Rear Lamp (Tail Light) Replacement Guide

Rear lamps (also known as tail lights, rear lights or tail lamps) are positioned at the rear of the vehicle. They enable safer operation of the vehicle during the hours of darkness. Exterior lights on vehicles increase its visibility to other road users and pedestrians. Rear lamps are multifunctional, they usually act as the brake, reverse, indicator and fog lights. Due to their important safety feature it is illegal to drive if they are not in a fully working order. Driving with malfunctioning or broken lamps means you pose a higher risk of causing or being involved in a road traffic accident. Rear lamps are scrutinised during the NCT (National Car Test). They can result in an NCT failure for the following reasons:

Once you have read the guide below you can enter your registration number in the ID Your Car Section of our Rear Lamps page and use the filtering options on the left hand side to filter the search results. 1. Light Function 2. Fitment / Body Type 3. Indicator Colour 4. Date Limitation 5. Light Design/Type 6. Lens Colour 7. Fitting Position 8. Number of Light Functions 9. Section 1. Light Function Rear lamps have several functions, the most common ones are listed below. To ensure you purchase the correct tail light from our website, compare each of the functions listed in the product details with the functions that your rear lamp has.

2. Fitment / Body Type Rear lamps tend to vary in shape and size depending on the body type of the vehicle. The most common body types are shown below.

Body Types & Styles

3. Indicator Colour Indicators must emit an amber colour. There are two methods used in the automotive industry to do this. Some rear lamps will use use a clear bulb with an amber coloured lens, while others will use an amber bulb and a clear coloured lens. Both of these methods will emit an amber coloured light. Examples of both are illustrated below.

4. Date Limitation As car manufacturers regularly update the shape of their models; some lamps will only fit a particular model of car for a specific number of years. As an example, the rear lamp below will only fit a Volkswagen Bora between the years 1998 - 2003. 5. Light Design or Type There are two main types of lighting used in the automotive industry. These are halogen and LED's (Light Emitting Diodes). LED’s are made up of multiple small modules or diodes that emit light. It’s important to know that LED rear lamps come with the LED panel as a single unit and there is no need to purchase any other parts. Halogen lamps use bulbs rather than LED panels to produce light. It's important to be aware that some lamps are compromised of both.

LED Lamp Design

Halogen Lamp Design

6. Lens Colour Rear lamps tend to have multicoloured lenses varying from amber, red, smoke grey to clear. Refer to your own tail light to ensure it matches with the tail light on our website. The colours will also be clearly stated in the product description.

7.Fitting Position Rear lamps vary from the passenger's side to driver’s side and it's important to make sure you purchase the correct one for the side that needs to be replaced. There are two options: Left (Passenger Side) or Right (Driver Side). 8. Number of Light Functions Rear lamps have several functions as mentioned above. A tail light that contains the reverse light, stop light (brake light), indicator and tail light (parking light) all in the same unit has a total 4 light functions. 9. Section This refers the position of the lamp and there are two variations: Outer or Inner. Some rear lamps are spread across multiple panels. The image below shows the rear lamps of a BMW that are on the rear bumper as well as on the boot lid. Inner is the part of the rear lamp that is on the inside or on the boot. lid. Whereas outer refers to the part of the lamp that is on the outer section.