:(:confused:Attempted to fit a new bulb to the f/o/s fog light today to my Octavia Vrs and wasted 2 hours, drew blood and swore alot.... then gave up in the end defeated and exasperated.

I went to Halfords and bought a set of star allen keys which cost £9!!!and new bulb from local dealer, which cost a further £4, then set to work:-

1/ Removed front wheel.

2/ removed about 12 star screws from inner wheel arch and under engine cover.

3/ Removed plastic inner wheel arch.

4/ Still couldnt get at fog light cos of the washer bottle!!

5/ Tried to remove washer bottle...got 2 nuts off....couldnt get access to 3rd nut!! Its in the most inaccessible place.

5/ Remove front trim from around fog light.

6/ Removed left hand section of front grill.

7/ There are 3 star screws holding the fog light in place.

8/ Removed 2 star screws....spent 20mins trying to get the last one out.....got my arm stuck in the hole where the front grill was removed!!! Swore alot before eventually getting free.

9/ Got dark and I was cold.......gave up, put it all back together again and went and sat down had a cuppa and rang the local dealer who said they wanted £25 labour to fit it :eek:!! Daylight robbery, think I'll just do without a fog light and hope its not foggy!!

It looks as though you have to remove half of the the car just to change one poxy bulb.

Hence the title......'One for the next edition of the Krypton Factor'

Dear lord... £25 to fit a bulb, that's a disgrace. Should be free, my local dealer used to be.

Sounds like the Fabia vRS fog light bulb, that is a pain in the bum to do too.

Maybe it's 25 since they need to take half the car apart as you say. you've wasted 2 hours of your time. suppose it's up to you whether that's worth more than a round of drinks? anyway, on my superb the dealer charged me 16 to change a headlight bulb, and nothing for rear light bulb. i always get the car back valeted so am happy to pay to have it done right. 2p worth over :-)

To be fair, a lot of modern cars have a similar "refer to dealer" for foglights and even headlights.

My Xtrail, then Navara were dealer fit for fog lights and I beleive the Renault Megane (and maybe laguna too) are the same for Headlights. Headlights been like that are a disgrace!!

I guess its down to the design of the front end in search for aerodynamics and more importantly pedestrian safety in the event of a collision.

Steve

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Was charged £70 labour on my Renault Megane by dealer for headlight bulb replacement.

Hilarious (not that I found it so at the time) considering it is a French brand and in France you must be able to replace your lightbulbs by the roadside if stopped by police (not foglights though)...

..................down had a cuppa and rang the local dealer who said they wanted £25 labour to fit it :eek:!! Daylight robbery, think I'll just do without a fog light and hope its not foggy!!

At £25 that's about 15 minutes work for a dealer at a guess. I wonder if it's easier with the car on a ramp?