We've just purchased an es300 and the rear lift tail light is burned out. I'm trying to figure out how to remove the light cover to change the bulb. Is there one bolt behind the carpet in the trunk that I need to un bolt to loosen the cover. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

The tools you need here are a set of needle nose pliers and an 8mm socket wrench (the long kind). Pop the trunk, and carefully pull up the plastic trunk sill that runs the width of your car (a little force is needed here). Use your nose pliers to pluck out the (4) plastic peg covers on the side trunk carpet covering, located behind the license plate area. Then pull down the carpet covering to reveal the skeletal frame of your tailights (if the trunk light plastic cover gets in the way, you can pop that out too).

Here, you'll see at least (7) 8mm size bolts (I can't remember the exact #). All of these bolts hold the tailights in place, and tailight removal is necessary in order to get to your tailight bulbs. I believe you need to unscrew (4) of those bolts to remove the tailights, but unfortunately I don't remember exactly which ones, though the bolts should be symmetric on both tailights. You can remove all the bolts that you see, but I remember when I had my '96 ES that only a few of those bolts are needed to be removed. Sorry I can't be more specific.

After you remove the bolts, carefully pull the tailights away from the trunk area and place them on the bumper (you do not need to remove any wiring or cables). With the tailights out, you can easily see the tailight bulbs. Pull the old ones out. Now you need to wear rubber or latex gloves so that no oil or grease gets on the new bulbs. With your gloves on, place each of the new bulbs into its socket (you'll hear a click when it's locked in).

Reverse the steps here to put your tailights back into place, turn on your lights and check your new bulb(s), and you're all set. Hope this info helps