"Toyota possibly expected this to be true for automotive HID lamps as well"
That is rather optimistic, but it is possible. Of course while it would lack of good intentions, it would then leave Toyota open to bad engineering.Joseph, it makes perfect sense when you think about other things on the cars of today. Some cars have made a simple spark plug change a major undertaking. Some cars need major items, like intake manifolds removed to properly access the plugs. But, needing to do it every 100,000 miles makes it less of a priority to keep it simple. Many people don’t drive cars much past that, so why keep it simple?
Keep in mind that I don’t agree with this train of thought, just that it seems like the way it is done.
Doesn’t one brand of minivan require the entire engine be dropped to change the rear 2 spark plugs on the V6 engine? Dodge Caravan I think, or maybe it was the Toyota
There are bad things that happen to good people, sure I had to remove the alternator to change the thermostat in my 03 l6 blazer, But the posts above provided easy enough ways, sure it was not as simple as in the old world, but it was not an impossible, or even improbable task. Sure we would love it if engineers took into account maintenance factors, but planned obsolescence seems more important than consumer serviceable equipment.
An HID bulb from the dealer for a 150 bucks is not that bad. Many cars have HID bulbs that cost far more than that and I’ve seen Lincoln Mark HID bulbs go for 300 bucks a pop; used.
There’s not a car made that doesn’t have X number of parts which require a lot of wrestling and cursing of the automakers for doing something so stupid. Not a one. Find a car with easy to change headlight bulbs and then you discover the fuel filter replacement is a nightmare. It’s a never ending problem.
The only way this will ever change is if almost every car owner deluges the car manufacturer and the government with complaints and does this without letup. Unfortunately, the shops and mechanics who have to wrestle these greasy pigs are the ones on the front line who catch most of the grief and are often accused of being thieves because a repair cost is high.
Sadly, I think some of the repair procedures are actually created after the car is in production, not as part of the design process. Some of the lack of foresight on the part of the engineers sucks, but it’s also not easy to cram as much stuff under the hood as is the trend these days and provide the styling that people buy.
The car that was designed for easy repair was the Checker. Cab fleets wanted to keep the man hours low and to keep the cabs on the streets without a lot of down time. I can’t imagine a cab fleet company wanting vehicles where a lot of time is involved changing a light bulb.
I remember that changing a sealed beam unit on the 1990 Ford Aerostar I used to own took about half an hour–three time the amount of time it should have taken.
We should raise this issue with the environmental crowd, and get them to push maintainability and repairability, since these are the things that delay the time we have to deal with recycleability. As an engineer I believe there is no excuse for designs that don’t consider repair.
Can’t really complain: 160,000 miles and this is the cars first repair. Still gets good mileage.