Out of Warranty Repair Cost for Leica M8

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M. Valdemar

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I want to buy a used Leica M8 which has little or no warranty left.

I have a few options to buy one at a very reasonable (around $3000 or less) price. It's still not cheap but currently on eBay they are going for around $3500 used.

Does anyone know realistically (not guessing) what Leica charges for out of warranty M8 repair?

For example:

1) Shutter failure?

2) Catastrophic electronic failure?

3) Blown sensor?

The extreme unreliability of the camera has me gunshy. I had an early one which failed so many times I returned it and kept an R-D1, but now I feel like buying another.

$5,000 is ludicrous to me. Even $3000 is sort of silly to my mind, but since Leica is the only game in town as far as repairing them, I'm wondering if I should take my chances?
 
I'm tempted but I don't think an out of warranty camera is cost-effective, even if I get it for a steal.

I could buy one from someone who will let me send it in for service under his name, but still only a few months of warranty left.

The camera seems to develop more flaws and failures as time goes by. Two grand for repair service is absurd.

Even Epson will repair/replace a blown R-D1 for about $550.
 
I never seen the conclusion that it develops faults nowhere. But if you buy a used one and have the shutter upgraded, that will buy you an extra two years of guarantee.
 
jaapv said:
I never seen the conclusion that it develops faults nowhere. But if you buy a used one and have the shutter upgraded, that will buy you an extra two years of guarantee.
Click to expand...

Actually that's a really good way to buy an M8! Get one with a few miles on it ... a bit cheaper ... and have the shutter upgraded.
 
That seems rather drastic and expensive.

Usually, on an electronic item, failures seem to occur within a few days of first time power-up, or years and years later.

The M8 seems to suffer from multiple electronic failures on a random basis, not to mention mechanical shutter failure. It needs to have a lifeline that won't bury you. $2000 for a repair is nuts.

Buying cheap, then spending as much again to make it the same price as a new one seems counterproductive to my way of thinking.

If I buy a used camera that I want to use myself, I either don't want to spend anything else to use it, or I want to spend a small amount of money to recondition it.

Reminds me of my adventures years ago with used Porsche 911's. Lots of fun, but $2500 minimum if anything went wrong with them.

.
 
Last edited:
I'm glad you asked this question.

I could write Solms directly and ask what they normally charge for these types of repair. Should I do it?

Leica repair service

Address:
Leica Camera AG
Leica Customer Service
Solmser Gewerbepark 8
35606 Solms
Phone:06442 208 189
Fax:06442 208 339
E-mail:cs@leica-camera.com
 
A demo costs around $4200 with a 1 year warranty vs $5500 for a new one with 2 year warranty. So you pay $1300 for 1 extra year of warranty. That's about what it will cost to get the new shutter upgrade and extend the warranty by a year, so to me buying the demo and getting the upgrade seems like a better deal than getting a new one. I wonder, when they concocted the upgrade plan, if Leica thought buyers wouldn't figure that one out.

Unless Leica has changed it's policy, when they service an out-of-warranty camera they do a mandatory complete overhaul and warranty the entire camera for a year. Even if something so serious went wrong that it required $2000 service, as long as the initial purchase cost was less than $3500 you would come out ahead vs buying a new one.

At this point, IMHO, the only reason to buy a new M8 would be if you just want a new one. The economic arguments don't seem to be holding up anymore.
 
Ben Z said:
A demo costs around $4200 with a 1 year warranty vs $5500 for a new one with 2 year warranty. So you pay $1300 for 1 extra year of warranty. That's about what it will cost to get the new shutter upgrade and extend the warranty by a year, so to me buying the demo and getting the upgrade seems like a better deal than getting a new one. I wonder, when they concocted the upgrade plan, if Leica thought buyers wouldn't figure that one out.

Unless Leica has changed it's policy, when they service an out-of-warranty camera they do a mandatory complete overhaul and warranty the entire camera for a year. Even if something so serious went wrong that it required $2000 service, as long as the initial purchase cost was less than $3500 you would come out ahead vs buying a new one.

At this point, IMHO, the only reason to buy a new M8 would be if you just want a new one. The economic arguments don't seem to be holding up anymore.
Click to expand...

Just a clarification : when you do the shutter upgrade, does is extend the warranty from the end of your current warranty term or it starts when you receive your camera back after the upgrade ?
 
According to the clarification I read from Leica, the one-year extension starts the moment the original warranty expires. Of course if it has already expired then it starts immediately. However, I would not consider it written in stone until Leica actually officially puts the upgrade program into production, so if that's a major factor in your buying decision it might pay to hold off until you can actually pay for an upgrade and send it in, because the terms could change by then.
 
dcsang said:
So maybe that is the reason that Leica is a) slow at doing repairs and b) expensive (because there are only a handful of guys doing work)
Click to expand...

You are probably not far from reality : I read several times that the estimated # of M8 sold was 10'000. Imagine 5% of failure during a given year, that is around 500 cameras. Let's say 50% of these are outside the warranty period.
Now imagine 3 technicians at a cost of €100'000 (benefits, taxes included). They each work on 166 cameras a year, that is about 2 days per unit. Revenue will be around €1300 per repair outside of warranty, that is €325'000 vs labour costs of €300'000.
We can tweak the parameters but overall I believe this is the kind of model Leica is working with. So you are right : Slow and a handful of old guys paid big bucks ! :D
 
yanidel said:
You are probably not far from reality : I read several times that the estimated # of M8 sold was 10'000. Imagine 5% of failure during a given year, that is around 500 cameras. Let's say 50% of these are outside the warranty period.
Now imagine 3 technicians at a cost of €100'000 (benefits, taxes included). They each work on 166 cameras a year, that is about 2 days per unit. Revenue will be around €1300 per repair outside of warranty, that is €325'000 vs labour costs of €300'000.
We can tweak the parameters but overall I believe this is the kind of model Leica is working with. So you are right : Slow and a handful of old guys paid big bucks ! :D
Click to expand...

And likely a lot less chocolate than those Lindt Chocolatiers... :D

I should ask David Yau (the local Leica Fix-It guy who was trained in Wetzlar) if this is the case or if there's a reason for the slow turnaround - hey may (or may not) know.

Cheers,
Dave
 
Please do, I'd be very interested in knowing directly what they had to say.

I pretty much restrained my impulse to buy as suggested in this thread, my trigger finger was shaking, though.

A used M8 will have to wait for another day.

Kevin said:
I'm glad you asked this question.

I could write Solms directly and ask what they normally charge for these types of repair. Should I do it?

Leica repair service

Address:
Leica Camera AG
Leica Customer Service
Solmser Gewerbepark 8
35606 Solms
Phone:06442 208 189
Fax:06442 208 339
E-mail:cs@leica-camera.com
Click to expand...
 
I don't think it's a bunch of "old guys".

I think it's a bunch of young, highly paid tech-type geeky guys, probably good at electronic diagnostics, software and troubleshooting, and probably not from Germany.

yanidel said:
You are probably not far from reality : I read several times that the estimated # of M8 sold was 10'000. Imagine 5% of failure during a given year, that is around 500 cameras. Let's say 50% of these are outside the warranty period.
Now imagine 3 technicians at a cost of €100'000 (benefits, taxes included). They each work on 166 cameras a year, that is about 2 days per unit. Revenue will be around €1300 per repair outside of warranty, that is €325'000 vs labour costs of €300'000.
We can tweak the parameters but overall I believe this is the kind of model Leica is working with. So you are right : Slow and a handful of old guys paid big bucks ! :D
Click to expand...
 
M. Valdemar said:
... Does anyone know realistically (not guessing) what Leica charges for out of warranty M8 repair? ...

$5,000 is ludicrous to me. Even $3000 is sort of silly to my mind, but since Leica is the only game in town as far as repairing them, I'm wondering if I should take my chances?
Click to expand...

If you really don't want any guessing or speculation regarding an M8 repair, then you should probably contact Leica's repair department and ask them your question directly. Be that as it may, I would never buy an M8 without a warranty.

Another option, however, is to buy a used M8 and send it in under the upgrade program - this will automatically provide you with a new camera warranty.
 
M. Valdemar said:
Buying cheap, then spending as much again to make it the same price as a new one seems counterproductive to my way of thinking.

If I buy a used camera that I want to use myself, I either don't want to spend anything else to use it, or I want to spend a small amount of money to recondition it.
.
Click to expand...

So don't buy an M8. It is your decision.
 
After a month with my used MP, I did decide to buy a demo M8.

My only question is, if I get the shutter upgrade at some time, can I tell them to have the shutter speed control turn in the SAME way as my MP?

I freaked out when I saw that it was different on the M8... :-( As usual I should have informed myself better before I purchased.

JP
 
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