manufactures cars that are almost impossible to do so ????
Can anyone explain why a country that by law says you have to carry bulbs in order to change on the roadside
manufactures cars that are almost impossible to do so ????
Totally agree, it used to be easy to twist off a bulb holder, change the bulb, twist back, job done. Last week, two in the morning on a wet garage
forecourt heading from Devon to Kent the head light bulb went. Had to remove the washer bottle cowling, bulb cover, then fiddle with the head light
bulb itself which is inset so far that you need foot long fingers to reach it. The clip is not fixed so when released it falls into engine bay.
Fifteen minutes of cursing and swearing.
[Edited on 21/12/15 by LBMEFM]
Think you already know the answer, but it's because it gives the main-dealers some additional revenue when you give up.
The law just says you need the bulbs, but doesn't require the manufacturers to make it possible to change them at the roadside.
Let alone new cars are coming with LED Headlights and tail lights!
You still have to carry spare bulb kits for them!!
It's actually a legal requirement? In my 20+ years of driving, the only time I've ever had a spare bulb in my car is when I've been returning from the shop with a new one freshly purchased to replace one that had blown.
Could be an urban myth, but my understanding is that in UK is not a requirement to carry a spare set of bulb but if you do you have a defence when/if
stopped with a bulb out.
In some European countries bulbs must be carried.
As said, on my Jaguar under certain circumstances you need a computer to reactivate the HID self levelling system.
5th Gear did a feature on this a few years ago - they asked an AA man to change a headlight bulb on a Renault Megane. This involved taking the front
wheel off and reaching blind inside a hatch in the wheel arch, and took him over 30 minutes (IIRC).
Then the 5th Gear presenters were seen sitting on the front of a Golf with its bonnet open. As they were talking one presenter reached down behind him
(without looking) and removed the Golf's headlight bulb... obviously replacement was just as easy.
I used to own a VW Phaeton - wonderful car! - until I came to replace the front sidelight bulbs that is, around an hour & a half later, with large
areas of the engine bay dismantled & re-assembled, skinned knuckles & wrists & my throat hoarse from swearing at it, it was done. You may
rest assured I used LED bulbs from a top manufacturer that should last 50,000 hours - certainly still working when i sold it last year!
It is, quite obviously, at least partially driven by manufacturers wanting you to take stuff to the main dealer, but some of it is simply the
ridiculously tight packaging forced on us by trying to achieve NCAP 5 star ratings & having the required "throw pedestrian over bonnet"
areas! Plus how much more complex modern engines & wiring have become with sensors, control valves & wiring in places we'd never have
dreamt of 30 years ago
quote:
Originally posted by iank
Think you already know the answer, but it's because it gives the main-dealers some additional revenue when you give up.
Cost IMHO has a big part to play here.
IIRC the Mk3 Golf platform cost VW nearly £1b to develop and I'd imagine there were bean counters watching the pennies very closely.
That said, the only bulb I've had fail in 10+ years was a rear number plate bulb. This resulted in me re-wiring SWMBO's Alhambra tailgate
to effect a repair and gain an MoT pass. Annoying, but such is life.
I never knew it was against the law! Have to agree it's stupid if they can't be changed at the side of the road.
My daughter's Mini headlight bulb blew last week. Luckily for my daughter, they were easy to change, as I merely instructed and held the torch.
Access was a big improvement over the KA she used to have.
It's not against the law in the UK afaik
quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
quote:
Originally posted by iank
Think you already know the answer, but it's because it gives the main-dealers some additional revenue when you give up.
Car dealers have no say in the design of the manufacturers cars. It's really down the the design constraints imposed by styling, aerodynamics, and crash safety and, to a lesser extent cost.
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
It's not against the law in the UK afaik
Yes the French require it, but it a couple of years ago a friend with a Renault Modus told me he had to remove the front bumper to change the bulb as said so much for a simple roadside fix.
Its not an offence in the UK to carry any spares. Although it is an offence to drive with a bulb out...
Every day I see hundreds of cars with lights out driving past cops who aint bothered.
If I get pulled by vosa its a pg9 fixed penalty in my truck. For a headlight bulb its classed as a breakdown. Some company's tell you to pull
over and call out the mobile fitter! To get a spare bulb on my current contract I need to fill in a defect sheet to prise one out of the garage
Foreman's hands..
Thing is the current trend to LEDs is wording as the ones you see on the back of trucks are a big moulded unit with no access. Does that mean we need
to carry spare light units??
I think most manufacturers put more thought into the hefty crash structure at the front of the car, maintenance in that area probably comes a lot further down the line.
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Its not an offence in the UK to carry any spares. Although it is an offence to drive with a bulb out...
Every day I see hundreds of cars with lights out driving past cops who aint bothered.
If I get pulled by vosa its a pg9 fixed penalty in my truck. For a headlight bulb its classed as a breakdown. Some company's tell you to pull over and call out the mobile fitter! To get a spare bulb on my current contract I need to fill in a defect sheet to prise one out of the garage Foreman's hands..
Thing is the current trend to LEDs is wording as the ones you see on the back of trucks are a big moulded unit with no access. Does that mean we need to carry spare light units??
Could well be wrong, but second thoughts make me wonder if it is law in the UK to carry bulbs - I never have!
I've been pulled for defective lights before, and it's not an offence in the UK on a car. They'll warn you it's out (it could have blown while you were driving, they can't penalise you for that). They alert you, ask you to fix it and maybe, if they think there's other issues, ask you to visit an MOT station to get it OK'd. In most cases they've just pulled me and said "you've got a light out, do you know?" and you reply "yep, I spotted it in the reflection in a car before" and they let you on your way.
At a push the police can ask you to turn up at a police station of your choice within a certain number of days to prove that you've fixed it (or
any other minor defects) - known locally as a "seven-day wonder".
I know it makes me sound old - but when I were a puppy I could expect to get pulled over if I was driving a car with a faulty light for more than a
few days. Nowadays I see the same cars with one working headlight for weeks on end, often in the narrow unlit lanes around where I live. Apart from
the legal aspect - don't these people want to see where they're going?! Of course, some take the unthinking pillock solution, and drive
around with full beam on, or foglights.. or both.
Is it genuinely French law to carry bulbs? If so, can anyone point me in the direction of something confirming?
I had understood previously that it was an offence to drive without your lights working - as it is here - and therefore you need to carry spares to
effect a repair? Ferry services then take that information and make it sound more serious than it is and together with our general fear of being
pulled over in a foreign country, use this to sell us worriers some overpriced bulbs on the boat - like the breathalisers which are for a law which
has not been passed but not implemented in France! (last time I checked at least).
I've done a lot of driving on the continent in the last few years and have never bothered taking any spares; see plenty of idiots driving around
over there with their lights out (just like the UK) so I'm happy to simply buy and replace as and when I need to which is what I do in this
country. Most lights seem to last pretty well these days and it's pretty rare to have to change a bulb.
I seem to go through the main beams in my mx5 every couple of years but that's about it.
Following the other bit in this thread about the difficulty of changing some bulbs, I recently changed all my other sidelights to LED type having lost
one in my MGZT which is an absolute PITA to change the bulbs for. I tend to flick through forums before doing anything I've not done before and,
aware that some bulbs are a pain, I googled the ZT for access. I was a bit confused because there were lots of vocal opinions that it involved lots
of scraped knuckles and some other people who couldn't fathom why anyone would find it difficult. When I took a look myself I saw the reason -
different engines.
If you had a 1.8 petrol/turbo or a diesel then there's loads of access room. If like me you've got the 2.5 v6 then it seems lots of people
start by removing the bumper entirely as the access on one side is almost completely impossible. Being pig headed I decided just to make use of some
needle nose pliers and rip my hand to shreds!
In French France it is a requirement to carry a full set of bulbs as spares and you are supposed to replace a defective bulb if you are stopped and
must do so before continuing your journey or have the vehicle recovered to a garage for such a repair if you cannot do so by the side of the road, and
when changing the bulb by the side of the road you must wear your high vis yellow jacket
I doubt the designers design this in they just don't think about that sort of thing.
Type approval regulations were updated to attempt to address this after one or two high-profile issues. I recall Watchdog covering it at some point
many years ago. The regulation used to say:
quote:
Lamps shall be fitted in a vehicle in such a way that the light source can be correctly replaced according to the instructions of the vehicle manufacturer without the use of special tools, other than those provided with the vehicle by the manufacturer.
quote:
Lamps [...] shall be fitted in a vehicle in such a way that the light source can be correctly replaced without the need for expert assistance and without the need for special tools, other than those provided with the vehicle by the manufacturer. The vehicle manufacturer shall provide with the vehicle a detailed description of the procedure for replacement.
Sounds like some of the manufacturers should supply a socket set with the car then.
Not only do you need to carry a spare set of bulbs and a hi vis jacket for each occupant , within easy reach , you need a breathalyser even if your tea total. Only in France!!
quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
Not only do you need to carry a spare set of bulbs and a hi vis jacket for each occupant , within easy reach , you need a breathalyser even if your tea total. Only in France!!
Nope, at least one hi vis needs to be easily accessible from within the car, and one carried for each occupant. I guess the idea is driver can get
out, and then collect the rest from the boot or wherever.
Having seen them in action, and considering the tiny cost, they are not a bad idea. Trouble is the intelligent amongst us probably won't benefit
from their use, but the idiots would, but won't actually wear them. Sort of Darwinian...
As to spare bulbs, a good idea but sadly most drivers wouldn't have a clue!
As to brethalizers, I believe you have to carry 2 in the car, but there is no actual punishment if you don't? that may have changed (again)
quote:
Originally posted by iank
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
It's not against the law in the UK afaik
Indeed not, but presumably the country that manufactured the OP's car does have the law. I'm guessing French.