04 Accord taillight removal requires bumper removal?

Today I replaced the driver's side taillight assembly in my 2004 2DR
Accord. I was a bit shocked to see that the assembly not only has
three bolts that basically surround the 3 bulb ports, but also two
screw mounts on the bottom. I thought this was going to be a quick
and easy job. Unscrew those 3 bolts and the old one should fall out.
(Yeah, Right?) Accessing the two screws holding it from the bottom
would (apparently) require removal of the bumper. My taillight
breakage didn't include any bumper damage, so I really didn't find it
convenient to have to do any bumper work. I pretty much tore out the
old tallight assembly with a hammer claw and pulled out the screws.
My new taillight assembly is just held in by the 3 bolts.

Is anyone else surprised by what I found or am I just a little obtuse?

 

I was very surprised to learn that I'd have to remove the front
bumper cover to replace a headlight on my '95 Civic. I'm hoping I never
have to replace my Camry's taillight, because I see no way to remove it.
Manufacturers love to do stuff like this, probably to drive you to the
dealer. Volvo 240 airboxes have a nice pair of quick-release clamps to
open them. You just release the clamps, and then...disassemble the air
intake, because the cover isn't coming off until you do.

 

As you put it, I'm actually referring to removal of the plastic
'bumper cover'. I, too, would think that Honda would only do this as
a Dealer Revenue Enhancement measure. Publicly, Honda would probably
come up with the excuse that they're trying to avoid rattles and
looseness in their cars, but its BS. However, I'd think it would be a
rather ineffective attempt to drive business to the dealer: I only
realized that there were more screws when the old taillight wouldn't
release and I glance over at the replacement to see the two screw
mounts from the buttom and then cussed myself. At that point, how
many people would actually want to stop what they're doing and have it
done by a dealer only for the sake of two screws? I think most people
would have done the ripping out as I did. Yippie Kaye Aye (or however
its spelled).

 

Body rattles and other noises are the bane of all automakers, making up
the bulk of many models' TSB listings.

I very much doubt that. Taillight replacement is something dealers do
extremely rarely, so they would make trivial amounts of money off that.

It's mostly the body shops that get to replace taillights, usually in
conjunction with other damage repairs.

Honda's been doing that for over two decades, starting with those
flush headlights in the '80s.

Or they could get the shop manual and find out how the bumper skin comes
off.

The primary impetus for all this is cosmetics, not revenue. They're
trying for a seamless, smooth and clean look. This means hiding all the
fasteners behind other stuff. Also of critical importance is evenness of
body part alignment. Honda is anal about body part alignment. To achieve
what they want, it's necessary to tie everything down really well, hence
all the pins and fasteners.

Since the vast majority of broken taillights happen in the company of
other body damage, I'm guessing Honda decided hiding the fasteners under
the bumper skin wasn't such a big deal.