Auto Gossip

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33928, 22 August 1975, Page 11

Auto Gossip

by

A. J. P.

The cost of car-parts has always been a sore point with motorists, but with all motoring costs going up steeply these days, the subject is coming under closer scrutiny. Parts costs have a very important influence on insurance premiums, too, because the cost of crash repairs — and therefore the costs of insurance — are directly related to the cost of the replacement bits needed.

It is horrifying to find out how many modern bumpers cost close to three figures. Some cost more. Manx; grilles, another frequently damaged part, cost more than $lOO to replace. Even such a seemingly simple thing as a petrol tank can cost $7O or more for some cars. In Europe at the moment, there is a rising campaign against the increasing trend to units which require complete replacement when only a small part of the unit is faulty. One example the tail-light fitting on one car: one broken lens means replacement not just of the $1.50 lens, but of the whole light cluster, at a cost of about $2O. The parts are not supplied separately.

The same applies to the propeller-shafts on some cars. If the $3 universal joint fails, the entire shaft must be replaced at many times the cost.

A British magazine has protested editorially about the problem, and has asked its readers to write in if they have had to pay for expensive assemblies that they did not need just because the small part of the assembly that was faulty could not be replaced on its own.

The article the magazine eventually produces on the subject should make interesting reading. At a time when conservation is preached so loudly, and planned obsolescence and waste in such ill repute, many car manufacturers seem badly out of step. The warning in all this for the ordinary motorist is to find out exactly what is involved before asking a garage or panelbeater to replace a minor part. You may find that the cost is so astronomical that it is best to make some sort of repair of your own. It may not always be possible, but if it is, you could save yourself a lot of money.