I was trying to get my safety inspection done quickly when the mechanic told me that the rear break light was out. Its the one located by the subwoofer in the rear window.

I want to know if there is any easy way to replace this with out taking apart the trunk? Or should I just cut my losses and go to the dealership?

 

I don't think you need to take the trunk apart. Pull out the seat cushions via the straps to expose some big screws that hold the seat backs. Unscrew the bolts and remove the seat backs. Once they're out, you undo a few snaps for the cloth covering the rear shelf and expose the light. It sounds complicated, but it only takes ten minutes or so.

The center brake light is a row of LED's, though, those don't all burn out at the same time, so you might have a bad connection or a broken circuit board, and I imagine spares are expensive, so I'd stick a voltmeter into the socket and make sure the light gets 12V when the pedal is pressed, so that you know power's getting back there.

 

from what I remember, you can simply push the interior light just a fraction of an inch toward the window and it will pop out... you don't have a lot of room to play with, I know... but it just has little L clips (3 I think) that hold it to the back deck. Just fold the seat down and give the light harness a push... it should pop out and then you can access the light inside it....