Tail and brake light bulbs for your car

What to check before you buy

• Find the bulb number for each rear lamp in your owner's manual before you buy.
• Buy the same number as the old bulb: a bulb that works as both tail and brake light has two filaments.
• If your car has LED tail lights built into the lamp, there may be no bulb to change.
• Test the tail and brake lights after the change, with a helper pressing the brake pedal.

How to use it

1. Open the trunk or tailgate and remove the cover or panel behind the lamp.
2. Turn the bulb socket counterclockwise and pull it out of the lamp.
3. Pull the old bulb out (or push in and turn it if it has a metal base) and fit a new bulb with the same number.
4. Put the socket back, test the lights, then close the panel.

Good to know

• On some cars one bulb does both jobs: it has two filaments, a dim one for the tail light and a bright one for the brake light.^1,2,3
• Common stop and tail bulb numbers include 1157, 3157 and 7443.^2,4,5,6,7
• Your owner's manual lists the right bulb for each lamp on your car.^8,9
• On some cars the tail and brake lights are LEDs built into the lamp unit, with no bulb to change; if they fail, the lamp unit is replaced.^10,11,12
• Putting LED bulbs in place of standard bulbs can set off dashboard warning lights on some cars; load equalizers (resistors) and CAN-bus LED bulbs with built-in resistors are made to stop this.^8,13,14
• US state rules require stop lamps (brake lights), and tail lights must be red.^15,16,17,18
• Check your brake lights now and then: have a helper press the brake pedal while you watch from behind.^12,19,20

How we checked this page

Checked on October 17, 2026. We kept a fact only when two independent sources agree, and each one is numbered to its sources below. We never write a price: the listings come straight from eBay and show what sellers ask. This page was written with an AI assistant and checked against the sources below.

Sources

1. DIY tail light installation, O'Reilly Auto Parts
2. Are brake light and tail light bulbs interchangeable? (Alvin Reyes, 2026), Jalopnik
3. Automotive lighting, Wikipedia
4. Ultinon LED 3157 product sheet (stop / tail), Philips (Lumileds)
5. Ultinon LED 7443 product sheet (stop / tail), Philips (Lumileds)
6. Ultinon LED 1157 product sheet (stop / tail), Philips (Lumileds)
7. List of automotive light bulb types, Wikipedia
8. Product FAQ, SYLVANIA Automotive
9. Replace brake light bulbs, NAPA
10. Tail lamp / tail and stop lamp (LED type) bulb replacement (owner's manual), Kia
11. Rear combination light replacement (2025 owner's manual), Hyundai
12. How to check your car's brake lights (Ronny Brown, 2016), YourMechanic
13. LED load equalizer, SYLVANIA Automotive
14. CAN bus LED bulbs: FAQ (2023), Super Bright LEDs
15. Vehicle inspection: lighting, Texas Department of Public Safety
16. California Vehicle Code section 24603 (stoplamps), State of California (via public.law)
17. California Vehicle Code section 24600 (taillamps), State of California (via public.law)
18. Interpretation letter on FMVSS No. 108 (1975), NHTSA
19. How to replace a brake light (2024), Nationwide
20. 7 easy steps to checking your car lights (James MacPherson, 2024), AAA