Going to the body shop in my work clothes saved me money

"JDMatt" (JDMatt) 05/26/2016 at 00:44 • Filed to: Happy story

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First off, the engineer who designed the headlights on my mazda 3 can punch himself in the face! I’ve changed headlight bulbs before, but when changing the bulbs out on the mazda 3 I bought 3 months ago I struggled for 90 minutes before giving up.

Onto the story: so I work for a car rental agency at SFO. All airport car rental places are too busy to fix all their cars themselves, so we will outsource major repair work to whatever body shop is nearest to the airport.

After failing to install a headlight bulb into my mazda 3, I figured I’d cold call the shop my company gets our body shop work done. I bought my car into the shop before work, and lo-and-behold everybody that worked there thought I was inquiring about our rental cars. I just told them that I needed my headlight replaced, and they fixed it for free.

The previous owner of my car left plenty of scratches and scrapes on the car. When I finally get around to fixing the damage on my personal car, I know what shop I’m going too.

Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes > JDMatt 05/26/2016 at 01:27

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Filed under, reasons to buy an old car ;) haha but seriously! Mazda is one of those manufacturers who make it difficult to DIY and I swear they do it on purpose.

-old Tribute owner. (Yes it’s a rebadged escape but still, damn you Mazda!)

(Also Mazda is one of the better manufacturers of cars today, so don’t take this the wrong way!)

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > JDMatt 05/26/2016 at 01:41

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The Vibe is also a frustrating ordeal. To change the blinker or headlight on the driver’s side, you have to remove the battery! Well you can guess what I did: struggle mightily and scrape my knuckles and NOT remove the battery.

JDMatt > Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes 05/26/2016 at 01:54

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I get what you mean. Engineers put in these mechanical easter-eggs to make money of guys like me.

Since I work in the Fleet department of a rental car agency, I know what brands give us the biggest headaches. By now, I’ve learned that one does not simply pull on the windshield wipers of a german car.

JDMatt > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 05/26/2016 at 01:57

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From my limited experience working on cars I’ve learned two things:

1: the part I need to replace will be stubborn

2: I swear a lot

Svend > JDMatt 05/26/2016 at 02:06

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Try a 2004 Renault Megane.

To change an headlight bulb you need to snake your hand up a hatch in the front of the front wheel arch. Even when you can reach it, you can’t properly hold the bulb your taking out or the bulb your putting in.

Many garages unbolt the front bumper on the side of the car that needs the bulb replaced, unbolts the grille and takes off the headlamp assembly.

Fifth Gear did a piece on changing a bulb in a Megane and a bulb in a VW Golf.

JDMatt > Svend 05/26/2016 at 02:21

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[swears in french while changing the bulb]

I really don’t wanna be the owner of a megane that was involved in a front-end collision. When my Nissan Pathfinder kept burning out headlights, I realized that it wasn’t the bulbs, but that the headlight wiring was messed up because of a front-end collision that was repaired 10 years prior. I would hate to change the bulbs several times in one year before deducing that it was the wiring that kept burning out bulbs.

On the flip side, the megane passed top gear’s crash test with flying colors!

PorkchoPlissken > JDMatt 05/26/2016 at 02:30

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Based on the title, I assumed you were a stripper.

Svend > JDMatt 05/26/2016 at 02:37

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Ye’, but these aren’t front end damaged and the Megane has the same crash test rating as the Golf.

The Fifth Gear episode with the Megane and Golf, ‘bulb off’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMLINNMcWj8

Sneaky Pete > JDMatt 05/26/2016 at 03:13

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Changing a bulb on a 2007-2008 Honda Fit is also a joy. You have to remove the front wheel and fender liner to gain access to the rear of the headlight, which you have to snake your arm up to to reach the bulb.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Svend 05/26/2016 at 06:37

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Can confirm, I’ve changed one. I took the wheel off and managed to get my arm through.

Svend > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 05/26/2016 at 06:43

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I’ve seen a video of a guy unscrewing the front of the wheel arch to give him better access. Thankfully there aren’t many about any longer.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Svend 05/26/2016 at 06:56

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Yeah their quality is suspect so they’re all dying off. Ours was a rubbish car, the worst out of their range at the time I think (the Clio and Laguna of the era were pretty decent cars.) Reliability wasn’t actually completely terrible but the driving experience was.

Svend > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 05/26/2016 at 07:01

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I never liked them. The nappy-bum didn’t do anything for me. :)

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Svend 05/26/2016 at 07:05

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I can forgive the looks, but certainly not the way they drive.

Svend > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 05/26/2016 at 07:10

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Too much ‘meh’ all round really.

WiscoProud > JDMatt 05/26/2016 at 11:25

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I’m admittedly not familiar with Mazdas, but can’t you just pull the headlight and replace the bulb? Usually its only a couple of screws. I just had to do this with my land cruiser due to my truck sized hands.