DRLs

[rczpali]

o/s DRL has failed, the bumper has clearly been caught while parked Looks like headlight lens is also requiring replacement . costs are just mounting.... Cannot seem to locate a replacement DRL or headlight lens... Are any DRLs fitted to any other PSA models suitable alternatives or know of a solution ?

This also got me thinking that this is kinda thing which is going to make all new designs whatever make / model head for the scrapper much sooner than years gone by.... and shorten the usable working lives of cars as they get older. So much for being greener - the motor industry needs to build sustainability and cost effective repair into design... a bulb is no longer just a bulb and when it fails a week or so before I need to start thinking MOT.... Do I buy a dead engine car to cost effectively supply the numerous parts i need?

 

[EddieJ]

A handful of years ago ‘laws’ were brought into place to bring back the right to repair in the automotive industry, didn’t help much really.
In the last few months a new ‘law’ has came into play that automotive manufacturers have to start taking a share in the cost of recycling of vehicles, which doesn’t sound like it’ll help the man on the street, but it will, eventually. Where so many things on are car are sold as an irreparable part, hpfp, headlights etc. This will see manufacturers building differently in that things will be able to be component disassemble. However that’ll do nought to help you today.

The more modern the car gets, the more they seem to be subject to being written off by insurance company’s for so little. I was looking at maybe getting another RCZ and came across a cat N that just needed a bumper repair, bonnet aligned and very little paint. No way it should have been written off, but that’s our ludicrous world now it seems.

Cant rem if your mk1 or 2, but APEC make aftermarket headlights, £123.99 and if you look on Autodoc they also do just the lense (mk1).
I have also seen the mk2 lenses and complete headlight on Aliexpress, can’t say nothing for the quality, few things I have bought are decent enough but some have been total sh…..As your saying drl separately from headlight, your mk2? Again Ali E if you can’t find elsewhere. The 308 shares headlights with the RCZ, can’t think of the Drl’s but worth looking at. As for a spares car, if you get a 1.6 156 petrol running, I’ll take the engine of you for a bad price.

 

[EddieJ]

Just came into mind, if your handy, why not repair the DRL?
When I got my current RCZ the third brake light had 3 leds out, so I stripped it and soldered in new leds and resistors as missing lights bug the sh… out of me. Have also seen that some guy is now selling the internal pcb all made up for them at a fraction of a new sealed by factory item.

 

[rczpali]

So far I have replaced 2 x window regs ~ £425 Thermostat / pipe ~ £ 75 Drivers mirror £120

Just came into mind, if your handy, why not repair the DRL?
When I got my current RCZ the third brake light had 3 leds out, so I stripped it and soldered in new leds and resistors as missing lights bug the sh… out of me. Have also seen that some guy is now selling the internal pcb all made up for them at a fraction of a new sealed by factory item.

Mines a Mk2 2015. Thanks @EddieJ I need the DRL unit as a whole , it looks like its been bumped ... knocked while parked and cracked the outer DRLs plastic front , not really salvageable , the bumper is OK!!! Light units are very vulnerable .... The DRL unit doesnt even light up now and the headlamp is cracked but all works . so as well as the headlights lens I need a upper bracket fix too. I think its Xenon Are they even fixable >>>I can see they are ouch expensive new ... Looking like I need to find a rear ended scrapper pretty quick. Yes if I find one with an engine you can have first dibs ....

I think its a shame how many cars are also deemed write offs for what in days gone by would have been a simple fix... . almost as if there should be a level below CAT N .. how many perfectly servicable cars are deemed write offs.... . I am not going anywhere near insurance companies simply because my experience is they dont care about the car... any older car is just written off , no concept of environmental responsibility ... its simply bottom line... courtesy car , time storage , parts availability, and complexity. Its also why I have done my time with new , and just want old cars now. I can see the day in five / ten years time when all the new EV stuff will simply be throwaway.... who can cost effectively replace the complex rear light units when a car is 10 years old and maybe on 5th/ 6th + owners. Not advocating bangers are run into the ground, but perfectly serviceable cars should be kept ....

 

[EddieJ]

Glad mines all mk1 now, only had one mk2 and got rid of it in 2016 when it was 2-2.5 years old……2nd engine very bad, dealer no fixy = reject.

 

[Pedro]

The Insurers won't repair cars now because the cost of parts & sourcing them from the EU suppliers is getting to be astronomically long waiting times with bulk crated supplies awaiting shipments & at dealers for what were standard issue from UK held stock parts is now bordering on a silly joke I know a woman has been told it will take over a month if lucky for her parts to arrive for her 3 yrs old Renault !

 

[rczpali]

The Insurers won't repair cars now because the cost of parts & sourcing them from the EU suppliers is getting to be astronomically long waiting times with bulk crated supplies awaiting shipments & at dealers for what were standard issue from UK held stock parts is now bordering on a silly joke I know a woman has been told it will take over a month if lucky for her parts to arrive for her 3 yrs old Renault !

No joke for the owner i'd assume... to hear about a three-year-old Renault being off the road — potentially waiting a month or more for a part. Situations like that naturally make you wonder whether insurers, supply chains, and even manufacturer sales, design, and engineering teams are fully aligned with customers’ or environmental long-term interests. It also raises a wider question about how many vehicles are being unnecessarily written off, or caught up in lengthy and expensive repair processes — and how that ultimately feeds into everyone’s premiums. Perversely It probably helps manufacturers to shift new cars

This side of the insurance and repair world doesn’t often get much attention. In showrooms, brochures, and online marketing, the emphasis is understandably on features, performance, and technology. But there’s far less discussion around repairability, parts availability, and the practical realities of keeping a car on the road over time.

My own confidence in the “new or nearly new car” process was shaken a few years ago when my Honda Civic was involved in an accident (not my fault). I chose the manufacturer-approved bodyshop through my local Honda dealer, assuming that would ensure expertise and genuine parts. It should have been a straightforward repair. In practice, the approved bodyshop turned out to be a local operation used by the dealer, with added markup and no clear manufacturer affiliation. The repair wasn’t completed correctly the first time, there were delays sourcing parts, and communication was poor. I also discovered — via my car’s tracker — that the vehicle had been moved to the local bodyshop without that being made clear to me and the whole process was completed as if my car was in the Honda dealers care throughout. It was a disappointing experience, and not one I’d want to repeat.


The motoring press understandably focuses on environment, economy, handling, performance, and features / gimmicks... can you put a banana in the glovebox! — but those aspects matter much less if a vehicle is off the road for weeks waiting for parts. That disruption affects work, school runs, and daily life — and from an environmental perspective, writing off repairable cars because of parts or cost issues feels counterproductive.

It would be encouraging to see more attention from the media and regulators on areas such as parts availability, shrinking dealer networks, and situations where customers have limited sourcing options for certain components.

I’m now going to be buying another RCZ as a donor car, simply to secure hard-to-source parts and keep mine running. I probably went into RCZ ownership blind, not realising the cost of items like DRLs, window regulators, door mirrors.

Overall, it feels like an area that deserves more open discussion. Keeping cars repairable and on the road should be part of the broader conversation about sustainability, affordability, and consumer fairness.

 

[Verminator]

These might help you out

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Have got some just in case
Drive safe and stay lucky
Les n Co

 

[Pedro]

No joke for the owner i'd assume... to hear about a three-year-old Renault being off the road — potentially waiting a month or more for a part. Situations like that naturally make you wonder whether insurers, supply chains, and even manufacturer sales, design, and engineering teams are fully aligned with customers’ or environmental long-term interests. It also raises a wider question about how many vehicles are being unnecessarily written off, or caught up in lengthy and expensive repair processes — and how that ultimately feeds into everyone’s premiums. Perversely It probably helps manufacturers to shift new cars

This side of the insurance and repair world doesn’t often get much attention. In showrooms, brochures, and online marketing, the emphasis is understandably on features, performance, and technology. But there’s far less discussion around repairability, parts availability, and the practical realities of keeping a car on the road over time.

My own confidence in the “new or nearly new car” process was shaken a few years ago when my Honda Civic was involved in an accident (not my fault). I chose the manufacturer-approved bodyshop through my local Honda dealer, assuming that would ensure expertise and genuine parts. It should have been a straightforward repair. In practice, the approved bodyshop turned out to be a local operation used by the dealer, with added markup and no clear manufacturer affiliation. The repair wasn’t completed correctly the first time, there were delays sourcing parts, and communication was poor. I also discovered — via my car’s tracker — that the vehicle had been moved to the local bodyshop without that being made clear to me and the whole process was completed as if my car was in the Honda dealers care throughout. It was a disappointing experience, and not one I’d want to repeat.


The motoring press understandably focuses on environment, economy, handling, performance, and features / gimmicks... can you put a banana in the glovebox! — but those aspects matter much less if a vehicle is off the road for weeks waiting for parts. That disruption affects work, school runs, and daily life — and from an environmental perspective, writing off repairable cars because of parts or cost issues feels counterproductive.

It would be encouraging to see more attention from the media and regulators on areas such as parts availability, shrinking dealer networks, and situations where customers have limited sourcing options for certain components.

I’m now going to be buying another RCZ as a donor car, simply to secure hard-to-source parts and keep mine running. I probably went into RCZ ownership blind, not realising the cost of items like DRLs, window regulators, door mirrors.

Overall, it feels like an area that deserves more open discussion. Keeping cars repairable and on the road should be part of the broader conversation about sustainability, affordability, and consumer fairness.

I lay the Blame with Brexit as the customs system has screwed everything with major European parts suppliers not in any rush to ship badly needed overdue parts because they know we are in their hands its the same old story basket case Govts in the UK are potentially all anti working class because they get virtually everything free which we pay for whilst we have to suffer for their incompetence

 

[rczpali]

Not sure this can all be attributed to Brexit. although it probably hasnt helped .. Complex design and not having a cost effective route for replacements for the sake of a new headlight / DRL owners may have to consider writing off ... This is quote I had for parts only.. . bearing in mind both headlamp unit and DRL need to be replaced. Im sure there might be cheaper but it seems crazy to me that at the age even newest RCZs are , that minor damage eg stone chip to headlamp lens could be write off .

Peugeot RCZ 2009-2015 Headlight Assembly Right - 6224 V2 RCZ
Peugeot RCZ 2009-2015 Front Daytime Running Light

Still exploring a scrap car for spares, considering can I do explore headlamp conversion to standard halogen ,write off and look for a MK1/2 with standard lights .

 

[EddieJ]

Try your local dealer, I priced a timing chain kit with the guys you priced above, inc sump gasket and oil chain kit when the quote came thru I near snat myself. Inquired at local Peugeot dealer and saved over £100. Every penny needs to count with these cars.

Re the headlights, mind the mk1 headlights are ever so slightly different. The wee sharp point on the mk1 was trimmed off on the mk 2s so the bumper is slightly different too.

 

[EddieJ]

pair of mk2 £274 new, and about the same for mk1 from same people.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/27738539...CT2k+L9fNjfQNAWf1osY4Ddg==|tkp:Bk9SR9aqg8iNZw

Pardon our interruption...

 

[rczpali]

Thanks EddieJ Yeah… that sinking feeling is real ... How can any headlamp cost that much.... ! a headlamp assembly which starts approaching “percentage of total vehicle value” territory is wrong , it stops being a normal repair... and something that needs thinking about as cars get older too.

For the facelift models the halogen units are everywhere and probably a strong factor to consider when buying an RCZ.... if buying an RCZ I'd probably have gone for halogen knowing what I do now. probably the better bet for longer term ownership.... I may experiment with trying to change a lens from a halogen unit - I have nothing to lose , other than the cost of a used halogen unit whilst I try to locate a xenon or complete donor car .

 

[BexBart]

Where about's are you? I have the O/S DRL available. Which side Xenon headlight do you require? Get in touch if still looking for parts. Thanks.

 

[rczpali]

Where about's are you? I have the O/S DRL available. Which side Xenon headlight do you require? Get in touch if still looking for parts. Thanks.

Im in Watford Herts . Im looking for both O/s DRL and Xenon

 

[BexBart]

O/S Xenon headlight is now sold.
O/S DRL available.
Location: Barnsley, S Yorks.

 

[rczpali]

OK thanks for the pics... and guess will have to wait for another Xenon to appear. Yes looks just like the one I need .... How much would the OS DRL cost including shipping? As new to RCZ im unsure if this is correct operation but my n/s DRL dims when in sidelights mode . Does this one do this ?

 

[BexBart]

OK thanks for the pics... and guess will have to wait for another Xenon to appear. Yes looks just like the one I need .... How much would the OS DRL cost including shipping? As new to RCZ im unsure if this is correct operation but my n/s DRL dims when in sidelights mode . Does this one do this ?

Will send you a video of the light when connected later today via pm.

 

[rczpali]

Will send you a video of the light when connected later today via pm.

Thank you.

 

[BexBart]

DRL pics.