$500 to replace a headlight on a 2015 Range Rover Sport....what is going on here?

[86mud]

I noticed that my friends 2015 Range Rover Sport drivers side headlight was not working on the weekend and after some quick googling and reading the manual I soon realised that this was unfortunately a dealer job. So off she goes today to the Landrover Dealer to get it replaced. She called me about an hour ago to say it was $500 to replace the Xenon HID bulb.

Even though this is the most sophisticated 4wd in the world, someone forgot to add in a dud headlight warning light on the dash. Dealer has confirmed that this model Range Rover Sport does not have such a warning light.

I would have put a thread up sooner but I fell out of my chair after the phone call and it's taken me a while to gather my composure.

What is going on in the world?

I am sure the passenger side headlight will go out in sympathy soon....

On the flip side, the brake booster in my 1972 Peugeot 504 started losing pressure yesterday afternoon and I just picked up a new seal kit for it..... $34 thanks very much. Will be fixing that myself tonight.

Rant over....

[justinc]

Globes for my l322 Xenon lamps are $150...😟

[eddy]

Maybe something here can help RRSPORT.CO.UK • View topic - HID HEADLAMP BULBS (http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic28046.html?highlight=xenon+hid+bulb)

[bob10]

Took my sons 1994 hilux ute for a quote to cut out some rust, turns out this chap does most of MR auto's panel work, told me a new roof for a defender costs $ 12,000.

[PhilipA]

Recently a friend with a 2007 BMW 330i convertible told me that he had been tod by a number of specialists that the whole headlight assembly had to be changed at a cost of $1500 when it no longer worked. He was pretty distressed.
I called bull**** and asked him to open the bonnet and in 5 minutes had the offending HID bulb out.
The wire isulation into the transformer was a bit suss so I told him to go to the dealer.
He did and they fitted an aftermarket bulb for $200 which I still think is obscene. However a genuine would have been $500.

He recently traded it for a 1 year old 330i convertible as it was and got $4000 trade in.

Regards Philip A

[justinc]

Also a huge horror story were our lexus ls430 self levelling hid headlamps, $2500 each.... one decent frontal hit then you'd nearly write it off...😟😟😟

[trout1105]

Much of the parts pricings are simply daylight robbery IMHO, I simply cannot see how the manufacturers and the retailers can justify some of the ludicrous prices for some parts.
Considering that much of the inventory is now made in third world countries for a tiny fraction of the retail cost and even the parts that Are made in the UK, Aus or the US are still made relatively cheaply compared to the retail price.
I don't know if it is greed, complacency or a combination of both But we seem to be paying extortionary prices for relatively low tech parts these days[wink11]

[ozscott]

Merc c250. $8k for a steering rack and $5k for a headlight. What have we become?

[ATH]

"5K for a headlight"!!!! Yes my younger bro had his wife's headlight/s kicked in by some lowlife on her Merc sports (not sure of model but it'd be new) and he wasn't impressed especially after being in the repair trade for many years. No doubt insurance paid up but that's not the point, they're over the top in pricing.
It seems Mercs attract that sort of thing as an accountant I know reported both his and his wife's cars suffering damage. But their "his and hers" Lexus's never did.
Must be a low life hate thing....
AlanH.

[V8Ian]

500 bucks! :eek2: I've bought whole cars for less than that.

[Lockee]

Velar laser led headlight is 15k

[martnH]

Obviously car industry try to build a monopoly nowadays. It's the only explanation I can find.

It will work if car manufacturers can ban all the aftermarket assessorries, sellers.... Etc...If they obtain full control of their part providers... If the automotive parts will require to be "certified" before installation.


The battery in my puma defender recently died. The oringinal unit is a Varta lfd90 800cca, 90ah lead acid...

Retail for probably $300
I was quoted $850 for the part only.
I understand Varta probably send land rover their very best batteries but .....

[ozscott]

I think it's clear these vehicles are built to be a new in warranty ownership proposition only. Pitty poor buggers that own past warranty... Cheers

[Lockee]

And which vehicle isn’t thee days

[donh54]

Obviously car industry try to build a monopoly nowadays. It's the only explanation I can find.

It will work if car manufacturers can ban all the aftermarket assessorries, sellers.... Etc...If they obtain full control of their part providers... If the automotive parts will require to be "certified" .....

Welcome to the world of John Deere ownership!
Farmers in the US and other places around the world are buying hacked software from Eastern Europe so they can do their own service/repair work on their tractors and harvesters.

[rick130]

Velar laser led headlight is 15k

It's not easy to shock me but my jaw dropped open at that. :Thump:

[ozscott]

Yep. It's just absurd. I also object to the insurance industry spreading the loss to the point where it isn't much dearer to insure Velar than say a 25 year old D1 yet the cost of repair difference in an accident is massive. In truth the owners that make up the majority of basic vehicles that are cheap to repair (headlights for example under $300...) are subsidising the sky high repair costs of vehicles with $5,000-$15,000 headlights (just an example - consider also the massive costs difference in bumper bars, steering components etc) through their combined premiums. If premiums were aligned more closely with actual risk you would see a very different vehicle landscape outside. 'User pays' is a sound proposition that needs to be adopted by insurers. Some people might say but the risk of an accident is lower in a Velar because of all.the driver aids...no doesn't change the risk over the fleet of insured cars to anything close to equitable. Cheers

[Lockee]

Shannon’s works for me on my D3 and Rangie Ute one policy reduced costs plus right to Salvage

[ozscott]

Shannons (me too on my d2 for agreed value and salvage) are Suncorp. They too are spreading risk like there is no tomorrow. Cheers

[ramblingboy42]

...pardon my ignorance...is a Velar some sort of Land Rover model?

[101RRS]

...pardon my ignorance...is a Velar some sort of Land Rover model?

Where you been hiding - yes a Landrover model - the Range Rover Velar - been around for while now. Basically a hairdresser's car.

[ramblingboy42]

not only do I have selective hearing, I also have selective eyesight......and I don't follow Range Rover very much.

[rick130]

one of these Dennis.

141585

[rick130]

i had to go hunting around but the Velar doesn't have low range, and most of the Terrain Response stuff is optional.

An off roader it aint, it's a styling exercise, but I'm digressing....

[martnH]

So it is happening now...

Just imagine what could happen if the manufacturer decided to go after the ECU programmers...

My understanding is that a remap is essentially a hack? Because you unlock the ecu without authorization and make changes on top of that. Is there a potential copyright issue?.....

Welcome to the world of John Deere ownership!
Farmers in the US and other places around the world are buying hacked software from Eastern Europe so they can do their own service/repair work on their tractors and harvesters.

[scarry]

...pardon my ignorance...is a Velar some sort of Land Rover model?

Umm,sort of,yes its built by LR,its one of those around town yuppy mobiles.
Good for taking the kids to school and to soccer training.....

The Royals probably have one or two of them[biggrin]

[PhilipA]

Re Velar.
Think of Jaguar F Pace with slightly different body or vice versa.

Regards Philip A

[Lockee]

Lots more than that. Off Roader rather than an all roader. Still very capable141593

[Lockee]

Had two Offroad today

[ozscott]

Yep that looks as rough as guts out there....[emoji847][emoji106][emoji41]🤣

[scarry]

Yep that looks as rough as guts out there....[emoji847][emoji106][emoji41]🤣

Looks like the park behind the local soccer fields.[bighmmm]

[Baggy]

The velar did win most beautiful car on the planet recently .... there's several you tube video's where that have taken it in stock form
off road but were let down by the stock tyres getting up several tracks.

Interesting to see if electric windows can fail how the retractable door handles will go after a few years .... still a nice looking car.

When the D3 was released a family I knew bought one new .. they had it for several months and was swiped by another vehicle and damaged
the washer bottle .... $1500 for a new replacement back then.

Baggy

[PhilipA]

I wonder if the Velar has the same supplier of door handles as the Tesla S. Its a bugger of a job to fix a Tesla.
Regards Philip A

[Lockee]

Yep that looks as rough as guts out there....[emoji847][emoji106][emoji41]🤣

Bit busy to take photos when taking 9 vehicles off road with multiple drivers.

[ozscott]

Bit busy to take photos when taking 9 vehicles off road with multiple drivers.I figured it could do more than a 2wd m8. I was having a gentle poke. Cheers

[Lockee]

Genuinely surprised at where it goes

[strangy]

Gimmicks to swindle the masses.
Its a headlight for goodness sake, do we really believe that headlamps/globes must be made from whatever substance/gas/element currently on trend is worth this amount of money?
Some time ago I worked for an Australian machinery manufacturer, The mark up on spares was 700% Chain sprockets were deliberately sized to not be readily replaced with a typical/generic sprocket. Those sprockets were also deliberately not hardened to ensure they would be regularly replaced. Meanwhile other sprockets which could not be "customised" were hardened and rarely needed replacement.
Ridiculous prices on spares to rape the customer isnt really the end game of the manufacturers.
The real aim is to create an environment where people will just suck up the extra cost and buy an entirely new product which ensures the manufactures share holders can have a flash holiday.
There is no money to be made producing a product which lasts longer than the latest fashion trend.

With the advances in metalurgy, plastics and manufacturing techniques it is disgusting (to me anyway) that appliances and vehicles etc are routinely disabled by a simple component but greedy business practice ensures it appears "better economic sense" to replace the entire item rather than repair, based on component cost only, disregarding labour.

[ozscott]

Yep the majority of the population has become a bit silly. Those that want a reliable easy to fix, cheap to fix, vehicle need to hold on tight to older models - especially people that want to tour remotely. Cheers

[Homestar]

Bought a whole new tail light assembly for no 1 Sons Camry Wagon for its RWC - $14.00 [emoji106]

Oh, what a feeling... [emoji56]

[ozscott]

Nice one. Yep I am very much over the wave of latest vehicles. I honestly can't see the attraction unless money is really no object and the vehicles are being turned over within warranty.

Cheers

[Lockee]

Have you driven behind the latest headlights?

[ozscott]

Dont need to. Honestly its madness. To what end? To what extent is it worth $14,700 over a $300 headlight that does the job very well. What price excellence in lighting versus perfectly adequate? And let's face it when most of us with older 4wds are in kanger country we are turning night into day with good spot lights.

Some of us are getting caught up in the so called pursuit of motoring perfection. The world can't afford it. We go through vehicles and scrap them like we have unlimited resources and unlimited ozone.

Cheers (rant over haha)

[scarry]

Have you driven behind the latest headlights?

Yes do numerous trips to the property near St George at night in the D4.

The lights are good enough for me,don't even need any spotlights.

And they are not worth anywhere near 15k.

I don't actually know what they are worth,they came with the vehicle as a no cost extra.

[ozscott]

$15k.per light
....

Cheers

[superquag]

$15k.per light
....

Cheers

Fifteen THOUSAND dollars... Hmmm...

Top of the wozzer LDV-90 is only $43k

Or the price of 3 headlamp assemblies.

[superquag]

Someone with the latest edition could check, but my fading memory tells me that the ADRules stipulates that headlamp (bulbs) must be replaceable without special tools.

Things must be different if the headlamp is HID...

Hopefully I'm wrong, because if not, then it comes down to government 'not' enforcing it's own laws.

Same government that now wants 10% GST on ALL goods purchased online/overseas.

[ozscott]

Yes but despite its 5 star safety rating is it a shark with frickin laser beams?! Cheers

(PS. E&OE. Not dodging swear filter...a line from Austin Powers [emoji16])

[Lockee]

Seriously the Velar Laser LEDs are spectacular and keep wise spread to the side as you come up behind the vehicle in front whilst sipping automatically. Worth the replacement cost. No but an experience.

[Lockee]

Oh and can get the globes for the sport at the right price