Hi all

I have a mk2 1.6l petrol Focus LX from 2005. 

I've made a discovery in the boot behind the plastic trim and carpet. I think this is the wiring for a boot light which didn't come as standard on the LX? If this is correct, can I just get a light fixture and plug it in? 

Doesn't look like anyone's touched this in the car's 20 year life.  

If so I might get on this soon. Always going for walks in random nature reserves so would be lovely to see what I'm doing. 

Photo attached 

 

Thanks all. God speed

Get the LED versions from AliExpress, they're fantastic

29 minutes ago, DaveT70 said:

Get the LED versions from AliExpress, they're fantastic

Wonderful! Thanks for the useful suggestion and for confirming my suspicions about the wiring. Chuffed 

My LX has an internal boot light on the driver's side. I assume this was fitted from the factory.

It uses a 5w W5W bulb so isn't very bright. There is another rectangular slot in the plastic trim. It would be possible to wire in another for more light. 

 

1 hour ago, AntonovAN12 said:

My LX has an internal boot light on the driver's side. I assume this was fitted from the factory.

It uses a 5w W5W bulb so isn't very bright. There is another rectangular slot in the plastic trim. It would be possible to wire in another for more light. 

The slots are also on the other side. You could add one or two on the passenger side if you wanted to wire them up. 

 

Interesting. Mine doesn't seem to have ever had a boot light. I haven't bought a fixture yet but will definitely look into it. 

So I'm just being blind. Right there on driver side in boot is a light holder with no bulb. Will get a bulb tomorrow and see how it goes

1 minute ago, Eli_P said:

So I'm just being blind. Right there on driver side in boot is a light holder

Good to know you've seen the 'Light' 🤣

On 1/18/2026 at 3:04 PM, unofix said:

Good to know you've seen the 'Light' 🤣

Got the bulb and it works. Thanks 

just make sure it turns off when the boot is closed, incase it was pulled out for a reason. 

32 minutes ago, Vauxfan2k said:

just make sure it turns off when the boot is closed, incase it was pulled out for a reason. 

Have confirmed it does 🙂 closed the boot and pulled the seats down to check. Think previous owner just didn't fancy finding the correct bulb. 

or half inched it to replace a blown bulb elsewhere, desperate measures ive used myself 😂

I have a 2005 LX which has a boot light fitted. I changed the bulb to an LED which was a dramatic improvement...

I've always found in my cars that have 1 boot light, it give very little light.

Found on all my recent cars the other side is marked up for the light and I have cut out and fitted a 2nd light with Led bulbs or led replacement units.

Done this on mk3 Mondeo, mk2 Focus, mk4 Focus and Audi A1.

 

1 hour ago, MarkRS9 said:

I've always found in my cars that have 1 boot light, it give very little light.

Found on all my recent cars the other side is marked up for the light and I have cut out and fitted a 2nd light with Led bulbs or led replacement units.

Done this on mk3 Mondeo, mk2 Focus, mk4 Focus and Audi A1.

 

Nice! Yeah there are pre cut holes in the trim on passenger side so I might get one for that side at some point. In all honesty I've gone 18 months owning this car with no light at all in the boot so I'm living the dream right now haha

Does anyone know if LHD cars get the light fitted on the opposite side?  I can't think of any other reason to mould holes on both sides! 🧐

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Does anyone know if LHD cars get the light fitted on the opposite side?  I can't think of any other reason to mould holes on both sides! 🧐

Google is telling me they all have it on the right. Don't know how accurate it is though. But there is wiring on left and right side of boot for a light so it could go anywhere

26 minutes ago, Eli_P said:

Google is telling me they all have it on the right. Don't know how accurate it is though. But there is wiring on left and right side of boot for a light so it could go anywhere

Google AI summaries are generally unreliable in my experience.

Car manufacturers don't usually waste wire, every cm counts when they build thousands of each model. So it would be unusual to fit wiring both sides without a specific need to do so. I just can't see that it makes enough difference to bother changing it for LHD.

I'll have to check my car (not Ford) next time I open the boot to see whether that has one light or two, and if one then which side it's fitted to.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Car manufacturers don't usually waste wire, every cm counts when they build thousands of each model. So it would be unusual to fit wiring both sides without a specific need to do so. I just can't see that it makes enough difference to bother changing it for LHD.

If they're making lots in bulk it would be cheaper to make thousands of them all the same. It takes more effort and money to make different looms for different cars. Personally it seems to me like they just chuck in the same loom to all the car's (mk2 specific) and then when the customer pays extra for other features then they add a $2 item on to the car cause the loom is already set up.

17 minutes ago, Eli_P said:

If they're making lots in bulk it would be cheaper to make thousands of them all the same. It takes more effort and money to make different looms for different cars. Personally it seems to me like they just chuck in the same loom to all the car's (mk2 specific) and then when the customer pays extra for other features then they add a $2 item on to the car cause the loom is already set up.

You would think so, but actually they make several different looms for each model. Looms are the hardest thing to find in the parts catalogue as there are so many options.

I do t remember a second boot light ever being shown either as standard or an option on the Mk2, which is why the only thing that would make sense is an LHD swap. However, surely the amount of light is not so weak that it makes a real difference swapping sides anyway. It will remain a mystery for now!

4 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Google AI summaries are generally unreliable in my experience.

They are truly awful, and there is no way to switch them off! I hate AI with a passion, far too much 'artificial', nowhere near enough, 'intelligence'...

I had another look last time I opened the boot.

There are extra rectangular slots on both sides.

None of these match the size of the lamp holder.

Why are these slots there?

11 minutes ago, AntonovAN12 said:

I had another look last time I opened the boot.

There are extra rectangular slots on both sides.

None of these match the size of the lamp holder.

Why are these slots there?

Those are probably air vents.

I wired up a second boot light on my mk2.5 and definitely had to cut a fresh hole in the lhs trim to match the rhs which already had it. 99% sure I had to source an extra lamp connector too so the wiring wouldn’t have been there already. Used some better LED bulbs but then upgraded it to a multi-LED panel light from eBay or similar which connected to the original bulb socket.

Manufacturers often go down both routes with extra looms/connectors for different features - it can simplify complexity to have common harnesses for different specs or at least the less important ones then at other times they try to minimise the amount of wiring and connectors they’re in reality giving away. Then to complicate loom replacement and ordering further there’s the term KSK for harnesses which are built specifically to order

I had to cut out a hole for the 2nd light in all the cars I've done and run a wire from existing boot light.

2 hours ago, MarkRS9 said:

I had to cut out a hole for the 2nd light in all the cars I've done and run a wire from existing boot light.

Looks like my car is quite a mystery then. No need to cut any holes or run any wires from the existing light. There is the wiring already there for a 2nd light. I am intrigued