Guess what! When your brake light (that white sideways U) goes out on your Subaru, you don’t have to have the whole assembly replaced, and you don’t have to take it to the dealership, and you can in fact change out that specialized, proprietary Subaru LED bulb yourself, for under $50. And if I can do it, you certainly can!

NOTE: This is based on my own experience with my 2017 Subaru Forester. If you have a different year or model YMMV (no pun intended), but it probably won’t vary by much.

First, those sideways white U lights are your brake lights, so they’re pretty important. And Subaru knows this. So when you go to check how to change your rear lights in your Subaru, and in particular that sideways U brake light, in your Subaru owner’s manual you are told “consult your Subaru dealer for replacement.”

In fact, in the user’s manual those white rear sideways U lights aren’t even given a part number, instead they are designated not by a number, but by a letter, F. As we all know, F stands for F*cked. In this case, you’re effed if you want to change the burned out bulbs in that sideways U. They want you to believe that you can’t change it out yourself. Because of course they want you to do it at the dealership or, as one post I saw called it, “the stealership”. Where you will be charged at least two limbs.

And, indeed, when you ‘consult your Subaru dealer’ you are likely to be told “you need to bring it in”, and nearly as likely to be told “we need to replace the entire light assembly; that’ll be $300 please.”

So….

How to Replace Your Own Damned Brake Light No Matter What Subaru Says, Here’s How

First things first:

Order a set of Torx drivers. Here is the set that I got, they are less than $7:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q21RPS2

Then order the LED light that you need here (NOTE that this one is specific to my 2017 Forester, if you have a different year/model you may need a different one):

https://www.subarupartsplus.com/oem-parts/subaru-bulb-84960sg000

(These are NOT affiliate links. I do not use affiliate links because I want you to know that if I am recommending something it’s because I really use it myself and recommend it, and not for financial gain.)

Once you have your LED light and Torx drivers, you are ready!

Remove the Rear Light Housing

Before you can change your Subaru brake light LED, you have to be able to access it. This means removing the light assembly/housing. Some YouTube videos will tell you that you need to pry the back end of it away from the car. DO NOT DO THAT! You will break it!

How to Remove the Rear Light Housing Assembly on your Subaru

There are two screws at the front of the housing which hold the housing to the body of your car. Remove those.

Then the rear light housing slides out by pulling it straight back. This is because the back part of it is held on by a post-and-slot fastener.

It may be slightly difficult to slide this housing off, but trust me, it will happen. Do this slowly for two reasons: 1. You don’t want to risk breaking it. and 2. There is a wired connector connecting the housing to the body of the car, which you will need to unclip.

Wired Connector

Wired Connector Disconnected

Changing Out the LED Rear Brake Light

Once you have the rear light housing disconnected from the body of the car, gently set it down and look for this:

Brake Light LED Bulb*

Brake Light LED Bulb Closeup*

*I could have sworn that I took pictures exactly like the two above to include in this tutorial, however they seem to have disappeared from my phone. The above two pictures are credit to Reddit and, specifically, drinkythedrunkguy on Reddit.

Now take your Torx driver (I found that it was the #15) and remove that darned Torx screw.

Once you’ve removed the Torx screw, slide your LED brake light bulb out, and unclip it.

Clip the new bulb back in, slide it into place, and screw the Torx screw back in.

New Subaru LED Brake Light Bulb

Business End of Subaru LED Brake Light Bulb

New Subaru LED Brake Light Clipped in and About to Be Put Back In

Now just re-connect the wire between the housing and the body of the car, slide the housing back into place, replace the screws, and you’re done!

Reminder: I do not use affiliate links because I want you to know that if I am recommending something it's because I really use it myself and recommend it, and not for financial gain. And I try to offer helpful information as I find or figure it out. But it does cost me money out of my pocket to keep the site running (since 2006!), so if you find something I've written helpful, please consider letting me know via CashApp, Venmo, or Paypal.

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