6 ms·

Pay Up: GMC Hummer EV Taillights Cost $6100 to Replace

10 points by t23 4y ago

Kirby64 4y ago
Does anyone proofread these? "GM confirmed the price of the taillight to Car and Driver and explained the reason: each light has a microconductor in the housing that allows the individual lights to perform their respective animations." Not sure what a 'microconductor' means, but any reasonable microcontroller that exists on the market for controlling something as simple as headlight automations shouldn't cost more than a few dollars, even in an automotive variant. Sounds more like price gouging to me.
- exabrial 4y ago
  Is nobody asking why taillights "need" animations? Just use a fricken light bulb.
- ncmncm 4y ago
  Some microcontrollers cannot be had for love or money nowadays, but they could surely substitute about any other.
- thedanbob 4y ago
  > Sounds more like price gouging to me. Exactly. Unless each taillight is run by a gold-plated Mac Studio there’s no reason for them to be that expensive.
  - hulitu 4y ago
    They are not "expensive to produce". They are "expensive to sell". I think even GM realised that the only people who buy Hammers are those with a lot of money and little knowledge in cars.
- bsder 4y ago
  It's risk shifting. GM has almost certainly forced some subcontractor to bear the risk of holding the required inventory for the legally required repair period. That subcontractor worked out the cost per item to be able to do this--especially for something qualified as a safety system. This price has very little to do with material cost and everything to do with outsourcing.
- rasz 4y ago
  microconductor makes all the difference here. This is why one light costs as much as TWO iMacs with 8-Core CPU/GPU, 512GB Storage, 8GB ram, 24-inch 4.5K Retina display. Apple doesnt have microconductors.
ncmncm 4y ago
Seems like you could 3D print them. Cheaper even to buy a 3D printer to make them with than to buy.
y-gropeinator 4y ago
On today's episode of coming soon to Rockauto (from china)
lucas_membrane 4y ago
Bill Gates wrote a book about how cheap computers were saving us so much money that we ought to let them do everything. Now we know why. Automotive retail and repair is not a pretty business if you follow the money. The full dealership retail price of some of the plastic parts with no electronics in them can be over 95% markup. The logic is that because there are so many dealers and so many brands of almost identical cars, the honest dealers need to make money on repairs or starve, and cars are getting so reliable that they have to make so much money on so few repairs that you don't even want to know how much.

10 points by t23 4y ago

Does anyone proofread these? "GM confirmed the price of the taillight to Car and Driver and explained the reason: each light has a microconductor in the housing that allows the individual lights to perform their respective animations." Not sure what a 'microconductor' means, but any reasonable microcontroller that exists on the market for controlling something as simple as headlight automations shouldn't cost more than a few dollars, even in an automotive variant. Sounds more like price gouging to me.

exabrial 4y ago
Is nobody asking why taillights "need" animations? Just use a fricken light bulb.
ncmncm 4y ago
Some microcontrollers cannot be had for love or money nowadays, but they could surely substitute about any other.
thedanbob 4y ago
> Sounds more like price gouging to me. Exactly. Unless each taillight is run by a gold-plated Mac Studio there’s no reason for them to be that expensive.
- hulitu 4y ago
  They are not "expensive to produce". They are "expensive to sell". I think even GM realised that the only people who buy Hammers are those with a lot of money and little knowledge in cars.
bsder 4y ago
It's risk shifting. GM has almost certainly forced some subcontractor to bear the risk of holding the required inventory for the legally required repair period. That subcontractor worked out the cost per item to be able to do this--especially for something qualified as a safety system. This price has very little to do with material cost and everything to do with outsourcing.
rasz 4y ago
microconductor makes all the difference here. This is why one light costs as much as TWO iMacs with 8-Core CPU/GPU, 512GB Storage, 8GB ram, 24-inch 4.5K Retina display. Apple doesnt have microconductors.

ncmncm 4y ago

Seems like you could 3D print them. Cheaper even to buy a 3D printer to make them with than to buy.

y-gropeinator 4y ago

On today's episode of coming soon to Rockauto (from china)

lucas_membrane 4y ago

Bill Gates wrote a book about how cheap computers were saving us so much money that we ought to let them do everything. Now we know why. Automotive retail and repair is not a pretty business if you follow the money. The full dealership retail price of some of the plastic parts with no electronics in them can be over 95% markup. The logic is that because there are so many dealers and so many brands of almost identical cars, the honest dealers need to make money on repairs or starve, and cars are getting so reliable that they have to make so much money on so few repairs that you don't even want to know how much.