The £260 Indicator Bulb- Is this really Progress?

The £260 Indicator Bulb- Is this really Progress?

Author
Discussion

crashrepairman

Original Poster:

233 posts

187 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
The N/s/r Indicator stopped working on my Wife's VW EOS, NO Problem- err yes it is!, you cant get a replacement "Bulb" as it isn't one, its an LED circuit board that can only be purchased as a complete lamp.
I got one off E Bay but still £90 for what should of been a 50p stop and tail bulb.

shake n bake

2,221 posts

206 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
It is for vw!

m8rky

2,090 posts

158 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all

Stuff like this should be included in how eco-friendly (or unfriendly in this case) vehicles are. What a complete waste of resources and hard earned money for the owner.

Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
m8rky said:
Stuff like this should be included in how eco-friendly (or unfriendly in this case) vehicles are. What a complete waste of resources and hard earned money for the owner.
Dead right! I can see how stuff like FIs and ECUs have actually made cars much more reliable, but crap like this LED circuit business is just pointless.

crashrepairman

Original Poster:

233 posts

187 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
Could be a business opportunity for someone to start repairing them?

powerstroke

10,283 posts

159 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
Dog Star said:
m8rky said:
Stuff like this should be included in how eco-friendly (or unfriendly in this case) vehicles are. What a complete waste of resources and hard earned money for the owner.
Dead right! I can see how stuff like FIs and ECUs have actually made cars much more reliable, but crap like this LED circuit business is just pointless.
Not for the manufacturer!!, they are going down the uneconomic to to fix limited life car path its good for sales!!!

TheInsanity1234

740 posts

118 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
But at the same time, LED bulbs don't blow, so you'll be replacing them a lot less frequently than bulbs, so the demand for them is a lot lower, which does mean they would command a higher premium.

Edited to make a bit more sense.

Edited by TheInsanity1234 on Saturday 22 November 22:16

k-ink

9,070 posts

178 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
VAG in over priced unreliable parts shocker.

vikingaero

10,256 posts

168 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
Maybe it's time to legislate against car manufacturers? Any vehicle (xenons excepted) where the incandescent bulb/LED bulb cannot be changed at the roadside in less than 5 minutes with a standard EU sausage fingered orangutan, attracts an income tax levy of £10,000 per vehicle on the board of directors of that manufacturer.

talksthetorque

10,815 posts

134 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
Silly question, but is the case still in warranty?

surveyor

17,765 posts

183 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
TheInsanity1234 said:
But at the same time, LED bulbs don't break, so you'll be replacing them a lot more infrequently than bulbs, so the demand for them is a lot lower, which does mean they would command a higher premium.
?

BugLebowski

1,033 posts

115 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
Just another case of adding complexity for the sake of it. Is there any advantage to LED tail lights over normal lights? I would doubt it very much. It's certainly not for reliability reasons...

The gf had an old polo that had got an MOT advisory for a rear indicator bulb. It wasn't that it wasn't working, it was just that the orange coating had worn off because the bulb was that old. £2 later and it was fixed.

PhillipM

6,515 posts

188 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
Would have just had the board repaired, the COB LED is likely to be a couple of quid part at most.

ModernAndy

2,094 posts

134 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
BugLebowski said:
Just another case of adding complexity for the sake of it. Is there any advantage to LED tail lights over normal lights? I would doubt it very much. It's certainly not for reliability.
Sort of. I think they respond and light up slightly faster than bulbs which gives the car behind more thinking time. I remember seeing a Lexus as that claimed LED's give an extra 6m of thinking distance at 70mph

ModernAndy

2,094 posts

134 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
  • Lexus ad (thank you, Apple)

TheInsanity1234

740 posts

118 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
surveyor said:
TheInsanity1234 said:
But at the same time, LED bulbs don't blow like normal bulbs, so you'll be replacing them a lot less frequently than filament bulbs, so the demand for them is a lot lower, which does mean they would command a higher premium.
?
Maybe that would make more sense...?

Mr GrimNasty

8,172 posts

169 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
They use a lot less power which should save fuel/battery!

TheInsanity1234

740 posts

118 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
Mr GrimNasty said:
They use a lot less power which should save fuel/battery!
I'll bet you that the difference they make in terms of fuel consumption would probably be an extra half a mile out of 10 average tankfuls, if not that much.

thelawnet

1,539 posts

154 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
I wanted to replace the seatbelt strapping in my Eos, sorry you can't you have to buy a whole new assembly.

To their credit, when the ABS sensor system in these vehicles turned out to be a bit unreliable, they developed a smaller part to replace (£120 rather than £400), rather than the whole system. Plus they paid for my repair on a vehicle maintained out of their dealers, out of warranty.

I guess in general though they prefer to work on a larger scale, as it must keep their inventory costs down, and profits up, if car parts are sold as modules rather than individual bits.

SLCZ3

1,204 posts

204 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
crashrepairman said:
The N/s/r Indicator stopped working on my Wife's VW EOS, NO Problem- err yes it is!, you cant get a replacement "Bulb" as it isn't one, its an LED circuit board that can only be purchased as a complete lamp.
I got one off E Bay but still £90 for what should of been a 50p stop and tail bulb.
But at the same time, LED bulbs don't blow,


Oh rolleyes Reilly??