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What? Car radios are (or at least, were 10 years ago) easy for even a DIYer to replace with about an hour's labor. Even in modern cars with nonstandard radios

What? Car radios are (or at least, were 10 years ago) easy for even a DIYer to replace with about an hour's labor. Even in modern cars with nonstandard radios they're still modular. You can take it out and replace it with a functioning one. The GP's issue isn't that he needed a technician to take apart the radio and install a new screen, he just needed a new radio. Which was his eventual solution.

ptaipale 9y ago
Add to automation in car manufacturing the logistics. The chain of supply of cars is efficient due to high volumes, predictability and competition. The chain of supply for spare parts (like radio modules) is low volume, unpredictable and does not attract competition. Thus, fixing a car radio may seem prohibitively expensive when compared to the price of the car. If you do it yourself, it's cheaper, but the insurance company won't pay for it.
- LeifCarrotson 9y ago
  > Thus, fixing a car radio may seem prohibitively expensive when compared to the price of the car. It's very easy to add together a few repairs which sum to more than the value of the car. If you wanted to get a new car from scratch by ordering the individual components and having your dealership put them together, it would have to be at least 10x more expensive than buying one produced at scale. > If you do it yourself, it's cheaper, but the insurance company won't pay for it. On the one hand, you have the value of your time in your skill area, versus mucking about with a radio. On the other, you have the overhead and inefficiency of a huge dealer/insurance system. Somewhere in the middle is your local mechanic :) Find a good one and make friends - you don't have to go to the dealership!
  - mark-r 9y ago
    I have a relative who once worked in a city vehicle maintenance facility. They had a truck with a body that had rusted out, and he was told to replace the entire body. He pointed out that a new truck would be cheaper than replacing those parts. He was told to do it anyway - they had a repair budget already, but getting a new truck would require making a case before the city council. He quit that job.
mark-r 9y ago
I suspect that new car radios aren't nearly as modular as the ones of old. With the new regulations requiring backup cameras, the interface to the camera probably isn't standardized.

ptaipale 9y ago

Add to automation in car manufacturing the logistics. The chain of supply of cars is efficient due to high volumes, predictability and competition. The chain of supply for spare parts (like radio modules) is low volume, unpredictable and does not attract competition. Thus, fixing a car radio may seem prohibitively expensive when compared to the price of the car. If you do it yourself, it's cheaper, but the insurance company won't pay for it.

LeifCarrotson 9y ago
> Thus, fixing a car radio may seem prohibitively expensive when compared to the price of the car. It's very easy to add together a few repairs which sum to more than the value of the car. If you wanted to get a new car from scratch by ordering the individual components and having your dealership put them together, it would have to be at least 10x more expensive than buying one produced at scale. > If you do it yourself, it's cheaper, but the insurance company won't pay for it. On the one hand, you have the value of your time in your skill area, versus mucking about with a radio. On the other, you have the overhead and inefficiency of a huge dealer/insurance system. Somewhere in the middle is your local mechanic :) Find a good one and make friends - you don't have to go to the dealership!
- mark-r 9y ago
  I have a relative who once worked in a city vehicle maintenance facility. They had a truck with a body that had rusted out, and he was told to replace the entire body. He pointed out that a new truck would be cheaper than replacing those parts. He was told to do it anyway - they had a repair budget already, but getting a new truck would require making a case before the city council. He quit that job.

mark-r 9y ago

I suspect that new car radios aren't nearly as modular as the ones of old. With the new regulations requiring backup cameras, the interface to the camera probably isn't standardized.