Sometimes the job is more difficult than it looks or needs to be. My youngest son’s girl friend has an older Magentis. She bought it used and so far it has been reliable, but she just hasn’t had the money to spend on maintenance. This year’s bonus was to go repairs, one high beam, one low beam, an oil change, and an air filter. The quote was for over $300.

At that price, my son volunteered and the dynamic duo went and got the parts. $68 in parts later the car is in the garage and the work well underway. That is when dad got called. It seems that the owner’s manual talks about oil and filter changes, but doesn’t say where the filter is. No big deal, just look for it. Well, the right front tire needs to come off to get at the filter easily. Oil, filter and air filter are done, just two bulbs left. Easy, right? Not on a Magentis.

To get at the left side headlamps, you need to pull the battery out. On the right side, there are enough AC and other hoses that your hand can hardly get in. Now you can get the cover off the back of the headlamp case to reach in. My hand doesn’t fit and I need a mirror to see how the darn things are held in. Then I have to loosen one screw to let the spring clamp free up. About one half turn to much and you have to figure out how this all goes together after you find all the parts. Two hours later, the ten minute job is done.

I didn’t mind taking the wheel off to get at the oil filter or taking the battery out for the headlamp. There is only so much room for parts under the hood, but the headlamps could have better designed bulb retaining clips. All they had to do was design in a tab on the back edge of the headlamp case that the spring clip could hook into or even a twist to lock system. That would make maintenance particularly for those who don’t have a lot of disposable cash (Kia’s customer base, given the price of their cars.) a lot easier. Sometimes designers need to remember that simple is better and not everyone can afford to take every simple job to a dealer.