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Hi. Would appreciate your thoughts. Daughter needs new headlights on older vehicle. New ones installed would be $350+. That seemed kind of high to me, so researched and found used headlights right down to the year & type - $70 for both. Before ordering, I called my trusty Firestone that I go to and (you guessed it) they don't install customer parts. No sense in arguing the whys - policy is policy. So since it's the weekend I thought I'd wait until Monday and call a few regular Joe repair shops. Before I waste my time, I thought I'd ask here. I get why repair shops have this policy for under the hood parts and such. But headlights? I mean the mechanic installs them, turns on the lights, if they don't work he calls and says 'You got bad headlights'. If they work, he just made an hour of labor (which is better than nothing if I didn't come in at all). This isn't an engine part where a world of things could go wrong and the mechanic be 'blamed'. Can someone help me understand why this would be the case? Thanks for your time.
Because there is no mark up on parts they don't sell. The mechanic can always be blamed. "These worked when I gave them to you, now they don't. You broke them"
Whats the year make and model of the car, swapping a headlight housing is usually a pretty simple job.
2003 Honda Civic. My husband could do it in a second, but is working 2 jobs, super busy (and tired) Didn't want to add to his plate. Is it simple enough for me? I'm pretty clumsy, mechanically. Maybe there's a YouTube video.
Based upon the price you listed I’m assuming you mean headlight assembly (lense housing including all the bulbs already installed). We only buy this because of oxidation build up (hazy lense reducing light output). Some vehicles make this an easy DIY job. Either the owners manual or a repair manual will provide easy instructions to replace them yourself. Some vehicles are more difficult requiring removing the entire front bumper and part of the wheel well. If it goes that far, save yourself the aggravation and take it to a professional shop. We took my wife’s car to a locally owned body shop because of this. They had all the replacement clips for those clips that broke when removing.
If you haven’t already ordered your lense, shop around online, you may find cheaper prices.
2003 Honda Civic. My husband could do it in a second, but is working 2 jobs, super busy (and tired) Didn't want to add to his plate. Is it simple enough for me? I'm pretty clumsy, mechanically. Maybe there's a YouTube video.
Hi. Would appreciate your thoughts. Daughter needs new headlights on older vehicle. New ones installed would be $350+. That seemed kind of high to me, so researched and found used headlights right down to the year & type - $70 for both. Before ordering, I called my trusty Firestone that I go to and (you guessed it) they don't install customer parts. No sense in arguing the whys - policy is policy. So since it's the weekend I thought I'd wait until Monday and call a few regular Joe repair shops. Before I waste my time, I thought I'd ask here. I get why repair shops have this policy for under the hood parts and such. But headlights? I mean the mechanic installs them, turns on the lights, if they don't work he calls and says 'You got bad headlights'. If they work, he just made an hour of labor (which is better than nothing if I didn't come in at all). This isn't an engine part where a world of things could go wrong and the mechanic be 'blamed'. Can someone help me understand why this would be the case? Thanks for your time.
If you have screwdrivers and a small socket set you can just diy. It’s oretty simple to do. Most owners manuals have the steps required to remove the headlights as it’s usually required to do so when changing the headlight bulbs.
If you have screwdrivers and a small socket set you can just diy. It’s oretty simple to do. Most owners manuals have the steps required to remove the headlights as it’s usually required to do so when changing the headlight bulbs.
Agreed. It's not rocket science. If you don't have any tools find a friend, neighbor, co-worker who does.
I encourage diy replacement on headlights. The challenge is securing it and aligning (beam aim).
If its the electrical wires , then take it to an expert.
I prefer rock auto and parts geek for older parts.
Youtube does have some technical videos that are easy to follow.
Depending on what's wrong with them, this could be a really easy fix. You only need to replace them if they're physically broken.
Do neither of the lights turn on? Check the fuse, the relay, and the switch.
Does only one light work? Replace the bulb.
Do they both work, but are not bright enough? Clean and polish the lenses.
^^^This. If they are just cloudy. Get the lens cleaned. Cheaper and easier than replacing.
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Didn't want to add to his plate. Is it simple enough for me? I'm pretty clumsy, mechanically. Maybe there's a YouTube video.
