W213/S213 E-Class (2017–2022) – Instrument Cluster Flickering, Dealer says £4k replacement :/

WellKnownSid

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82073415#Comment_82073415

No-one spends "hours trying to trace a fault". Nine times out of ten the failure is a dry joint or a passive, so with basic training and some simple equipment even level 2 technicians could be finding faults in modules in minutes. Common faults could be documented to speed up triage - manufacturers could even supply repair kits to ensure each repair is carried out to the highest standard.

Repair a cluster and a few other high-cost modules every week and every franchise dealer in the land could be saving customers half a million of pounds a year.

Unfortunately that would roll up to hundreds of millions of pounds that the manufacturer won't be seeing selling new parts at 95% profit.

So, less of the "easy route" and more economic good sense.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82073997#Comment_82073997

They have to get the parts off 1st.

paul_c123

Repair workshops can and do repair modules, but they'll often sub out the work to specialists who have better tools, facilities and knowledge to do so - especially if its a non-common repair. In fact, dealers are often the least experienced at complex repairs or troubleshooting - 90% of the stuff they get in their workshops are nearly new cars for servicing.