The headlights in my 1993 Nissan 240SX used to cost $8 apiece for the simple, sealed-beam units you could swap out in about 10 minutes in your driveway with a Phillips screwdriver – no trip to the dealership required. Primitive tech like this leaves many a motorist longing for simpler times and lower repair costs, your writer included.
While cheap and easy to care for, modern-day LED lights last much longer, perform better, and use less energy. More importantly, they do a better job of illuminating the important parts of the road at night, making for a safer drive. Headlights with this sort of technology and performance are now standard kit on the most affordable cars on the road, including machines like the Toyota Corolla and Subaru Impreza, each of which delivers a virtually mandatory selection of other high-grade safety and communications systems for the dollar.
Even the simplest cars today are much more complex and daunting things to repair and service than they once were, and the cost of repairs continues to climb as fewer and fewer maintenance and care tasks fall into the realm of the backyard mechanic. Below, we look at some of the priciest modern car repairs you didn’t see coming – and a few pointers to avoid nasty surprises for your wallet.
LED Headlights
They’re Carrying More Tech Than Ever
German automaker Audi was the first manufacturer to put LED running lamps on the road in the Audi A8L, and a few years later became the first automaker with LED headlights on the road, with the R8. This prompted advanced lighting tech to launch in the premium market at an accelerated pace. Over the years, LED headlight systems improved, got less expensive, and became virtually standard on a multitude of affordable new cars.
Modern LED lighting solutions rarely come with replaceable bulbs, since the lighting source is designed to last the life of the vehicle and is in a sealed unit. If an LED headlight goes out on your car, you could pay $800 to $1000 per side for a new housing, plus installation. Thankfully, that’s extremely unlikely because the very vast majority of cars on the road with LED headlights never suffer an early failure. In some cases, a non-functional LED headlight may be repairable without replacement, and in other situations, a used part sourced from a wrecker could save you hundreds of dollars.
Benefits of LED Headlights
- Lower energy consumption can save fuel
- Higher performance in a smaller package
- LEDs run cool for longer life
- Virtually infinite service life
- Pure, clean white light is easy on the eyes
Displays
They’re Bigger, More Abundant, And Fancier Than Ever
The industry has become proficient at building reliable and long-lasting displays and screens that shouldn’t cause you too much trouble. Automakers go to extended lengths to durability-test their in-car touch-screens to ensure they can stand up to the rigors of daily life. The display in your Porsche Taycan, Ford F-150, or GMC Acadia shouldn’t have any issues, but if it does, a reboot or software update is often the fix. Still, screens do fail early in some rare situations, and replacements can cost hundreds, plus parts and labor. A Honda CR-V’s latest display unit currently sells at $769, according to Honda’s OEM parts website. Some aftermarket or used solutions are available depending on what you drive, though.
Air Suspension Systems
Avoid These If You Can
An air suspension is a feature that can benefit drivers in a variety of situations, but some folks avoid these systems. Particularly in climates where extreme cold is common, the potential hassle of caring for an air suspension versus its benefits is often up for debate. I’ve personally experienced two air suspension failures in brand-new vehicles, triggered by extreme cold weather. Many owners have not.
Air suspension systems are complex and use a lot of plumbing, computers, and mechanical parts that eventually fail and require maintenance. Knowing this, some owners choose either to avoid models equipped with the technology, or swap in aftermarket air suspension delete kits for added reliability.
In the case of a Ram 1500 with optional air suspension, components like the air compressor can cost a few bucks to rebuild, or hundreds of dollars to replace. A valve block, ride-height sensors, and associated plumbing can cost $1,000 more. If you need to replace major components like air springs and shocks, you could be looking at hundreds of additional dollars at each corner of the vehicle. If you don’t absolutely need air suspension on your next vehicle, most shoppers are best to skip this one.
Adaptive Suspension
Watch For Leaks, Know The Costs
For years, automakers have been developing innovative new ways to control the suspension of their vehicles in real time, to benefit the ride comfort and performance. Unlike air suspension above, which mostly deals with controlling ride height, adaptive suspension systems deal with controlling the damping of the vehicle’s shock absorbers in real time. This can be accomplished by applying a magnetic field to a special fluid, such as in Cadillac’s Magnetic Ride Control, or operating a special electric fluid-control valve within each damper to modify forces for the situation constantly.
The rate at which your vehicle’s suspension components wear down is a function of a multitude of factors. Replacing a set of adaptive dampers generally costs more than replacing a set of conventional units, depending on what you drive and how old it is. Conventional replacement dampers for all four corners of a Honda Civic might cost you $1,000 in parts. Replacing the magnetic dampers in an Escalade can approach double that amount. Got a 2022 Ford Mustang with adaptive suspension? You could be looking at $3,500 for parts alone when the time comes.
Charging Port And Charging System Repairs
Be Very Careful When Plugging In
Use caution when connecting anything to the charge port on your EV or PHEV model. While covered by warranty when using factory-approved parts, the use of non-approved charging accessories is not advised. Though rare, the use of a low-quality or defective charger, extension cord, or connector can cause damage to your vehicle’s charge port, electronics, and even your property in the event it causes a fire. Shorts and manufacturing defects, in addition to low-quality parts, can lead to overheating and melting, as well as potential damage to the pricey onboard charging module. Thankfully, reports of instances like these are exceedingly rare, and the solution is simple: always make sure you’re plugging in a quality part from a brand you trust, just to be safe. The charging port for a 2019 Chevrolet Bolt is $350. The charging port for a Volvo XC40 Recharge is $1,332.19.
OBD Reader / Scanner / Tracking Modules Can Fry Your Car’s Brain
It’s Very Rare, But Also Very Pricey
Underneath your dashboard, your car has a small electronic connector that acts as an access port to its nervous system. Usually, this coupling’s use is reserved for technicians to look into the source of trouble or complaints quickly. However, other devices are sometimes plugged into this port to gather information, like a monitoring system from your insurance company or a Bluetooth module that links to an app on your phone.
Use caution when connecting electronics to this port on your vehicle. Low-quality products or wiring, or a poorly-fitting module or connector that’s allowed to get wet or salty, can cause extensive damage to your car’s computer brain. The same goes for installing aftermarket parts like a remote starter that requires splicing into or connecting with factory wiring. To reduce your risks, remember that average shoppers should never plug anything into their OBD port without knowing exactly what they’re doing.
According to data from Repairpal.com, replacing an Engine Control Module will cost between $1,062 and $1,165.
Misfueling
If You Misfuel Your Car, This Trick Can Save You Thousands
Putting gas in your diesel tank (or vice versa) isn’t always easy, but that doesn’t stop countless motorists from accidentally misfueling their vehicles every year. Putting the wrong fuel into the tank is a potentially catastrophic mistake that ruins your car’s engine and your bank account.
Thankfully, there’s a simple trick that can save you thousands, provided you realize you’ve misfueled your vehicle partway through filling the tank. Call a tow truck, and don’t start the engine. Tell the towing company you’ve misfueled your vehicle and that it needs to be towed to a repair shop. If you don’t start your engine, then a mechanic probably just needs to drain the tank and clean the fuel system, which will cost you about $200 to $500.
If you start the engine, the fuel pump sends the wrong fuel down the fuel lines and into a whole lot of very expensive parts that make your engine run. Depending on the application, repairing and replacing these parts could cost $5,000 to $10,000 or more, and you may even need a new engine, which could run $15,000 or more.
Light Front End Damage
Does Your Vehicle Need Sensor Recalibration?
Fender benders are never a good time, and if you’ve recently gotten into a modern vehicle with forward-looking safety equipment and driver assists, a minor fender bender probably costs you more time and hassle than you’re used to. Whether you pull into a parking space a little too spicy and eat a chunk of curb with your lower bumper or have a slight parking mishap with a piece of infrastructure, even light damage to your front or rear bumper may be worse than it looks.
Depending on what you drive, chances are those bumpers are home to an array of important and potentially life-saving sensors. The tech requires precision alignment to power your car’s driver-assist features. Even mild bumper damage can knock them out of whack. You may see a warning that the affected systems are offline, and a trip to your dealer may be necessary to recalibrate the sensors after a repair. The same often goes for replacing a chipped or damaged windshield, thanks to the cameras and sensors that look through it. In addition to the repair and parts, sensor recalibration can run another few hundred dollars.
Sources: Strutmasters.com, USP Motorsports, Honda, Cadillac, RAM, TascaParts
