ford ka headlight - ridiculous

redmike123

We have a Focus, I spent about half an hour trying to figure out how to change a rear light bulb- thankfully there was a video on u tube that helped with the secret, hidden securing screws. It struck me at the time that Ford had made this everyday diy job deliberately difficult.

StrongWork

andydiysaver wrote: »

can anyone recommend a decent well made car for that distant point in the future when I have money again having laid most of it out on fixing these ones, i.e. well thought out, simple, not horrible plastics and rivets creation?

Old mid 90s BMW like an E36. Seems to be designed to be worked on. Routine tasks such as changing headlights, brakes etc are straightforward.

IMO, one should be able to replace headlight bulbs with the car's on board tool kit in <15 mins on the side of the road.

tim9966

A Peugeot 307 is very easy to do the front bulbs with no tools needed, it's easy enough to do it less than 5 mins.

consumers_revenge

Try changing the fuel pump on a focus. Basket of a job as they don't fit an access hatch. 4 to 6 hours to get to then 2 mins to change it over.

And we won't even mention how to unclog the screen washers!

GolfBravo

vikingaero wrote: »

If I were the EU Traffic Commissioner I'd pass a law whereby all cars have to have accessible bulbs/ports from the engine bay even for those with chump hands and sausage fingers. If not I'd make the Chief Exec of each motor company personally liable for changing bulbs within 60 minutes response for the lifetime of the car. [Just having my Special Brew at Wetherspoons this morning!]

Believe it or not, there already is such EU law - you must be able to easily replace a light bulb using only the tools provided with the vehicle.

Obviously not many manufacturers care about this law.

Crabman

GolfBravo wrote: »

Believe it or not, there already is such EU law - you must be able to easily replace a light bulb using only the tools provided with the vehicle.

Obviously not many manufacturers care about this law.

Anyone know how this law can be enforced? Can a consumer request that professional costs to change a bulb are met by the manufacturer or is it for trading standards to take up the issue?

vikingaero

GolfBravo wrote: »

Believe it or not, there already is such EU law - you must be able to easily replace a light bulb using only the tools provided with the vehicle.

Obviously not many manufacturers care about this law.

The law isn't retrospective and only applies to cars manufactured after a certain date and model cycle. So a Ford Model X could still be manufactured for another 6 years and hundreds of thousands could be sold with inaccessible bulbs.

Strider590

tim9966 wrote: »

A Peugeot 307 is very easy to do the front bulbs with no tools needed, it's easy enough to do it less than 5 mins.

Well that's one thing you can say for the French, they're not as useless as us when it comes to doing jobs like this at the roadside and with French cars (with some exceptions) it's pretty simple to do the "simple" jobs at the roadside. The very fact you have to carry spare bulbs in France would suggest most of them are competent enough to do it.
We on the other hand, have become very lazy, so why shouldn't the car manufacturers make these jobs hard? More money for them.....

Muscle750

Working in the motor trade I agree when lights are held in with torque screws etc instead of normal Phillips screw etc it's just a way of making you head to a garage anyone with a focus o5 plate shape headlight has to come out to replace bulb all you have to do is undo the single torque scre on the top then with a long screw driver press down the two brackets at the bottom of the headlight that clip into the front panel headlight will then come out same on Audi a4s etc long torque screwdriver release a couple of screws just loosen and headlight will slide out golfs are same as well

benje302

I have oned a KA for 4 years now and can replace a headlight bulb in 10 minutes. You do not need to take the wheel off to do it.

I worte a userguide on a KA forum can can be found below :-

http://www.fk-oc.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?40170

ben