chevrolet’s war on the aging home mechanic
i like camping and i like old chevvy astro vans. it was a sad day when chevvy stopped making them! the one i have been driving for a few years (a ’97) is coming up on a quarter of a million miles. it has faithfully taken me all over the place, rocky mountain camping trips, weekend beach outings, etc, etc. it has a platform for a futon in the back where the seats used to be, and stays packed with the basics for camping. futon, sleeping bag, axe, short shovel, camp stove, water, canned goods etc.
it has, as astros are known for given me “bulletproof” performance – and it has no serious mechanical issues. …but it is coming up on a quarter million, and i saw a ’95 advertised at a reasonable price with only 120k miles. i grabbed it, and it turned out to be in pretty good shape. the a.c. works, the power everything works, even the windshield washer – amazing on a 22 year old car.
…but only one headlight worked – hence the rant.
i remember changing out a headlamp on my 1960 vw beetle. three screws, pull the retainer ring, unplug the old headlamp, plug in the new one, put the retainer ring back and screw it down with those three screws. zippo, done! not these days, my friends, car designers have improved things. the headlamp is still held in by a retainer ring, but it is almost inaccessible. to get to the retainer ring, i had to remove the grille (carefully! it’s a 22 year old piece of plastic). but wait, to remove the grille, first i have to remove the turn signal assemblies (not assembly, assemblies, both sides have to come out). now that i’m at the retainer ring, it’s a piece of cake. take out retainer ring screws (4 this time) unplug the old headlamp, plug in the new one, and reassemble the whole thing, retainer ring, grille, and turn signal assemblies. eight hex head screws (two sizes), eight phillips head screws (two sizes) to change one light bulb!
i suspect that chevvy’s designers don’t want customers servicing their own vehicles. they want us to take it to the dealership and pay $65 labor to change a $12 light bulb.
end of rant.
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