Wtf with crazy prices for tools???

When I got my car, it was missing manuals, tools, jack and spare. I wasn't willing to pay the prices 10 years ago and stopped looking. Fast forward to now when just for kicks I checked Ebay for tools and it was shocking. $2K-$5K for a tool roll??? $2K for a jack kit??? Holy smokes, are sellers just on drugs or are people actually paying these outrageous prices?

 

So I can tell you why. The values have picked up a bit in the last couple of years. Owners now realize that to get top dollar they need all the accessories. The only way to get them is from ebay so the prices are higher.

Its supply and demand.

 

Whether it's worth the high price or not kind of depends on the value of the car. If your car has 10k miles and in concours condition, paying 5k for a perfect tool kit might add 5k to the value, so it'd be a wash but may make the car more desirable. If your car has 50k miles and is a decent driver, no way is a took kit going to add 5k to its value, so in that case probably not worth it to most owners. I would imagine that most of the people paying sky-high prices have cars that need the tool kits and other doo dads to enable them to "complete" their cars and win ribbons and trophies at Italian concorsos.

 

Anyone interested in showing their car at any type of concours needs the original tools, jack, manuals, etc. Since there's only a finite number of these things in existence and they aren't being made anymore, the prices have gone through the roof. However, you can usually find reproduction manuals, tools, etc., at a fraction of the cost of original. And, yes, people are paying those astronomical prices.

 

The prices are What The Traffic Will Bear...Some are willing to pay the price for the low quality tool kit and tire jack kit provided with the car. My tool kit is missing some items. So, I have taken the kits from the car and stored them, I bought two OTC replacement kits that look and perform much better. If and when I sell the car or get serious about showing (as opposed to driving) my car I will switch back.
It's not that I'm cheap or can't afford to pay asking price, it's that I chose to put the money into refurbishing my car.
John
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More reasons to make sure that everything is with the car that belongs to it when buying a car !

 

Waste of money. Go to Harbor Freight and put together your own tool kit. Other than that, just like everything else, greed, its that simple. " oh my God, if I dont have the proper tool kit when my car is being judged, they are going to take points off " get the **** out of here in any case....

G

 

There are two sides and both are right...If your car is a good candidate to show and win, then you need to bite the bullet, and if you like driving and working on your car,+ do what you feel is right.

 

I have dealt with a broad spectrum of owners on this exact topic. I can assure you a great many people just want a complete car and it has nothing to do with showing it. That is for sure part of the group that wants tools etc but not even a majority.
Only some shows judge for tools etc, not the majority of them. No shows judge clock hang tags or window stickers or dealer network books but there is a demand for them too. Our 328 is not now nor will it ever be a show car but I made sure it has a complete tool kit, complete jack kit, complete set of books, emergency light and bulb and fuse kit. I used them to install an alternator belt out in the desert in Nevada. Its a very good well thought out kit that gives you the ability to do a lot of things. But more than any of that I just wanted a complete car and that mirrors most who are in the market for all that crap.

 

I totally agree and that is why my stuff is safely away in my garage. I worry too much about it being stolen. It is kind of refreshing that we are on the same side of an issue...I have been a member of Mid-Atlantic Region since 1986 and just never got into FChat early on. This past year has given me time to start interacting. When I did the major refurbishing of my car I rebuilt rather than replaced things...I even sent my original Alpine AM/FM/Casette to Wisc. for a rebuild rather than update to a new age radio...Everything is virtually the same as it was in 1980. I now have a virtually new car. Restoring everything mechanical and electrical using Ferrari parts was worth the end result to me. I chose not to do a rotisserie as the chassis and body were not in needed. Based on the rate of inflation over the years would have a 'new' 308 GTBi selling for about $180k..This is more than likely more than you care to know - I just wanted to set the record straight that I am not new to Ferrari ownership (bought my car June, '85). 'Nuf said...Here's hoping we can get along over the coming years.
John

 

I understand the complete car stuff, but it does not have to be with the factory tool kit. I dont carry any tools in my Ferrari, since I would not know what to do with them, other than a flashlight. I also dont carry a jack. If the car becomes disabled, I call a tow company. I have not had to do this but a couple of times in my 24 years of ownership. I dont even have the spare donut, I sold it to a guy in NZ. I do carry some car care products in the trunk. The front bonnet is now a custom made area to hold an amplifier and the gel cell battery
tender and some fancy red LED strips to light up the front grill at night. I would not have a problem with the factory tools and jacks if they were reasonably priced, but that is impossible. Im sure glad I started buying and stocking away all the new parts I wanted to use to restore all that I have done , many years ago.

G

 

Yes, I suppose that's right to a point. Sort of like Schedoni luggage or the Saratoga top. However, every Ferrari came with a set of tools, plus any extras that sat in parts departments. Counting every set that was salvaged from a destroyed car + the extras + all that were (ahem) "set free" from someone's car, you would think there are plenty to go around.

Like a lot of folks, my car is not and will never be a show car, but I would still like it to be as complete as possible and tools are part of that. It really burns me that my original paperwork, tools and jack are floating around out there somewhere and someone probably made a lot of money peddling them off. Sadly, they will never be reunited with my car.

 

I have had my 89 328 for 24 years, never bothered me one bit. Like I said, it would be cool to have the original tools / jacks, the pure pleasure I have gained far outweighs the lack of so to speak.

G

 

Gino- I see you are still having a hard time expressing your feelings....

 

Thats all fine if you don't actually drive the car. I was 400+ miles from home on a trip in the TR. Got a flat in Fontana. Now, with no spare I'd have been stuck for who knows how long getting a tire. Tow truck, motels, tire shops etc until who knows when. Sorry, thats just a non starter.
I had the skinny spare on and back on the road and back home in Northern California in time for dinner.

Like I said, no spare is fine for bar hoppers but we actually drive places.

 

Speaking of tools…

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/ferrari-308-tools/

 

When I first got my 308 and I started going to Cars and Coffee and other club meets people would say "Holy cow are you nuts?" because I had my tool and jack kits in the trunk. I didn't have a clue about the value. So I made up a replica set with some Craftsman tools and put the originals in a drawer in my rollaway. But now I'm wondering about these kits on eBay - where did they get them? I mean, they at one time belonged to a specific Ferrari so how did they get separated?

 

Exactly! From that BaT ad:

"This Ferrari tool kit is said to have been removed from a 308 and was recently acquired by the seller"

Did it get pulled from a wrecked car? Was it stolen? Did a previous seller withhold it from a sale because they were trying to make more money? I'm sure that most of the people buying these are just trying to replace what was "liberated" from their cars in the past. That really sucks.

 

Don't leave home without a tow-hook, other than that, spend as you wish.

 

and btw, here is my "Ferrari 308" tool roll. A friend of mine made the leather pouch and I have been collecting up tools that are reasonable facsimiles of the originals. I still have a few other cheap tools to pick up for it

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I still need to figure out what to do about making up a jack kit

 

And that's a separate topic on its own. Unlike the later cars, the 3x8s didn't have a screw-in tow hook, did they? I've never seen one. On my car, there is a metal loop welded on to the frame under the front valance. It seems like it could be a tow point, but it looks super sketchy and I'd never use it for towing

 

1st tow hook was TR.

 

Tools books and jack belong in the car. They don't do me any good at home.

With logic like that just leave the car at home too.

 

I keep my original tools and jack in the car as well. And the original owner's manual. I also drive the car fairly regularly. I sometimes get the impression that's "odd" behavior for a Ferrari owner.

 

To give a somewhat contrarian (for here, anyways) answer: I have my tools, jack, manuals, spare tire, etc all boxed up nicely in my shop. I have a small set of harbor freight hand tools and other roadside necessities including green slime and a tire inflator in a small bag with small fire extinguisher in the back. I like this because I feel comfortable chucking that stuff out at the side of the parking area at autox and leaving it sitting out all day, and it's "good enough" for putting several hundred miles on the car in a day in my opinion. I don't want a bunch of loose crap flying around or adding weight while I'm trying to fling the car around. I do this with pretty much every performance car that I've owned.