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Transportation Software The Almighty Buck Hardware Technology

Tech To Blame For Ever-Growing Car Repair Costs, AAA Says (cnet.com) 294

Posted by BeauHD from the why-insurance-exists dept.
A new study from AAA highlights the high repair costs associated with cars that have advanced safety technology. "[S]eemingly small damages to a vehicle's front end can incur costs nearing $3,000," CNET reports. From the report: The study looked at three solid sellers in multiple vehicle segments, including a small SUV, a midsize sedan and a pickup truck. It looked at repair costs using original equipment list prices and an established average for technician labor rates.

Let's use AAA's examples for some relatable horror stories. Mess up your rear bumper? Well, if you have ultrasonic parking sensors or radar back there, it could cost anywhere from $500 to $2,000 to fix. Knock off a side mirror equipped with a camera as part of a surround-view system? $500 to $1,100. Windshields are especially tricky. People who own cars with windshields that have embedded heating elements already have to pony up hundreds of dollars to replace what you might think is just a piece of glass. Factor complex camera systems (like autobrake) into the mix, and not only do folks get hit with the windshield replacement, they possibly have to find a trained professional to recalibrate all that tech behind it.
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Tech To Blame For Ever-Growing Car Repair Costs, AAA Says More

Tech To Blame For Ever-Growing Car Repair Costs, AAA Says

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  • Tech? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Obfuscant ( 592200 ) on Thursday October 25, 2018 @07:30PM (#57537477)
    Subaru wants $57 for a replacement fan control knob. This is "tech"?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      It's the inefficiency of the supply chain to you that creates a rather high minimum cost to anything.

      Subaru don't pay $57 for the knob, but they buy millions of them and get them delivered to the factory. To get to you it has to be picked out, packaged, sent (probably by international registered post), import fees paid, the dealer/vendor adds their mark-up...

      Best thing is usually just to get a used one from a wreck for stuff like knobs and trim.

    • Not only that, but if you believe the mechanic I use, Subaru won't have the knob in stock. According to him they rarely have ANYTHING in stock. It will take 3 to 5 days to get it. And, I assume the actual charge will be $57 plus shipping.

    • Re:The days of the $5.00 headlamp replacement (Score:5, Funny)

      by bob4u2c ( 73467 ) on Thursday October 25, 2018 @07:55PM (#57537571)
      I know, $15 for the H4 led bulb (and possibly $20 for the glass), and a standard screw driver. Its getting so dang expensive to replace the headlight on my 48 year old car these days!

      The 7 year old family car; I changed the bulb without any tools and I believe a two pack of bulbs for around $20.

      p.s. - The bumpers on my car are real steel, not some fiberglass with foam backing. A few years ago someone backed into one of my bumpers and tore theirs all to shreds, mine just needed a little buffing to get the honda civic stain out.

      • Re: The days of the $5.00 headlamp replacement (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Those highly deforming materials you're laughing at are designed to absorb energy then distribute it slower and more equally to reduce shock in an accident to increase passenger safety and reduce bodily injury.

        While it's true those materials ultimately increase the monetary cost related to vehicle damage in an accident, they reduce risk of fatality or medical costs of injuries to the passenger(s).

        If I have to choose between my car and my life I'll set the thing in fire and roll it over a mountain in a heart

      • In modern cars. I could not do it myself in my Citroen. The mechanic had special tools and an endoscope. For a Reno, you need to pull off the bumper amongst other things.

        (I like French cars. So cheap second hand.)

        • In modern cars. I could not do it myself in my Citroen. The mechanic had special tools and an endoscope. For a Reno, you need to pull off the bumper amongst other things.

          No in "modern" but not in recent cars. There was a period where it was especially problematic, but there are several places now where regulations were passed requiring lightbulbs in headlamps to be replacable without removing the assembly or what is behind it.

          Check under the bonnet of the latest Citroen of your model, you may find it is much easier to do now. Basically for everything between 2005-2015 you were screwed.

        • My current car requires the battery to be removed to access one of the headlights. Doable, but it's far more of a pain in the ass than it needs to be. Replacing the actual bulb is pretty trivial to do, and doesn't require any tools if your fingernails are strong enough. Pulling out the battery, however? That requires a screwdriver, a wrench, and a fair bit of cussing.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by llamalad ( 12917 )

      Oh, what a brave new world, that has uniquely shaped plastic headlights for every model of car on the road, that cost hundreds of dollars each to replace and throw light in shitty to moderately ok patterns until the plastic yellows and hazes up with age.

    • On the other hand, LED headlights last the life of the car, so there is no need to replace them.

      • I'm going on 21 years with one of my cars having halogen lamps. The other is 17 years old. None have burnt out yet.

    • It's partially the Fed mandates and partly because you just have to have blind spot indicators, variable cruise control, front and back cameras, and all sorts of nannies to "enhance your driving experience." If you still drive a 1948 Fleetline with steel bumpers that can rip small trees out of the ground, great! That may sound cool, but you'll de in a crash.

      And the headlamps? About $2K if the "igniter" fails. LEDs may be cheap, but what lights them up is not.

  • Of Printers and Cars (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ebonum ( 830686 ) on Thursday October 25, 2018 @07:55PM (#57537569)

    I would be interested in knowing the breakdown of an automaker's sources of profit.
    Are we now to a point where they sell a $25k car at a loss. However, they know the odds of a fender-bender are high, and it will cost the automaker $800 for the $8,000 repair.

    Is the model moving to something closer to inkjet printers, banks and airlines? Get you in the door cheap, then nail you on the parts or fees.

    The interactions I've had with people from parts suppliers indicate the mark-ups the automakers put on parts are insane.

    • Re:Of Printers and Cars (Score:4, Informative)

      by Ogive17 ( 691899 ) on Thursday October 25, 2018 @08:05PM (#57537595)
      Warehousing and logistics costs to provide those extra parts for up to 2 decades after your vehicle is made isn't cheap. The markups may appear high but the profit per piece really isn't that much. I know we sell some stuff at a loss to remain competitive with aftermarket.

      Then there are the routine maintenance items like oil filters, etc. Volumes for those are so high that it's much easier to keep the costs very low as purchasing power is high plus $.05 profit on an oil filter adds up when you sell millions each month.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by caseih ( 160668 )

        For farm machinery, parts are typically marked up 100%. Your average sensor, some of which are are just POTs, can be a couple hundred dollars a piece. Inductive sensors, about $400. A little bit of electronics knowledge can save a fair amount of money by making off-the-shelf parts from various automation retailers do the same job.

        For cars, though, it's more complicated. The other day I learned that to change the headlight bulb on my sisters vehicle it requires removing part of the cowling inside the whe

        • Your average sensor, some of which are are just POTs, can be a couple hundred dollars a piece. Inductive sensors, about $400. A little bit of electronics knowledge can save a fair amount of money by making off-the-shelf parts from various automation retailers do the same job

          I had to fix the electric door lock on the passengers side of one of my cars a couple years ago. Of course the power locks, power windows and power mirrors all connected to the same door module. It was $500 for a new door module. It was a relay on the module that had gone bad. Since there were three of them on there I ordered 6 new relays from an electronics company for $20 for all 6 and removed the old relays and soldered in the new ones. I have three more in case the drivers side ones go bad. But saved $4

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by caseih ( 160668 )

            Apparently removing the cowling to access the low beam bulbs is pretty common on crossover SUVs these days, regardless of make. Small hands to reach into these tight spots is always a bonus. This car was a Chevrolet Traverse SUV (same as the GMC Acadia. I'm not completely sure about the bumper removal for the other bulbs besides low beam, but that's what I gathered from the youtube videos on the subject. Was not terribly impressed.

            My old GMC Envoy's headlight housings can remove with just a couple of cl

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sjames ( 1099 )

        If you're taking a loss to compete with the aftermarket, you're just inefficient since they are surely not taking a loss.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Seems like an application for 3D printers. If they could just keep the CAD file around for 20 years and print spare parts in metal when needed it should reduce costs a lot.

      • I call bullshit on logistics costs when talking about companies which have such an incredibly optimised supply and logistics chain.

        Same with warehousing. They don't keep a building full of old parts, and the same markup exists on something current as well.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mjwx ( 966435 )

        Warehousing and logistics costs to provide those extra parts for up to 2 decades after your vehicle is made isn't cheap. The markups may appear high but the profit per piece really isn't that much. I know we sell some stuff at a loss to remain competitive with aftermarket.

        Then there are the routine maintenance items like oil filters, etc. Volumes for those are so high that it's much easier to keep the costs very low as purchasing power is high plus $.05 profit on an oil filter adds up when you sell millions each month.

        Whilst this is true, a lot of manufacturers are just taking the piss on OEM parts. Honda has to be one of the worst for it. Genuine OEM Honda spark plugs were 4 times the price of NGK's... and I can almost guarantee that the genuine Honda parts were another brand.

        Fortunately aftermarket parts for Hondas are cheap and easy to get. So when my Integra required new spark plugs, I just bought some NGK's.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      Is the model moving to something closer to inkjet printers, banks and airlines? Get you in the door cheap, then nail you on the parts or fees.

      I get you with airlines and printers... but if the same is true for banks, your country needs better banking regulations. I've lived in the UK and Australia, nailing you with fees gets a bank nailed to the wall by the regulator. The ease of switching banks means its a highly competitive market that cant be completely dominated by ancient, existing players. Moving debt is only slightly more difficult. So-called "challenger banks" starting in the UK are making the big boys like Lloyds and Natwest take note. A

  • Yeah, it's tech's fault. (Score:3)

    by Ecuador ( 740021 ) on Thursday October 25, 2018 @07:56PM (#57537575) Homepage

    Yeah, everything's the techs' fault...
    No, it is just one of the excuses, in fact any part, regardless of the "tech" it has will be sold to you for a ridiculous markup, especially if it is an original part. Take my Ford Focus for example, it has a known flaw in that the dashboard compartment lid plastic lock breaks easily. Then, for that plastic lid they charge you £90. That's probably a 10,000% markup. I wish someone would do a sort of "reverse-ifixit", i.e. calculate how much it would cost you to build a car if you bought all the parts separately. Bigger parts have a lower markup than that little piece, so the Focus won't end up costing £2 million as the lid might indicate, but still I expect parts sell several times their cost on average. A great consumer friendly law would be to limit the manufacturer part prices so that the cost of all the parts together are not more than say 2 times the cost of the car. Anyway, some wishful thinking there...

    P.S. If you are curious, the grey market lids are still at around £30, because they just have to compete with a £90k part, so that opened a market for a little piece of plastic which you glue to replace the piece of the lock that breaks for everyone, and they charge you £15 for that!!! I.e. I have to go to a scrap yard to find something in my case...

    • Re:Yeah, it's tech's fault. (Score:5, Informative)

      by bob4u2c ( 73467 ) on Thursday October 25, 2018 @08:16PM (#57537621)
      Take the part out, find the part number stamped on it and run it through google. Very good chance you will find the part on e-bay for about 1/10 the cost the dealer will sell it to you. (I looked for just "ford focus dashboard lock clip" and found some for less than $10, with a part number I could be sure).

      I did this with some broken door handles for a Ford Fusion. I was able to get OEM replacements for $16 (both sides) + about $5 shipping. Took about 5 minutes per side to switch them out. Dealer wanted almost $200 + $80/hr labor. New parts are still working after several years.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Ecuador ( 740021 )

        I can't get it from ebay.com. I posted prices in £ because I am in the UK, so I (sadly) have a British version where dashboard parts are mirror-image. So, ebay.co.uk has the "repair kit" for £15, and 3rd party lid for £30. Which is why I'll have to go to a scrap yard to get something under £10.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by bob4u2c ( 73467 )
          Ok, looking at the setup it's the hook that breaks which would require replacing the whole lid. Something I'm sure the dealership will sell you for £150 or more (and will break again).

          Another alternative, take the lid out (broken piece and all) then find a local college that has an engineering department. Talk to a professor and offer to pay a student £10 to 3D print (or metal cast) a new part and figure out a way to mount it to the lid with minimal modifications. Maybe a small metal plate

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Ecuador ( 740021 )

        Oh, actually I looked at the lock clip you searched for. That's not what breaks. The lid has a flimsy little plastic thingy that goes into this clip and that is what breaks. I can find that bottom clip part cheap, the lid it secures is the problem (which is UK specific as well).

    • A plastic part smaller than a playing card for my camping trailer was priced at $20 US. I offered 10 and bought it. I was rebuilding the engine of my Ford/Mazda Courier and the parts man, a friend, sold me parts at 40% off list price and there were 50 and 60% off prices. The mark-up is 400% and more. My employer bought counterfeit Motorcraft parts and rebuilt clutch plates that were riveted wrong, didn't work.

  • The king of expensive repairs (Score:4, Interesting)

    by whoever57 ( 658626 ) on Thursday October 25, 2018 @08:04PM (#57537593) Journal

    $7000 for a small dent on the fender. [cleantechnica.com]

    • Wow. So apparently now cars are going to be like smartphones or other electronic gadgets -- everything is too-cleverly designed such that you can't repair individual components (here a small dent in the quarter panel), so you have to remove and replace the whole piece (here thus having to disassemble much of that side of the car in the process). I suppose that's not a terribly surprising result for a car designed from the ground up by Silicon Valley.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by steveha ( 103154 )

        So apparently now cars are going to be like smartphones or other electronic gadgets -- everything is too-cleverly designed such that you can't repair individual components

        There's something to what you say. But on the other hand, Tesla designed the Model 3 to have a greatly reduced parts count and simplified design.

        Sandy Munro and his team famously tore down and analyzed a Tesla Model 3, and he was quite impressed by the design. Initially he made some negative comments but lately he said he "had to eat cro

        • That's all very interesting but doesn't appear to speak to the sort of issue raised in GP's article, where the repair shop (1) had to replace an entire body panel rather than just fixing the dent as would be the case with just about any other automobile, and (2) to replace that panel, had to disassemble a substantial portion of that side of the car. The estimate had over 25 hours for body labor -- over 3 days -- and another 16 hours -- 2 days -- to paint it. That's utterly ridiculous for a minor dent in a

      • Many cars can be repaired just fine, it just requires a slightly different skill and tool set than a 1970s Chevy Nova.

        I have a Land Rover that was giving me air suspension issues, which causes most people to groan and take to the dealer to get billed a couple thousand dollars for diagnostic time and repair. I spent $400 on a used diagnostic tool I was going to buy anyway [gap-diagnostic.com], used it to trace the issue to a ride height sensor that was giving invalid values to the body computer, purchased a new sensor online fo

        • I don't disagree with a thing you just said, but I take it you didn't read the article GP linked to or read my comment particularly closely since both were focused on mechanical assembly/repair, not electronic issues.

    • Sounds to me like the estimator didn't want to do the work, either because he's not convinced his body and paint guys can get it done, or because they don't want the hassle from the insurance company. I've talked to body shop owners in the past that didn't want to deal with fixing a car, so they're looking to write the repair order as high as they can in order to get the insurance company to total out the car, or get the owner to take it somewhere else. Body shops live and die by come-backs - you fix it r

      • I am impressed that you know more about repair costs than the insurance company's own adjuster (and without even seeing the car!). Please let me know how to contact you so that the next time I need to have one of my cars repaired, I can have you assess the real repair costs.

        Note, the Model 3 doesn't use much aluminum, it's mostly steel, unlike the S and X.

        • I am impressed that you didn't read what I wrote, or at least didn't even try to comprehend. If it's not aluminum, then there's no way that repair should have cost $7000+ because any body man that knows what the fuck he's doing should be able to repair that using known conventional techniques that have been around for decades.

          Insurance companies are famous for requiring repair centers to jump through hoops like demanding aftermarket panels to be fitted first before they will pay for OEM in any jurisdiction

          • I am impressed that you think that, on the one hand, insurance companies try to reduce repair costs as much as possible ("Insurance companies are famous for requiring repair centers to jump through hoops like demanding aftermarket panels to be fitted first before they will pay for OEM"), while on the other hand thinking that insurance companies will accept unreasonably high repair costs.

            Is that doublethink hard or easy for you?

      • I'm sure to fix it shitty would be cheaper, but its a brand new car. Personally, if i cant bang it out with a hammer, or suck it out with a suction cup, then it stays dented.

        In this case, they were fixing it perfect, mint, on a brand new one day sold car. You gotta pay for quality in that situation. Sure my cousin can do it cheaper for cash under the table but i guarantee you get what you pay for with body work. Its pure time and care.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Note how a lot of the cost is due to the fancy paint which prevented them from doing a repair. Rather than tech, it's expensive paint jobs and aftermarket wraps that are adding a lot to these kinds of repairs.

      That was relatively cheap for a Tesla, since he damaged the car himself and wasn't claiming from someone else's insurance. If it had been someone else's fault there would have been rental fees and loss of value on top.

      Tangentially this accident demonstrates why the current Tesla autopilot hardware in i

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sinij ( 911942 )

      This is a scam job by a collision center. Putting new fender over such minor dent is outright fraud.
       
      The cheap way to fix this is to massage back metal (i.e. paintless dent removal) then polish it. There will be minor scratches visible, but it will be only couple hundred to fix.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      $7000 for a small dent on the fender. [cleantechnica.com]

      To be 100% fair, the more tech you pack into a car the more expensive it does get for basic repairs.

      A lovely old lady scrapped the front off side corner of my 2 series the other week. The initial quote for repairs wast over £1,500 until I read it and told them there were no forward parking sensors (honestly, if you need forward parking sensors, driving is not for you). The smart bumper then became a stock standard dumb bumper and the quote dropped to £350 because the repair shop didn't need t

  • No, Inexpensive (Score:5, Insightful)

    by albeit unknown ( 136964 ) on Thursday October 25, 2018 @08:05PM (#57537599)
    It's a bargain if the safety feature prevented a $30,000 hospital bill.

    Let's go back to no crumple zones where you can pound out a front end collision with a hammer and clean out the passengers with a fire hose.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      Let's go back to no crumple zones

      I could just ride a motorcycle.

      So give me a motorcycle with two more wheels, an enclosed passenger cabin, heat, air conditioning and a comfy bench seat.

    • I agree, cars are so much safer its not even funny. People under 40 have no idea how much the industry has improved in safety, mileage, HP and comfort.

      But what does have to happen is going back to the 5 mph bumper rules. The current 2.5 mph is a joke. A parking lot bumper bump that barely exchanged paint costing $3k+ and slamming your insurance rates is insane and hits the less well off unfairly. The poor shouldn't have their rates jacked because someone else decides they want to drive a $100k car and bump

      • 5mph RUBBER bumpers. Painted bumpers are BULLSHIT... graze something, $500 minimum paint job to fix. I went out of my way to get black rubber bumpers on my truck, and it's the best thing I ever did. Small scuff? Fine-grit sandpaper, 2 minutes of rubbing, fixed.

      • I agree, cars are so much safer its not even funny. People under 40 have no idea how much the industry has improved in safety, mileage, HP and comfort.

        I had no idea cars have more hit points than they used to. But I've definitely seen improved reliability. I seem to remember when cars used to be nearly worthless at 100K miles. It's pretty much expected they'll last that long these days, plus quite a bit longer. And they spend far less time in the shop being tweaked and tuned than I remember as a kid. Granted, I'm a data point of one, but from what I hear, that's the general experience as well. On occasion people get stuck with a lemon, but that's al

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          I had no idea cars have more hit points than they used to. But I've definitely seen improved reliability. I seem to remember when cars used to be nearly worthless at 100K miles. It's pretty much expected they'll last that long these days, plus quite a bit longer. And they spend far less time in the shop being tweaked and tuned than I remember as a kid. Granted, I'm a data point of one, but from what I hear, that's the general experience as well. On occasion people get stuck with a lemon, but that's always b

          • Timing belt should be replaced every 60k - 100k depending but if you like your car do it before it goes out and save yourself some money.

            I didn't need AAA to tell me that it's more expensive to replace a bumper with a back up camera and sensors than one with out it's no brainer the more complex you make it the more it will cost to repair. I see a lot of expensive cars out there with all the trimming but that doesn't make them a quality vehicle.

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Bert64 ( 520050 )

      Move to somewhere with free healthcare and then it's a choice between an expensive repair bill on the car, or a few weeks paid leave from work sitting in a hospital bed.

    • The article isn't about the cost of body work. It's about the cost of buying, installing, and (possibly) calibrating sensor devices.

  • Bullshit (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Thursday October 25, 2018 @08:17PM (#57537623)
    My brother's 2 year old Nissan Sentra with 15k miles on it cost him $11500. It's a strippy. CD Player and a jack 3.5" for your phone, AC and an Automatic. About as basic as it gets (it's 2018, a CD player costs $5 bucks to make, no, it's not a "luxury" when they're that cheap).

    Cars are more expensive because fewer and fewer people can afford them. That means fewer used cars. That means higher used car prices, which the car manufacturers see as cue to raise prices. Cars are also a necessity in most places. Even most major cities lack viable public transportation. When the commutes 90 minutes by car it's 3 hours by bus. That's not an inconvenience, that's a life altering event. The car companies decided how our cities were built before any of us were born (assuming there's nobody under 70 reading this). We're living with the consequences.

    • Cars are more expensive because fewer and fewer people can afford them.

      I think my head just exploded.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jrumney ( 197329 )

      it's 2018, a CD player costs $5 bucks to make

      Curious as to your source for this.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by bob4u2c ( 73467 )

        CD

        ? What is that?

        Seriously the last time I had a car and played one of those things on it was pre-2001. Try looking for a decent radio that plays mp3s or blue tooth, even a 3.5mm jack is pretty old school.

        Plus side with mp3s you can have 16+ hours of tunes and no inane dj chatter on a long drive.

    • Cars are more expensive because fewer and fewer people can afford them. That means fewer used cars. That means higher used car prices, which the car manufacturers see as cue to raise prices.

      https://d3fy651gv2fhd3.cloudfr... [cloudfront.net] sure doesn't look like a graph of fewer and fewer people being able to afford new cars to me.

      Used car sales appear flat but not plummeting as well: https://www.thoughtco.com/used... [thoughtco.com]

  • Yep (Score:2)

    by kackle ( 910159 )
    I've used the same trusted mechanic for 30 years, and he said that he's been watching the cost of repairs shoot upward, with my $700 repair bill being the lowest of all of his customers' bills that day. I can hear his frustration with the (in my opinion, needless) technology found in today's vehicles. He's getting pushed out of doing repairs little by little because the software and jigs are too expensive to purchase and keep up with. Did you know that one can now rent certain auto-repair software for so

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by dryeo ( 100693 )

      However, I also blame the ignorant members of Congress, past and present, who ONLY considered that higher MPG might mean less air pollution, not the extra expenses we all quietly pay to get our rolling computers fixed, the complexity that befuddles the average person/mechanic and the extra wasted man-hours dealing with that complexity.

      You're blaming the wrong people, well mostly. Governments (its a first world thing) are responsible for pushing clean and efficient, people demanded clean, as the city air used to be horrible, at least here. And there is only so much oil. Getting it can involve supporting horrible people, making a big mess digging it up now a days and there is a chance that CO2 affects the climate.
      Car companies come up with all this other expensive shit. A car company decided to make the heating and air conditioning push bu

      • Bullshit. If people were clamoring for clean and efficient you wouldn't see the vast majority of drivers on the road singly in SUVs. It is regulatory capture and the large automakers love it.

  • It's also the construction. (Score:3)

    by shess ( 31691 ) on Thursday October 25, 2018 @08:44PM (#57537697) Homepage

    The technology is one bit, but is there any reason why there has to be a single unit which encompasses the front end around to the wheels, and integrates the lights and grill? As a result, you can't easily just replace a broken piece, you have to replace the entire assembly.

    [One reason is fuel efficiency. The assembly has fewer gaps to catch the wind. Another reason is reliability, the assembly is constructed as a unit and doesn't rely on as many people being successful. But there are probably alternative approaches which could give similar results.]

  • Standard parts is the answer. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Tjp($)pjT ( 266360 ) on Thursday October 25, 2018 @08:56PM (#57537727)
    This is where the cell phone right to repair shop needs to get busy. The problem arises because the sensors for your Chevy Corvette may be different, for no good reason, than your Chevy Silverado. Different mounting or whatever. Just like in the past your Lincoln Mark V could have front end parts at $800 but the exact same part from a ford truck might be $250. Different part numbers. Same exact part. Well now they do things like create skus based on trim parts that may not even be damaged. But they differentiate the parts you can order. TPMS sensors are particularly overpriced as OEM parts, and they are periodically replaced. Equivalent after market parts? They are significantly cheaper. Car key fob? Or keyed key? The exact same key at the dealer with a FOB, $180 for the pair $200 to program it. After market $25 for the pair, including instructions to program it yourself in the car. Factory parts can be hugely inflated because they stock so many skus for many many years. Standardization is the way to drop the prices. Fewer skus.

  • The radar sensor on the front of my car is over $3k just for that one part, let alone the rest of the front.

  • It's expensive because of dealers. (Score:3)

    by Charcharodon ( 611187 ) on Friday October 26, 2018 @12:24AM (#57538241)
    Not even a little bit true. Most repairs cost so much is people don't bother trying to do it themselves. It's amazingly simple to implement most car repairs these days with a modest tool box and a copy of the manufacturer repair manuals for the car. Combine that with the fact that you can order parts online for a fraction of what the dealer will charge you. My last air conditioning repair took a $25 (fried relay). The dealer wanted $750 to do the same fix that took me longer to type up in this comment than to do. (Open the hood, took off a plastic cover over the fuse box, found the relay, pulled it out with a pair of pliers, stuck the new one in.)

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday October 26, 2018 @12:26AM (#57538245)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I'm obviously not a 'car person' as all new cars look the same to me - identical bulges, curves and massive footprints that make parking a nightmare.
  • Modern cars are unnecessary complex to meet safety and emission regulations. These are not "free", they add both upfront and lifetime costs.

    You legislated 40MPG, 5 star offset crash rating, collision avoidance-equipped car and you go it. Only it costs an arm and a leg to buy and repair.

  • LED turnlight replacement cost, someone? (Score:3)

    by Herve5 ( 879674 ) on Friday October 26, 2018 @10:23AM (#57539673)

    You don't even need to look for überadvanced tech on today's cars.

    On all new cars these last years, the use of LEDs instead of bulbs allowed to install super cool, super fancy lights everywhere -for instance the fashion for turnlights recently was to wrap a luminous line of LEDs all around the stoplights, or even with ultra-zen shape inflections.
    Very sillily, I just thought 'Ahh, fashion...' in the beginning.

    This, until I understood that, from now on, whenever one of your stoplight or turlight dies, you cannot switch a 20-cent bulb there*.
    You now MUST get back to the original automaker, to politely ask for this complex plastic element, ultra-zen-shaped, that, obviously, no one else than them can provide.
    (Oh, and the left side isn't the same as the right side, mind you, don't confuse!)

    I'd say, you'll pay it not ten times, but one hundred times the bulb cost.

    Ahh, but this is for fashion, isn't it?

    (*) and even, have a complete light repair set within the volume of a smartphone, slipped somewhere in the car, allowing you to repair in 5mn straight in front of the cop if need be...

  • Only tech? (Score:3)

    by whitroth ( 9367 ) <whitroth@5-BOHRcent.us minus physicist> on Friday October 26, 2018 @12:36PM (#57540583) Homepage

    Lessee, about 15 or so years ago, I had a Grand Voyager. One day, a window fell down. Took it to a mechanic, and he replaced the belt that raises and lowers it. $160. 8 or so years later, newer Grand Voyager, same thing: nope, the mechanic said, "we both know it's only the belt, but they've made it a sealeed unit, which includes the motro, but I have no choice now but to replace the whole thing (for twice the price).

    Oh, and about needing computers... my ancient, deally beloved Toyota Tercel wagon, an '86, with a carburetor, no computer, was a) still passing emission tests and b) getting 35-36mpg in 2000.

    Blame the car companies. They want you to buy a new car every two years, like back in the late fifties.

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