I finally got a ham who works for Kenwood who knew what I was talking about 
to answer my question.  Kenwood charges 75 dollars an hour to work on their 
radios for repairs.  The face plate LCD that is a common problem cost about 
163 dollars to replace, plus the hourly rate.  I doubt more than an hour is 
needed.  The entire radio has to be shipped to them.  Since it is a common 
problem, you'd think they'd offer no labor in the repairs but no such luck. 
with shipping both ways, and everything else, and if it doesn't take more 
than that 75 dollars for one hour, you are still looking at 250 dollars, 
more than half of what I paid new for the radio.  Rats.

Phil.
K0NX