It’s been over a year now, and I finally got around to fixing the headlights on my ’99 Volkswagen Passat. Several years ago, someone smashed into me and their insurance fixed my car. Unbeknownst to me and the adjuster, was that the alignment screws that kept the headlights pointing out onto the roadway were damaged. Several years later, they both finally gave way and my headlights pointed at the ground, just in front of the bumper. This caused the headlights to vibrate and new ones would burn out in about a week.
Replacement screws could not be ordered and I would have to pay $300 dollars a piece for a new right and left headlight assembly. Bummer. I didn’t want to spend the money, and frankly, I didn’t have that kind of money for lights in the night. For longer than I care to think about, I’ve gotten by with using just the fog light option, that uses the highbeams in a dimmed mode. Honestly, the light of the moon was almost as bright as what I could see at night. I had to stick to highways and roads with lighting, while country roads were almost un-drivable. I finally broke down and ordered replacement headlights from an online dealer, and good news: they were hundreds cheaper than buying the parts from a dealer or body shop!
I highly recommend Auto Parts Warehouse. Free UPS shipping on orders over $50 dollars, and great prices. As an example, the Passat’s radio antenna had broken off years ago, too. I had been without a radio for long enough, and so I also ordered a new antenna. I decided I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night had I just stolen one from another VW! Auto Parts Warehouse wanted $43. The local VW dealer wanted $165 bucks for the same dinky antenna! If you need auto parts, check them out.
Anyway, I was very impressed with the German engineering of my car’s headlights. It’s just the small things, but when you work on a car, the small things make a big difference. The Passat has lots of nice “small things” that only the Germans would think of. It’s an old, paid off car, but I do love the small touches that make it German.
I went out today to check out what would need to be done to take out the old headlight assemblies, and put the new ones in. The first thing I noticed was how dingy and yellow my old headlights were, compared to the clear, bright new ones. Here, the old one is on the left and the new one is on the right. These new ones were going to be brighter, if for any reason, just because the plastic was clear! I popped the hood and found two mounting screws, hidden under protective caps. I removed them, and unplugged the single clip of wires that connected to the back of the assembly. I jiggled and nothing gave way. I then looked at the new unit and saw that there was one more mounting screw in the bottom corner: no way would I be able to get to that on the old unit. Then, (thank you Germany and Jesus) I just happened to jiggle the turn signal light, mounted next to the headlight. It popped out and revealed the last mounting screw to remove. No obstacles and no headache of reaching around in cramped quarters to remove some obscure screw. I replaced both headlight units in less than twenty minutes.
That is a testament to how the car was built and designed. I must say, I’m a little proud of that car. I heard today that my brother in law’s Honda Civic caused him major headaches, just to change the headlight bulb — not even the assembly. He couldn’t get to the back of the unit to take the bulb out. He finally took it to the dealer, and they had to remove the wheel well, just to take the back panel off to change the stinking light bulb! Unbelievable, and honestly, unacceptable. That made my twenty minute job feel pretty good.
We love our new Hyundai Sonata, but I love the Passat too.
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