Some of the engineering on newer vehicles has me scratching my head. Simple tasks that used to take minutes to do now turn into a teardown to get to what you need to fix. My wife's cousin has a Chevy HHR, she had a headlight burn out. She wanted me to install one since she couldn't figure out how to get to the bulb. I didn't know for sure myself, some you can reach from top, some unclip and slide out, so I googled[?] it up. There was a video on how to change the bulb. Sounds silly, right? A video to change a light bulb? I watched it, and glad I did. I would have never have figured it out without it. Just take it out the back and stick in a new one, right? Well yes, after you take off the front tire, and then take out 3 bolts and 3-4 plastic push pins, and pull the inner fender liner back to get to the bulb! Crazy! Who in their right mind would have designed it so you have to take a tire off to put in a light bulb? I just don't understand making a consumable part so inaccessible . Granted, the new bulbs last a lot longer than the old sealed beams, but they still have to be replaced every so often. Good thing I'm computer and mechanical savvy. I'd bet a shop would have charged her $40 or more to change it for her. How do they come up with these crazy ideas?
Conspiracy between the automotive Industry and the service Industry. Trying to find out how much complication they have to put on everything to get you to take it to a service station. This is the only way they can save the mechanics because electric cars require about 90% less maintenance than oil burners.
Yep welcome to my world. Exactly why I love my mav so much. After working on new cars all day the mav is a step back into simpler times for me. Even the toughest job on my Mav pales in comparison to the new car designs.
Why??? Its' really quite simple...The car manufacturers and the new car dealerships want it this way. They dont want you, or the corner repair shop messing with em...They want you to take it back to the dealer for service / repairs. Did you know, the service department at a dealership is supposed to pull in enough money to cover...90 to 97 percent of the operating expenses??? This is why you have to pull a wheel to change a headlight. Engineers can designe great cars...Its the bean counters that screw em up...
When I started driving there were 3 replacement headlights that serviced every American automobile and truck on the road, and it took all of 5 minutes and a phillips-head screwdriver to change them.
