Tail Light Switch problems of the 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan

While at a stop light, another driver told us the van's tail light was smoking. We pulled around a corner and into a parking lot and found that the passenger tail light assembly was on fire with flames lapping up the side of the van. The van was turned off and the fire was extinguished. We removed the tail light assembly and found that the inside of the assembly and the wiring harness were destroyed. There is also body damage. We have had problems with the brake light bulb in the passenger side burning out frequently, and had seen evidence of overheating and some melting in the brake light connector socket in about 2010. Although the lights burn out frequently, the melting had not gotten worse since then. The driver's side tail light has never exhibited a problem like this. At this time it is unknown if there is any damage or fault in the electrical system beyond the tail light assembly. A rough estimate of obvious damages is approximately $1,000 to $1,500 with repainting.

I have been having problems with my headlights for some time now. When the problem began, I would turn on the light switch and after a delay the headlights would come on. Sometimes when turning the switch off they would remain on. For the past few months my headlights would just turn off while driving, which is very dangerous at night. When this happens, the dashboard lights remain on as well as the yellow lights and tail lights. Some days they don't come on at all. I have taken it to several auto shops for repair, however the lights would come on when taken in so nobody has been able to fix the problem.