Owners of other Kia, Hyundai or Genesis vehicles such as the Niro, Sportage, Sedona, Telluride, Sorento, Rio, Forte, Soul, K900, Cadenza, K5, Stinger, Tucson, Santa Fe, Kona, Palisade, Elantra, Sonata, Accent, Veloster, Ioniq, Nexo, Venue, G70, G80 and G90 may also find these DIY instructions to be helpful.

The compatible replacement miniature wedge base light bulb part number is 2825 (also known as W5W) which is available from various manufacturers such as Sylvania, PIAA, Bosch and Philips.

If you would like to have brighter license plate lights that will also last a lot longer before burning out, install some 2825 LED bulbs.

The tools needed to access and replace the light bulbs include a flat head screwdriver or a plastic pry bar tool, a Phillips head screwdriver and possibly also a pop rivet removal tool.

The first step is to open the trunk lid.

Use the flat head screwdriver or a plastic pry bar tool to open the black plastic cover on the handle situated on the right (passenger) side of the trunk lid. There is a small notch on the handle just below the "UL" in the word "PULL" printed on it.

Set the two screws aside in a safe place.

If you only plan on replacing one burnt out license plate light bulb, you can just remove enough pop rivets so that you can pull back the liner and access the necessary bulb socket.

Gently pry out the smaller round button in the center of the pop rivet with the flat head screwdriver or a pop rivet removal tool.

Then pry out the base of the fastener.

Set the pop rivets aside in a safe place with the two screws.

I chose to leave it still attached by a few pop rivets on the drivers side for easier re-installation later on.

I was still able to easily access both the driver side and passenger side bulb sockets.

Gently rotate the bulb socket 1/4 turn in the counterclockwise direction before pulling it straight out of the housing.

If you have trouble removing the old bulb due to corrosion (rust) or debris such as sand or dust, try gently wiggling the bulb back and forth while pulling it straight out.

I recommend buying some brighter and longer lasting 2825 LED bulbs that should last for about 20,000 to 50,000 hours which is most likely longer than the useful life time of the vehicle.

Make sure the new bulb is fully seated in the socket.

Re-insert the bulb socket into the housing and rotate it 1/4 turn in the clockwise direction to secure it into place.

Line up the screw holes in the pull handle with their corresponding holes in the trunk lid.

Avoid over tightening the screws to prevent from cracking the plastic "PULL" handle.

Push the base of the pop rivets back into place.

Then snap in the center of the pop rivets to lock them into place.

To test the new license plate light bulbs, turn on the parking lights or the headlights.

Tip - If you installed LED bulbs and they don't work, try removing the bulb from the socket, rotate it 180 degrees and push it back into the socket again. Some LED bulbs are "polarized" and will only work when the "+" positive and "-" negative electrical contacts are in the correct orientation.

Please check out all of my 2016-2020 Kia Optima DIY Repair & Maintenance Guides.