Last weekend I was visiting my sister in Atlanta and noticed that one of her low beams was out on her 2004 Accord. I naively offered to change the bulb for her, suggesting she change both of them at the same time to Sylvania Silver Star bulbs. After all, I'm used to doing minor maintenance on Toyotas, so how hard could a bulb replacement be?
So her son goes and buys the bulbs and I open the hood to have a look. OMG, this is not going to be easy. I go on-line to look for the procedure. OMG again. They suggest removing the plastic panels over the left front wheel to get to the left side lamp, while the right side lamp is accessible from under the hood. I take out the battery instead, to get access to the left side. The right lamp is accessible--sort of, because a lot of junk blocks the way. I use a stubby Phillips screwdriver, taking great care to not drop the three screws that hold the lamp into the fixture, working blindly by feel to get the screws out. I repeat the same thing for the left side, also working blindly. Amazingly I don't drop any of the screws during the contortions of putting the sockets back into the fixtures with new bulbs, and screwing them in (feeling blindly for the screw holes, while trying to keep the lamp socket in place). I do drop the screwdriver at one point, necessitating removing a plastic panel under the car to get it back.
On a Camry you can change the bulb in minutes, without tools. At least the Honda Accord isn't like the Saturn Aura where you have to remove the bumper to change the headlights. What great engineering--not.