If I ever designed a vehicle.
 

I would make the damn headlight bulbs accessible . It is beyond silly how difficult some bulbs are to replace . Not super cars either. tahoe/yukon, subaru, toyota etc... I just did a juke, and was so mad, I wanted to smash out the windows before I got that sucker unplugged .
Replacement of light bulbs should not involve the loss of blood. Just sayin'

I had to replace a headlight on my El Camino. It was 8 bucks, and about 3 minutes of time. Phew. I did not have time to open a beer!

Bulbs? New cars don't even have Xenon bulbs, they have integrated LED lights. With other words, there is nothing to replace. If LED goes out (which is very unlikely), you replace whole fixture.

Yes, to the tune of $$$$. $200.00 for a 3rd brake light, for a crappy Chevy. They have it all figured out .

dig this

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Every manufacturer has it’s own serviceability requirements. Over the years I’ve notice they have become more of a “guideline” with the Styling department having their way. Frustrating I know! But at an Auto company styling rules!

... and dealers make $ on the servicing side.

People go to the dealers to have windshield wipers changed. :-/

A lot of cars resemble Chinese puzzle boxes. (thinking Mercedes) and others are focused on quick snap-together assemblies. (PITA to unsnap)

I miss the old days when you could sit on the inner fender to replace the spark plugs. Now you need an engine hoist.

Though there were some pretty stupid designs back in the day. Starters on some vehicles for one even back in the 80s.

A friend asked me to help her replace head and marker lights in her Juke. I feel your pain. Changing the tail light was not terrible, at least.

Totally agree. Replacing the bulbs in our plebian Honda products has been easy peasy. Even the expensive bulbs are no more than $25-30 each, and it takes literally one minute to do. But on the "upscale" Acura with its fancy (for its time) HID headlights, they cost far more and were a total PITA to change. That car was not designed to be worked on.

Agree.... Grandson has 2015 Hyundai Genesis Coupe - headlight out, wanted me to change it (just a new LED bulb for $15 or so). If not for a you-tube video, I don't think I could have done it without breaking something. Was a real pain even after seeing how it is done.

I've actually found that the more mundane a car is, the more difficult to replace the bulb probably is. Better cars, usually have more thought and better engineering put into this simple stuff.

Who's idea was it to stuff the battery in the wheel well?

You don't find pulling out the wheel well liner fun?

The idea of having the battery under the driver seat didn't occur to me when I bought my van. I hope it never explodes.

The headlight bulbs on my (now sold) 993 were easy. Just one lever and the whole thing came out.
Then up on the bench. Nice and easy!

Cars are designed for ease of manufacture, not ease of maintenance.

The balance certainly is drifting.

With always tightening CAFE standards, something has to give.

Some parts come down the assembly line suspended from a string and the entire car is built around the part.

(It makes sense to have a muti-pack of body clips in the drawer. Even as a temporary measure.)