What I don,t like about VW

[VW Convert]

Old Fords, Holdens and Toyotas use offset pins for a very good reason.

Its so that in dual filament lens you put them in the right way. EG in brake lights one is a 6w circuit for taillights and a 21w circuit for the brake lights.

Some idiots obviously dont know that and jam them in the wrong way as witnessed by very bright tail lights and very dim driver

Offset pins on stop/tail globes were pretty well universal in the old days.

I remember the time my stepdaughter's (then) boyfriend did exactly that to her Hyundai Excel. Sometime after he replaced the globe, I noticed the tail light was very bright, went to check it and found the tail light housing was partly melted and distorted from the excess heat generated by the 21w side of the globe being on constantly at night instead of the 6w side.

Cheers

George

[Umai Naa!!]

I don't like how the brand is marketed as 'prestige', when in reality, it's just Germany's Datsun.

[Sunny43.5]

Well yes and no the offset is not from the bottom to the glass but side to side they are not on the exact opposite side as you would expect , if you look from the bottom one pin is dead centre of the outer diameter but the other is not equal in position on the other side . Here you can see the offset , now this where I made a mistake it was a brake bulb that was blown but the bulb I removed was the taillight only . I will stand by the first comment seems a bit dumb .
.

[Water Boy]

I dont like that the price of Mk1's is going up.

[dainese]

Er. Aren't the offset pin globes just double filament globes? Single filament will have a straight pin arrangement.

That said, European cars just do things harder in general. A sweeping statement, sure. But the amount of different fasteners my r32 had was insurmountable.

I also found many European cars to ride unsatisfactorily (for comfort) despite their 'premium' designation

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

[Eaglehawk]

SatNAV updates for the Mk7 Golf 2013/14. There hasn't been any, and I'm getting...angry...

[Sunny43.5]

The brake light is a single filament with a single pin in the centre , the taillight is a double filament as it is also the high intensity light for bad weather driving conditions with two contacts .This the one with the offset pins .

[Umai Naa!!]

Considering the bulb wattage is stamped on the bulb housing, I'm not sure how you got it wrong. The output determins the pin arrangement.

[LukePolo]

I don't like how people are having a whinge when it is well known that VW uses unique bits n pieces, and servicing, parts and labour costs you an arm, a leg, and the soul of your first unborn son.

It's call German engineering. Don't like it? Don't own one!

I love my VW. Most reliable car I've owned.

[jets]

Next one why do they fit those multi sided sort of torx bolts into a part that would most likely need to be replaced from time to time . In our vans they use those bolts to hold the rollers onto the side sliding door , last time I changed ours I had to resort to using an air chisel to crack the bolt

I guess you are referring to the multispline/XZN/ triplesquare head. Europeans have used these for probably at least 50 years. I owned a 68 Porsche 911 back in around '73 & there were many on that. The only downside I can see is that the recess needs to be very clean otherwise the tool may not go in far enough & strip. Of course this doesn't happen on the assembly line & for manufacturers that's all that counts. Generally these fasteners can be used in tight places, more so than hex head where clearance is needed for a socket. On cheaper tools the wall thickness can be quite thick. It's just about tooling up to work on European cars & leaving your whitworth/SAE tools in the back of your shed.
As you said,[in a round about way] you can no longer go to your local hardware to buy your spares.