Replaced tailgate around Christmas after a collision, and now noticing condensation inside a taillight. Body shop says they’re not responsible and are quoting $250 to replace. Please advice.
Edit: Thanks for all your advice. I’m going to ask my insurance if they’ll cover this as part of the original collision claim. btw, I posted the same thing to /r/mechanicadvice at the same time, and haven’t received a single reply there till now. Happy to see lemmy doing great as a reddit replacement.
Those lights are supposed to be a sealed assembly, so if there’s condensation then you need to replace the assembly. If the shop didn’t replace the assembly themselves then they’re never going to accept responsibility for an original post-collision taillight assembly.
It’s worth looking up the cost of a replacement assembly part and watching a video on how to replace before you decide to go back to the shop though. I don’t know about your car specifically, you’ll have to do the research, but on most cars I’ve worked on this is an easy repair. Good luck