Cost of Changing a bulb

D

daveyjp

Guest
Whilst waiting in my dealership following a warranty repair (see car park) an A2 owner rang asking for a price for a headlamp bulb change. Total cost was £40. Bulb was just short of £10 rest was labour. A discussion ensued which obviously began "HOW MUCH"! Service manager then explained the procedure and it was costed at 20 minutes labour at £90 per hour. From conversation it appeared owner was going to try himself (something I am all too aware can be difficult to do). When the call was over I said to the manager that if the owner didn't know what he was doing he would be down to the dealership with the car in bits - the response from the manager was that it wouldn't be the first time. He even had one A2 owner who couldn't get the bonnet back on and drove down with it in the back seat!
 
£90/hour.....I'm in the wrong business!! Though if the dealer can do it in 20 mins without losing any skin off his hand I guess that's worth some money.

2004 1.4 TDi (90) SE, Cobalt Blue, Climate control, Cruise control, DIS, Sport seats, Winter pack, Symphony II.
 
It's a piece of cake - bonnet off, 2 torx screws out, lamp unit out and fit your new bulb. Installation is reverse of removal, to quote the manual.

Save yourself a few quid and buy the workshop manuals from me - it's worth it!

WAS : A2 TDI SE 2001 Ebony Black Pearl (The Little Tank!)
NOW : A2 TDi 90 Sport, OpenSky, winter pack, ISOfix, all-round fogs, climate control, all-round electric windows, Blaupunkt Woodstock DAB54, genuine HID xenons and red leather! Not to mention CCC Tech chipping (118bhp), K&N air filter, all round tinting, all-black headlining and retro-fitted cruise control and GALA.(The NEW Tank).
A219.jpg
 
I Had this happen to me Years ago the lights where playing
up on me Vauxaul Nova so i took it into a garage while i
was at work in Newbury never asked what the labour would be
and when i picked it up i said what was wrong with it and they
said just 2 new bulbs on the fron so i was relieved as i thought
it had a major electrical fault then i gets the bill £45
I Nearly **** £45 I Said for 2 bulbs so he replies yes thats our
minimun charge so if id known that all it needed was 2 bulbs i would have done it myself hence i did not go back there again .[27]

A2avatar.jpg
 
You are right - it doesn't want to download does it? Need a techie to take a look! Might be a 'change-over-of-ownership of the site' issue....
 
quote: Try changing a headlight bulb on a smart.
Click to expand...
No thanks, ive just swapped from a Smart coupe for my A2 Tdi SE 90 ;)
although the headlights on the Smart were fantastic as built, not that i can say the same for the A2, ive ordered myself some Xenon bulbs to see if it makes a difference like it has in previous cars
 
I've got the Philips +50% in my A2 and the lighting improved somewhat, nice clean white light, in a auto magazine test the Philips and Osram came out the best, make sure your lights are not too low, the beam is patchy but acceptable on long fast night driving jaunts!!

A2 TDI Sport Leather, climate control, Bose cruise control
 
Alternatively, if you're a member, call the RAC for a no-cost solution. That's what I did with my Polo (it's not obvious how to get at the rear-light cluster).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top