My 2006 Mercury Montego failed inspection April 28, 2017 at Firestone, William Cannon Street, Austin, TX. The failure, attributable to inoperative right rear brake lights. The solution was replacement of right rear light assembly.

The manager did not automatically fix the issue because of the seeming outlandish cost of the needed part, the entire rear LED light assembly. This extreme response to a failed brake light seemed a mistake as he had expected to replace a light bulb or its equivalent or tighten some loose wires. But after exploring the Mercury repair documents, he had been convinced that Mercury had actually designed that a rear LED light failure must be repaired using this extreme measure. At this moment the auto, having a mere 45,000 miles, is unusable because the brake light does not illuminate, the car thus fails inspection, and finally the car cannot be made legal and registered for use in Texas, the place where it's garaged.

To further explain, the part described must be used to repair a failed rear light. it's non-optional. It's function is: it creates the metal enclosure and provides all pieces seen on the exterior and those within as well, all as needed for the car's rear light and protection from weather. Specifically it contains wires, wire connectors, LED lights, and presumably, openings that allow the physical connection to electrical components within sending and collecting signals from car operation, such as brake application, reversal gear engagement, and the activation of night lights, or parking lights. Physical components are contained like the reversal back-up light, that is different since it has a wraparound lens of a clear color instead of red, also wires, wire connectors, and LED lights and perhaps incandescent bulbs if not LED.

Thus the requirement imposed to repair any failure of the rear light must be extreme having to install such.

Firestone said the dealer quoted him a price of $350.00 for the needed OEM part. And this is the complaint. The fix and the cost are extreme, and designed that way.

I know that things break but the LED tail lights on my 2006 Mercury Montego WERE just ridiculous !

I had one go out and then a few years later I had another one go out and it was going to cost me double of the first one I put in. The first LED tail light assembly that I put in cost me $ 300 and the second a few years later was going to cost me over $ 600 for the same light assembly! Enough is enough, I just was not going to play this game any more!

I looked at used ones for $ 200 - $ 300 with a guarantee that they worked but I felt that was just a roll of the dice of how long it would last. I decided to see if the 2006 Ford 500 tail light assembly would fit my Montego considering they are the same body design with individual bulbs that can be changed for very little money.

Yep, they fit right in where the LED light assembly went. Holes were correct and they mounted right up but the wiring harness had to be changed for the lights to work. Ok the wiring harness sounds more complicated then it really was. I went online and bought brand new after market tail light assemblies for a 2006 Ford 500 and bought a used wiring harness. I went to the local parts store and bought the light bulbs and for a grand total of about $ 100, I had everything I needed to replace my tail lights on my 2006 Montego. I can tell you that the Ford garage will not tell you that this works and they will not do the work but if you have any mechanic/electrical abilities at all, YOU CAN DO THIS !