# GMC Acadia designer/engineer roast in hell! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 25, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571 "2015-11-25T19:20:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/1 "2015-11-25T19:20:17Z")
My son has an Acadia. Left headlight burned out. To replace headlight you must remove front tire, the wheelwell liner and the front bumper trim. Then and only then can you reach the bulb and replace it! We spent 2 hours trying to do this and ended up bringing it to an auto shop. Full hour of skilled trained labor on their part. Stupid assed engineering design! ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/2 "2015-11-25T19:30:00Z")
Not a dissimilar experience for a tail light on my 2008 Toyota Highlander. All the executives who approve these engineering decisions should be covered in honey and stranded in the Brazilian rain forest. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/3 "2015-11-25T20:26:58Z")
Holy crap! That’s ridiculous! ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/4 "2015-11-25T21:35:54Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Holy crap! That’s ridiculous! The honey and the Brazilian Rain Forest? What would you suggest? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/5 "2015-11-25T21:39:08Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > The honey and the Brazilian Rain Forest? What would you suggest? A body shave with a dull razor, followed by an alcohol bath, a dusting of itching powder…_then_ fire ants. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/6 "2015-11-25T22:43:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > A body shave with a dull razor, followed by an alcohol bath, a dusting of itching powder…_then_ fire ants. ♪ ♫ ♪ What shall we do with a drunken designer ♪ ♫ ♪ ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/7 "2015-11-26T00:08:19Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Not a dissimilar experience for a tail light on my 2008 Toyota Highlander. All the executives who approve these engineering decisions should be covered in honey and stranded in the Brazilian rain forest. There are a couple of people on the SDMB who work for auto manufacturers and I remember one of them posting an explanation of how cars get things that are difficult to service. The answer, as I remember, is that various systems on the car are designed by different teams, and so things don’t always work together as well as you’d like. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/8 "2015-11-26T00:14:15Z")
As an automotive engineer, I invite you to tell me what you do for a living so I can tell you how much you suck at it. Here’s a hint- the styling/design takes priority because people won’t buy a car if they don’t like how it looks. Engineering has to work within the constraints of the approved design, so oftentimes an inconvenient service task is the difference between being able to manufacture the car and not being able to. In short, if you can come up with a better way to do it, then do so. Otherwise STFU. It ain’t 'cos engineers are stupid or incompetent. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/9 "2015-11-26T01:09:57Z")
When I bought my VW several years back I went for the expensive HID headlights option–I had seen how well they light up the road at night and I wanted that. A few years later one of them burned out, and the dealer happily charged me more than $200 to replace it (!). That was when I realized the error of my ways. So two months ago the other one burned out. I asked for a quote from the dealer and they said it would be around $500 (!!!) since it was the _driver_ side instead of the passenger side. That’s when I scoured Amazon for the parts and YouTube for the knowledge. It turns out that you need to remove the front bumper completely in order to get at the VW headlight assembly, since the HID stuff takes up so much space and there isn’t enough room to wiggle the bulb out otherwise. I found the Sylvania bulbs for $45 each at Amazon instead of $150 from the dealer. It took a buddy and me less than an hour to remove the bumper, replace both bulbs, and put it all back together. I was disgusted with VW at that point…I’m certain they were charging the hours the book gave for the job, but there is no way two guys working in a driveway following YouTube with basic tools were going to take less time than trained VW mechanics with lifts and special tools. This was a money grab, pure and simple. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/10 "2015-11-26T01:28:13Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > As an automotive engineer, I invite you to tell me what you do for a living so I can tell you how much you suck at it. > > Here’s a hint- the styling/design takes priority because people won’t buy a car if they don’t like how it looks. Engineering has to work within the constraints of the approved design, so oftentimes an inconvenient service task is the difference between being able to manufacture the car and not being able to. > > In short, if you can come up with a better way to do it, then do so. Otherwise STFU. It ain’t 'cos engineers are stupid or incompetent. But if it’s just hodgepodged together it really isn’t “engineered” well, is it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/11 "2015-11-26T02:13:23Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > Here’s a hint- the styling/design takes priority because people won’t buy a car if they don’t like how it looks. Engineering has to work within the constraints of the approved design, so oftentimes an inconvenient service task is the difference between being able to manufacture the car and not being able to. I realize that engineering is lower in power than design - but if the company were as customer-oriented as they undoubtedly claim they are, the designers would be working with the engineers to make a cool looking car that isn’t difficult to perform easy tasks on. As an IT guy, I shudder to mention ‘agile design’, but this seems like a good place for it. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/12 "2015-11-26T02:24:41Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > As an automotive engineer, I invite you to tell me what you do for a living so I can tell you how much you suck at it. > > Here’s a hint- the styling/design takes priority because people won’t buy a car if they don’t like how it looks. Engineering has to work within the constraints of the approved design, so oftentimes an inconvenient service task is the difference between being able to manufacture the car and not being able to. > > In short, if you can come up with a better way to do it, then do so. Otherwise STFU. It ain’t 'cos engineers are stupid or incompetent. Maybe not, but their priorities might be skewed towards profits at the expense of ease of repair. So, if it would require a new design for a headlamp assembly to make it easy to change the lamp, vs. using an existing design that requires removing the tire, which one wins? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/13 "2015-11-26T03:09:12Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > …In short, if you can come up with a better way to do it, then do so. Otherwise STFU. It ain’t 'cos engineers are stupid or incompetent. Are you sure you want to defend the ones who designed a similar method to replace a regular headlight on our 2014 Buick Encore? “A new headlamp must be replaced by your dealer. Only they are authorized to remove the front bumper and wheel well assembly.” I called-- it’s a $300 job. For a plain vanilla headlight. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/14 "2015-11-26T03:16:49Z")
Maybe there’s a market for a “blue book”-type buyer’s guide that people can consult BEFORE making buying decisions. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/15 "2015-11-26T03:18:20Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Maybe not, but their priorities might be skewed towards profits at the expense of ease of repair. Um, they’re a business. No shit their priorities are skewed towards profit. > [@digs](#): > > “A new headlamp must be replaced by your dealer. Only they are authorized to remove the front bumper and wheel well assembly.” I called-- it’s a $300 job. For a plain vanilla headlight. “Only they are authorized” hahahahahaha, what are they going to do if you decide to take it to a regular auto-shop or just replace it yourself, activate the self-destruct? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/16 "2015-11-26T03:54:30Z")
More like “void the warranty,” perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/17 "2015-11-26T05:36:56Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > I realize that engineering is lower in power than design - but if the company were as customer-oriented as they undoubtedly claim they are, the designers would be working with the engineers to make a cool looking car that isn’t difficult to perform easy tasks on. > > As an IT guy, I shudder to mention ‘agile design’, but this seems like a good place for it. like I said, if you have a better way to do it, let’s hear it. otherwise, STFU. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/18 "2015-11-26T06:13:38Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > like I said, if you have a better way to do it, let’s hear it. otherwise, STFU. Wow, not really making your profession look capable, there. How about a fucking access door or panel in the wheel well to change the headlight? Hinge the lens at the front, or goddamn something. Anything would be fucking better than just shitting your pants and pretending it’s an insurmountable problem that can only be solved by disassembling the bodywork. The solutions seem pretty obvious to me, partly because I’ve fucking seen them before on well-designed cars. And I’m just a shadetree mechanic, not a vaulted automotive engineer. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/19 "2015-11-26T06:18:20Z")
I’m in favor of due diligence on the part of consumers. When drivers stop buying cars that have no user-serviceable parts, manufacturers will stop paying engineers to design them. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571/20 "2015-11-26T06:26:05Z")
How long before we re-invent the sealed beam headlight? (kids: Google is your friend) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmc-acadia-designer-engineer-roast-in-hell/738571.md?page=2)