Reverse light

A reverse light is the white lamp at the back of a car that comes on by itself the moment reverse gear is selected. It lights the ground behind the car and tells anyone nearby that the car is about to move backwards, and brighter LED versions are fitted where the standard bulb gives too little light.It lives in the rear light cluster on most cars, in the bumper or the tailgate on others. A switch on a manual gearbox, or the gear selector's own sensor on an automatic, turns it on and off with the gear, so there is no button for it anywhere in the cabin. Sellers file car reverse lights under several names: a reverse lamp, reversing lights, or back up lights in North America.The signs it needs replacing:

• No white light in reverse: the bulb, the bulb holder, or the switch on the gearbox.
• One side dark on a two-lamp car: usually the bulb, sometimes a corroded holder.
• Condensation inside the lens: the seal has failed, and the water will corrode the bulb contacts next.
• A light that flickers over bumps: chafed wiring in the tailgate loom, which bends with every opening.
• A cracked or milky lens: lets water in, scatters the beam, and spoils the back of the car.
• Light stuck on in other gears: the switch has jammed closed and needs replacing.

Reversing lights are part of the MOT on any car first used from 1 September 2009: the tester checks every reversing lamp fitted, all of them must work, and all must show a white light to the rear. On older cars they are not part of the test.A dead unit means shopping, and shopping for one the usual way means a browser full of tabs, the same car typed into search box after search box, and no easy way to hold two offers side by side.Parthunt24 gathers used reverse light listings from leading used parts marketplaces such as Ovoko, ProxyParts, eBay, TotalParts, Opisto, Ecooparts, Ricambipro, and Autoparts24 into a single list, where all 23 offers sit together, each showing its reverse light price, its side, and its condition.

Rear lights all glow the same colour, and almost none of them interchange.Side is the mistake people make: on many European cars there is one reverse light on one side and a rear fog lamp mirroring it on the other, so the left and right units are different parts and the wrong one leaves you holding a fog lamp.A car has either one or two reverse lights. The rules allow a maximum of two and, on newer cars, require at least one, so plenty of models carry a single reverse light paired with a rear fog lamp on the opposite side, while others fit a matched pair, one in each rear cluster.Start from the OEM number stamped into the housing, then look at the body: hatchback, saloon, estate, and van rears each carry their own lights, and a facelift often redraws them mid-life. An LED unit is no substitute for a halogen one, a light built into the main tail cluster is a different purchase from a separate unit in the bumper, and the plug on the back has to click into your loom. Check whether the bulb holder comes with it too, or whether yours has to move across.Use the filters down the left to set the car, and the list thins to lights that fit it. Open the one that suits and the listing appears on its original marketplace, seller's write-up and checkout together on one page.

• Vehicle make, model, and year: A facelift often brings redesigned rear lights on the same body.
• OEM part number: Printed on the housing, and the one sure way to match it.
• Left or right side: Many cars pair a single reverse light with a fog lamp opposite, so sides differ.
• Body style: Hatchback, saloon, estate, and van rears each carry their own lights.
• Light type: LED and halogen reverse lights do not swap for one another.
• Tail light assembly compatibility: Some sit inside the main tail cluster; others are a separate small unit.
• Connector type: The plug on the unit has to click straight into your car’s loom.
• Bulb holder included: Some units arrive with the holder; others reuse the one from your old light.
• Region / market version: Lighting rules differ between markets, so layouts and lenses change with them.
• Lens and housing condition: Cracks, moisture inside, or snapped tabs mean it will not seal or sit straight.

On the seller's own page, treat the light as two things at once: a lens that must keep water out, and a contact that must carry current.Water is what finishes rear lights, so a clear photo of the seal and the back of the housing tells you more about how long it will last than any picture of the lens.Go down the listing for:

• Photos: the lens, the seal round the back, the mounting tabs, and the plug.
• Seller reputation: a long-established seller with a deep catalogue and feedback to match.
• Compatibility: OEM number, side, and light type held up against your own car.
• Included components: holder and bulbs in place, or lens and housing only?
• Condition: hairline cracks, misted glass, water marks inside, snapped tabs.
• Testing: word that it lit on the bench before it went in the box.
• Warranty and returns: read the terms, since a leak only shows after the first wet week.
• Shipping: a lens cracks easily in the post, so bubble wrap inside a stiff box matters.
• Documentation: the donor vehicle and which side of it the light came off.

If the seal, the tabs, and the number all pass, place the order there and then on the seller’s marketplace of choice.

The reverse light price hangs on whether you are buying a small separate unit or the whole rear cluster it sits in.A separate used reverse lamp runs about €5-€25, a halogen tail light with the reverse light built in €20-€70, and full-LED clusters from newer or better-equipped cars €70-€200.The lowest reverse light price on Parthunt24 is 5.00, and comparing prices across the page shows quickly what moves them:

• LED or halogen: an led reversing light costs several times its halogen equivalent.
• Separate unit or full cluster: a whole tail assembly asks more than the lamp alone.
• Side: the reverse-light side is the scarcer one on single-lamp cars.
• What comes with it: a holder, bulbs, and a stub of loom save a second purchase.
• Model rarity: lights for big-selling cars are cheap, rare ones much dearer.
• Condition: a dry, uncracked lens with its tabs intact takes the best price.

Sort the results by price and the best deal that actually fits your side and body style is the first one on the Parthunt24 screen.

Every bulb at the back of the car went in on the same day and has burned for the same hours, so one failure is usually the first of several. While the cluster is out of the car, give each of these a once-over on Parthunt24:

• Rear lights: the full clusters either side, where the reverse light most often lives.
• Rear bumper light: the low lamps set into the bumper on many hatchbacks and SUVs.
• Rear fog light: the red lamp that sits opposite a single reverse light.
• Tailgate light: the inner lights on the bootlid, fed by the loom that flexes with it.
• Third brake light: the high-level brake lamp, whose LEDs go out strip by strip.
• Number plate light: small and cheap, and an MOT fail when it is out.
• Reverse light switch: the gearbox switch that fires the light, and the usual fault when both bulbs test fine.
• Reversing camera: wakes with the reverse light and runs through the same tailgate wiring.

Bulbs age by hours lit, not by miles, so renew the neighbouring ones while the cluster is already in your hands.

You already know the side you need and the body it has to suit, so finding one should not swallow an evening. Yet that is how it usually goes: a lift to a breaker across town for a lamp they turn out not to have, phone photos of the old unit sent to sellers who answer tomorrow, and a week later still no white light. Parthunt24 collapses all of that into one search: every reverse light listed on the continent's used-parts marketplaces, the lowest reverse light price first and the seller one click away.No middleman ever enters it. Each advert is a breaker's own page, reached directly, paid directly.Compare reverse light prices, pick the seller that reads best, and be holding the right lamp before the week is out.