Sorry if this is a repost, I checked the "stickies" and didn't come across anything...
It seems like every day on my commute, I see a 5th gen. with one tailight out. I have to replace them in my 2000 every coupple of months. The bulbs in my wife's Acura CL last forever. What's the deal?

 

I dont believe it has anything to do with the car, the blame has to be put on the bulbs themselves. If you put your hands all over the bulb the oil from from your hands will shorten the life of the bulb.

 

RIP is correct about the bulbs....but in the wrong sense.
The OEM bulb socket has grooves for the two little "bumps" on teh side of the bulb. Only problem is, if you buy the bulb from a non-dealer source (Autozone, etc.)..the bumps/***** do not match up. Many people don't notice this and just push it in...but what happens is they do not lock into the socket correclty, and come loose after a few big bumps. And everyone I know with a maxima has had what they thought was a "bad" taillight, but what turned out to be that the bulb was coming loose.

The solution...shave off one of the "bumps" on the bulb base so the bulb will go in all the way.

 

irish what would we do without you? I think you deserve an award

 

Certain stores sell the right size bulb, so you don't have to shave off the bump. I forget the number. But Irish is probably right about what's happening.

 

actually its the small harness. we replace it all the time at nissan