If you’ve spent as much time hanging around in taillight bars as I have, I’m pretty sure you’ve encountered these two phrases: “vega’d” and “teecee’d.” They both mean pretty much the same thing, though the former term is more popular among older taillight enthusiasts, and the latter by the youths. The reason they both mean the same thing is because they reference the same deadly sin, a callous victory of perfidy over performance, of cheapness over quality, as expressed in two very different taillights. The common meaning for both terms is something like being lied to, perhaps “gaslit,” or sometimes just a lie in general. The terms come from the Chevy Vega and Scion tC, respectively. Let’s dig into why this is the case.
The reason these cars have lent their names to terms about lies or lying in the Taillight Community is pretty straightforward: both had taillights that, well, lied. Perhaps “lied” isn’t exactly the right word; these taillights were deceptive, let’s say. They both appeared to be things they actually weren’t, and in the case of one, the reason was pretty simple: cheapness. In the case of the other, it’s kind of a mystery.
Let’s start with the older car, the Chevy Vega. I’ve actually written about this before, how the Vega’s 1976 taillight redesign, which had such promise and hope with its amber rear indicators, proved to be a miserable fraud. Yes, the taillight lenses had amber sections that one would reasonably think were for the indicators, when in reality they were just inert dummy sections, without even a provision for a bulb:
Dear lord, that is just shameful. GM’s bean counters couldn’t even spring for two extra bulbs and sockets for the car, a decision they seem to have made well after the taillights were designed. There’s a reason these taillights became synonymous with lies!
Of course, it didn’t take long for most of the remaining Vegas to rust themselves off of the roads and highways, so for younger members of the taillight community, the reference to Vegas when talking about being “vega’d” just didn’t really click, with most of them never having even seen a Vega, let alone its lying rear indicators. The concept of the term was good, but it really needed a new point of reference.
Enter the Scion tC.
Yes, Scion stepped up here, with their attractive little sporty coupé. Built from 2004 to 2016, these appealing little cars were certainly well-known in the Taillight Community, and they had a trait similar to the Vega: a lying taillight.
Now, in the case of the tC, it was just one, not both lights, but that was enough to make the term work. The tC’s lie was in its right-side reverse lamp:
Yes, even though it looked from the outside just like the left side, for some reason Scion decided to cheap out and not include a bulb or socket in the right side reverse light housing. If you don’t believe me or the various confused owners on forums wondering where the hell their other back-up light is, perhaps you’ll believe Scion’s own owner’s manual:
Look at that: note the pointedly singular use of “light” in the upper diagram, then the full-on (if parenthetical) admission of “(left side only)” gives away the whole game. Just one back-up light. Now, this is actually perfectly legal under US law, as the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards No. 108 only requires one white-light reverse/backup lamp:
…and Scion had availed themselves to this mono-lamp requirement before, on the second-gen xB, though they did it then with a great deal more honesty:
See, at least with the xB, there’s no attempt at obfuscation; it’s very clearly just one functional reverse lamp, and there are no confusing other clear sections of taillight that look like they should be reverse lamps, but aren’t, as is the case with the tC.
So the tC’s left taillight is absolutely a liar. I just can’t figure out why.
Was this all just cost-savings? If so, even that doesn’t make sense. There were cheaper Toyotas of the era that somehow managed to have two reverse lights; even the cheapest Scion at the time, the xD, managed to be generous enough to allow for a lavish two bulbs when reversing. So why did the tC only get one? Especially when the taillights looked like they were designed to have one per side?
I thought maybe in European markets, that right side section was used for a rear fog lamp, fitted with a high-intensity red bulb? Maybe, though I’ve yet to confirm that. And, later updates of the tC did include what looked to be a central rear foglamp lens:
…but, from what I have seen online, at least in America this was just a lens and plastic housing (not even a retroreflector) that could have had a bulb socket and bulb, but didn’t. There are instructions on how to actually make it functional, though, if you’re interested.
I guess this will just have to remain one of the great taillight mysteries, but I do think that the Scion tC’s fate as having lying taillights is well-established, and we’ll be hearing about how untrustworthy people have been teeceeing people for years to come.
That’s what you get for being so cheap with your taillights, Toyota.
Another sin of the TC is that the center mount light only has LEDs in the center third of the lamp. I once failed a TC during a NC state inspection because I thought the LEDs were burned out, come to find out a week later after the customer bought a new lamp that it was only 1/3 lit from the factory. I live with the guilt of that action 15 years later…
Came here for this, and I thought the article was going to be about that (in regards to the Scion); I couldn’t understand why they went with the “look” of a full 3rd brake light, but the reality was only the middle of the night actually lit. After seeing it in person on several cars, I realized it was a factory thing, not the bulbs going out and the owners not replacing them.
Also, never knew that about the Vega-interesting!
On the 2010-2012 Ford Mustangs, we get 4 reverse lights!
Hi Jason. We all like a grammar pedant! I just want to say that while I love your work I’m pretty certain it “gaslighted” rather than “gaslit” based on the term referencing the film Gaslight.
That’s not what it’s actually from, you’re nuts
/s
True, it’s from the play Gaslight. Pedants assemble!
Speaking of reverse lights, are there any regs on what angle they need to be visible from?
Old school incandescent bulbs have a wide viewing angle, but I’ve noticed a lot of newer cars with LED reverse lights have an incredibly narrow viewing angle. If you’re more than a few degrees off center, the lights are invisible, especially in daylight.
I own a 2012 tc they fixed it after 2011 it was def a choice.
The 1G Mazda 6 was the same way. The tail light sections on the trunk lid had provisions for bulbs, we were provided the SOCKET for the bulb, but there were no wires going to the socket and no bulb in them. It’s a popular free modification in the community to run a coupe wires and add a bulb. I know the sedan’s are this way, I am not sure about the wagon.
I miss cars like the first-gen Scion tC and second-gen xB. What’ve we got for cheap and cheerful now, the Nissan Versa? It’s not awful, but it doesn’t have the reputational goodness of an oughts Toyota, nor does it come in a few different interesting shapes.
🙁 Starting off my Wednesday a bit morose I suppose.
My guess is the tC was like this for RHD markets, so they used the same mold but moved the light from the left to the right as typically that one reverse light has to be on the driver side or central, it cannot be on the passenger side of the car, or at least I’ve never seen one on the passenger side unless both are equipped.
Still would have just made more sense to make it with both bulbs for everywhere and be done with it, but whatever.
For a lot of global markets the side that isn’t a reverse light is fitted with the mandated fog light instead, saving on having to design a cluster with an extra bulb accommodation.
it wasn’t that widely available in different markets, It’s hard to believe that it made it worth it to make two different housings and save about a foot of wire and a bulb, and they just ended up putting them both in not that long afterwards anyway.
Fair. I see it was sold as the Toyota Zelas in other markets, but as far as I can see, that was only available in other LHD markets, never RHD, so yeah that is just weird.
I wonder how many tCs failed state inspections for having a reverse light out.
It almost feels like they wanted to put the reverse lights in the lower rear valance a la FR-S but never realized it.
Or they had contracted the same supplier Pontiac used on final-gen Grand Ams so there was a bulb shortage.
And don’t ever compare a Scion and a Vega. The Vega was crap and my tC is running great after 13 years with the only major repair being replacing the clutch.
My understanding is that “issue” was just for 2011. The xB has one reverse light because that’s what they do in Japan. The 2011 tC has what looks like a burned out bulb but only has 1 actual light. 2012 and newer have both reverse lights. (At least my 2012 tC has two)