Believe it or not, it used to be fairly easy and even commonplace to repair your vehicle all by yourself. However, it seems like that era may be over for good—and it’s not just because people aren’t willing to do the work themselves.
According to online mechanic and TikToker John Brian (@johnbrian210), cars are harder to fix by yourself by design—a theory he illustrates by showing how hard it is to change a headlight bulb in a Ford Fusion.
Brian posted his how-to video on Apr. 29. Since then, the TikTok has picked up 131,500 views and counting.
Gone are the days of DIY repair
The video caption reads, “Whatever happened to the good ol days where you can stick your hand in an engine bay, and twist a bulb out?”
In it, Brian demonstrates that a DIY bulb repair on a Fusion will set the owner back significantly in terms of elbow grease.
“This has to be the dumbest engineering design they’ve done to us,” Brian states at the beginning of the video. The video then shows him detaching the Fusion’s bumper and grill to reach the headlight assemblies.
“To service the low and high beam bulbs I’ll have to remove the headlights,” he tells his viewers before using a wrench to detach the housings.
“I’m sure I can [replace] the low beam on the car [without removing the assembly] but the high beam? Forget it,” he claims.
He specifically calls out Ford for the intense labor required. “On some vehicles, you can change the bulbs in seconds, but [not Ford],” he claims.
He also claims that the stock factory bulbs are smaller than the LED bulbs he will use to replace them, which increases the job’s difficulty.
“You can see the size difference which does make it harder to get them in,” he says, while showing the sizes of the two bulbs.
He then shows the completed job, with the new headlights shining in the housings. “Definitely worth the hassle,” he declares.
@johnbrian210 Whatever happened to the good ol days where you can stick your hand in a engine bay , and twist a bulb out ? #Ford #Fusion #Engineers #Trash #Mechanic #mechanicsoftiktok #mechaniclife #automotive #car #auto #foryou #fyp #fy #viral ♬ original sound – JohnBrian
According to The Retrofit Source, “Headlights were once easy to change with a simple pop of the hood. Now, many vehicles are designed so that replacing a burnt-out bulb often requires the entire front to be taken apart. Complicating things further are the presence of ‘tamper proof’ screws, which have been added to many vehicles to make it impossible to access the service holes on the back of the headlight housing unless you have specialized tools.”
Car and Driver provides instructions for hopeful DIY repairpersons to replace a headlight. However, it also notes that changing the bulbs “can mean removing plastic panels, battery hold-downs, air intake ducting, and/or a headlight housing cover. In some cases, the bumper cover may need to be removed and that is an entirely different skill set.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Ford via email for a statement.
In the video’s comments section, Krusty Krab (@krustyyykrab) wrote, “They’re trying to build these cars less and less DIY friendly.”
Another viewer commented, “Most manufacturers require bumper and headlight removal now.”
And another wrote, “AND the bulb only costs maybe $25. But dealers charge over $350 to change them.”
Viewer tiayla (@tiaylah) stated, “I work in an auto body shop. Everytime a ford comes in it just ruins my day.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Brian via TikTok messenger for further comment.
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