Why are the prices for parts so high?

Why is it that vintage Ferrari cars have gone down in price yet parts for these cars are still as high as ever?

 

More buyers than sellers.

 

As an example a guy had a 246 Dino engine for sale 8 months ago for 10K it's still listed at 10K, yet Dino's have dropped in price during the past eight months.

 

Fiat parts are expensive as well and the cars have never been worth much.

 

If you have a Dino (even a "devalued" one) that needs an engine, where else do you find one?

 

If it is too egregious to you, you can always arbitrage the market codition by buying and breaking.

 

Agreed, but the most expensive Fiat parts are the ones used on other makes!

 

+1 If you don't have a Dino it's because you don't need one. If you do have a Dino you do need an engine.

 

I am sure there are certain people waiting to do just that.

 

Followed by the endless angst on F-Chat about the inhumanity of it all!

 

I seem to recall hearing they don't make those anymore either.

That might have something to do with it.

 

this reminds me of an old joke.

Question: why are divorces expensive?









Answer: because they're worth it!

 

One reason is supply and demand. The suppliers can manipulate the price by controlling the supply, in other words, they produce a limited amount. However, demand must remain constant or increase for this to be true. Another factor is economies of scale. Since they manufacture few parts, it is expensive because they can not distribute the cost of production onto several units. So they pass it on to the consumer(s).

 

I had a Maserati I divoced, she was nice to look at but hard to live with.

 

Seriously, there are a couple of reasons...

First, there aren't many cars out there, so you aren't going to be making thousands of parts, which means that you are using processes that are labor intensive and don't use automated machining that can chunk out lots of part cheaply.

So, assuming that there is a part that you wanted to make, you have to amortize the tooling over the few parts that you are going to sell. Then, you have to set up the tooling and decide how many you are going to make. If you make just a few, the setup cost can be bigger than the cost of making the part. If you make a lot, then it's going to take a long time to sell them all, so you have to figure the cost of interest on the money you spent to make and store the parts until somebody wants them. Either way, it's going to cost a lot, and since most folks would rather not put a bunch of their own money at risk, they will just make a few parts when they know there is a demand for it.

Since there aren't a lot of cars out there, for some parts you are stuck going back to the factory since the demand is so low that nobody will spend the money for tools to make them. In aviation, we make spare parts for almost everything that we ever make, but for low demand parts our markup is generally a factor between 7x and 10x. I am sure that Ferrari has at least that kind of markup on parts for older cars, since there isn't anybody else making them. No competition means high costs. I am amazed that Ferrari kept the tooling for things like the front uprights for Jim's P4. In most companies things like that would have gone to the scrapyard a long time ago. For that reason they get an award in my book for keeping tooling around simply for the good of their customers, and not for any economic reason.

Interestingly, it is possible to make one off castings using rapid prototyping techniques nowadays, for a lot less than it used to cost. It still isn't cheap, but if there is a part that Ferrari doesn't want to make anymore, a good CAD engineer could make a reproduction that would keep you on the road (and it would be impossible to tell from an original).

 

Plus the parts guys are holding their cards close to their chest. They have to be hurting bad. With a decline in car sales, there is a decline in restorations. People dont restore cars after they plummet in value, so parts suppliers are stuck in a jam. They already paid top dollar for the parts, if they start selling off below cost they probably wont be open for long. Its all a vicious circle. I think the parts guys are trying to weather the storm by holding up their prices and hoping things turn around soon. If it doesnt, not only will parts prices plummet, future availability may plummet along with it.

 

Parts prices and car prices are to a great extent unrelated.

A car is worth what the market is willing to pay for it, and if it's not worth the money to you you leave it alone.

Once you have a certain carand need an NLA part, or something that's not exactly off the shelf, someone may have to make it, and if you're lucky some other people need the same item. In that case, someone has to spend time and money to re-create (sorry, would prefer another word) the part, which then comes at a cost, an addition of labour and materials, and profit. You don't have a choice, you want to keep your car on the road.

We are in the lucky circumstance that Ferrari's are loved, and that there is a number of people who dedicate their time (and life) to supply the market with these hard to come by items, but just about anything can be had. I think that's just great.

Regarding a Dino engine: I'd wager that someone who is building a Stratos replica would love to have that....

 

With Vintage Ferraris (50's and 60's), many parts are impossible to find at any price anywhere in the world. I have waited years to locate some items to finish my car. Last year when I was putting the rebuilt engine back into my car I needed the correct mounting bracket for the alternator. It was impossible to find. I finally found one at Ferrari UK, sent them 600 dollars and was happy to pay it. It did not fit. They let me return it. In desperation,I then called a fellow 275gtb owner that I knew had his engine out and asked if I could borrow his bracket to use as a template to have a shop fabricate one for me. I drove a couple hours to his house and he brought me into the garage. He said he has a surprise for me. He actually had an extra bracket and said take it, Marry Christmas. It was amazing. It fit perfect. I will remember that forever. Sometimes you just get lucky.

 

How about an Acura NSX?

 

Yes and with CAM and CAD it can be made quick but not cheap because most shops have a minimum setup charge or a tooling charge. If any of the members here have that done it's a good Idea to have the shop give you a copy of the data.Some of the shops will want to keep it, but you paid for it so you should at least get a copy. This data can then be emailed anywere in the world and used to reproduce the parts as needed.

Many shops overcharge on the tooling or setup, so it's good to find a shop that is owned by a car enthusiust, one that will work with you.

 

And sometimes you run into a real sport.

 

We actually have a small foundry that is not far from us that will do small investment castings in steel, nickel alloys and aluminum for a very reasonable price. The rapid prototype plastic pattern is almost as expensive as the casting! We routinely make tubine parts this way and it isn't horrible. Not cheap, but if you have to make something it can be done.