Ford - putting money over their eco-credentials?

Notmyrealname

So, a bulb goes on the high level brake light in the hatchback of my MK4 Mondeo. No problem, former mechanic so this should be a doddle. After finding no obvious way in I go to the local dealership and a mechanic is kind enough to show what needs removing to get at it - basically the entire tailgate trim. :mad:

I then go into the parts department for a bulb.

"We have none listed, its a complete unit."

"But its a bulb"

<shows me screen> "Complete unit, its LEDS".

"Its a bulb. You can see they're bulbs when you look at them through the cover."

So I go off, remove the unit and sure enough there's five 5W wedge bulbs in. There's some metal clips that retain the unit in the tailgate and retain the reflector with the bulbholders in the red plastic which look like they're "once only use" unless you've a functioning neuron and push down the lock tabs with a screwdriver at which point they happily come out to be used again.

I take it back to the dealership, show the parts person, show the service manager. Both confirm and prove Ford have it as a complete unit replacement at £34. They then GIVE me a bulb, I put it in the unit, re-assemble it and refit it to the car whilst I'm there - more of a point proving exercise than anything.

So onto the point. Ford want you to scrap a perfectly good hunk of plastic with two copper strips and bulb holders in because one bulb, which isn't even soldered in, blows. Now do they have this as a complete replacement unit because gone are the days when I used to be a mechanic and you fixed things, instead just swapping out complete units, or are Ford putting money over their eco-friendly claims?

ukjoel

Its all about the money money money.

Ford measure things in book time, capacity, utilisation, and efficiency. Why repair a bulb when you can sell someone big piece of plastic 3000% of what it cost them.