as the cheapest Sylvania headlights are a minimum $15/each, its worth the extra $14/each to have them do it.

I don't trust them to change my oil, but they can change my headlights all day long (literally).


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## HotUberMess (Feb 25, 2018)

dctcmn said:


> The headlights on my Subaru are ridiculous to replace. I let the 'pros' at Valvoline Instant Oil Change replace them for $29 each. It usually takes them an hour and 3-4 'pros' to get them changed. Seeing as the cheapest Sylvania headlights are a minimum $15/each, its worth the extra $14/each to have them do it.
> 
> I don't trust them to change my oil, but they can change my headlights all day long (literally).


You are THE MAN, I live .5 miles from a VOC place and never thought to try there. Muah!


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## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

1.25 hours of LABOR?

Lols..

I've seen the Mechs at the taxi lot change a bulb in the camry's in about 45 seconds.

5 minutes to swap a back seat,

25 minutes for an ENTIRE DOOR. (that's including taking the old one off and hooking all the wires and what-not back together)


These shops are milking the crap out of everything they do. Most good mechanics will bill out 15-25 hours of labor a day EACH, 30 if the shop is shady enough, and not even put in any OT on a 40 hour week.

HOWEVER, one needs to remember..

This is how they make their money, They need to pay for the building, the tools, everything they do has to come from the installation fees. The justification for charging what they do is labor times that... well... are completely made up.


One time i called out the Toyota garage on the labor cost to change some sensor or some crap...

Out of experience i knew how long it *SHOULD* have taken to do the fix, but i couldn't borrow an impact wrench to get the darned thing taken apart and put back together.

"i know your labor is bunch of BS, but i'm going to pay for it anyway because i can't do the job myself. You guys do a good job"

The mechanic guy just looked at me... like when your hand is in the cookie jar and your mom tells you "you ate all your salad at dinner so go ahead"

I drive a taxi. Soo.. i get where they are coming from with the charging money so they can turn a profit.

If i could do it myself i could save money.. But that is the same with literally anything.

I'm OK with someone making a profit while providing a service. Because that's the way the world works. You should be OK with that to.

Money makes the world go round. And nothing (except uber) is sold below cost.


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## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

elelegido said:


> I knew one of my brake lights was out. The left one, to be precise. But apathy reigned supreme for a few days last week and I thought, "meh, I'll get it fixed tomorrow". Completely forgetting that for some unknown reason my vehicle seems to attract cops like moths to a... umm... light bulb.
> 
> So of course America's Finest decides to pull me over and highlight the obvious disadvantage of my being too lazy to fix the light, which I now know takes the form of a $25 fix-it ticket.
> 
> ...


Or better yet, come up with a stocked mobile service van for the more simple light bulbs, wiper blades, etc services! UberSERVICE??


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## JTTwentySeven (Jul 13, 2017)

elelegido said:


> I knew one of my brake lights was out. The left one, to be precise. But apathy reigned supreme for a few days last week and I thought, "meh, I'll get it fixed tomorrow". Completely forgetting that for some unknown reason my vehicle seems to attract cops like moths to a... umm... light bulb.
> 
> So of course America's Finest decides to pull me over and highlight the obvious disadvantage of my being too lazy to fix the light, which I now know takes the form of a $25 fix-it ticket.
> 
> ...


Dealerships are no better. I brought my car in for something, then asked if they can change out my tag light. They said it'll be $60 for labor, plus like $5 bucks for the bulb. Nu uh, I went to Autozone and got LED tag lights (not the cheap standard ones), spent maybe $14 bucks on them and changed them out in 10 minutes.

Same with engine and cabin filters. They quote you around $50 to $70 bucks at a quick 10 minute oil change place to replace them. I just bought two new ones myself, like $12 bucks each and changed them both out within 5 minutes. These places are rip offs.


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## Fauxknight (Aug 12, 2014)

HotUberMess said:


> I have changed six headlights on my Mazda since I started driving because I drive a lot at night. It takes no less than an hour and a half, a jack stand if you have breasts, a good memory since the fog lights aren't even listed as the right bulb in WalMart's parts guide OR in Autozone's computer, a screwdriver, a ratchet set, replacement fasteners since you will break your brittle old fasteners, and the ability to work blind since you can't see **** when your own arm is wedged in there unclamping the bulb.. oh and if you're on the passenger side you have to do it left-handed..
> 
> If I could afford to pay someone to do my headlights I definitely would.


Sucks that some cars are made like that, like the Chevys that you have to remove the bumper to get to. Changed 6 headlight bulbs in my PriusC, got to the point where I tried to keep a spare in the glove box. It took me around 30 seconds to swap in a new bulb in that thing, and my Fit looks like it will probably be just as easy. The tail lights in my PriusC were easy as well, just needed a wrench and a few seconds to pop out one of the tail light assemblies.


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## Adieu (Feb 21, 2016)

Get LEDs kids.


PS reputable China brands from Amazon (no that's no longer an oxymoron)... NOT overpriced & atrocious autozone or walmart crap, that stuff is dim and a fire hazard


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