The manual says that lights can only replaced by a dealer. I have replaced a couple of the tail lights, so I know that is an exaggeration.
So, should I attempt a headlight, or is that something beyond my meager skills? I would prefer not to break something, or have it pointing in the wrong direction. Any advice would be appreciated.
It's not very hard. On the right hand side, flip the metal clip open, then remove the plastic cover. Locate the bulb you want to remove. Pull off the power connector. You will then have to push towards you, then push in a certain direction another metal clip (im not sure which way you pull it, but its in a little track, you will see it, get a flashlight). This will allow you to remove the burnt bulb. Remove the bulb, install the new one without touching the glass of the bulb, hitch in the retaining clip, make sure the bulb is aligned properly... The clip shouldn't go on if it isn't... but you never know. There is a tab that is upwards facing, so make sure you line that up when installing, or you will wonder why the bulb won't go in. Once as the clip is holding the bulb, connect that power connector, then install the plastic cover over the lights. For the left side... it is a real bitch due to space. If you have the time, remove the battery, then proceed... But honestly, I have fairly large hands and I got a bulb into the low beam spot (hardest to access) in the parking lot of the Canadian Tire where I bought my bulbs... So it's not impossible to do with the battery still there. This side you will need a phillips (cross) screw driver to remove the two screws that hold on the first plastic cover. This will slide up and out. Then you will have that plastic cover that the other side has... Which is held in by that clip. Light bulb goes in the same way, it's just hard to get your hands into the cavity, luckily VW's are made properly and all the metal and plastic bits in that area are nice and dull with bent over, or smoothed edges. Make sure everything goes back together properly, there should be slots for those plastic covers to fit into.... It all goes together nicely.
Test to see if you plugged into the electrical connectors properly (I only plugged into one prong on the drivers side, because it was so hard to see where the connector was going...) with all the plastic bits still removed.
The bulbs I got were Sylvania Silver Star. They are a little more money then the bulbs from the dealer, and a hell of a lot more then generic bulbs from a store like Canadian tire... But they are whiter then the genuine VW ones, and they give the cars lighting system a very nice look to it (they aren't those stupid blueish tinged bulbs, they are proper white). I feel more comfortable driving at night without my high beams on with these new Silver Stars installed... They do seem to cast a better light. "Toller" wrote in message news:%7CIb.32615$% snipped-for-privacy@news01.roc.ny...
Don't trust a VW dealer with anything but the most mundane things. Take a look at this link. It seems to have useful information:
Thank you so much! I finally got around to buying a bulb. When I got to the second latch, I just walked away shaking my head. But you said to just push and turn; so I did, and it did. Easy as cake.
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