Car Talk: Costly headlight replacement is Acura's fault - Columbus Dispatch
Dear Tom and Ray: I have a 2004 Acura RL that had developed an intermittent headlight problem where one of the headlights would go off unexpectedly. The quick solution was to turn the lights off and then immediately back on, and the faulty headlight also would come back on. My local Acura dealer’s service department indicated that any one of three separate headlight components could be the... They advised replacing all three because the labor to replace any one of them individually would be the same. The total bill was as follows: Inverter — $364, igniter — $180, bulb — $178, labor — $318. With tax, the total repair came to $1,113. Have I just been given a good hosing, or are these reasonable charges for this type of repair for this vehicle. Ray: And that’s why they suggested replacing all three components, Kyle. I’m sure at some point in history, they replaced just the bulb for some customer, charged him $500, and then had to go back in and replace the inverter and igniter, and charge him another $900. Tom: That’s not a phone call you want to make twice... And yes, you also got hosed, because Acura designed a car that requires you to remove the front bumper in order to change a headlight bulb. Source: www.dispatch.com
