The purpose of this post is to possibly help others that may have run into a problem. Seriously this looked easy. Maybe it was at some time before the sun got to the plastic license plate housing.



The 7440A bulbs I selected were the wrong base type for my 2001 RX300. For some reason I had to use the 1156A Bayonet type.




I had to to remove the license plate lamp housing to get the lamp assemblies out. For some reason just they would not just slide right out after removing their retaining screw. I could have forced it out but would have scratched paint. The Left came out easier.



Looks like someone tried to pry the license plate housing off at one time and broke this retainer. Whatever was there was not when I took this apart.



Here is a shot looking up at the missing retainer's hole. Also notice the nylon retainer that I had to pinch its locking wings to remove license plate housing.

 

my right side license plate bulb is out....

is there an easier way to change it?

 

It's really not that hard, just two screws holding the clear plastic covers on. I invested in LED's and it worked wonders.

 

that is what I tried, I removed the 1 screw however the clear plastic cover doesn't seem to have enough clearance to remove it and I am afraid I will break it removing it, or won't be able to get it back in.

The procedure in this thread has the inner hatch panel being removed to access it from the backside, that is what makes it seem harder than it should be.

 

As long as you're careful the plastic will pop right off. It's tabbed, kind of like the interior dome and the bottom door lights.

Cheers

 

This is the way to go for sure.