Why I hate car maintenance

[Pooneil]

About a month ago the headlight bulb went on the wife's Citroen C3, she kept on at me to fix it but I just never found the time and eventually she took it to a garage. Apart from the damage to my masculine pride it set us back a staggering £56.60.

The other day the same bulb went again. I was straight on it this time and discovered the lamp cover had not been put on properly, had fallen down behind the wheel arch, and damp had got in and blown the bulb. So I set about doing it properly...

First off... SEVEN ENGLISH POUNDS FOR ONE PIDDLING BULB!

And then a frustrating and back crippling hour to fit the darn thing!

There's only just enough room to get your fingers behind the unit, the bulb is held by a fiddly spring clip that you can't see and you can't attach the wires before the spring clip (to save the bulb from ending up in the depths of the wheel arch when it slips from your fingertips).

And then I realised why the lamp cover had not been fitted correctly... it's almost impossible.

I only managed in the end by cutting off one of the two lugs, I couldn't see any other way without removing the battery.

Next time I'm going to pay the £50 and spend the evening relaxing in a candle lit bath.

[OnFirePhotography]

yep same problems on my mk1 focus, on passenger side light you either need very small hands or take out the battery or headlight just to change a bulb. i remember back in the day with my old '89 golf gti that you could change pretty much anything with a 13mm spanner and a philips screwdriver in less than a minute.

[kellys_eye]

These things are all 'designed' to keep servicing and spares with the manufacturer - EU policy is towards making ANY DIY changes to your vehicle illegal - they are trying to criminalise the use of anything other than manufacturers original parts (for spares) AND to enforce mandatory manufacturer-only (or dealership) repairs.

As an effort to help this on its way the manufacturers are (I would claim 'deliberately') designing vehicles to be more complicated and labour-intensive (to maximise dealership labour-rates) both to discourage what you are trying to do and to screw us over. Ever found a 'proper' Haynes manual for a modern car these days? Ever considered doing anything to a vehicle that didn't require a degree in electronics?

I feel this issue is compounded by cost-cutting exercises that make simple consumables susceptible to premature failure thus incurring inordinate and excessive fees to have it fixed. Your example illustrates the point precisely.

For some I reckon it would be prudent to purchase a pre-sucker (i.e. before the manufacturers cottoned on to this cash windfall idea) vehicle and start hoarding spares. But, even if we did, the EU will shortly be along to first limit road mileage use for (say) an old Ford Capri before outlawing them entirely - all in the name of the environment of course......

You might call me cynical.......

[Someone-Else]

I knew some one that had a Renault something, he took it in under guarantee to have a new headlight lamp, he was watching the technician drove it up onto a ramp, took the front wheel off, the some one said you are aware its only a lamp that needs changing? to which the reply was. You obviously have not tried it then, this is the only way it can be done.
__________________________________________________

I don't agree that they are designed to be awkward, I believe its the same old reason, saves money. Cars need their new fangled bits but they are getting bigger and bigger and have to go somewhere, by making the engine bay as small as possible it saves money in metal, and also as it weighs less its better economy.

On the flip side if they used the same new fangled bits but had more room how long would the engine bay have to be to give more room (rhetorical question) then the added weight.....

You could argue the cost is only pennies, but I worked for a company where the design team argued over a piece of plastic that cost 1p. The arguing reason was they will use thousands of them every year, and it all adds up.

[kellys_eye]

I agree that cost-saving design can introduce unforeseen problems BUT the fact that the EU really ARE moving to outlaw DIY repairs is an established fact. It's only a matter of time.

[ayjay]

I bought some brighter headlight bulbs for my VW Passat, it took me two hours to change the damn things, I had to dismantle bits of the engine on either side for access and use two spring clamps on each bulb to extend my fat fingers enough to get them in, fortunately they are still there and haven't needed changing again yet, I'll pay someone to do it next time.

[Pooneil]

I knew some one that had a Renault something, he took it in under guarantee to have a new headlight lamp, he was watching the technician drove it up onto a ramp, took the front wheel off, the some one said you are aware its only a lamp that needs changing? to which the reply was. You obviously have not tried it then, this is the only way it can be done.

That'll be the Megane... that's our other car

The electrics on it in general are sh!te, but the worst bit is the driver side headlight. Every so often the bulb vibrates loose, I've had the whole unit off, it's just poorly designed. I have however perfected the technique now as I've done it so often. It's a shame most people have the sense not to buy Renualt; at 50 quid a go I could make a living in the Megane light bulb fixing business.

[Pooneil]

I don't agree that they are designed to be awkward, I believe its the same old reason, saves money. Cars need their new fangled bits but they are getting bigger and bigger and have to go somewhere, by making the engine bay as small as possible it saves money in metal, and also as it weighs less its better economy.

On the flip side if they used the same new fangled bits but had more room how long would the engine bay have to be to give more room (rhetorical question) then the added weight.....

You could argue the cost is only pennies, but I worked for a company where the design team argued over a piece of plastic that cost 1p. The arguing reason was they will use thousands of them every year, and it all adds up.

You're right, there is a lot more in an engine compartment than there used to be. I heard an interesting fact about the new and old style Mini's... something about fitting the latter into the former or without the gadgets... and the weight... mpg... I forget what it was, but it was interesting

[village idiot]

I have a Citroen Picasso, the back axle needed replaced for the MOT, I was able to get a re manufactured one locally (£360 plus VAT) & it has something the original never had, grease nipples!
the place I got the replacement axle from sends them out all over the country & a lot go to main dealers too.

[Mooncat]

Cars are designed to be put together quickly, so the lights could go in before the engine. They obviously don't care about the repairs costs once it's out of warranty.

Regarding the EU and its fussiness about complying with standards and harmonisation. They insist on apples being the same size everywhere, now they want to prevent boaters using red diesel fuel which is cheaper here than there, but the age of consent varies between 18 and 13 years. No harmony there, is there.

[Wee Eck]

There's only just enough room to get your fingers behind the unit, the bulb is held by a fiddly spring clip that you can't see and you can't attach the wires before the spring clip (to save the bulb from ending up in the depths of the wheel arch when it slips from your fingertips).

Same with my Vectra - just enough room to slide your hand in behind the lamp casing and wiggle your fingers.
The spring clip undoes easily enough but it always takes me ages to get it done up again afterwards. Probably easy enough if you're doing it frequently but I'm only doing it once every 18/24mths and can never remember the technique.
To add insult to injury, the last time, I was offering up the new bulb to the back of the casing only to realise too late that it didn't have as wide a collar as the one I was replacing and it fell inside the casing! Thought I was going to have to remove the whole light unit but fortunately after 15min bending and twisting a piece of twin&earth, I managed to hook the bulb and pull it back out.

[scot-canuck]

Funnily enough the EU brought in type approval, which means as long as the parts are type approved, then you can fit whatever you want to your vehicle without invalidating the warranty.
i.e. a few years back fit a witter towbar to a Ford and ford could turn round and say "not a ford bar, warranty nullified" now witter have it tested and ford can't kill the warranty.

Also means you can have your car serviced where-ever you want as long as they use OE quality equivalent parts, dealer on my parents last car even admitted that fact when questioned on it and admitted he wouldnt be surprised if you could have the servicing done at 1/3 of the dealer price.

my corolla drivers side head lamp is ok, the passenger one needs the battery out to do it, not overly hard as the battery is right at the front and easily accessible, 4 nuts and its out (I have tools in the car anyway)

Knew someone in the states once who reckoned on his van that the only way to get at the rear plugs (V8) was to loosen the back engine mount and tilt the motor forward....

[ultimatehandyman]

They design cars these days so that you cannot work on them yourself, if they could they would design them so that you have to remove the engine to replace a headlight lamp. It’s very difficult on my van and if you don’t put a glove on you tend to cut your hand in a few places.

Just a thought the next time you need a lamp replacing, take it to Halfords. They fit a headlight lamp for £6.99

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... eId=757354

[ayjay]

Just a thought the next time you need a lamp replacing, take it to Halfords. They fit a headlight lamp for £6.99

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... eId=757354

That's worth knowing: unless you have one of the difficult ones...............

We can fit bulbs to the majority of cars but each fitting is always subject to a vehicle inspection by one of our experts.