Pontiac Repair: Dash light burned out., pontiac montana, back lighting

Question
Hi Todd,
I have a 2006 pontiac montana,not to long ago about half of the gas guage light burned out,I took it to the garage and was told the only way it could be repaired was to replace the complete dashboard cluster which would be around 500.00dollars and that was before taxes and installation.surely GM woulden't do that to a person,would they? Do you know of another fix for this problem?
Thank you, John.

Answer
Hi John:
Yup they were right you need to get an exchange (remanufactured) unit. there is no repairing of the unit. it doesn't have light bulbs in it all the back lighting is done with led's. $500.00 seems steep for the repair cost usually the cluster is about 300.00 or so the rest would be labor. I see you in Ca so I know prices are higher there but Not sure how much higher. I live in a Border town and we get a lot of Canadian customers in for repairs. The issue you would have with that if you live near the border is the clster in your truck is Metic claibrated so if you in deed did it here in the states they would have to make sure the correct cluster would be ordered to match your truck. Call around and see. I have No idea where you actaully live in respect to the US. good luck :-}