I'm planning a trip to Italy in September, so need a  spare bulb kit, but I'm having a devil of a job finding one.

 

It's for my 2018 Mk7 Golf GTI, which is all LED bulbs.

 

I haven't been to VW yet to be fair, but was hoping not to have to.

 

Has anyone been there, done that, got the T shirt?

 

Any pointers would be much appreciated.

 

Ta

 

Gaz

Would have thought that with being LEDs that they will be pretty reliable, and your car is pretty new too? Does it acutally have replaceable bulbs? Sometimes LEDs aren't separate bulbs but are part of the light units. 

I agree and am not expecting any problems.  It's the requirement to have a spare bulb kit when driving on the continent that's the issue.

 

Gaz

I wonder gow many people challenged that on the basis of

"Yes officer i have a spare bulb for the one thats blown, but i cannot replace it on the side of the motorway, as the workshop manual for my car states i must remove the front bumper and wing to do this, which i cannot do without my tool kit"

From what I've been reading, it seems that the compulsory requirement to carry spare bulbs has been dropped due to the complexity of modern car lighting systems. As the poster above me says, some cars need half of the front end dismantling just to change a headlight bulb. Other lights are often complete LED units with no separately replaceable LEDs. 

 

 

From Halfords website...

 

 

Quote

 

''Headlamp Converters & Spare Bulb Kits

 

To ensure you don't dazzle oncoming traffic, you'll need headlamp converters. This is because headlights on British cars are designed for driving on the left, not the right. Headlamp converters reposition the angle of the beam, ensuring other drivers are safe as well as improving your visibility.

Most European nations also recommend carrying a spare bulb kit so you can change your headlamps if one of them goes. Though it's not a legal requirement, it's strongly recommended to have them when in France, Spain and Poland.''

 

 

https://www.halfords.com/advice/motoring/expert-advice/driving-in-europe

Edited 14 July, 20196 yr by TMB

50 minutes ago, TMB said:

From Halfords website...

 

Would you trust anything Halfrauds say !!

 

I watched one of their "trained fitters" trying to fit a battery to a Classic Mini, he had the bonnet open and closed half a dozen times trying to see where it fitted, in the end I went over and told him 

2 hours ago, nige8021 said:

 

Would you trust anything Halfrauds say !!

 

I watched one of their "trained fitters" trying to fit a battery to a Classic Mini, he had the bonnet open and closed half a dozen times trying to see where it fitted, in the end I went over and told him 

 

Haha, classic Mini battery goes in the boot

 

Says something similar about the bulbs on the AA and RAC websites, so not just trusting Halfwits.

Edited 15 July, 20196 yr by TMB

12 hours ago, TMB said:

From Halfords website...

 

 

 

https://www.halfords.com/advice/motoring/expert-advice/driving-in-europe

 

My favourite post! 😎

 

Spent ages looking on Halfords and other sites too 🙄

 

Cheers folks, much appreciated 

 

Gaz

I found a couple of sites with the same layout when traveling through France and Spain that provided up to date information about rules, regs and roadwork information, there's probably something similar for Italy. 

Cant really carry spares with LED’s can you.. unless you take a spare of every light unit. 

 

Tbh if you’re worried about being hassled to produce one.. just carry any old bulb kit and show them that. 

 

An LED going would be a warranty issue and not a consumable i would think? 

I always take random sat of spare bulbs just in case if I have to show it to Police officer... Problem solved.