Sod's Law

Desert Orchid

Desert Orchid

Senior Jockey
Joined
Aug 2, 2005
Messages
25,024
I noticed recently one of my headlamps wasn't working so I popped into the local Autoparts place. The guy asked which kind of bulb was it, a standard or a [insert whatever fancy type you can think of] one. I said I didn't know so he came out to the car, looked at the headlight and said it was a standard one. What's the difference, I asked. It's £4 for the standard and £59 for the [fancy] one.

Lucky me, I thought...

I went to replace the bulb today. It's a f&cking [fancy] one!!

I'm taking no chances with a DIY job at that kind of price. I'll be across at the garage at 6.15am tomorrow to speak to the guy there to see what he can do.

These f&cking fancy cars are all well and good until summat goes wrong...
 
Yes, I checked them earlier. Still talking about £60 though!

I'd really like to change my car but can't while work contracts are only short-term. The old beast has 183k miles on the clock and is starting to sound like it (while otherwise it scrubs up very smartly, a bit like its owner...)
 
Fvck...

The garage across the road phoned down and could get the bulb for £39 (he'd fit it for free) so I turned up this pm and it's the unit that's faulty. Jaguar want nearly £700 for the part!!! He advised me to shop around internet breakers but that's one helluva price.
 
I am no car nut and hardly use the fcking thing but blew up my engine in my Saab conv last year. Ask the questio of garages and a new one is an arm and a leg. Nightmare. Talking £3k etc

Searched eBay and a dealer in second hand parts in Cambridge with thousands of referrals sold me a 70k engine for £300. Fully tested etc Couldn't believe it. Ok cost £700 to put in but I was looking at multiples of the price elsewhere. It's working great too


Definitely try the net DO and eBay the best
 
Last edited:
I've had a few quotes ranging from £40 (delivered) for used ones to the full Jag price.

I emailed the cheap one with a couple of follow-up questions (regarding wiring etc) but they haven't got back, which puts me off. The next few are all around the £90 mark with guarantees ranging from 30 days to six months.

A lot better than the dear one, though.
 
In general, don't go near main dealers - they are a complete bunch of robbing b@stards.

A few examples - I drive a Ford Mondeo ST diesel estate. Over in Northern Ireland, Lindsay Ford are the only dealers who provide servicing - meaning they have you over a barrel if you want your car to be dealer serviced.

To replace an EGR valve:

- Ford: £400 for the part, £210 to fit it (works out at 3.5 hours at their rate)
- Ended up ordering it from Jaguar in Taunton (same part as it turns out) for £140 and stuck it on myself after watching a video on You Tube - literally took 15 minutes.

Full Flywheel kit (including clutch and slave cylinder):

- Ford (NI) - £1200 for the parts, £850 for fitting
- rang Ford in Manchester for a laugh - came in at around £1200 total (just shows how much the NI dealers are taking the ****). It's actually cheaper by around £600 to drive to Dublin, get the ferry and go to England to get it fixed than to get the work carried out here.
- Ordered parts from Ebay and got a family friend to carry out the work - total came in at just under £800.

Pure daylight robbery.
 
Flagship uberalles said:
Full Flywheel kit (including clutch and slave cylinder):

- Ford (NI) - £1200 for the parts, £850 for fitting
- rang Ford in Manchester for a laugh - came in at around £1200 total (just shows how much the NI dealers are taking the ****). It's actually cheaper by around £600 to drive to Dublin, get the ferry and go to England to get it fixed than to get the work carried out here.
- Ordered parts from Ebay and got a family friend to carry out the work - total came in at just under £800.
Click to expand...

Yes, one of the first things I did to the Jag when I bought it (5 years ago, with 120k miles on the clock) was replace the clutch (the guy who checked the car over for me recommended it). Jaguar wanted £1100 to supply & fit the part. I got it done for less.
 
The saga continues...

The headlight arrived yesterday. I was pretty sure on immediate inspection it was wrong as the fitting for the expensive xenon HID bulb wasn't there, just a normal headlight bulb fitting. I phoned the company to alert them but said I'd take it across the road to the garage to see if they thought it didn't matter.

The guys in the garage weren't too impressed with the part. It was an ordinary headlight but the adjusters were broken. I got on the blower to the company straight away. Fair dos to them, though, they apologised and offered to arrange for the courier to come round tomorrow to pick up the part and they'll give me a full refund once they get the part back. They seemed surprised and even used the word 'concerned' about the adjusters as that's the bit people often require. They're making the right noises about how it could have been sold if the adjusters are broken.

Bottom line - so far I'm a century out of pocket and still without a headlight. If they don't come good the credit card company should sort out the money side of it all but I still have to shop around for the right part.
 
I've been trying to read up a bit more about possible problems/solutions.

There seems to be one train of thought that it's the 'ballast' that's the problem. I've had to read up a bit more on that but it's looking about £50-£60 to get a new one, but I don't know if it's the problem.

Another train of thought is that it's a wiring problem and maybe a good auto-electrician will either fix it or at least decide for definite what the problem is.

Fortunately, I have the number of a guy who charges about £10 per hour for running electrical checks so I'll give him a buzz and see what he says.

Meantime, the firm that supplied the headlight are still claiming they're trying to get the courier firm to pick up the part from my house. They say once they have it they'll refund my money.
 
Desert Orchid said:
Fortunately, I have the number of a guy who charges about £10 per hour for running electrical checks so I'll give him a buzz and see what he says.
Click to expand...

The guy came today and I felt really sorry for him. The garage hadn't put the HID unit in properly and he had a helluva time trying to sort it but he eventually did. He also traced the problem to the wiring and was able to fix that.

When he left the lights were all working so let's hope they stay working.

He charged £65 which is pricey for the time he was here but I didn't mind paying him as he saved me the cost of a new headlight unit (over £700 just for the part) as none of the breakers could help.

As I say, hopefully a happy ending but a lesson to us all. If your xenon headlight develops a problem it might be an idea to get a sparks to check it out before shelling out fortunes.
 
Back
Top