Car headlamp bulbs cost double in UK - why?

[jackieb]

Buy and Audi and you'll be harking back to the time you only had to pay for a bulb. There was one side of our old car that we could never get into, and the garage charged £20 on top of the price of the bulb to change it.

[avantra]

Indeed not a light subject with all of you bright sparks knowing so much about the matter.

Did try the Lidl + 90% ones and they survived 2008 to 2011 (with all the snow we had back then). Good bright pattern and not bad for £3.5 for a pair of H4's.

On my Ford Fusion changing a bulb is easy like kids Lego, but then the Fusion is a marvel of accessibility. /shame they stopped making them.

[Strider590]

Tail light bulbs for Ford KA, £2.80 for 2 in halfrauds OR 10 for £2 on eBay......

The lesson is to stock up early, don't wait till they blow.

Also love the we-fit ads at the moment, making it looks like bulbs are really hard to change....... £3.99 for a tail light bulb, £6.99 for a headlamp. I recently had words with a young lady who had no rear lights, she said she was going to halfrauds on Saturday to get new ones fitted.

Are we really a nation if idiots?

[GolfBravo]

Originally Posted by Strider590

Are we really a nation if idiots?

Maybe a nation of entrepreneurs? Somebody out there is making £3.99 in five minutes. That's £47.88 an hour.

[buglawton]

One of my Poundland bulbs failed after 4 hours, here's what it looks like now:



You can say it's a coincidence that this is the first bulb in 25 years of motoring that has failed on me anywhere near so quickly and so spectacularly!

I would guess that the under £1 bulbs from Amazon, Ebay etc. may have similar 'unlucky batch' problems....

Back to my initial issue, anywhere I can get decent bulbs at less than the usual UK rip-off prices? Lidl used to have well spoken of ones I heard, but there's no store near me to check on.

[GolfBravo]

carparts4less.co.uk (Euro Car Parts sister company), Osram and Bosch OE H7 bulbs around £4 each and free delivery.

[forgotmyname]

I had an LED parasol/camping light from poundland. Put the batteries in
and on LED glowed orange and then exploded.

Luckily i was not facing it at the time. Thinking about it after i should have sent it to the trading standards to be tested. Instead of taking it back.

[B00st]

Originally Posted by GolfBravo

I think the OP is referring to the "top of the line" and standard branded stuff, like Osram Nighbreaker/Ultra Life, etc.

UK is the treasure island and distributors like to charge premium price for these things. Your local motor factor can even charge £29.99 for a set of Philips X-treme Vision bulbs. In Germany these bulbs are not considered "premium" - you just walk into a normal supermarket (eg. Real, they even sell car tyres and batteries) and they have a full range of branded light bulbs, from OEM all the way to +90% type, Philips/Osram/Narva/Bosch/Hella, all for around half the UK recommended retail price. France is similar (eg. Auchan) although not as much choice and more expensive.

My wife really hates it when we go shopping in Germany - she's usually with our kids looking at toys and stationery, and I am at the car accessories isle checking out engine oils/bulbs/car mats/windscreen wash/tyres/extinguishers/chargers/etc.

The car maintenance attitude is very different between the UK and Germany. In Germany you have to have the car TuV inspected after working on it so there is less inclination to work on a car. Supermarkets were therefore a sensible place to buy minor replacement items. The UK has long had a DIY approach so motorfactors popped up with 7 day opening long before supermarkets even thought about Sunday trading. This still persists, even though minor items are available from the local Tescos.

[buglawton]

My 2nd Poundland bulb lasted all of 8 hours, it now looks just like the 1st one, see above. Trying Wilkinsons £6 'Ring' ones now as there's a branch near me and no auto parts shops.

[adouglasmhor]

A local stock clearance cash and carry to me had a pile of ring and phillips ones at 85p each, I bought about 20 assorted. Always ahndy to have.

[redux]

Even Poundland ones should last longer than that. Make sure you don't touch the glass with your fingers, or if you do then clean your prints off with meths or similar.

[buglawton]

Wise to that one - I had carefully handled the glass via kitchen paper towel. Maybe the manufacturer had not. From now on I will assume that all unbranded sub-£1 bulbs will be like this.