It’s official! The TRD Pro has its first issue and it involves tail light condensation.

Since buying this truck, I’ve noticed that the tail lights would periodically have some condensation form in the housing. At first, I didn’t think that it was that big of a deal. I’ve noticed that condensation is something that happens with a lot of newer vehicles. Maybe it’s because of cost-cutting or quality control, but it is a problem that does come up. But as we get deeper into winter and we get more and more rain, this condensation problem has become more apparent.

If you didn’t know, the Toyota Tacoma’s tail lights have vents in them. This just means that there’s a hole that allows for air to travel between the tail light housing and the outside world. Ideally, this would mean that the air inside the tail light housing would be able to mix and balance out with ambient conditions. That is, IF the vented design works.

Well, after about 3 days of straight rain, I went outside to do some work and was greeted by a set of tail lights filled with condensation. Now, it’s gotten to a point where I’m a bit concerned. This is, no doubt, the most condensation that I’ve ever had in the lights of any one of my vehicles.

Seeing this, I immediately took some pictures and sent it to the dealership where I purchased the truck. The dealership thought that this was abnormal so they wanted me to bring the truck in for a more thorough evaluation. I made an appointment for the next opening, which was the following morning.

Taking the truck in, a technician looked at the truck and immediately thought that something was wrong because there was noticeable water along the seals of my tail lights. Even though the technician believed that something was wrong, they still needed to take the truck to the back, remove the tail lights and take some pictures to send to a corporate representative. Corporate needed to approve the warranty claim before anything could be done. Realistically, even though the dealership approved the claim, corporate can still deny it. Luckily for me, my claim was approved. Now, all there was left to do is order in some new tail lights and get them installed in the Pro. This is where I ran into the only hiccup of this process. My new tail lights were on backorder. This is interesting because the tail lights are specific to the 2020 TRD Pro. You would think that Toyota would have them available. Maybe there is a widespread problem with them and Toyota is warrantying them like crazy. Who knows. Eventually, the tail lights arrived and they were installed. Luckily for me, this entire process went smoothly.

After talking to the technicians at my dealership, it is my understanding that some condensation is going to be normal. Again, there really shouldn’t be any if the tail light vents work properly but I guess it’s just a poor design. So the question is, how much condensation is too much and how much warrants getting the lights warrantied? Well, there’s no clear cut answer there. Ultimately, you just have to bring the truck in and let the dealership look at the lights. They will make the final decision. Unfortunately, this means that the consumer is at the mercy of what Toyota decides. You may have condensation in your tail lights and believe that it’s too much, but Toyota may say otherwise. My only advice is that if a dealership denies your claim and you really believe there is an issue, get a second opinion. Go to another Toyota dealership and have them check it out. Who knows, one of them might approve your claim.

During this process, I talked to other Tacoma owners to get their input on the situation. Because it’s the internet, the answers were varied. Some people have condensation while others don’t. I would say that if you are concerned, just take it into the dealership and have them check it out. Don’t forget to get some photos and video as proof to help your case.

It should also be noted that this is not an issue that’s only associated with the tail lights. This could be a problem with any of the lights on the vehicle. Be mindful of this and periodically examine your vehicle.

I’ve included a gallery of what my tail lights look like at it’s worse. Compare them to your tail lights and act accordingly.