[2008 Ford Focus]

Hi,

I have a 2008 Focus (SES sedan, five speed, no ambient lighting, silver, no mods) I absolutely love it, but the interior lighting in the rear is very poor. It is hard to buckle my daughter's car seat. I noticed that later 2009+ years have a extra rear light and that would be ideal, but probably expensive. I was wondering if any of you folks have a good solution to this problem.

BTW: my five year daughter asks me all the time why there is no light in the rear of the car, I wish the ford engineers asked the same question when designing this car.

I think you guys are great and I am glad you like your focus
As much as I do. The auto reviewers did not like our car much, but I can say after owning it for three years and having 34,000 miles on it without one issue, it is the best car I ever owned!

2008 Ford Focus

 

[bacon1992]

Cheapest thing to do is but a 12" led strip from advanced auto or something. Run wire from the to a switch and then to the light. You could mount the light in the headliner real simply and put the switch wither up there too or on the dash or wherever you'd like really. Street glow LED strips would work fine for this. The materials needed would be wire, LED strip, guerilla glue, and a rocker switch. The wiring is simple but getting into the headliner takes a bit of time. The cost would be about 25 bucks and a days work. Expect to take your time when pulling panels... there's always a hidden screw or two.

 

[Sniper Focus]

It's semi-common to do a rear dome light conversion in the 00-07 cars, I did my own and I sold a few light conversion "kits" to some people. They come from the wagon cars and when your done it looks nice and OEM.

 

[jocee88]

Cheapest thing to do is but a 12" led strip from advanced auto or something. Run wire from the to a switch and then to the light. You could mount the light in the headliner real simply and put the switch wither up there too or on the dash or wherever you'd like really. Street glow LED strips would work fine for this. The materials needed would be wire, LED strip, guerilla glue, and a rocker switch. The wiring is simple but getting into the headliner takes a bit of time. The cost would be about 25 bucks and a days work. Expect to take your time when pulling panels... there's always a hidden screw or two.

Thats exactly what I did. I ran into the same problem with it being so dark while putting my newborn daughter in her car seat in the back. I wired in 2 12" LED strips( I believe they were from Walmart) on either side in the headliner above the rear door. I ran the wires up to the front map lights and tapped the wires into the drivers side. So now the LED strips come on when I open any door, push the drivers side map light to come on, or the interior light switch near the headlight switch. It made a world of difference and only took about half an hour to complete.

The LED strips come with a 3M adhesive backing. But it wouldn't stick to the weatherstripping because it isn't smooth. So I put it in between where the headliner and weatherstripping meet.

 

[gtferrari]

The '11 foci have a single white led above each rear door located where the coat hanger would be. Seems to do the job.

 

[MrTubbs]

Or, if you don't want to mess around, go to the hardware store and get a battery LED light that you can just tap on and off when you buckle up your kid in the back. Probably would cost you $5 w/batteries.

 

[2008 Ford Focus]

Thanks Mr. Tubbs I will look for the little light and attach it in an appropriate spot near my daughter's car seat.

2008 Ford Focus