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Sedans Buick Park Avenue Buick Park Avenue Electrical / Lighting Problems
83 messages, Last post on Nov 20, 2009 at 11:32 AM
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Replying to: chrisptown1 (Oct 12, 2009 4:23 pm) Exactly how did that break down parts vs labor? He must be quoting you MSRP for the part. Here's the price from gmpartsdirect.com for an original GM part: Dash control unit, park avenue, main control 97-04 MSRP $1,077.32, Your price $560.21 Shipping would probably be between $10 and $20. That's the way of the world nowadays. They don't fix TVs and computers, they replace components. Same with this unit. It's too bad, because it is easily repaired. Can you ask the dealer if you can get the $560 price? Is there a local ham radio club or operator who might take on the task? Know any family, friends, or mechanics who do freelance work? I am not skilled with a soldering iron, but I've done a couple repairs. You could probably pick up a very nice soldering iron for $100-$150 or even get by with a $15 model from HomeDepot or RadioShack. Then search youtube.com for someone showing how to solder and give it a shot yourself. Many years ago I got a nail in the edge of my tire. Not in the main tread, but kind of in the corner along the sidewall. The local tire repair place said it couldn't be fixed because of the location. Tire was trash. groan... I always buy Michelins. A friend showed me the little tar-like covered rope flat repair kits and said to try to repair it myself, "because what have you got to lose?" So I tried it and that tire never lost air for the next couple years. Here's another example, this tire caught a huge bolt on the way home. Surely this couldn't be patched... Well, what did I have to lose? I plugged it with the rubberized rope and it's been fine since. http://community.webshots.com/album/575079387LPRNSt The point of the story is... what have you got to lose trying to repair it yourself? If you fix it yourself, you reward yourself with $1150 for something you WANT to spend it on. If you don't fix it... you have to pay someone. You're no worse off. Or you adjust the temp by feel. Hotter or Colder... Defrost or Heat or AC or Vent.  You cant see the display, but it still works. Live with it as is. Or next time you drive to FL, stop in ATL for a visit.  Soldering really is simple. 1) heat soldering iron by plugging it in. 2) touch solder to tip of iron and watch a bit of solder melt onto the tip. 3) touch one of the bad solder joints with soldering iron and hold it until wire gets hot 4) hold a piece of solder wire to the joint until it melts onto it. 5) remove soldering iron tip from wire and let it cool down. * do not touch soldering iron tip or hot solder or you will get burned * You don't want to melt solder all over the board, just enough to look like the other joints. You want to solder on the green side of the board. Sorry about being so long winded. I'd hate to see someone pay $1169 to fix something that IMO GM should take responsibility for. EVERY control I've seen has needed to be repaired. I think there is a QA issue, either with the design or with GM's manufacturer.  I like GM. I love PAs. But I think $1077 for that part is a bit excessive. 
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Replying to: chrisptown1 (Oct 12, 2009 4:23 pm) Repair places on Ebay and other places specialize in repairing these and giving fast turnaround. Or you can buy a replacement used from a recycling yard. car-parts.com Choose year, car model, then look for heater control. They separate it as with levers or without levers. You can sort by distance from where you are or by price by clicking on the top of column. I see prices of $200 typical. Used part may have same problem as yours since it's a heater deterioration in the solder joints. Have a used one put in. Send your original off to be repaired, or do it yourself, and then put the original one back in. |
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Replying to: bowfan (Oct 12, 2009 9:10 pm) |
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Replying to: chrisptown1 (Oct 12, 2009 4:23 pm)
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Replying to: chrisptown1 (Oct 14, 2009 1:44 pm) If you're not a do-it-yourselfer as I was tending to hope, I'd buy the new one from GM partsdirect or rockauto.com for $560 and pay them to put it in. Hope that the new engineering has resistors and solder joints improved. The worry I have is that the older Regals had trouble and your car is still having trouble. Putting in a used one is probably going to go dim or already be dim. Take the old unit you pull out and send it off to be repaired on Ebay if you aren't into soldering yourself. Put it back for a spare if you plan to keep the car. I still think your cheapest would be to take the unit out (or pay a garage to do so) and send it off for repair, and then pay the garage to reinstall. I understand you can drive the car without the control unit. Are you in a moderate climate? |
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Replying to: chrisptown1 (Oct 14, 2009 1:44 pm) I'm cheap. ( or I seek cost efficient solutions ) If I'm understanding your post correctly, you are stating that one option is for you to purchase a unit from gmpartsdirect and take it to the dealer to install. Heck if they are willing to install a part you bring to them, I'd pick up one from eBay such as this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270389813817 which probably has been rebuilt better than factory, and have them install it. The 1 hour labor sounds like like it's unavoidable, no matter where you have it done - at a dealer or locally owned garage. You do have to ship your old unit to the seller with this method, but there is no down-time - just a quick swap. I suspect cold weather will be setting in soon in your neck of the woods. I personally would feel this unit would work as well as any unit that your dealer is offering, yet at a reduced cost. I can't tell from your posts much about you, young, old, male, female. I think I read somewhere that you live in Maine. I don't know if you feel comfortable enough to buy something from an eBay seller, and if that is an option you would consider. I buy on eBay all the time and would do it in a heartbeat. Just to make it clear, I am not that eBay seller, not related to him or her, do not know him or her , and have never bought from him. But he or she has an extremely a high feedback rating and seems to have worked on a lot of these units. But if I have to stick to your original question: Which of the two options in your post, I'd probably try to see if that new unit has an improved design and if yes, go that route. Otherwise, as Imidazol97 said, you may just be paying to swap a bad used part for a bad used part. Hope you find the right solution!
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Replying to: bowfan (Oct 14, 2009 7:17 pm) |
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Replying to: bowfan (Oct 14, 2009 7:17 pm) That means only one visit to the shop. It'd be worth paying the dealer extra to install a known good one to compensate for the lost profit he would have made on the new part at 800 or whatever it was. Last I had known, a dealer wouldn't put in anything other than a new GM part of rebuilt or remanufactured by GM. Things may have changed as the profits went away.
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Oct 15, 2009 5:21 pm)  $80. an hour, s/b only 1/2 hr at most--if tech. is any good.OR myBuick dealer has located a new one that another dealer has had in stock for acouple of years. i can buy for $700.+insulation. i am leaning to this solution--my dealer says GM would gurantee this part for 12 mos./12,000. miles. The outside temp. is good to know up here in maine, often a close call between--snow/ice/or rain. As i said i like my PA as i can tell you guys also like yours. hope this is my biggest expense on this vehicle.-
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