It must have been parked near the same shop that stole @olafthelostviking heat shield.

I wouldn't think that is exactly in high demand although they're most likely not cheap.

If somebody needed a replacement for theirs, they should know it wouldn't just pull off like that.

Seeing some of those broken edges, it almost seems it would have been tapped by something to shatter the plastic.

Was the lens laying on the street near the vehicle or was it gone?

Are there any visible tool or pry marks not captured in the photo?

 

@OuchDamn,
She’s bringing the car home today so I’ll check out for specific damage. She didn’t see and broken plastic nor the lens.

 

The lens is built-in to the light, either a tree limb or a vandal broke the light.

To steal the light as a usable part you need to remove the spoiler.

High Mount Lamp - Subaru (84751SJ000)

 

Exactly! She brought the car home from LA today (we’re in OC) and I could see that it had been pried off. Such a bizarre part to steal and a hack job to boot. I fixed it with 3M tail light tape, which I am going to leave on there until she’s done with college.

 

That is a reasonable price.

 

Hey, all. I was thinking about how odd of a part it would be to steal and thought maybe the lens/light assembly was defective from the factory. Perhaps its gluing was defective and it just fell off? I’m not sure the “pry marks” I noted aren’t just glue residue.

 

Got any better pics?

 

@OuchDamn Yes, snapped a few before daughter went back to LA.

 

Is it just the lens’s that’s missing??

 

Yes.

 

We had a 2019 Forester Limited. I bumped the center hi mount brake light loading a canoe. The red plastic cover popped off and fell on the ground. It was glued or ultrasonically welded on at factory. I glued it back on. Very possible someone bumped it like me. Did not take much. Good luck!

 

I'd be concerned that water entry might cause issues for that now open to the elements circuit board, or leak into the hatch lowers. unless that tape is waterproof.. Even if it is, I doubt it will stay that way for however semesters she stays in school...

 

Look around at Pick and Pull or junk yard for a used one, or try ebay for new or used. The tape might work as you don't get snow and ice but replacing it would be the best way to go.

 

At the factory that makes those lights, they are initially two separate pieces to get the circuit board inside. They are then sonically welded together once assembled and tested.

That plastic is very hard and therefore brittle. That type of plastic is much more prone to cracking and shattering than bending. As @dougnmotio mentioned, It didn't take much of a bump to knock that lens off.

The plastic weld joint would be the most logical place for separation upon impact.

 

Is there any chance it came off in a car wash? (Obviously, not recently.)

 

I used thick FlexTape on two broken tail lights with missing pieces on a pickup i have. Water proof and has been on for 2-3 years. Not red but that's fine for the broken area. If it HAD needed to be red I'd just use a bit of Rosco Cine Gel filter.