Replaced a tail light assembly lately?
In automotive and home appliance repair (and doubtless others - those being the two I've encountered in the last few months), it's impossible to buy a replacement part - an assembly, yes; the actual broken part, no.
There are good reasons for this - mostly the cost of making, storing and shipping individual parts that costs a dollar or two to make are much greater than the actual cost in materials and energy.
However, the above analysis does not take into account the labor (read time) to disassemble, diagnose, replace and re-assemble something - nor the increased skill level required to do so.
In short, 3D printing offers some relief to the throw away culture, but in practice probably limited to the DIY, 'home mechanic' type of person - IMHO.
