FYI All,

I was able to remove the male & female sides of the 4-wire plug for the license plate bulb/grip and connect it directly to the wires from the trunk. Used solder, heat shrink, and applied some silicone around each opening to seal the trunk, then reinstalled.

Both lights work great now and amazingly the trunk grip microswitch started working. I thought that was non-functional a long time ago. Apparently it was the corrosion in the 4-wire plug.

All in all, it cost a few bucks for some electrical stuff. Saved ~ $250.00.