Front O/S indicator issue plus handbrake warning light prob!

[Nip]

Hello all

First post here and new to Kia.

Bought a '54 plate Picanto SE from Carcraft, Leeds, to replace a lemon of a '04 CityRover I got at New Year's Eve.

Sad to say having issues already with the Picanto:

I am finding that whenever I brake severely, the handbrake light LED illuminates on the dash, and

My front off-side indicator has blown. For the sake of a fiver I got replacement bulbs from Halfords, to find that they would not fit them (even though they advertise the fitting, at a fee of £2.99). Turns out that there would be the entire lamp unit to unscrew and their liability insurance does not cover for that.

I'm a bit miffed to say the least, so shopped around and was told by Kwik Fit that they would not touch it either and I would have to take it to a Kia dealer, and I tried a local garage who have said that they would have to remove the offside wing, and maybe the front offside wheel and gain entry to the headlamp housing that way.

What the.....?

I've looked at the owner's manual and it does not make sense to me as the housing diagram looks nothing like the actual headlight section of the car.

For the sake of a £2.50 bulb I am going to end up incurring a repair bill in excess of £50. This surely can't be right, and that's not addressing the brake light issue either!! Because I'm a bird and tend to only see cars as something I drive, check tyres, coolant, screenwash, oil and petrol, am I being taken for a mug?

Any ideas, please?

[Jukia]

The handbrake light is probably coming on because the brake fluid level in the reservoir is a bit low. I've found it doesn't have to be very low before the light starts coming on so top it up a bit and see if that cures it. I've got used to doing it every few months now cos the cap seems to leak a little bit as the fluid sloshes forward under heavy braking.

Can't help re the bulb replacement but I'm sure its been talked about before on here so have a search through previous posts

[Nip]

Thanks for the help. Yes, I have searched the previous posts on this forum and it seems sad to say that Kia have designed the Pica with their dealership in mind as regards bulb changes.

I'll have a look at the brake fluid level and see if I can remedy the brake light issue with, as you say, topping up.

I just hope that these are only minor glitches and I don't have a car that ends up being so tempermental that it may as well have PMT...

Thanks anyway

nip