just attempted to change the side light on my Skoda Fabia to find it requires a double jointed arm 25cm long. As Skoda in Bradford will change the bulb for free I though, you put it there, you'll change it! I'll have a coffee and watch the pain. Am I going to feel guilty watching as he removes the wheel arch liner to do it? Nope!
is he going to do it in minutes - probably.
Mechanic in our truck workshop changes mine in a few minutes 😀
And i'll be amazed if the arch liner isn't removed to do it. Either that or he can scratch both ears at the same time with one hand.
Having changed a headlamp bulb on a modern Peugeot, I now know why the French no longer require that you carry spare bulbs at all times
I went once (years ago) to Halfords for a front bulb to our Mervia. The guy asked me if I want to pay extra £6 for install... I'm quite a nice guy normally, but that moment something clicked and I said "yes, please!" 😈
It turned out to be an hour job for 3 people - I was in a car reading a book...
Highlighted the problem for you, in case you couldn't see it.went once (years ago) to [b]Halfords[/b] for a front bulb to our Mervia. The guy asked me if I want to pay extra £6 for install... I'm quite a nice guy normally, but that moment something clicked and I said "yes, please!"It turned out to be an hour job for 3 people - I was in a car reading a book...
New(ish) shape Fabia?
It's a little tight but I've changed them in mine a couple of times without too much trouble. Certainly doesn't need anything removing.
Rachel
I'll bet the bulb will miraculously cost £87.34+VAT
Medoramas. That doesnt surprise me. Ive watched them make fitting wiper blades look like rocket science in the past
It turned out to be an hour job for 3 people
Really, that's saying something, i class myself as mechanically incompetent and i changed one in ours in 20 minutes.
I used to have an old style ford focus, and I think I'd happily shell out up to £50 for some poor bugger change a headlight bulb. The access wasn't too bad, but you had to push the retaining wire over a razor sharp hook that was dying to get intimate with your finger bone.
I had the old style Mazda 6.
To change the headlight bulb some of the owners forums reckoned you had to remove part of air intake to get to it, others reckoned it was possible without.
The owners manual said it was not a owners serviceable part and I needed to go to the dealers.
I managed to do it, with a head-lamp, a mirror and some angled, needle nosed pliers. Absolute pain in the arse.
Newish shaped Fabian it was. My hand couldn't fit down and through the tube down which the bulb was hiding. Oddly the water cap disappeared almost immediately into the wheel arch. It is the ironically named 'sport model - by which they mean bowls.
[smug face] it's a doddle onmy c-max [/smug face]
The battery on the other hand I paid halfords £7 to ruin their day as it's right up under windscreen wipers/bulkhead.
There should be a list of jobs stupid people will do for nothing. In the end it cost the dealer 35minutes of time and me £2.50.
As I've said before, the Ford Puma is a nightmare to do, a bulb replacement described as a 'road-side repair' being a blatant lie. For a start you require a large Torx wrench, in order to remove the radiator grill, and two bolts holding two straps securing the headlamp units, then there's the drain tubes and connectors, then the entire lamp unit needs to be wiggled free of the car and opened up to access the bulbs inside, then the whole process reversed.
By the side of the road? In the dark? Possibly in pouring rain or snow?
Taking the piss, basically.
It should be an international standard that all cars be designed in such a way that all bulbs be easily reached and replaced in a matter of minutes, although, with increasing use of all-LED lighting systems being introduced and filtering down into cheaper vehicles, such legislation may be largely redundant.
Not before time.
Alfa driver here.
From the manual:
Changing a headlight, step 1, remove front bumper.
😯
Can be done without, but it's a bit of a sod 🙂
Before the other week, the last cars I had changed headlight bulbs on were a Vauxhall vectra where the entire headlight unit had to come out, and a Renault Clio where the same was needed but that needed the wheel arch liner out as well.
Saw that a bulb had gone in my car a few weeks ago (Citroen DS3) and was dreading the time and faff it was going to take. Opened the bonnet, rubber cap off the back, old bulb out, new bulb in, rubber cap on, bonnet shut. About 1min30 in total I reckon. And this from Citroen as well - I was amazed to say the least!
I think the workshop time on a Renault Modus is 2h.
Shocked to find I had to remove the radiator grill and the entire headlamp unit to change one on my Discovery, but it now sounds like that's a pice of the proverbial compared to some of these Jonny foreigner cars.......
LMAO, had a fight with some Heras fencing in a "car park" yesterday and lost, drove home and replaced the bumper in the pissing rain in minutes, just took some new plastic clips.
To be fair it was probably due to fall off as well, the undertray had been ripped off and I never realised it had taken all the lower clips with it, oops...
But yeah, 7th gen Civics rock, don't think there's anything that can be quickly fixed (though bulbs are still a pain to get back in).
That is amazing for a Citroen though, my sister in-laws old C3 needed the entire rear cluster out to replace a bulb.
My Volvo XC60, you lift 2 plastic latches and the whole headlight falls out. Not a micron of grief. As for an Astra Diesel I once had, you had to take the battery out to give enough space to get in there and change it. I thought, it would be fine getting it out without removing it and I smashed the old bulb, so had to remove the headlight to tip the glass out. Poxy thing.
Smart cars are an absolute mennis! Supposed to be a bumper off job
2009 Honda Civic.
Option 1: Disconnect and remove coolant reservoir (not actually as hard as it sounds, but still a faff) Its just blown its 3rd bulb, drivers side (coolant res) passenger side (which is easy) and now drivers side again 🙁
2002 Mondeo was fine though, tool-less removal of the front grill and then two metal 'pins' that allow the headlight to be removed.
My old MK2 Focus was apparently very difficult to change with some people saying it took them 45 mins each side. On the face if it access is right but just two torx bolts and a clip hold the entire headlight to the car. Is less than 5 mins when your taking your time.
My wife old Micra (the last shape) was a bumper off job.
Good knows about my current MK3 focus, I'm more concerned about the LEDs and stupidly expensive xenon bulb.
That is amazing for a Citroen though, my sister in-laws old C3 needed the entire rear cluster out to replace a bulb.
So do berlingos/partners... But when taking said cluster out takes 7 seconds- it aint an issue.
I always just pop the headlight unit out.
No way my fat hands can squeeze in the back.
I used to have an old style ford focus, and I think I'd happily shell out up to £50 for some poor bugger change a headlight bulb. The access wasn't too bad, but you had to push the retaining wire over a razor sharp hook that was dying to get intimate with your finger bone.
Yes they were a pain literally. Oddly the mk3 Mondeo (same era) is one of the easiest cars I have ever changed a front bulb on although it does require a small degree of dismantling.
Our mark two Megane was an arse to change front bulbs on. Had to take a wheel off to reach in the stupid little hole but it was a good thing I did as I found a broken clip on the drive shaft gater and fixed it before I got a bloody great bill for a knackered cv joint!
Had new and old shape Fabia, all bulbs were a piece of piss, what's the fuss. Its hardly a megane...
Perhaps it's just mine. The sidelight is low behind a cap but at the end of a tube towards the wing/arch behind the fuel filtre. Try as I might I could only get hold of the wires, not the clip. No matter done now.
Funnily enough my headlight bulb went today on my 3 series (e90) ... Don't know how fiddly it is....try myself or Halfords....?
Halfords have a list of cars they won't change headlamp bulbs on - the Audi A6 is on that list. For good reason.
Just to big up Audi's, my Q7 requires the entire housing to come out, which in reality means you disconnect the power, pull up some latches, release the catch and it slides out. 5 min job.
V70 HID bulb.
Disconnect battery , remove front bumper, remove some trim panels, remove headlight , remove ballast pack , change bulb. Rebuild front of car , re- connect battery.
Volvo charge £153 for the pleasure
When I got my new BMW I had a look at how easy it would be to change a bulb. All I can say I that I am glad its on a fully maintained package!
Yay so you too can join the hoards of the ignorant who think its ok to drive around with one headlight till next service,
I counted 15single headlighted cars on a 15 mile journey the other day.
Or those with a headlight pointing in its own direction. Usually up and directly into my mirror.
onewheelgood - Member
Halfords have a list of cars they won't change headlamp bulbs on - the Audi A6 is on that list. For good reason.
POSTED 9 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST
Odd, my A6 (59 plate) takes about 3mins. You do have to get the air filter cover out of the way in the drivers side, (2 spring clips) but that's it. Fixing a buckled wheel is far harder!
Interestingly I was pulled a fair while (18yrs!) ago due to faulty headlight. Fo the police now not bother (assumption based in number if cars driving around without both headlights working) due to time, or that it's not fair to penalise based on being unable to quickly strip a car to component parts by the roadside? I'm sure it's still a requirement to have all lights working?
You'd think with all the EU rules and regulations that we have to suffer that there would be a directive that all bulbs should be driver replaceable within 5 minutes using the vehicle tool kit.
I'm sure some Eurocrat could stretch the consultation period out long enough to keep several MEPs busy.
Yay so you too can join the hoards of the ignorant who think its ok to drive around with one headlight till next service,
Nope ring up BMW get one of their Mobil teams out or take it to the dealership, get a courtesy car, get them to fix it, and then pick it up with no charge.
My truck needs the bumber, front grill, battery (for offside) and air filter all removed before you can get to the bulb!
I was quoted over £1000 to change a front wheel bearing on a Vito Sport van last week, managed it myself for about £500 but still crazy expensive.grrrrrr
french cars are rubbish.. i raise you a renault megane bulb change
Off to make some tea 🙂
Smart cars are an absolute mennis! Supposed to be a bumper off job
Pop the little grills on the top off, you can just with a bit of pain, get your hand down and replace them.
Totally agree about most modern lighting to be a nightmare, it's no wonder so many people drive around with lights out. The other thing see a fair bit of, is people who have fitted the bulb but misaligned it in the actual lamp unit, leading to a very incorrect and ineffective head lamp pattern.
Used to have a VW Bora, all it said in the manual under headlamp bulb replacement was "take your car to the dealer"
After a bit of faffing it took me 20 minutes
trail_rat - MemberYay so you too can join the hoards of the ignorant who think its ok to drive around with one headlight till next service,
Not neccesarily that tbh, I've no idea how long I drove mine around for with one headlight, one good modern headlight lights the road better than 2 used to. Took me about 2 minutes to change it once I found out (though, Ford say a bunch of stuff has to come out to change it, including the battery, that turned out to be bollocks.)
Not just cars. My old Hyosungs, both the 125 and 250r either required infant sized hands or to remove the clocks, all the front fairing just to access the headlight unit.
Suzuki GSR 600 two bolts and in simple. Honda cbf 125 side panels off and lose knuckle skin .
SV650S, spring clip and out, took longer to open the bulb packet
If our clio loses a bulb that gets done by mrs g.(she has small hands and a lot more patience) I can do it in about 20mins with adapted tools, mirrors bluetack and head torch and a lot of swearing. The designers have done well to cram so much into a small space but FFS there should be a law against it. ok if it is a change once in the cars lifespan item but a bulb...
Crikey. I just changed my headlight bulbs today and cursed the lack of access. Or so I thought. Took about 3 minutes. After reading this thread, it seems my cursing was not warranted.
Feel free to flame away, but it'd never even occur to me to change a light bulb myself!! I'd just take it straight to the local garage to get done! Maybe I've been lucky but across the 3 cars that I've owned over the last 10 years it's always been less than 5 minutes and £5. They are friends though, so maybe I'm getting a mates rate? I'd didn't think that I did!
If you are in the AA or RAC just call them out and they'll fit them for free (if you have the bulb. If you haven't got one they carry them on the van and only charge about £8 for a headlight bulb).
Call in on an evening when you are at home, drink tea and let someone else do all the hard work. No need to deal with the monkeys a halfords.
Cant remember the last time i blew a bulb.
I hada rear light go out in france but it was a dodgy contact. Just bent it back into contact with the leatherman.
One of the dip headlights went out on the landy but this was a fuse.- they are fused per side and that caused me some confusion.
Obviously ive just cursed this and will blow several bulbs now 🙂
Bulbs mostly seem to go when being MoT'd.
As mentioned earlier, Mk3 Mondeo very easy, just a couple of pegs holding the units in.
Bulbs mostly seem to [s]go[/s]be noticed when being MoT'd.
EFA
Still the biggest causes of mot failures, and it's something everyone could do before they present the vehicle.
timber - MemberAs mentioned earlier, Mk3 Mondeo very easy, just a couple of pegs holding the units in.
It's quite clever that- bulbs are hard to change when you cna't get to the back of the headlight, so let's move the headlight