That is a lot of dedication to the entertainment system to pull the dashboard to keep it working. You would think that a known maintenance item like this would have been designed a little more user friendly.
Yes, Tim, it is surprising, especially given the fact that radios of this era needed more maintenance than contemporary radios. I would imagine that many of the radios in this model simply went dead and were never repaired.
It's interesting to think about how the radio feature has become easier to replace. Not so much due to the ease of fixing it yourself, but more due to the fact that aftermarket parts allow you to upgrade your radio system and with that big pile of money sitting out there, manufacturers chose to make radios easier to get to.
You're right, Jmiller. There is a whole industry now of audio upgrades. Now sure how they worked with the auto industry, but it certainly is easy now to replace the factory audio system with an upgrade. The auto makers either standardized their audio internally or across the industry.
My experience with car radios was a bit different, in that I do not recall ever needing to replace a tube in a radio. And when the radio had to come out of my old 1964 Valiant, it was certainly not a big deal, after I found a socket to remove the nuts on the volume and tuning controls. But at least those radios were repairable. On a current radio, even if you could get service information and had a source for those house-numbered parts, it would still be a challenge to remove a failed component and replace it, because of the thick coating of preservative on the boards. Of course, that assumes that you could determine which part had failed.
WOW! A Buick Special. We had a 1965 model. It had a 3-speed manual on the cilumn and a 305cc V8. All the power went to the wheels. I think the radio was a transistor model by then, becuase we never changed any tubes.
I do remember tubes, and changing them fairly ofte in out television.
One thing about automotive deisgn is that maintainability is not a big driver. Even with newer cars. Electronic diagnostics make it easier to pinpoint a problem, but changing anything is still labor intensive. On my 2002 Chrysler, I changed the haadlamo. My wife thought paying for installation was silly. So, my son and I did it. And then we re-did it (he had not put one of the bolst in conrrectly). Then, being a third party bulb, it blew out in a year (the orginal had lasted about eight). So, I just had the dealer do it. The $25 to install it wih original equipment bulbs was worth it.
Radios, like most consumer electronics, have become essentially disposable. Replacement has replaced repair. Often, malfunctions are mechanical, such as the device that receives and ejects CDs.
The main problem with disposable radios is the $450 replacement cost, which does not include labor. Of course, the more features that the radio provides will increase the replacement cost.
Besides that, there is the fundamental concept that "our product is not worth repairing", which, even if it is not stated in those words, is certainly a reflection on the brand's integrity.
I get your points, William. But you made a lot of sense in your earlier comment when you said, "it would be a challenge to remove a failed component and replace it, because of the thick coating of preservative on the boards. Of course, that assumes that you could determine which part had failed."
I could be these products are disposible whether they're expensive or not.
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