Changing a headlight bulb

[TheTramp]

It's a well known fault with Peugeots that they have duff electics.

However, they still have a great reputation for diesel cars, and I've had very little trouble with mine (done 60,000 miles in under 2.5 years).

It's true that the cigarette lighter has never worked. But I can mostly live with that

[Petal]

Ok I am not totally useless when it comes to car mechanics. I used to take the engine out of my race car once in a blue moon and polish it, but...

Has anyone ever tried changing a headlight bulb in a Honda Accord, you need a degree in rocket science.

You have to take the engine out, remove the drivers seat, take the wheels off, cut the chassis in half and then you are nearly there, well maybe a slight exaggeration but not far off.

The mechanic at Honda was a comedian, £30 to change a bulb needless to say I will only drive now during the day as my headlight does not work. and at that price never will

Has anyone found other stupidly designed car components that should be easy but are not. Maybe we can start a "stay away from this car" list.

Adam

Ford Fiesta Encore (my previous car) was the same, the passenger side headlight bulb was nightmare to change.

So the solution is, go in to Kwik Fit(where i normally buy my tyres), ask the nice young man if they change light bulbs, which the don't, but he took pity on me changed it and didn't charge me, so guess which garage will keep getting my custom in the future.

[TheTramp]

So the solution is, go in to Kwik Fit

Never!

I once had a 'grinding' brake. So I took my car to KwikFit in London. The car was a beaten up old thing, worth about £200.

Got a phone call, saying that the brake pad, disc and caliper(?) needed changing for about £250.

I told them not to bother as that was more than the car was worth.

Decided that I might as well get a 2nd opinion, so took it to a local garage. Who told me that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the disc, or the caliper. And charged me a pittance for changing the pad.

So now, I try to avoid using Kwik Fit if at all possible - though, I will admit that just because one branch is run by people who try to steal from you, that not all are necessarily the same....

[drathzel]

In the end, I had to phone up, and join the RAC. A mechanic came along after about 40 mins, and it took him about 30 seconds to get the nut off with a monkey wrench. He did then oil and clean the nut, while I changed the tyre myself.

Total cost of unscrewing one nut (approx as I remember) = £80 emergency call out charge, £100 to join said RAC (and I haven't used them again since), and £17 for the phone call to join said RAC from my mobile phone in the middle of the day

I had to do this when my car exploded just outside perth! the AA were cheaper than the RAC (£109 in total) and i have used them twice since! and once to help a friend... i got my monies worth!

[Petal]

Never!

I once had a 'grinding' brake. So I took my car to KwikFit in London. The car was a beaten up old thing, worth about £200.

Got a phone call, saying that the brake pad, disc and caliper(?) needed changing for about £250.

I told them not to bother as that was more than the car was worth.

Decided that I might as well get a 2nd opinion, so took it to a local garage. Who told me that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the disc, or the caliper. And charged me a pittance for changing the pad.

So now, I try to avoid using Kwik Fit if at all possible - though, I will admit that just because one branch is run by people who try to steal from you, that not all are necessarily the same....

I know what you mean. But i think some (maybe not all) garages see a women coming in with her car and think, great, i can tell her anything and she won't understand.

On a previous occasion at Kwik Fit i took my car in for a winter tyre check, and expected to have to replace at least two tyres, the guy checked them all and said they were all above the legal limit, and when i told him the amount of mileage i do, he advised me to come back in a month, to have them checked again just to be safe, so the Perth Branch have been really good.

But i have had a couple of bad experiences, but they were with small private garages, who just tried to take the mick, i think, but what do i know i'm only a woman.

[Lee]

Ok I am not totally useless when it comes to car mechanics. I used to take the engine out of my race car once in a blue moon and polish it, but...

Has anyone ever tried changing a headlight bulb in a Honda Accord, you need a degree in rocket science.

You have to take the engine out, remove the drivers seat, take the wheels off, cut the chassis in half and then you are nearly there, well maybe a slight exaggeration but not far off.

The mechanic at Honda was a comedian, £30 to change a bulb needless to say I will only drive now during the day as my headlight does not work. and at that price never will

Has anyone found other stupidly designed car components that should be easy but are not. Maybe we can start a "stay away from this car" list.

Adam

Has anyone helped you yet ????

I would suggest a haynes car manual first.

Lee

[Rhythm King]

Years ago, I went on an adventure training expedition in Wales. Drove back to Kent in an (even then) ancient army lightweight Land Rover. As I crossed the Severn Bridge I was changing from 2nd to 3rd and the gear lever just sheared off in my hand! I had to drive from there to Kent in 3rd. Not sooo bad on the motorway, but a bit of a nightmare when it came to going through town!

(It was pre-mobile phones, on a Sunday evening, in case you're wondering why I couldn't get help. I did ring base but they just told me to get it back before Monday morning. Gee, thanks guys )

[El Salsero Gringo]

Oooh, oooh, I take it all back. In preparation for the marathon 48 hour drive up to Daventry (got my snow chains, my desert suvival kit and my emergency location transmitter) I actually read the f'ing manual (the Ford Fiesta Owner's manual) about how to change the headlight: lift out the radiator grille, undo three screws, the whole lamp assembly falls out into your hand whereupon you can take it somewhere nice and warm and light to change the bulb. Job done in 45 seconds.

Big it up for Mr. Ford.

[WittyBird]

Oooh, oooh, I take it all back. In preparation for the marathon 48 hour drive up to Daventry (got my snow chains, my desert suvival kit and my emergency location transmitter)

Don't forget t' take the northern language guide

[David Bailey]

Oooh, oooh, I take it all back. In preparation for the marathon 48 hour drive up to Daventry (got my snow chains, my desert suvival kit and my emergency location transmitter)

No kidding, it's a scary experience, isn't it? I've got a lift with a native Northerner, hopefully I can blend in behind her. And yes, I will be taking my GPS system...

Big it up for Mr. Ford.

Hey, big up the poor unappreciated tech writers who wrote that extremely good manual too

[El Salsero Gringo]

Hey, big up the poor unappreciated tech writers who wrote that extremely good manual too

Except they didn't say whether it was a left side or a right side unit in the diagram which makes a big difference when you have one in front of you and you're trying to work out which bulb is which.

[David Bailey]

Except they didn't say whether it was a left side or a right side unit in the diagram which makes a big difference when you have one in front of you and you're trying to work out which bulb is which.

Now listen, keep on slagging us downtrodden writers off and I'm not saving your life next time, OK?

Also, it wasn't the writer, it was the artist who screwed up, they're always rubbish.

[WittyBird]

No kidding, it's a scary experience, isn't it? I've got a lift with a native Northerner, hopefully I can blend in behind her. And yes, I will be taking my GPS system...

Careful sunshine

[Trinity]

it was the artist who screwed up, they're always rubbish.

Huge Assumption there

Careful sunshine

Men eh

[Robin]

Is it just me, or do Peugeots seem more prone to dud headlights than average?

[RANT MODE ON]
Had to comment as this thread got busy again - My Passat uses a funny H7 bulb which used to blow every 6 months (vag/skoda genuine part) - changed to a 3rd party extra bright job and neither have blown since - reckon there's a moral there somewhere - i just can't work out what it is.

But also have to add that VW are taking the pee when it comes to repairs - the whole front of the car - ie the subframe has to be moved forward in order to do any complicated maintenance - like a service !!!!!

Apparently (says a mechanic mate dancer) the manufacturers are designing car's mechanics with more thought to a cheaper assembly process than to how it'll be maintained afterwards ... I suppose if you bolt all the suspension together and then drop the car on top of it, you assume that a mechanic is going to be able to disassemble the same through 3 little holes the size of an egg - especially when said suspension goes every 3 years and requires 6-8 seperate struts per side - did I say that was just the front ??? oh yes and VAG garages won;t do any work on your vehicle unitl they have carried out "diagnostics/assessment" at a cost of £56 per half hour - which VAG are very happy about.

Needless to say methinks that VAG's bottom ranking in the Which? tables is well deserved.

[RANT OFF - (maybe)]

Don't get me wrong - I do actually like my car - I just think like lots of companies that car manufacturers take a very short term view on their customers - ie if you buy a new car every 3 years great - otherwise sod off!

Shame really - once upon a time long term customer satisfaction was important.

[DavidY]

What Car have recently done an article about this..

[El Salsero Gringo]

My secret for car maintenance (which I'm willing to share with all you lovely forumites, as long as it goes no further) is this: www.btfleet.com - the former vehicle maintenance arm of BT which was spun off into a separate company.

If you have a car which BT have in their fleet (and they have pretty much all the Fords, as well as many European makes) then I suspect they are as experienced as a main dealer, and their labour rates are only £60 per hour (as I recall) which they discounted by a further 20% without being asked. Since they mainly work on BT vehicles under contract, I've never detected any tendency to 'overdo' the job just to bump up the bill and they're so busy that there's no real point. But you do have to book in advance. I find that reassuring.

Don't tell anyone, please.

[Andreas]

The mechanic at Honda was a comedian, £30 to change a bulb needless to say I will only drive now during the day as my headlight does not work. and at that price never will

This sound very much like my Toyota Corolla that I drove in NZ. Model was three or four generations back. The fron light was a whole unit, couldn't just change the bulb. The unit cost about NZD 100 and, as with your Honda, replacing it meant dismantling the entire front, hence cost another NZD 30-40.

[Lynn]

I changed both the headlight bulbs a while back (Peugeot 306) when they went within one day of each other. Didn't take too long, but appears that the one on the right is at the wrong angle, so it blinds oncoming drivers. Must change it one day!

Esp if your car needs an MOT - that's one of the new things they can fail you on (headlight at the wrong angle).

Speaking of MOTs - I rang on Friday to book my car in for its first one. I managed to get a cancellation in early April - other than that the first available date was in May - 10 weeks away!

[El Salsero Gringo]

Esp if your car needs an MOT - that's one of the new things they can fail you on (headlight at the wrong angle).

Speaking of MOTs - I rang on Friday to book my car in for its first one. I managed to get a cancellation in early April - other than that the first available date was in May - 10 weeks away!

Maybe Drathzel could open a second business - MOTing cars in NI? It sounds like there's room for it...