I'm buying a new Fabia. I went to the garage where it is being prepared to clarify final delivery details and asked them if they would replace the reportedly not very good OEM headlight bulbs with some Philips Extreme Vision H7 ones, which get a very good write-up among reviewers. They said that this would invalidate the warranty and they would not fit them. Of course, they said, I could fit them myself. I replied that I took it that this would still invalidate the warranty, and they agreed that it would. It does seem perverse that my attempt to increase the safety of the car by improving how far you can see in the dark would invalidate a three year warranty on my new car. I would be grateful for other people's comments on this warranty issue. I would also be keen to know how I can make the car safer in the dark without infringing the warranty.

I think the reality is that they would not repair any issues under warranty that pertain to the changing of the bulbs; as unlikely as that may be. I gather the big problem with these "better" bulbs are that they tend to have a shorter shelf life than a standard bulb so you'll probably find yourself replacing them fairly regularly; guess that's up to you really. Is a shame Skoda don't offer a Xenon option on the Fabia; given they offer a headlight wash option I can't imagine it'd cost Skoda much in development to produce a HID lamp enclosure; be quite a popular option too I'd expect

There is no problem provided they are the same form factor/wattage listed in the owner's manual.

The warranty issue is the dealer getting it wrong. As long as the bulbs are the same wattage and fitting they cannot invalidate the warranty. However I do understand the dealer not wanting to fit them; if they do so they have to then guarentee them, as they are the "supplying dealer" (Sale of Goods Act, etc).

Fit them yourself and don't worry.

You'll find that bulbs are not covered by the warranty anyway, so they would be classed as consumables the same as service parts. There is a block exemption on car servicing and service parts, the manufacturer can only insist that parts of equivalent quality are used - they cannot insist that only their branded parts are used. Provided that the bulbs are of equivalent quality and specification, i.e they fit and are rated at the same voltage and power consumption and you can prove to Skoda that they are of equivalent quality to the originals, then you shouldn't have a problem.

You can't invalidate your warranty by having the car serviced outside the dealer network using non genuine parts, so why would replacing the headlamp bulbs make a difference?

It's the dealer being as unhelpful as dealers can often be.The Philips bulbs are still 55w, not the illegal higher wattage sort,so no different really to the oem ones.Invalidate what warranty?Consumeables like bulbs are not covered by warranty in any case.No other components could be affected.

Fit them yourself and consider your dealer to be dubious.Send a copy of this thread to the dealer principal and say that you are unimpressed by this attitude and you are considering taking you vehicle elsewhere for future servicing.

Skoda don't make bulbs themselves - probably buy them from whoever does them the best deal!

This is the same stance as vw I had several sets of Philips and asked if they could replace the bulbs, no we can't simply this would invalidate the warranty just on the headlight and wiring in the headlight as its not a oem bulb fitted by them, it has to come from their stores to keep warranty intact simples

And?...did you believe them?

And?...did you believe them?

Yes ? If the bulbs are above the 55w ,however I've got Philips which are rated at 55w so they will be fine, I'm pretty sure vag uses Bosch or osram not 100% sure tho, what the guy said to me if they aren't to their specification and you have an issue under warranty then will be voided, I've no reason to disbelieve him

Don't think anyone here was talking about other than 55w legal bulbs.If you fitted high wattage bulbs which overloaded the wiring then,agreed,you've got a warranty issue.

Don't think anyone here was talking about other than 55w legal bulbs.If you fitted high wattage bulbs which overloaded the wiring then,agreed,you've got a warranty issue.

He knew my bulbs where Philips extreme as they came with the box , he still wouldn't fit and said if anything other than their bulbs from stores it would possibly make it invalid( warranty )on the headlight and wiring, his words not mine

He knew my bulbs where Philips extreme as they came with the box , he still wouldn't fit and said if anything other than their bulbs from stores it would possibly make it invalid( warranty )on the headlight and wiring, his words not mine

I fully understand why they wouldn't fit a non-Skoda part, but it gives dealers a bad name when they say fitting a bulb of the correct wattage/form factor would void the warranty.

This is not true.

If a Philips Extreme shorted out and took something like a bulb failure module, you would still be covered by warranty as a shorting bulb should not cause such a failure.

There is EU legislation that prevents warranties being void in such circumstances.

Im other words he wanted to charge you top price for bog standard cheap H7's, plus labour and vat...comes to about £80,sir.

Im other words he wanted to charge you top price for bog standard cheap H7's, plus labour and vat...comes to about £80,sir.

Sounds about right, I will fit myself however the golf has even less room than the fabias

It would be interesting if they came up with the same arguement over tyres.

Unenforceable - if they meet the spec in the handbook, then any subsequent issues (not the bulb) must be honoured. Dealer trying it on (well, they would!).

Success! I visited the garage again this morning and spoke the salesman. His original response was the same as last time - the warranty would be void if Philips bulbs were installed instead of oem bulbs, because that's what the service people were telling him - even though he personally was sympathetic to my request. I made the point that the only difference between the two bulbs was the price - oems would probably cost £1 on Amazon, whereas the Philips were £19.99 a pair from Amazon, and that's cheap for this type of bulb. Their specification was identical. To his credit, the salesman then went off and found a director to discuss it with. The director's view was the same as a number of your helpful comments on this forum - there is no warranty issue. So the bulbs will be installed as part of the car's preparation, with next Saturday afternoon booked for collection. Thank you all for your support in getting what I expected to be such a simple and sensible upgrade carried out.

I got a pair of Ring 120's fitted by my dealer last week, they where only to happy to do it for me at a cost of £28, there was no mention of invalidating the warranty. They also said they could fit their own Zenons for me for about £100 and if I went for that option they would be replaced free of charge if the bulbs went. Ron.

I got a pair of Ring 120's fitted by my dealer last week, they where only to happy to do it for me at a cost of £28, there was no mention of invalidating the warranty. They also said they could fit their own Zenons for me for about £100 and if I went for that option they would be replaced free of charge if the bulbs went. Ron.

Xenon bulbs are nothing special,Xenon HID are something else,but aren't the latter illegal without a self levelling system and headlight washers?

Xenon bulbs are nothing special,Xenon HID are something else,but aren't the latter illegal without a self levelling system and headlight washers?

Yes

Success! I visited the garage again this morning and spoke the salesman. His original response was the same as last time - the warranty would be void if Philips bulbs were installed instead of oem bulbs, because that's what the service people were telling him - even though he personally was sympathetic to my request. I made the point that the only difference between the two bulbs was the price - oems would probably cost £1 on Amazon, whereas the Philips were £19.99 a pair from Amazon, and that's cheap for this type of bulb. Their specification was identical. To his credit, the salesman then went off and found a director to discuss it with. The director's view was the same as a number of your helpful comments on this forum - there is no warranty issue. So the bulbs will be installed as part of the car's preparation, with next Saturday afternoon booked for collection. Thank you all for your support in getting what I expected to be such a simple and sensible upgrade carried out.

Mmmmmm get that in writing IMO

Common sense prevails then.

Be interesting to get their take on things if it was the other way round - that you had fitted Philips bulbs (which are totally legal and conform to relevant CE legislation or whatever) and there was a wiring fault causing damage to the car. Would they still argue that it wouldn't be covered under warranty?

Complete boo-larks.

Aslong as the bulbs fitted match the wattage of a standard bulb (e.g not rally bulbs with higher wattage output, or are different system, e.g HID's) you will be covered for any wiring faults etc. If you did fit a higher wattage bulb, the warranty would only be invalidated on items to do with the lighting system, e.g wiring, melted lamps etc. A blown shock absorber would still be covered.

From what the dealer is basically saying, if you fit a bulb from a petrol station, or get a local non-franchise garage to fit a bulb, you will again invalidate your warranty. Totally untrue thanks to block exemption. Aslong as the part you are replacing is of equivalent to the one you take out, you'll be fine.

Matty I agree however this is what the mechanics/ dealerships do say ? All the faults that may occur in the headlight ie wiring or burnt out switches that are integral to the headlight unit, will be voided under the warranty for that unit ? I agree if the bulb is rated similar to oem this shouldn't be an issue, however the dealerships seem to disagree ?