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I am always amazed at the number of cars with lighting defects which seems to be highlighted (no pun intended) at this time of the year.
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most were probably working the exact same back in January.
Some people either don't know how to change a light bulb or just don't care.
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I regularly follow the same Focus out of the village just after 08:00. Nearside brake light has been out/intermittent for six months plus.
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>>Nearside brake light has been out/intermittent
Does it only come on when he slows down?
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I'm not!
Bulbs are hard to change on some cars, and some owners don't seem to care either. I told a lady car driver I told as I walked to the station and she responded but the car wasn't fixed for months. I guess service or MOT as it might have been two and bit years old when I said.
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A Corsa I was behind recently only had the high centre brake light working, one out of three is one away from getting rear ended.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 29 Oct 12 at 16:45
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I agree re the difficulty of changing bulbs. A dipped beam bulb failed on my partner's 7 year old 206. It was nearside and a 5 minute job. The driver's side one involves removing the filler pipe of the screen wash bottle to get at the back of the light housing. In fact it has a joint and a clip so that it can be removed so not all bad news!
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The easy way to change headlight bulbs is to pop in to Halfords who will do it for £6.99
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There are some that they can't/won't do but what you say is correct, to avoid skinned knuckles etc!
in modern cars, changing lightbulbs can be all but impossible without a trip to the garage – and, thanks to minimum charges, the cost can soar to many times the £5 or so for the actual spare.
I have had to make two trips to my local garage with my Audi A4 after a headlight, and then an indicator, bulb failed; each trip cost almost £90. And Audis are not unique: George Marshall-Thornhill, a senior motoring researcher with Which?, cites the Renault Mégane, where a similar procedure can cost £200. The problem, he says, is that cars are becoming much more complex, so repairs are therefore much more expensive. "Manufacturers are trying to fit so many things in, there is no room under the bonne
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If manufactures are making cars to complex let them carry the cost of replacing parts which are essential.Ie lights etc.Or shaming cars with no spare tyre or bulbs inpossible to replace without a service station.We have to think of something..;)
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>>We have to think of something<<
Orson Cart?
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Changing bulbs isn't too difficult with my car, although you have to bend or kneel down uncomfortably and your hands get dirty.
That isn't the problem I notice in the dark. The thing that is bothering me a bit is that I have myself failed to dip my lights in the face of oncoming traffic more often than I would wish lately. Not every time or even often, but more often than I would wish. Getting old.
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First nigh since March I've left office in dark.
Off my normal route as Euston services suspended due person hit by train at Apsley - had to go to St Pancras instead for train to Wellingborough.
The vast majority of cyclists on Gray's Inn Road were well lit and either obeyed traffic lights or were at least suitably cautious in doing the kerbside/poor light timing red running thing.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 29 Oct 12 at 22:09
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>> The vast majority of cyclists on Gray's Inn Road were well lit and either obeyed
>> traffic lights or were at least suitably cautious in doing the kerbside/poor light timing red
>> running thing.
>>
I don't believe it! My guess is that Bromptonaut is a keen cyclist, and is always ready to praise cyclists' behaviour.
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>> The thing that is bothering me a bit is that I have myself failed to dip my lights in the face of oncoming traffic
>> more often than I would wish lately. Not every time or even often, but more often than I would wish
Oh, that's YOU is it? ;)
It irks me when following someone who fails to engage their main beam for several seconds, or at all, after they could have done so on an empty unlit road. Followers like to see where the road goes too...
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>> Oh, that's YOU is it? ;)
>>
You must be a mind reader. :-)
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>> It irks me when following someone who fails to engage their main beam for several
>> seconds, or at all, after they could have done so on an empty unlit road.
>> Followers like to see where the road goes too...
... Especially when the leader is doing 30mph because they can't see either.
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I remember seeing a survey some years ago and it revealed an astonishingly high percentage of people who never use main beam in any circumstances. I suspect a lot of them are people who predominantly drive in well lit areas.
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"The thing that is bothering me a bit is that I have myself failed to dip my lights in the face of oncoming traffic more often than I would wish lately. Not every time or even often, but more often than I would wish. Getting old."
Beware, AC, this sort of thing could be a precursor to forgetting to indicate and ....... mimsing!
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Just about the only driving issue I have with the SAAB is the dip/main switch, which is pull on/pulloff.
It frequently doesn't dip. if I forget and pull too hard, resulting in my upsetting others.
If I'm on dip and want to flash, more ofter than not I light up the main beam.
Why isn't the "push to main beam, pull to dip, and pull again to flash" not standard?
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I can remember having a foot operated dip switch on my mini. Worked well
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>> There are some that they can't/won't do but what you say is correct, to avoid
>> skinned knuckles etc!
Like my Zafira B and the Astra H headlight bulb and probably all models since. Plastic flap in the wheel arch liner and you are working by feel with your arm up inside the wheel arch for about an hour before you give up in frustration that the bulb holder won't lock back in place.
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In view of the fact that the MOT checks headlight alignment, I'm surprised at how many cars have one headlight aimed high.
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Possible that they've had a bulb go, changed it and not got the new one seated 100% correctly (or the previous bulb wasn't when the lamps were last adjusted).
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>> Possible that they've had a bulb go, changed it ...............
>>
I am sure if the slow of thinking can misfit a bulb they can also fit the wrong one.
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I've certainly done that with the Volvo. Didn't aim it high but the pattern as reflected in vans in traffic queues looked somehow fuzzy and wrong. Was only a week from a service so had it corrected there. And the S60 is, by today's standards, a paragon of no-tools easy changes.
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Anyone would think some people have never driven in the dark before.
As soon as the clocks go back, the silly season starts where some cars brake when another one approaches from the other direction. Generally they don't lose any speed, they just forever keep dabbing the brake pedal. Mind you, some of them aren't even going fast enough to warrant braking in the first place!
Do driving instructors not take people out in the dark for a lesson? Mine did to get me used to all manner of driving conditions.
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I think that many older drivers, who haven't noticed their slowly declining night vision through the summer, are surprised when they suddenly meet the dark evenings.
I'm very aware of the decline, and my average speed has reduced - not, I insist - to mimser state!
8o)
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Only car I had dipped beam problems with was a Xantia. Two reasons, the dipped beam itself was rubbish, I'd have been better off with a torch. Tried "brighter" bulbs but they just burned out for a pastime. Secondly, when I got the seat / steering wheel adjusted to suit me I couldn't see the blue high beam warning lamp as it was hidden behind the steering wheel resulting in me forgetting when it was on "high". You might say the brightness of the lights would or should have been a good clue but on that car they just went from dim to slightly less dim.
Otherwise it was quite a nice car in most ways. Odd seating position I recall. Felt like you sat far too close to the floor even with the seats adjusted to suit.
It was my first diesel, I had previously been majorly prejudiced against them. Couldn't believe how relatively fast it was once you got the knack of driving on the torque rather than using loads of revs.
It had a useful party piece. I lived in an area which got a lot of snow at that time and as anyone who does will tell you the big enemy isn't grip, you can drive around that, it's depth. If the underside of your vehicle touches or rests on deep snow you are generally stuck fast. With the Xantia you could use the trick suspension to temporarily raise the ride height to get through the deeper stuff.
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You're right Humph, Xantia dipped beams ar very poor.
The BX was much better and so's the Berlingo.
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Minicab drivers round my way are the worst culprits. No lights, failed bulbs, failed brake lights, and parking unlit on roundabouts and dual carriageways. Suspect that the number I see on sidelights only simply had both dipped bulbs blow and not bothered to fix them.
Should be six monthly MOTs or mileage based.
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Clocks gone back, first commute - diddy1234
