A mechanic assessing what he thought would be a simple, inexpensive fix on a GMC Yukon declared “the times are changing” after figuring out how much it would actually cost.
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The video chronicling the incident came from creator South Main Auto (@fansouthmainautollc). It earned more than 114,000 views as of Monday.
The mechanic begins by describing the situation: A woman comes in with a GMC Yukon, thinking she needs a bulb replaced on her left taillight.
“Piece of cake,” he predicted. “You hang out here. We’ll straighten you right up. You’d think it would be, you know, a bulb when it set you back a couple, four or five bucks, maybe five bucks to put it in, something like that.”
But no—it turns out, according to the mechanic, the whole unit needs to be replaced.
“In this case, $725.90 to order it right from General Mess,” he says. “And that’s the only way you can do it, folks.”
“These are LED lights. The only bulb that’s replaceable is this one here, which is for your reverse light, because that’s handy. Other than that, you throw the whole thing away,” he says. “Actually, as a matter of fact, you send it back. It has a $50 cork charge on it. The good news is there’s only two of them. So you do both of them, it’s only going to set you back about 1,400 bucks.”
Are there other options?
One commenter noted, “I bought cheap knockoffs on eBay, got 2 for less than $100 with shipping. Been a year now and still working.”
But one Redditor, posting on the r/CarRepair forum about a 2015 Denali edition of the GMC Yukon, complained about a similarly-priced repair. They wanted to know what Amazon had to offer in the way of cheaper alternatives.
“Am I rolling the dice going with Amazon?” the poster wondered, concerned that a “cheap knockoff” might not work.
“It’s a crapshoot,” one person assessed in response. “I have bought some stuff there and the copies are so cheap. Sometimes it’s really thin flimsy plastic. Bought an exterior door handle for a Civic, dealer wanted $400ish, and $30 on amazon. I installed it and it was noticeably chintzy. Lasted about a week before it snapped off in my hand just pulling it normally. Problem with all the 3rd party sellers is they just have bot farms write fake 5 star reviews to drown out the actual reviews.”
That person concluded, “I do trust RockAuto, though,” referring to a popular online parts store.
A new 2025 Yukon starts at nearly $69,000, going up to more than $103,000, according to its Car and Driver review. However, “Cosmetic updates include a restyled front fascia with new grille and headlight designs. The Yukon’s front and rear lighting elements can now play animations too.”
Viewers are shocked and disappointed
The video prompted others to opine about the state of car repair today.
“It just goes to show you how the dealerships are screwing us,” opined one.
“The auto industry is destroying itself,” said another.
“Yeah, my Jeep Latitude brake light is out on the passenger side and it’s gonna cost me $400 each,” another shared. “I’m thinking about taking it apart just to see.”
Someone else, claiming insider knowledge, raised an additional point that makes the situation even more egregious.
“And being on the inside of the production world, I guarantee the OEM supplier to GM for those lights gets the negotiated price of no more than $40 per unit GM’s cost,” that person said.
@fansouthmainautollc GM’s joke of the day😂
♬ original sound – South Main Auto LLC
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment and Instagram direct message and to General Motors via email.
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