Parts prices rocketing?

[zcacogp]

Chaps,

Do I sense a grey cloud on our warm and pleasant summers' horizon?

Not in the meteorological sense, but the fiscal. Well, yes, thanks to Gordon Clown (is being rude about the PM in breach of the newly-enforced forum rules? I do hope not) the fiscal horizon is grey and forboding, but I'll continue.

I seem to have read two or three threads recently about parts prices getting more steep than usual. Someone was asking about the arm on the tailgate release motor costing £60 instead of the tuppence-ha'penny it was a couple of years ago. And on another thread, someone else was saying that water pumps are also going up in price faster than the 10p bracket of income tax.

Then I came across a thread on Pistonheads about the cost of sill panels for 944's. Getting mighty expensive now, was the gist of it.

So, are we looking at an expensively-gloomy future for the running costs of 944's?

I do hope not.


Oli.

 

[morris944s2john]

Water pumps £340 , and why is one for the 928 half that cost????

It looks more favourabvle to buy from the states.

 

[TTM]

Well, our cars are getting old ; try to find another manfuacturer than can actually supply so many of the original parts. Porsche still has the highest ratio of #cars still running/#cars built and apart from very exotic models built in small numbers (eg 959) the possibility to have access to most parts as back as the 356 is simply outstanding.
Anyway, when petrol will be twice as expensive as now I am sure we will all be happy to pay a mere £1000 for a water pump []

 

[Diver944]

I think it's a cyclical thing and when you've owned these cars long enough you hear about some parts rising and others falling as Porsche readjust their prices to either shift surplus stock or to cover a new manufactiring run of something they have run out of. Racking my brain for a few examples:

When my engine was being built there were no S2 water pumps in the country or even in germany and Jon had three other S2 engines in his workshop for weeks just waiting for supplies. A few months before you could pick up new ones for £150 as my S2 had just had one [8|]

A while ago there was a surplus of 968 M030 ARB's amd Exeter snapped them all up and sold them for a good price, then they were all gone and the factory had next to none left and the price was not as competitive. Suddenly they are back again, so the factory must have done another run. Currently the 928 GTS Big Black callipers are cheaper than our 944 Turbo medium black and S2 small black callipers.

About 5 years ago you could pick up genuine Turbo rear exhausts boxes for £150 and a few people on Titanic bought some even though they didn't need them. Shortly after that they were back up at close to £1000 - yes £1000 []

I hadn't heard the rumour about sills though. I had one for £130 last year and Peter E has had two recently and just last week one of the newer guys on here had one, still at £130

It's pretty typical of sods law that the part we need will always be in the short supply expensive bracket [8|]

 

[zcacogp]

Crumbs Paul - it sounds like a commodities market! You could by backboxes short when in big supply and sell long, at a profit, some time later; transfer into CV joints and mark them up 10 months later and move onto suspension arms!

Hey, you could almost ofset the rising price of fuel if you timed it right!

(Or, on a serious note, that's interesting. Why don't they manage their stocks better and have a fixed price list? It would make life easier for both the owners and the dealers, and any parts stockists. Any manufacturing plant which ran its stock system like that would be bust in months.)


Oli.

 

[peanut]

I expect every time they run off a few more to replace stock it costs more ? supply and demand. I'm sure that Porsche don't appreciate how many 944's are still on the road in the UK and how big a following they have by enthusiast's.
The only cars they will be aware of are PCGB members cars as the vast majority of 944 owners cannot have their car's added to the current register

 

[pauljmcnulty]

The only cars they will be aware of are PCGB members cars as the vast majority of 944 owners cannot have their car's added to the current register

I'd guess they can only manufacture and supply parts to meet actual demand, that's how many people are buying bits, or asking the dealers to try to order them. I suppose that, for instance, they only kept a few water pumps on the shelf for 15 years, then the cars all start to get to the age of needing one. Suddenly there is a sustained spike in demand for a part that's been largely unwanted, at which point how many do they manufacture and stock?

Interesting point about the Register, though. I suggested a while ago that there must be many times more cars not on it. Allowing that there are over 1000 members, that must mean many thousands on the road in the UK. Anyone know how many?

 

[Peter Empson]

Any chance of a link to the Pistonheads thread about the sills?

Having bought quite a few parts recently I think the pricing and availability is excellent. There are still some oddities like why does the nearside rear wing cost twice that of the offside, but as Paul says it's most certainly related to stocks and demand. I'd be curious to know how many other 20 year old cars you can still by a whole floor pan for, and for next to nothing too.