Expensive Cost of Car Repairs

[Bruce Nunnally]

Interesting article looking forward to the high cost of repairs of some of the cool tech on cars these days:

My friend Kerry was proud to be on the cutting edge of hybrid technology when he bought a Toyota Prius a few years ago.

He's less proud to be on the cutting edge of hybrid-technology repairs. He just paid a bundle to replace the car's transaxle, part of the vehicle's new-wave continuously variable transmission, which failed just after the warranty expired.

"The dealer initially told me it would be $3,000 just for the labor, and $5,000 for the part. That's 40% of the original base price of the car!"

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Savin...CarRepairs.aspx

2005 Mercedes C Class

Adaptive cruise-control system, which maintains a set distance from the car in front: $3,742

Xenon headlight with washer: $1,659

Parking sensor $345

2005 Lexus RX330

Adaptive headlight with washer: $1,627 per light

Backup camera: $4,217

Adaptive cruise control: $1,318

2005 BMW 5 Series

Adaptive headlight with washer: $2,035

Parking sensor: $372

Adaptive cruise sensor: $2,222

2004 Cadillac Escalade

Ultrasonic rear-parking assist: $934

Xenon headlight: $765

Heated side mirror with turn indicator: $997

[Rickster]

No Kidding. Luxury costs money. I was talking with a freind today on the market value of my car today. I have no intentions of selling but when I do...I will seriously think about parting it out. I think I would net twice the resale value.

[ted tcb]

This topic reminds me of the poor sap with the Toyota Prius who's CVT tranny with regenerative braking failed outside of warranty.

I believe the tranny was about $4k plus the labour.

Its hard to consider, but some of these high tech marvels will become

disposable commodities long before they should, based upon the cost

of low volume, high tech parts.

[GreenMachine]

at least the esclade has the cheapest parts cost

Be curious to see complete matchups with same class of cars, like the XLR versuse the Mercedes convertiable and the like.

[Poobah]

Its hard to consider, but some of these high tech marvels will become

disposable commodities long before they should, based upon the cost

of low volume, high tech parts.

I see a lot of Priuses around. People apparently but them because they think they are earth-friendly and economical to operate (it can't be because they are beautiful or inexpensive to buy).

I've heard that new batteries, which are necessary at about 100,000 miles, cost between $6,000 and $8,000 (somebody correct me if I'm wrong about that). Add that to the cost of the gas they do use and, on a cost per mile basis, you're looking at about 2/3 the cost of gasoline for my Deville! Looking at it another way, the cost per mile is 1 1/2 to 2 times the cost of fueling a standard gasoline powered mini car. Independent mechanics won't touch them because there are high voltages in there that can kill you if you aren't specially trained to work on hybrid cars. That pretty much forces hybrid owners to pay high dealer rates for all their repair work. Factor in the high cost of high tech parts discussed in this thread and it becomes obvious that these cars are not economical to operate.

It is true that, with the low gasoline consumption of hybrid cars, they produce less air polution than traditional gasoline powered cars. Earth friendliness consists of more than just low air polution, however. The materials used to make the batteries in these cars are not economically recyclable (again, somebody correct me if I'm wrong) which leads to more high tech junk in our landfills. Also, consider these questions: What is the value of a used car with 100,000 miles on the odometer that needs a $6,000 to $8000 set of batteries to keep it running? Will the owner owner of a Prius with 75,000 miles be willing to spend $4000 for a new transmission if he's looking at a set of batteries in another couple of years? How much can he get for the car if he decides to unload it instead of repairing it? I think we will see hybrids become disposable cars with thousands of them going to the scrap heap when they are 5 to 10 years old simply because it doesn't make economic sense to keep them running. How earth friendly is that?

I'm sure that there will come a time when cars with alternate propulsion systems become truely economical and earth friendly. For now and the immediate future, I'm affraid the people who buy these odd looking little cars will soon realize they aren't really the answer they were looking for.

[KHE]

The Toyota Prius is just about the most butt-ugly vehicle on the road....It has a side profile of a ham can. I suppose the Honda Element is just about as ugly... There is so much plastic on that thing it is if the designers couldn't make up their mind on what the body panels should be. It will be interesting to see those things when they age and all the plastic starts to chalk...

[Texas Jim]

I will say one thing about my '06 DTS

In about a year ... EXTENDED WARRANTY.

[TDK]

Folks,

An interesting topic and timely for sure. Following is a link just today from CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/tipsandadvic...ries/index.html

If you read the article, you might feel that it does not detail actual, historical costs to support its conclusion - "Hybrids pay for themselves over time..." (or somthing similar). However, the previous postings in this thread - attributing high repair/replacement costs - may not have contained published facts availabe to everyone as well (hear-say or opinions are not facts).

Poobah wrote a great post and he responsibly asked for clarification about the costs. Probably, not all the potential costs are being stated up front to buyers (big surprise there huh?). I just don't think that anyone honestly knows at this time - what the costs will really average. No one has bothered to state the very probable environmental downsides - because it would spoil the green appeal.

I agree absolutely that these costs are all important in the product's real-world market success. "True Costs" must be measured both in dollars and environmental impact (for example; fewer carbon emissions vs batteries in the landfills). It would be interesting to see "the rest of the story" in a non-biased format presented by an impartial group (if that is even possible at this time). It is too bad that our comments on this topic will be judged by others - based on what "camp" they think we belong to (ie; Industrial vs Environmental).

Regardless, I believe we have to continue to develop this technology and attempt to market it - even if it is "not soup yet".

All IMHO

[556393]

you also can`t recycle those hybrid batteries. To me honda and tiyota are nothing more than "carney barkers". Step right up, see the amazing fat lady with a beard or( fuel effiecent hybrid cars). they are laughing all the way to the bank, `cause there`s sucker born every minute. you just happen to be coming along at the right time.

[ted tcb]

From what I've read, the nickel based batteries are warrantied by Toyota for 8 years, but are expected to last more than 10 yrs.

The current replacement cost at the dealer is $4k USD, and the hope is

that 8 yrs down the road, the cost may drop to around $1k.

What would scare me is that I finance the car for 48months, and find out that my resale value has sewered due to the impending doom of the batteries.

I own a Panasonic 50"LCD, which is lamp driven. The mfg says the lamp should last 8000 hours, but I've burned out 2 lamps at 1000 hours.

Replacement cost is $400 each time. Thank goodness for extended warranties.

The lamps were supposed to come down in value as supplies increased.

Guess what ... didn't happen.

Every years, Panasonic makes new lamps, and the volume just didn't occur

as the 2 year old model lamps are almost obsolete

Moral of the story is that I don't buy the statement that the batteries will decrease in cost ... gradual changes in design will likely result in the 2006 Prius batteries not resembling the 2012 design, and the economies of scale won't work out.

[KHE]

Hybrids are a marketing scam... Once you run the numbers and compare the cost of battery replacement (not to mention other expensive failures) vs. the fuel savings, it is quickly becomes obvious that it is a money loser.

[GreenMachine]

but its toyota, I thought they don't break?

Actually during the early news on saturday they were talking about cars and quality, and now that Toyota has been making more cars than in the past, guess what, now that they are making larger volumes their quality is going down. Thier response to this was that they will try and get their quality up once again and its a top priority. I wonder how they would do if the produced vehicles on the same scale as GM does.

[The Fred]

These folks are paying more for a headlight or two than I paid for the automobile I drive every day.. good lord

[Poobah]

I wonder how they would do if they [Toyota] produced vehicles on the same scale as GM does.

That is predicted to happen in the next year or so!

[sfyr]

Excluding my rip-off repair after I first had the car, and a original warranty repair on the transmission (shift solenoid), I just turned 94k this weekend on my 98 SLS.

These are the total manditory repair costs in the 6 years I've owned this car and put the 83k miles on:

Water pump 2002 $385

New radiator hose (not worn, cut by an adjacent part) 2005 $85

brakes $180

soon to replace the battery, works OK but it's the weakening original. About time to replace. We do our own routine LOF, etc work.

Worth the cost of $20k? All the way!!

And I have a great mechanic, although it's unfortunate he doesn't do anything with the engine.

[coolnesss]

The Toyota Prius is just about the most butt-ugly vehicle on the road....It has a side profile of a ham can. I suppose the Honda Element is just about as ugly...

Toyota had the opportunity to bring real styling along with the tech innovation - they are capable of style in certain cases - the old Supra for instance, and the 2-door Camry (whatever they call it) - and they failed miserably on the Prius. Imagine if the Prius looked like a 21st Century car instead of a ham can (that was brilliant, dude) - there would be a zillion of 'em on the road.

Only Cadillac and Dodge are making good looking American cars now - its a real shame - even the Jaguars now look mostly like stretched out Fords.

[Poobah]

The Toyota Prius is just about the most butt-ugly vehicle on the road....It has a side profile of a ham can.

I always thought it looked like a beached mackerel.

[epricedright]

The Toyota Prius is just about the most butt-ugly vehicle on the road....It has a side profile of a ham can. I suppose the Honda Element is just about as ugly...

its a real shame - even the Jaguars now look mostly like stretched out Fords.

I thought it was just me!

[mikeal1892]

A friend of mine traded his S 430 after the mb dealer told him it was going to need 7k in repairs... Hes now the proud owner of a Deville. thanks to the cash back and year end deals...

Michael-