[wannahonda]

I am pretty surprised the junkyards want so much. Are there any you pull junkyards near you? I find them to be much cheaper. Or look for a parts car that someone is parting out on kijiji, fakebook marketplace etc.

The tail lights are not in big demand. I bought a used one for about $20 Canadian

 

[wannahonda]

Where did you find it for $20 Canadian? I'm also having trouble finding them less than $70 each plus shipping. Even the guy who had a pair on Marketplace wanted $100 bucks.

I found it on kijiji, bought at least one if not two more items from the same seller so I think I also got a bit of a discount for buying a bundle.

but again these are a dime a dozen, they do not sell well or quickly on the used market. A private seller I would think would be pretty motivated to get any money for it at all. Headlights, foglights are a different story. Some are of the mindset that Element owners are so crazy for their cars they will pay anything for spare parts. Some parts are rare and command good money. Tail lights are not one of those parts.

 

[wannahonda]

I'm sure there are regional variances, but the junkyards that I go to have flat-rate pricing for standard items like tail light assemblies. Prices are in USD:

Junkyard #1 - 40 mins away $24.99 if you pull it yourself, $2 admission fee

Junkyard #2 - 50 mins away $26.99 if you pull it yourself, $3 admission fee

Where do you live, @Exopthalmos ?

These are pretty reasonable prices. In the five plus years I have owned my Element I have made a lot of trips to the you pull junk yard and every single Element that I have seen there (and there have been a lot of them) have all had both tail lights still on the car. No one comes for them.

Side steps, roof racks, rear spoilers are always gone. Sometimes throttle bodies, accessories like mud flaps or hood deflectors will be gone but tail lamps are always there.