Mechanic’s daughter visits in her Honda Element, but what he discovers about her brake lights changes his mind on LED bulbs forever

Mechanic Eric, who goes by @ericthecarguy on TikTok, is now taking out all aftermarket LED bulbs from his cars after a scary experience with his daughter’s vehicle. He shared his story on TikTok, explaining why he’s going back to traditional filament bulbs. Eric says the LED upgrades have caused too many reliability problems.

According to Motor1, the problem became clear when Eric’s daughter came to visit him in her Honda Element. Right away, Eric noticed something dangerous: her brake lights weren’t working at all. The aftermarket LED bulbs had completely stopped working.

Eric showed the failed LED bulbs in his TikTok video and didn’t hold back his thoughts. He said these LED parts were in his daughter’s Honda Element, and while regular filament bulbs do burn out sometimes, he’s frustrated by how often LED replacements fail. He now plans to remove LED bulbs from all his vehicles and switch back to regular bulbs.

The real danger of brake light failures

When brake lights don’t work, the risks are serious. Cars without working brake lights can easily get hit from behind. Around 264,000 car accidents happen each year in the U.S. because of brake-related problems. While this number includes mechanical failures, broken lights are a dangerous problem that can be avoided. Honda owners have faced costly repair quotes from mechanics for various vehicle issues.

The issue with LED bulbs goes deeper than just the bulbs burning out. When you replace a regular bulb with an LED in modern cars, it can cause electrical problems. Many newer cars use body control modules that check if bulbs are working properly. These systems test the old-style filaments to see if they’re still good.

When you put in an LED bulb instead, the car’s system gets confused. This can lead to false warnings saying a bulb is out. Even worse, the confusion can cause bigger problems like the car not starting or a dead battery. Some companies add resistors to fix this, but that removes the energy-saving benefits that LEDs are supposed to provide.

Heat is another big problem for LED bulbs. While people expect LED bulbs to last up to 50,000 hours, they often fail much sooner. LED bulbs are sensitive electronic parts that can wear out and get dimmer over time instead of just burning out completely. Cheap aftermarket LEDs especially fail early because of poor quality parts and bad heat control.

People have mixed opinions about LED bulbs. Under Eric’s video, some commenters said quality matters, and that major bulb brands make good LED replacements. “I went through the same thing. Some last a long time, but many don’t. Not worth the headache. When back to standard filament bulbs for the consistency and reliability.

Would love to see someone come out with a quality LED replacement bulb lineup that isn’t absurdly expensive,” one user commented. “It all depend on the brand. I put some Auxito in my 2001 F150 with a LED relay. Haven’t had an issue. Your vehicles, your choices. Stay dirty,” another wrote.

Some people like LEDs for reverse lights but not for tail lights that stay on all the time. Similar to auto workers dealing with unexpected issues, mechanics often face tough decisions about recommending aftermarket parts.