Illegal/Legal - headlight bulbs

Buddingblonde

I wasnt suggesting that I wouldn't be getting the bulb changed - just that it is impossible for the layman to do (I have now had half a dozen people try) and now 3 Halfords fitters have tried too (we got the £5 fitting fee back).

I am a responsible road user, I keep my car in a good condition, have it regularly serviced and use it as little as possible (under 9000 miles per annum).

The problem is that being in winter, with limited daylight hours and the fitters in Halfords not being there all the time it is inevitable that I am going to have to drive the car at some point, in the dark, with defective bulbs.

Its MOT on monday means that it has to be in the garage for 8am (it is still dark then) and today I intend to try another 2 halfords/garages to get the job done. If the weather is sh*tty then I might well have to have the lights on no matter what time of the day it is. I dont like driving the car with defective lights but short of calling out my breakdown company to the house, I dont have an option.

Re: getting a car that I can change the bulbs on - believe it or not when I bought the car I wasnt intending to have to do any work on the car - I expected to pay the money for professionals to do the job. What I didnt realise is that the professionals cant always do the job. I would take it to a dealership garage to have it done but then would involve driving even longer in a car with defective lights.

buglawton

I have had Vauxhalls for very many years indeed and always change the bulbs myself, really surprised to hear the the Corsa is difficult. My current Vectra model needs to have the fuse box slid out first (takes 1 min) for passenger side bulb change to be done. Once you realize this it's a doddle and if the Corsa is the same, Halfords should manage this easily.

Anyway, here's a hint on the Corsa bulb change:
http://www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/showthread.php?p=1790739
...that is, a person with small hands MIGHT manage it after removing the fuse box cover.

Buddingblonde

Thanks for that - we did look on many websites for advice and videos on how to do it and even with this information (and telling Halfords "experts" about it) the bulb remains unchanged.

Most of the sites advise taking the bumper off but no one should really have to start dismantling the front of the car to change a light bulb. In the corsa manual that came with the car there are 3 different methods for changing the bulb (the third being take it to the dealership).

It looks like the garage tomorrow will have to do it for the MOT as the fog here is impossible today and it is so cold I dont see it lifting.

steveo3002

i dont think id waste the petrol trying more halfords stores , they only want the easy jobs that you could do yourself anyway

the mot place should have the skills and tools to swap in the new bulb

Keith

Call your recovery service, they'll fit it for you.

Buddingblonde

I did think about that but I checked the policy and we have a £20 excess on the policy so I think all in all it will be drive with 1 light tomorrow in the dark to the MOT place.

Thanks all

steveo3002

£20 might be better than the mot place charging half an hour to fit it

if halfords cant do it , then maybe the bumper really does need to come off

Buddingblonde

It is in for a service too so I am hoping that this wont be the case!

Cars? I never had this problem until last year when i decided to become a driver.

steveo3002

depends on the garage i guess...id like to think they'l do it for no extra but i wouldnt count on it

if they really do need to strip some of the car then an extra 30 mins is reasonble

hewhoisnotintheknow

its not hard, either work it out yourself or get a garage to do it!