Does Anybody Really Pay These Prices?

i have the et front ones as they came with the ( overpriced) car. would def fit teardrop type but doubt I can ever afford them even if a pair did emerge. not even sure what colour I need as all I know is car seats are in 'ambla' sort of sand colour.

Teardrop headrests are common and cheap. You should have no trouble finding a pair in the right colour and probably wouldn't have to pay more than 20 quid at most.
What year is your car? If you post a picture of your interior we can ID the colour for you but if it's a light creamy colour then it's probably Buckskin. If it's a darker tan then it's likely to be Sandalwood.
 
meh, so is there any "nice" way of getting the power cable up to the reading lamp? Presumably dismantle the seat?

TBH I'd rather stick one of those battery powered LED things you get for ikea wardrobes underneath. Or not bother.
 
The wiring isn't attractive, no. And the P5's had individual rear interior lights anyway, though for some reason you can't have one side on without the other unlike the front pair.
 
MM?
Described as leather?
Are they?
Always thought that style were leathercloth vinyl?
And the scalloped ones were real leather!
 

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I had an interesting chat about parts prices with frazzletc at Bowes this weekend. We're both of the opinion that inflated (and I use that word deliberately) prices do nothing for those of us who use our P6 regularly. By regularly I mean it's our only car and we use it a as a true daily driver. The discussion was a follow-on to a thread that Fraser started on Facebook about having been outbid on a pair of front wings. The items went for around £90 each, which in my personal opinion is too much. What doesn't help is that people are prepared to pay over the odds to secure these parts. People with considerably more disposable income than those who perhaps need them to keep their cars on the road, rather than those who are simply stockpiling spares for future use or for an impending restoration. Chequebook restorations was the term we used and in age of easy access to a wide market, the prices of parts will inevitably be driven by those with the money to spend.

Of course there are bargains to be had. I've picked up many items for very reasonable money over the past few years, but paying £90 for a wing, whether used or NOS, is in my opinion not a bargain. Compare that with the price of a new tyre for example and you start to get some perspective. The key message here is that if we all as a collective group refuse to pay these prices then the market will respond. Sellers should not see us a captive market that they can dictate the price to.

Dave
 
Dave3066 said:
...but paying £90 for a wing, whether used or NOS, is in my opinion not a bargain. Compare that with the price of a new tyre for example and you start to get some perspective.
Dave
I can agree with some of your sentiments Dave, but I think the key difference in these examples is that we can (hopefully) buy suitable newly manufactured tyres for the foreseeable future, whereas no more wings are being made. I bought 2 good straight wings about a year ago at around £90 each which was reasonable in my opinion & I'm not into 'chequebook restorations' :wink:
 
Hi, this is the other side of the coin of cars making more "realistic" prices in the for sale ads.
This will hopefully lead companies to see that it might be worth starting to re manufacture parts.

Colin
 
hi I guess people will pay what they want to pay depending on how desperate they are for a part. however I suspect there is a strong ebay culture across the board of the site of people putting huge bids in at the last few seconds in order to win the auction on the item be it p6 parts or something else hence pushing the price up. personally I have no idea of the value of certain parts. I just know what I can afford to pay and put in an amount that reflects my need for a item and what I can afford.

Numerous times fellow people on the forum have saved me money by suggesting an alternative to the item I was looking at. one item was a fuel sender unit that I was quoted 100's for but someone suggested one from a mini if I remember rightly for a fraction of the cost had I needed one.

just my pennies worth of rambling
coop
 
Being a student, I'm not the richest of people, and I currently use a P6 as a daily driver. But I have to disagree that £90 for a NOS or excellent wing is unreasonable. Compare NOS/heritage wings for Morris minors and MGB's and other more common classics... £220, £495 respectively. In which case, £90 for an excellent example seems to be a bit of a bargain for lets face it, a non essential part... It is possible to repair existing wings, or protect them from corrosion in the first place, both very cheaply and easily. But at the end of the day, what does it matter how the wing is? These are P6's, the strength is in the base unit, so unless you are doing a cheque-book resto, what's wrong with a bit of filler or fibreglass in the wings?

I do like the idea of cheap spares - who doesn't? Well, the people selling and storing those spares. Cheap spares appear to attract idiots. When it comes to advertising, it's usually a clear out - 'must be gone by the end of the week or going to the tip' 'oh I'll have it' - don't hear from them ever after, or they string you along for weeks on end and then cancel.

I'm currently keeping a carpet set for someone who won them and paid for them 99p on ebay, but are yet to collect them - we half arranged collection which stalled on their part and I haven't heard since. I guess 99p is too easy to throw away for the sake of laziness. People even offer parts free, though most people assume free means rubbish - I have been the only person to respond to quite a few freebies over time, that are perfectly usable with little work, yet would have been scrapped otherwise. If parts are going to stay at this stupidly cheap price, no one will re-manufacture them, and no one will keep them.


On another note, which is completely in keeping with the topic; I came under fire about a discussion of the prices of brake parts a few months ago. If you look at the prices of MGB brakes, It appears you can refurbish the whole system for around £400. The same parts come to double for the P6, which I think is too expensive. People were telling me that you shouldn't put a price on safety, as though my opinion on this matter is wrong. I think that for such an important part of the safety system, people running these cars should be able to keep the brakes in top condition, so the high prices of brakes need to come down, without a drop in quality... (profit margin vs customer safety and all that) This will act as an incentive for people on tighter budgets to fix brakes when needed, rather than continuing to drive about until they can afford to fix the rear brakes - I know it's been done, I've seen it! It will also help save a few cars; when I've helped people look at projects, one of the prospects that has put them off has been brakes needing replacement - they've then consigned the cars to scrap as a result. I shall go on to say I realise these parts can be rebuilt at home easily, cutting costs significantly, but there are people out there who don't or don't have the confidence.

As a conclusion of my discussion; I think that prices of important things like brakes should come down considerably, and the prices of things like wings should go up. I feel this topic has the priorities wrong. Lets face it, what's more important - Being able to stop in a straight line, or having a car that looks pretty?

That's my view, for what it's worth.
 
Apples and oranges. MGBs are relatively unsophisticated and share parts with other models allowing for great economies of scale. P6s aren't and don't.
I doubt if any of our specialists are getting particularly rich on these prices.
 
Dave3066 said:
Of course there are bargains to be had. I've picked up many items for very reasonable money over the past few years, but paying £90 for a wing, whether used or NOS, is in my opinion not a bargain. Compare that with the price of a new tyre for example and you start to get some perspective. The key message here is that if we all as a collective group refuse to pay these prices then the market will respond. Sellers should not see us a captive market that they can dictate the price to.

Dave

I have to disagree. I paid £500 for a set of four NOS wings last year, and have a set of four NOS doors in the shed that are worth a lot more. I'm not inflating prices, but if I want something, I will pay over the odds.

As for a set of tyres; a good set for the P6 is around £350, Cinturatos are around £500 for four. My daily car goes through two sets a year at £700 a set.

Bargains are great, if you can find them.. but they're starting to become rare.
 
chrisw said:
Dave3066 said:
Of course there are bargains to be had. I've picked up many items for very reasonable money over the past few years, but paying £90 for a wing, whether used or NOS, is in my opinion not a bargain. Compare that with the price of a new tyre for example and you start to get some perspective. The key message here is that if we all as a collective group refuse to pay these prices then the market will respond. Sellers should not see us a captive market that they can dictate the price to.

Dave

I have to disagree. I paid £500 for a set of four NOS wings last year, and have a set of four NOS doors in the shed that are worth a lot more. I'm not inflating prices, but if I want something, I will pay over the odds.

I rest my case m'lud

Dave
 
To be frank, I wouldn't even consider paying £500 for a set of P6 wings (NOS or not). Not when perfectly serviceable ones can be had for £25 a corner, even less sometimes, at least in the UK. The P6 wing situation is a far cry from the scarcity of decent P5 or P4 items & even with those a fair set could be acquired for that money & a little luck. Maybe not the P4 as the rears aren't bolt-on.
Doors are possibly a different matter due to the different & more complex ways in which they can corrode.
 
This is an interesting thread, and I have a few comments to add just for interest. Firstly, P6 spares might seem pricey, but they are rare and therefore sought after. I have a 1978 Porsche 911SC Targa, and the seal running around the doors, windscreen and targa seal from Porsche is £900! This is still available off the shelf. Comparatively, other car parts are as much and often more. Even new car parts can often way outprice P6 parts. Headlights and tail light units spring to mind.

Also it is worth remebering that in the long term, it is the people who store, collect, or weekend drive this type of cars that ultimately ensure the success of them surviving as daily drivers will ultimately be scrapped unless the value is high enough for someone to justify a full proper restoration. It is the people who will pay the high prices which leads to the cost of manufacturing reproduction parts to be justified.

How many E-Type jags are used as daily drivers these days?
 
It's good to see such a range of views on this subject and it's important that they are all aired and given due consideration. So..

keynsham1 said:
I have a 1978 Porsche 911SC Targa, and the seal running around the doors, windscreen and targa seal from Porsche is £900!

Hmmm Porsche versus Rover, huge difference in my opinion.

keynsham1 said:
Also it is worth remebering that in the long term, it is the people who store, collect, or weekend drive this type of cars that ultimately ensure the success of them surviving as daily drivers will ultimately be scrapped unless the value is high enough for someone to justify a full proper restoration.

Really have to take issue with this statement. If we don't drive them regularly then there will never be a demand for spares and eventually the one's left will be nothing more than museum pieces. We really don't want that for the sake of the whole classic car movement. The value of the car seldom comes into the equation when an enthusiast considers restoring a car, daily driver or otherwise.

Dave
 
That's very true & furthermore, the cars that are restored & rustproofed beautifully, garaged & then only taken out on high days & holidays will more than likely never need another panel fitted to them unless in the event of accident damage. The same goes for mechanical parts in the case of full rebuilds. Lack of use will likely only result in sales of service items & perishable parts such as rubbers & seals. This is hardly going to keep the specialist suppliers in tea & biscuits, let alone justify the manufacture of major new parts.
 
keynsham1 said:
daily drivers will ultimately be scrapped unless the value is high enough for someone to justify a full proper restoration. It is the people who will pay the high prices which leads to the cost of manufacturing reproduction parts to be justified.

I'm with Dave (*edit - and the Rovering Member) here - I use mine daily and although this means that she will never be good enough to fully satisfy any rivet counters she is likely to be in better condition mechanically than a lot of cars that spend their days stood up. Oil seals etc don't like things sitting still... The main difference is that whilst my car may be dirtier and oilier than a show queen I am totally confident that my P6 will get me anywhere I wish to go, no matter what the distance.

I also agree with Dave that the key to getting parts remanufactured is not in high prices, but in getting reasonable volumes. If nobody is using their P6, then nobody will need anything apart from perishable items. That does nobody any favours - us or the suppliers.

Take a look at the 101 forward control club for example. They have a very small potential market due to the limited number of vehicles that were made, but they have historically always had a good members-only parts shop. They scope out demand for a part and offer a rough price estimate. When they get enough interest they commission the manufacture of the part in question. Everyone gets what they need and the club fulfils its primary role of keeping the remaining 101's in existence.
 
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