** The Brexit Thread ** - 'Brexit Means Brexit'

[Hobbs1951]

If you don't fancy changing it yourself, a garage will do it for a few quid.

A garage will not do it for a few quid if it involves the removal of parts (like bumpers) !

John.

[mercalia]

I dont know, Mrs May seems to be obsessed with leaving on the 29th? I am starting to believe she wants to "leave her mark" thats whats driving this nonsense of hers nothing more ? ANy sensible PM would have taken the referendum then set up a committee to examine how best to proceed and the likely impact. There really was no hurry to do what Mrs May has done? I am starting to think she is a menace to this country - not the ERG/DUP who have atleast served the purpose of highlighting the backstop nonsense that would in all probability shackle this country to the EU for a very long time. She really needs to be removed from office I think. Seems like a self serving Parliament wont do it.

[merseymouth]

Hi Roubaixtuesday , The garage will change a light unit for you for a few quid?
Having in the past worked as a mechani and Tester I find your response laughable! Garage charges have always been a very sore point with most folk who choose to own a car. The hourly rate charged at various grades of vehicle franchises is high going towards extortionate, with quality not being guarenteed by cost. Try getting a BMW/Mercedes/Audi/Porsche/Lexus et al dealer do a light change job on the cheap
All franchises have a costing manual which sets out the time required & cost to be charged for all tasks when doing jobs on the marque, that is what they work to. So even if a mechanic knows a little wheeze to make the job less involved & time consuming you will be charged the going rate per book! Maybe the manual says that an engine/gearbox unit has to be removed to say change a clutch, that is your cost. Of course mechanics might know that by merely undoing a single rubber mount the unit can be jacked up to enable replacement of the unit (quite common with many FWD cars) the task could be completed in a fraction of the required time.
I can't tell you how many times I was asked to say replace a single damper unit when only one of a matched 8 year-old pair is leaking!
Safety often comes quite low in priorities when wonga is at stake.
But one major point has not been mentioned in this thread - Manufactuers design cars to have a working life of 7 - 8 years, after that they ain't interested. Very hard sometimes to find genuine parts for cars older than that. Sure parts are made for many old vehicles, but getting OE Grade parts is a bloody lottery, counterfit rubbish is out there aplenty. Some nice folk even make bogus bits for Jet Aircraft, how does iffy bolts made to hold a Boeing 747 engine on grab you . Yess the truth is out there and the lies.
So who thinks that we are well served by corner cutting and a garage will change a headlight on a Peugeot 807 for beer money?
IGIB MM

[kwackers]

I don't agree about the year dot.

Why not? I've various mags from the 1890's that deal with engineering, automobiles etc etc.
There's nothing new under the sun. Folk have been complaining about mass production, production methods, ease of servicing for as far back I can remember reading.

The older cars generally had more space to work with.

They did can't deny that. But so what.
Seriously who fixes their own cars these days? I don't. Last car I did any work on was a Spewgot 306 - apart from the odd thing like swapping brake pipes - oh and occasionally for friends who are a bit short of readies.

LED's hmmm well they are not universal yet and in spite of much propaganda to the contrary they do fail. They can be horribly expensive to replace. All one moulding type of stuff. "How much? It's only a blooming sidelight mate!"

Not yet. But certainly as my car enters its twilight years and I look at a replacement an awful lot make a point of LED lighting.
I'd go as far as to say not many cars don't have LED's for the majority of lighting now - headlights being the remaining outlier, but not for much longer (certainly you'd have no chance of getting legislation through before it was rendered moot).

And there ARE a great many modern cars out there without a full compliment of lights.

Well there are certainly some. I'm not sure "great many" is how I'd see it.

Some of us do still venture into darkest Europe and such easy maintenance is a massive plus.

I'd rather rely on breakdown cover, I believe even over there they've heard of it.

[merseymouth]

Hi Kwackers , I seem to recollect that in many EU Countries it is manditory to carry a spare set of light bulbs, along with HiViz Jacket and even a breathalizer kit. So does it still apply to modern cra*e with Techno Stuff?
IGICB MM

[PDQ Mobile]

I have travelled across Europe as far as Peloponnese and throughout the UK for 50 years without breakdown cover. And for the last 35 at least twice a year to Central Europe all seasons sometimes pulling a trailer.
And in years gone by with a Minor to the Med several times.
Never had an issue I couldn't fix.
Never been recovered from a motorway.
( may these not be fateful words!)
But I run user friendly vehicles and I service them.

I will conduct a survey of vehicles with a defective light in the next days and report back.

[pete75]

By PCP I presume you mean contract hire or lease.Nothing wrong with getting a car that way. We do that with our most expensive car. According to the accountant it makes more economic sense than buying the thing outright as effectively all you're doing is paying for the depreciation rather than tying up capital for the whole cost of the vehicle. The VAT on the contract payment is reclaimable and the remainder of the payment can be offset against tax effectively reducing it by 45%.

I do not mean Contract Hire (or Operating Lease to give it's correct name, is an off balance sheet facility) or Lease (Finance Lease and Lease Purchase - two different products) they are all different products to a PCP (a P(ersonal)C(ontract)P(urchase), a PCP is a Hire Purchase product and the instalment does not attract VAT) and I didn't say there was anything wrong (although there are issues looming) with it.

VAT on the monthly rental (whether on a CH or FL) is only allowable at 100% if sole business use is proven (e.g like a taxi) otherwise 50% is disallowed.

John.

Only 50% VAT reclaimable allowed . Thank you you for telling me but I'd sort of guessed that because it's the amount reclaimed on our lease payments.

[kwackers]

Hi Kwackers , I seem to recollect that in many EU Countries it is manditory to carry a spare set of light bulbs, along with HiViz Jacket and even a breathalizer kit. So does it still apply to modern cra*e with Techno Stuff?
IGICB MM

I remember years ago when 'unit' lighting started appearing seeing the same question asked.

Short answer: I don't know.

I also don't know anyone that's ever been pulled and asked to show they've got them.
If in doubt you could just buy the cheapest bulb 'kit' you can find. I doubt whether they'd be interested in checking they fit - especially if they have to dismantle the car to find out!

[Hobbs1951]

I have travelled across Europe as far as Peloponnese and throughout the UK for 50 years without breakdown cover. And for the last 35 at least twice a year to Central Europe all seasons sometimes pulling a trailer.
And in years gone by with a Minor to the Med several times.

A friend of my Father's used to travel all over Europe and particularly to Spain, this was in the 1960s and in a Triumph Roadster (Bergerac type), he carried spares but rarely needed them.

When I was a kid we would regularly take holidays in France and Spain, my Father would drive. I don't ever recall breaking down - I have a very good memory too.

John.

[Cyril Haearn]

Plus One for talking about old cars instead of b****t
I had a 1984 Cavalier 1.6 GL light blue four-door saloon, did 100 mph in it legally on the Autobahn

[PDQ Mobile]

A friend of my Father's used to travel all over Europe and particularly to Spain, this was in the 1960s and in a Triumph Roadster (Bergerac type), he carried spares but rarely needed them.

When I was a kid we would regularly take holidays in France and Spain, my Father would drive. I don't ever recall breaking down - I have a very good memory too.

John.

Yep.
Carry a few bulbs in a kit. Check lights regularly and am happily and quickly on my full lit way south while poor Kwackers has to wait for the breakdown service to arrive. They then discover it's an all in one type LED unit and they can't get one 'til the morning.

[[XAP]Bob]

I have travelled across Europe as far as Peloponnese and throughout the UK for 50 years without breakdown cover. And for the last 35 at least twice a year to Central Europe all seasons sometimes pulling a trailer.
And in years gone by with a Minor to the Med several times.

A friend of my Father's used to travel all over Europe and particularly to Spain, this was in the 1960s and in a Triumph Roadster (Bergerac type), he carried spares but rarely needed them.

When I was a kid we would regularly take holidays in France and Spain, my Father would drive. I don't ever recall breaking down - I have a very good memory too.

John.

I remember the time we did... quite a palaver that journey was. Mind you it didn’t exactly hurt my French oral skills before my GCSE year...

[bovlomov]

Hi Kwackers , I seem to recollect that in many EU Countries it is manditory to carry a spare set of light bulbs, along with HiViz Jacket and even a breathalizer kit. So does it still apply to modern cra*e with Techno Stuff?
IGICB MM

When the Spanish government introduced that hi-vis requirement, there was a rumour that the then PM (Aznar) had shares in a company that made them. I never found out if this was true.

[kwackers]

Yep.
Carry a few bulbs in a kit. Check lights regularly and am happily and quickly on my full lit way south while poor Kwackers has to wait for the breakdown service to arrive. They then discover it's an all in one type LED unit and they can't get one 'til the morning.

Why would I wait for a breakdown?
If it was just an headlight bulb I'd be happy driving on one headlight and side lights. Park up at my destination and then ring the breakdown.
Any other bulbs are a doddle to swap - if I ever needed to.

But then I'd ever expect that to happen. My car has HID lights no need to carry antiquated tungsten bulbs. My next car will have LED lights so ditto for that too.
Modern cars are great. Why put up with less?

(I also get that fogies don't like change and that not being able to change your headlight bulb is a truly frightening thing for some of them.
But don't worry, our generation hasn't much longer left and we're being followed up by a generation that doesn't even know how to change a wheel.)

[PDQ Mobile]

Why would I wait for a breakdown?
If it was just an headlight bulb I'd be happy driving on one headlight and side lights. Park up at my destination and then ring the breakdown.
Any other bulbs are a doddle to swap - if I ever needed to.

But then I'd ever expect that to happen. My car has HID lights no need to carry antiquated tungsten bulbs. My next car will have LED lights so ditto for that too.
Modern cars are great. Why put up with less?

Well why put up with one headlight? For hundreds of miles? Not as safe and perhaps not legal?
On my bus it's an easy 2 minute job to change any bulb. Bulbs are cheap.
Breakdown cover is free!!
You know it makes sense!

A quick straw poll this evening saw a cyclist with no lights, three out of about 30 cars with at least one defective light, one Golf with no front light at all on one side.
It could happen to you, I guess?

What are HID? Horribly Intense and Difficult (to change)