ok, i need help from people... bill, patrick, chris, josh, mark, allen and anyone else, i'm looking your way guys... sorry for the long post, just wanted to make sure no detail was missed.
i bought brand new, from factory headlights for morrigan and installed them just before parking her (outside) for the winter. she was parked for about 5 months, then after i sold the 626, i started driving her again - this was the end of march.
she was dirty (yay winter
) so i washed her a few times over the next few weeks before taking her in to have the clutch changed.
didn't notice anything wrong with the headlights. about a week or so after having the new clutch installed, i took her into a local shop to have them put the clear 3m-type film on the headlights (what good are new headlights if you don't protect them from rock chips?).
the day i took her in for this, it was about -10C (about 15F is my guess) but it was dry out. the shop bay was quite humid but not all that warm - probably around 10-15C (mid to high 60's i think). i popped my hood thinking we were going to start right in on the headlights, but we ended up hosing down the car first. no biggie. i went to dry off the headlights and noticed that the passenger side headlight was foggy
inside the lense all the way from the inner corner out to the edge of the hi-beam housing. wtf?? (rant)
i had the dealership order a new headlight under warranty (flawed seal from factory) and they want to split the charge on installing the new headlight - $90 out of my pocket since they did not originally install the lights and i don't have time/a place to install it on my own readily. plus, they don't want to let me have both headlights at once as they have to 'inspect' the faulty headlight. whatever.
since the incident at the shop (a few weeks ago), we've had both dry and wet/humid weather - very wet snow and even a little rain - and i have washed my car since and
i haven't noticed ANY fogging inside the headlight. i even washed the car today (nice day, but still the wash bays get humid) both with the hood down and popped, trying to simulate how we washed it that day and no condensation.
i'm at my wit's end here. i really, REALLY don't want to
- pay the dealership for something i technically can easily do on my own;
- have them work on my car when i can't be there (i know NONE of the people in the service dept, and have never had anyone there work on my car before)
- since i can't replicate the problem, i don't know if i want to go through the first two points if i don't really
need to
-
buuuut if there truly is a faulty seal, i want it 'fixed' under warranty and not have it come back to bite me in the ass later on, you know?
what should i do? leave the headlight as is and not have it swapped? or pay the dealershit to change it over for me (even the thought of having them touch my car gives me the willies)...
tia
