I start every day the same way: with a search of all the main car sales platforms for cars under $2000. This cheap car search has been a ritual since the late ’90s, when the internet was new and one “surfed” on something called an EarthLink. I went to the “Computer Lab” (that’s right, a lab for computering) daily on campus when I was a hopelessly broke college student; I was searching for cars the only cars I knew I could buy: cheap broken ones.
Unsurprisingly, those bargain-basement cars (like pretty much all cheap cars) were all in need of replacement parts. Sourcing those parts (also on the cheap) taught me valuable lessons about what works, what doesn’t, where to spend, and where to save.
And so, here’s a little background on my journey of discovery and how I learned which parts for which cars get the job done, and which parts (and cars) will ruin your life.
How A Decades-long, Bottom-Of-The-Barrel-Car Obsession Begins
Back to the Computer Lab. I’d sit there, literally every day, with headphones on listening to such Mark Tucker-approved masterpieces as The Golden Age on CD until my AA batteries went dry, searching and learning about everything I could in the deep, dark, bottom end of the used-car market. I had an average of about $60-$160 to my name (maximum) back then, so any car I could afford was almost certainly destined for the junkyard, and the seller was merely hoping to do better that the pittance they’d make by junking the heap.
You’re probably thinking my 200-bucks-or-so budget was tragically low. You are correct. But my junkyard-worker friends from that era (the best kind of friends to have in a bar fight; they’re crafty and resourceful) regularly told me of cars the yard purchased for $50, then got the $50 back when they charged the seller to tow it off their property, so the car was essentially given away for free – some folks just “want that shit gone!”
I could not believe there were cars out there, albeit worst-condition examples, that people wanted out of their yards so badly that I might score one for nothing, or close to it. I absolutely needed to get in on this action! This was an integral part of my car-culture Backyard Auto Rescue origin story, as I recognized there needed to be a better outcome for these cars (the savable ones, at least). I was attracted to reducing the waste and impact on the environment that junked cars create, and there was money to be made. And cool cars to acquire, yes. That too.
I jumped in headfirst and continued my wrenching education on cheap, broken cars I could afford. Was I an ASE-Certified mechanic or a Top Wrench in any fashion? Hells no, son. But I could wrench (within reason) better than the Average Bear (Boo-Boo notwithstanding), and I learned to use cheap, attainable parts to get the job done out of broke-ass necessity. If certain cars could only be fixed via expensive parts, well then those were the cars that didn’t get rescued by this guy [points to self] and are now serving as an I-beam somewhere in some warehouse.
Back then around 1998, here in The Cape Fear many locals were running out of time and options, and were offered by the local junkyards such a terribly low sum for their busted-up non-runners. Many accepted such an unfortunate ending for their cars — $50 back then is just $94.41 today.
Heck, I was one of those folks! When the Midnight Regatta Blue ’85 V8 Cougar I had purchased was found to have a crankcase full of sawdust, I was a broke-ass college dude with not a lot of options and no place to store or to do heavy wrenching on a broken car. I think I was given $150 for the car minus a $50 tow, so the car was gone for a hundred bucks. I believe the only reason that I was given that much for it was due to the modular nature of the Fox platform; its parts were easy to resell to folks looking for bits for other Fords of the era.
Fun, Way-Too-Early Side Note: Minimum Wage in ’98 was $5.15/hr, and yes, it took me an entire hour of folding t-shirts of bands I couldn’t stand at Hot Topic to get enough money to buy some greasy rice and fatty, fried chicken at the Asian food place in the Food Court of Wilmington’s Independence Mall. Everyone needs a college job; that was one of mine. Every dollar from your labors represents an amount of your finite time on this planet; minimum wage dollars more-so.
Broken, cheap cars need parts. And when you’re working with the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel, you need ’em cheap. This is where the foundations of the main tenets of “Gossin’s Gold: Graveyard Garbage & Grievance” comes from; when parts and repairs get too pricey, cars get crushed. Being able to identify parts that can ruin your cheap car pursuits can serve as a priceless skill in the waters that slosh around at the bottom of the used car barrel.
Expensive Parts: Lessons Were Learned.
Expensive parts are wicked scary! They can bring insurmountable financial barriers to the table, spelling the end of your relationship with a certain car.
I experienced this with the $1900 Mercedes SL500 I rescued a while back. Yes, getting the suspension modified to ride on coilovers wasn’t too pricey, but I had this bad feeling that something else was going to happen to the vehicle — something that would greatly drain my bank account; so I quickly sold it. After all, the previous owner was quoted $8,000.00 by the local Mercedes dealer to have the ABC suspension replaced. That was why I got the car so cheaply, and also why I ended up cutting the ABC system out for good ‘ol steel springs. The conductor plate is a known issue on those cars, the AC didn’t work, the top hydraulics had already failed once, and I just couldn’t shake the feeling that holding the car for any extended amount of time would be a rather expensive affair.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CivbPXIJtS_/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again
I tried getting over my fear of cars of that ilk by helping my best friend get a ’08 Mercedes C300 shortly after the SL500 rescue. I figured that by having this car in my life at an ownership-adjacent arm’s-length, I could increase my comfort level.
She was initially over the moon to have such a nice, newer Mercedes after having recently let her beloved Mazda3 go during COVID. That initial feeling of happiness didn’t last long though, as this cars’ evil ways began to surface soon after she got behind the wheel.
Within the first few months of ownership, the “ESL Module” went bad, which is a part of a security system associated with the ignition cylinder. This module not only affects the ignition switch, but also locks the steering wheel and prevents the transmission from shifting out of “Park,” while also engaging the Security system.
This required a $1,019.24 part and a Mercedes-OEM certified repair facility to flash the Security system with parts shipped in from Germany during COVID. Add in a $130 tow, and an additional $2,037.33 for a transmission valve body that was found to be faulty while in there, diagnostics charges and a $684.80 (!!) ignition switch, and you’ll never see this guy (or Reina) behind the wheel of a Mercedes ever, ever again.
Keep in mind that these repairs were on a 13yr-old, $2500 car that would otherwise be a warehouse I-Beam. There is no other alternative to having either a Mercedes dealer or an independent shop with up-to-date Mercedes software do the repair. Reina even had to provide photo ID and proof-of-ownership before she could get the VIN flashed into the the new parts/security system. The worst part was that I couldn’t do any of the wrenching or diagnostics myself. I felt utterly hopeless while having others do the repairs for me. I do not like feeling un-empowered; it’s not my style.
Look, I know David and Matt are going to remind me here that we’re “pro-car” here in Autopia. And for all intents and measures, I whole-heartedly am exactly that. There’s a big difference between celebrating a cheap $2500 car that’s good to you and and celebrating one that requires potentially life-altering repairs that can only be done at certain subscribing locations. Luckily, David and Jason pay me enough to cover the costs, but for other folk in the same scenario, the way Mercedes designed this setup could be catastrophic for the person who doesn’t have access to a cool $4K at moments’ notice. Depending on the owners’ finances at the time of an ESL-type failure like that, it could potentially scrap the car. I’ll say it again for those in the cheap seats: Expensive parts can kill a cheap car.
Interestingly enough, a video posted recently on a popular YouTube wrenching page on this exact issue (see above). I highly recommend watching this video if you’re interested in getting all pissed off at Mercedes’ dumbassery.
There’s no way in hell Gossin Motors Backyard Shitbox Auto Rescue is going to binge for top-end Mercedes software and scanners in the <$2000 Backyard Rescue game. Those cars can be junked, and I won’t shed a tear; I’ll instead feature them on an upcoming episode of “Gossin’s Gold: Graveyard Garbage & Grievance.” That’s the last time I’ll ever take a chance on a cheap German luxury car as it burned me badly. It was one of the worst cars I’ve ever owned, and you’ve read about the others that are in the “worst!” category.
Completely Not-Fact-based Hot Take Alert: Mercedes cars from the past 25 years are garbage cars that are comprised of expensive garbage parts made under a garbage business model that is designed to separate money from owners’ pockets. I will defer to the multiple non-crashed, junked examples in every edition of “Gossin’s Gold: Graveyard Garbage & Grievance“ as rationale. I said what I meant and I meant what I said. To this day, only ex-girlfriends and Mercedes have taken that much money away from me so abruptly.
Some Famous Expensive Parts
Ok, I’ve cooled down now after getting all worked up by recounting that nightmare. Enough about this old man telling stories from long ago. Let’s now instead walk down The Grand Hallway of Famous Pricey Parts, shall we? The ones that are most famous in car-culture and the ones that you’ve read about on this site or on other, lesser sites. Buckle up and hold onto your wallets, cause these parts hurt.
*Disclaimer: you may be able to find cheaper examples of these parts; we’re just showing random examples from quick internet searches. I don’t have the time to find the cheapest example for sale for each of these parts on the entire internet. If the linked examples for each item have expired or have been sold, just do a fresh Google search yourself and you’ll see the horror.
Cadillac XLR Tail Lights
Price: $1600 -$1900 for OEM. About $$550-$600 Refurbished
Cadillac’s Corvette literally takes the Corvette mantra of cheap, attainable speed and reverses it into something much more expensive and much worse. The tale on the streets is that these are made with an LED strip and are basically really, really hard to fix/service and GM doesn’t make ‘em any more.
Luckily, a few refurbishment outfits have sprouted up recently, as there was money to be made from all the XLR owners who weren’t ready to pay nearly $2 grand per unit for replacements. Also, consider that today’s XLR owner is probably a retired person who is on a budget and is probably not super jazzed about spending $4k on a set of OEM taillights for their 15yr old Cadillac-Vette.
Buick Reatta Windshields
Price: $1500
Here’s the link
Reatta’s are great but the world’s supply of windshields for them is running out. It’s easy to celebrate attainable Rad era machines such as these, but the dark side of ownership is always parts availability and pricing. The windshield can cost almost half as much as a middle-of-the-road example. I’ve always wanted a Reatta ever since my godfather Rick Gossin rescued and rebuilt a “Caribbean Blue” example like the one shown in the image for this section.
Many cheap examples have been seen over the years that I could’ve made moves on in the past, yet never did. The urban legend about the windshield always held me back. They are continuously one spidered stone chip away from emptying your checking account.
Unobtainium Jeep Parts
Sometimes I (it’s David Tracy writing this section) have a nightmare. It’s a recurring one. One that strikes fear into the very fibers of my being.
In the nightmare, my Jeep J10 gets into a fender-bender.
I know, I know: “What’s the big deal? It’s just a fender-bender.”
No, it is very much not “just a fender-bender.” You see, my 1985 Jeep J10’s “Muscle Grille” was only manufactured between 1981 and 1987, and while that may sound like a lot of model years, the issue is just how few J-trucks and Cherokees were built during that time. According to the International Full Size Jeep Association, the-trucks sold in volumes of about 4,000 per year and the Cherokees sold at around 6,000 per year. The J-trucks offered Muscle grilles from 1981 to 1988, while the Cherokees only had them between 1981 and 1983.
That’s a total of about 50,000 vehicles built with muscle grilles, if those figures are right. And given SJ-platform Jeeps’ propensity to rot out, it didn’t take long for most of those vehicles to end up smashed in junkyards. (Not to mention, the plastic is brittle, so even SJ Jeeps used as parts vehicles aren’t always useful).
These days, finding a replacement Muscle Grille is borderline impossible. You can find the aluminum grille surround for $500, but the actual grille insert and headlight surrounds are what are borderline unobtainium. You’d be lucky to find a perfect set for $1,500, though with some good networking you can probably find an OK one for a few hundred. But they’re not making these any more, so it becomes harder and harder as time goes on.
I can think of lots of unobtainium “hens’ teeth” Jeep parts. The Jeep Comanche pickup truck’s rear bumper comes to mind. The plastic end-caps alone are $75 each in rough condition on eBay, but the actual steel metal bumper? Forget it. One went up for sale for $585 back in 2019, and got snapped up after forum-users called it “unicorn stuff.” At this point, it’s best to just try to fix your dented OEM bumper than to try to find a replacement, as Comanche Club forumgoer DesertRat1991 writes:
Honestly, bumper prices seem to have hit the tipping point where the labor to restore a used bumper to like-new condition is the same money (or cheaper) as buying NOS.
The economics of waiting YEARS for the opportunity to pay $700 for a bumper don’t really make sense. The bumper below was blasted and straightened for $300. They returned it straight as an arrow. Bare metal, no body filler. It would have been another $100 for powder coat or $200 for chrome (but I’m just gonna prime and rattle can it).
Try talking to the local metal refinishers directly — the guys the bodyshops go to. They have the skilled metal workers and the chrome tanks.
The crazy thing about the Jeep Comanche is that pretty much the only parts unique to it and not shared with the XJ Cherokee are the rear bumper and the rear taillights, and of course, the rear taillights are insanely pricey, too.
Look at that set of factory taillights! $575!
BMW Injectors Aren’t Cheap
This one comes from Thomas Hundal, a dude who has a savant-level of car knowledge bordering Jeopardy-Champion level. I’ve been doing this for a quarter century and this 20+yrs-younger-than me guy runs circles around me. Some are just born with it and he’s got it. Well I asked our walking encyclopedia if he had anything to add to this piece and our Compassionate Canadian Car Constable kindly reminded me that BMW N54 injectors are $3K for a set and that he’s told us that previously.
The Famous Auto Journalist, Not The Car
Not to miss out on a fun expensive parts party, our own Mercedes Streeter (who also is one of the best in the business) chimed in on our Slack conversation on this topic and reminded us that she owns a bus (Detroit Diesel Series 50) and that it contains a turbo that is $3K to replace
’93-’95 Chrysler LeBaron Parking Lamps
My good buddy and Midwestern Man of Mystery, The Bishop was pretty pumped to hear that I was penning a piece on expensive parts, and he was particularly blown away by this next one. Granted, the man owns a Porsche and mostly drives newer German luxury cars but he has excellent taste in the finer side of the hobby which contains gems like my ‘94 LeBaron.
Price: $160-$400 each, used.
Here’s the link.
There was only one of these for sale per a Google Shopping results search on the entire Google-shown internet. These lamps were only made for three model years and history has shown the face that carries them to not be at all as celebrated as the pre-facelift face of the J-Body LeBaron that has flip-up lights. They “craze” in the sun/weather and replacements are not made. Every year, the number of these corner lamps on this Earth gets less.
The big takeaway here is that most of these cars are worth $2500-$4000 in good condition. Spending another potential $800 on top of the purchase price on two plastic corner lamps to get it to pass inspection isn’t the greatest. Only the most die-hard LeBaron fans will want to do this instead of just finding another cool car in that price range.
I have a few spares in a closet in a spare guest bedroom at The Evil Wrenching Lair (underneath that volcano in Wilmington, NC). You are correct in guessing that my ex-girlfriend was not happy about losing closet space to LeBaron parking lights.
1993-2002 Pontiac Trans Am Taillights
Price: $1,000.00 for the pair (and they’re probably also cracked)
Here’s the link
Another one from The Gossin Fleet that sits in that strange No Man’s Land of being too new and undesirable for classic car aftermarket replacements to be made, but also too old for OEM parts to be available. These lamps are made with brittle, cheap-ass GM plastic and it’s hard to find one that isn’t cracked in some fashion or that doesn’t leak moisture onto the bulb sockets and rust them out.
The sad thing is that these GM F-Body cars now exist as either high-dollar clean survivors or as beat-to-shit Joe Dirt examples that will be junked in the short term. Only the fiercest of the Trans Am Believers is going to buy a $3-$4K average-condition Trans Am and be ready to spend 30% of the purchase price of the car on taillights (that will also inevitably crack and leak).
Every day that passes, the number of these tail lights on this planet gets smaller and this price will continue to rise. There just aren’t enough of these cars left on the road to warrant an aftermarket company to start making them.
Dammit, GM.
2004-2008 Chrysler Crossfire Headlights
Price: $300-$500ea
Here’s the link:
Another example from The Gossin Collection shows how certain parts can cost about ⅓ of the value of the car. You can get a Crossfire for around $3K these days and a set of used headlights will cost you around $1K. This is significant since on the lower, bottom end of the market, cheap cars with expensive parts get junked. Nobody with two cracked/water damaged/yellowed Crossfire headlights on an average-condition car is going to pay a body shop $1500 to replace them with another used pair, when they can just spend twice that on a replacement car.
The Crossfire is an extreme example since it is a product of divorced parents, it was only made for a single generation and has about zero support outside of a very dedicated forum and online community. Keys (for a Security system made by Mercedes that Chrysler dealers do not support), windshield surround pieces, general trim, and even the lettered badging on the decklid go for much more than you’d expect for a car that regularly sells for under $5K. These cars will inevitably become much fewer in number as time goes forward.
Audi A5 Laser Headlight
Price: Up to $4,400.00 each, used (!)
Here’s the link
Expensive cars have expensive parts; that is something we’re all aware of, and it’s nothing new. With luxury cars costing six figures these days, an almost $4,000 headlight assembly costs about 4% of the cost of the car when it was sold. That percentage is going to go up each year as depreciation hits and the value of the car is reduced. There will eventually come a time when putting a $4K headlight into a $7K car is either a passion project or just dumb. (Though eventually maybe these will end up in junkyards, and second-hand headlights could bring prices down).
This Audi’s expensive headlight isn’t nearly as big of a deal as the Buick Reatta’s windshield or the Jeep Comanche’s taillights, because those two cars are relatively cheap. Can you imagine spending $500 on a Comanche and then having to drop $500 just because someone rear-ended you at 10 mph? That’s wack.
Part It Out
A few of you may have recently read this excellent piece from the best (and the only) insurance adjuster in all of Autopia, “Ada.” In that piece Ada states that they “…once wrote a 2020 Land Rover with a front hit where the front-end parts added up to $44,000.” Hot damn! That’s exactly why I see rows of not-that-old Land Rovers at my local Pick & Pull each weekend: expensive parts. It’s also is great material with which to rib everyone’s favorite Weekend Contributor and Autopia’s Greatest Land Rover Fan, Rob Spiteri.
Non-expensive parts made the difference in keeping all of the examples I listed at the beginning of this piece on the road versus the early demise for Ada’s pricey Land Rover. As cars become more and more digitized and software plays an ever-larger role (compared to the propulsion mechanicals), the price of parts will be key to deciding which cars will live long lives and which will have those lives cut short.
This piece just skimmed the surface, I’m sure there are many a card-carrying Autopian out there with a full-throated tale of expensive (or cheap) parts. And to those Autopians we earnestly request that you share those tales in the comments below, as we are all the wiser for sharing such knowledge.
I’m glad that I was able to share my story of the mountain of money I lost on that C300. My hopes are that there is one reader who comes across this SWG piece and decides not to buy that C300 they had their eye upon, until verifying the ESL and transmission conductor plate/valve body have been replaced. In fact, your comment may also save somebody untold hardships, once they become aware of what happens when Parts Get Expensive.
So let’s sit back, relax enjoy a Stanley Tucci Negroni and share/read the comments below about some ridiculously-priced parts. Let’s also celebrate the cheap parts that keep those wrenches spinning and those shitboxes alive, my friends.
88 mph into the future.
All photos by Stephen Walter Gossin unless otherwise noted.
I can attest to unobtainium jeep parts! I currently need a 95 rhd fan hub bracket; mine is busted. This is a 94-95 rhd only part that fails often. Impossible to get. Rebuild services for usable ones is $375, there is one 97+ one for sale at almost 600 dollars
I have a 2007 DY Mazda 2 which was the couple of year run facelift of that generation. Like all headlights of that age, mine are cloudy. If it was the pre-facelift model, new OEM ones are $200ea and you can get cheaper, aftermarket ones.
The facelift? No aftermarket available and a new OEM one is $650!!
Plastic headlights are such a scam. Not being able to get headlights for a 2007 vehicle is nuts.
As a woman who never had any interest in cars, I recently started reading your articles.
I always learn a lot from these readings and appreciate how fun and relatable they are.
Your infinite knowledge is impressive.
My daughter will be needing a car soon,
You’ll be hearing from me.
Great piece. Going through the ringer right now with TWO German sedans.
Mercedes is the Donald Trump of the automotive world.
How so? Does it claim to have more money than it actually does? Accuse other carmakers of doing bad things that it is actually doing? Send a mob to your house when you buy another manufacturer’s car? 😉
So on the comanche front- you forgot solid tailgates!
But good news on taillights. Key Parts started reproducing the lenses (some people 3D print the housing). The whole assembly is supposedly going on sale soon.
I recently priced a new fuel line for my kid’s ’92 Camry. Only one outfit makes them anymore.
$290.
That’s insane. Especially for such a popular, common, long-lasting car.
Thanks for reading and for being here with us in the Comments, Michael!
That’s the problem- there are tons of XV10s still running! And the supply of fuel lines was exhausted years ago.
I ran into the same thing recently with my 94 Accord. Replacing the gas tank I snipped the fuel line coming off the pump. It looked horribly rusted and figured I’d simply replace it. Nope, discontinued. The only one I could find online that didn’t look like a scam was a dealership in Ontario for $250. I ended up cobbling something together myself. The sad part is the fuel line was perfectly usable once I knocked off the rust. It was very well made with plenty of meat left. I made a lot of extra work for myself saving a few minutes on that tank removal.
I picked up a 08 Mercedes E350 4 matic (168k miles), I thought at the time it was a pretty good deal for $3k being garage kept and outwardly great condition. It belonged to a older coworker that retired and her son brought her a new Mercedes SUV so she needed it gone. It did have a few issues i knew about and a couple i didnt but i knew she took really good car of her cars. The SEL light was on and she provided me with the service record of what was done and that it still didnt solve the issue. She had gotten coil packs replaced and some other things but i later figured out it was the intake and its flappers causing the misfires and all. Purchased a ebay quality intake and that solved the SEL. The radiator had a leak, replaced that with a ebay quality part also. After doing all that and installing some new tires its given me some miles of enjoyment shortly after the fuel pump cover thing is cracked and is just out of the 15 year warranty, working on replacing that now with something cheap. The biggest issue i have to date is the negative camber on the front wheels, its eating off the edges of the tires and ive been reading all the MB forums about the issue but not many discussions on the 4matic version, but I did purchase the camber bolts for my application but i am figuring i probably will need to replace the lower control arm bushings as well before taking this on (i failed to mention i replaced the upper control arm bushings as well as lower ball joints thinking that would help). My wife now wonders why i got the car, she told me i should have just put that money into my classic car (71 Olds Cutlass S) which runs well, but i was in the middle of rust repair around the windshield channel when i got this car.
IMG_3448.jpg
Well, Mr. Gossin, you stole my anecdote about Firebird/Trans Am tail lights. A couple decades ago I had a ’94 Trans Am GT with the factory grid tail lights doing the dance of their people and delaminating. This was before online selling hubs like eBay really existed, so it was salvage yards and online forums for finding things. The LS-power F-bodies were still being sold new, so honeycombs were impossible to find. Finding a set of pristine grids was only slightly less impossible, and when I found a set they were $500 (almost $900 in 2024 money), which was 1/3 what I paid for the whole car.
Similarly, a good friend’s parents ditched their Range Rover over a headlight that got cracked by a rock on the highway. I don’t recall the year, but a replacement headlight was something like $9k at the time, with a wait list of 6+ months to get one. That, along with the air suspension beginning to act up (the thing had like 45k on it, so just out of warranty) had them trade it in on something more mundane (an Acura TSX, I believe, though sadly not the wagon).
Wait, a $9K Rover headlight?! That’s just beyond stupid.
Thanks for the above, and for reading, Squirrelmaster!
Thanks for the article! I always enjoy your pieces, so keep them coming!
I too have felt the wrath of Range Rover air suspension issues. I bought a reasonably priced used one years ago and each shock was $390! This was in 2004 dollars. If the rest of it didn’t keep breaking, I would have converted to regular shocks and kept it. Instead, I sold it at a yard sale at a huge loss, and a still leaking suspension.
Yeah, I don’t recall what they were quoted on the repair of the air suspension, but I recall it was like the headlight and an unreasonably high number. The part I recall them complaining about the loudest was that they paid nearly a grand in diagnostic fees only to be told they couldn’t pinpoint the issue and so they were going to need to throw parts at it until the problem was fixed, potentially including replacement of the entire air system. I have a feeling that had the service writer phrased everything differently and said something like “We will start with just the shocks…” they may have kept it, which means the service writer did them a favor by making them angry.
Sounds about right…. Maybe it’s this, maybe it’s this..
My cheapest and favorite car purchase was a 99 Miata right here in Wilmington on Market St that was listed on Craigslist around 2016. There was more glitter in its oil than on the floor of Cheetah’s but it was worth the $500 price tag. I have happily sunk well over $10k into now but the initial cost to get it back on the road was only around $1000…partially because I traded a go-kart for a 42k mile engine from a friends car that was totaled. Fun bonus fact, the go-kart came from the same friend originally when I traded a riding lawnmower to him for it that I was given for free.
I am constantly amazed by the haphazard nature of parts availability.
One of my projects is a 43-year-old Kawasaki. The rear brake master cylinder was used for one model year and on exactly one model, so there is zero aftermarket support. I searched eBay for several years with no success, then in the space of a few weeks I found – in separate listings – a[n] NOS piston and a good used MC for next to no money. (The piston had been resting on a shelf for 30+ years somewhere in rural western Canada.)
One of the other projects is a 43-year-old Yamaha. (A theme emerges…) The exhaust is one piece from front to back; the pipe itself is rare, and the two associated individual heat shields quadruply so. The one currently on the bike is really nice (had it ceramic coated) but I’m always on the lookout for spares. Right now there are a few mostly-complete pipes on eBay for $400-$450. A few years ago I happened upon a series of listings from a shop that was parting out a very, very low-mileage example: 1025 miles. 😮 Unfortunately the dismantling had already occurred, but I was able to buy the full exhaust, with shields, for $60 (sixty dollars). Also bought the gas tank, speedo cluster, seat, skid plate, etc. for similarly fantastic prices – and the seller threw in another 10-12 pounds of random bits and fasteners, which was really nice.
Not quite a bike, but my Yamaha Raptor ATV has some of the most random parts availability as well. Some things, like body and suspension parts, are easy, cheap, and plentiful. Other parts are practically unobtainable. The quads use a shift linkage for the shifter, which eventually develops slop in it and makes it difficult to shift into neutral. Mine made it 15 years before developing this issue, which is a solid 10+ years more than most. I figured I’d replace the shifter linkage – unavailable. Okay, I’ll look at an aftermarket shifter – none available. Okay, I’ll buy a used-but-good one – $450, and probably in as good/bad of shape as mine. Luckily, someone on the Yamaha forums pointed out that with a little bending, direct shifters from some of the bikes could be used. A $25 eBay shifter for one of the dirt bikes not only fixed the slop issue, but put the shifter itself in a more comfortable position.
That’s an excellent result ! I’m glad it worked out.
There was a similar workaround for the Kawasaki issue (modifying a more modern master cylinder) but thankfully I won’t need to employ it. For now. 🙂
I would’ve thought the Crossfire key itself would’ve been on the list, not the cars headlights.
Besides the fact that Chrysler discontinued the keys (August 6th, 2023), those suckers retailed for $624. For what reason? Eh, Mercedes-Benz, probably.
Add in some dealer’s markup, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some Crossfires may have gotten totaled over a key. 4 figures might very well have been possible with how some dealers roll.
I mentioned the key! From the above piece: “Keys (for a Security system made by Mercedes that Chrysler dealers do not support)”
You’re right though, the key is the most egregious and famously expensive part for that car. The FB Groups and Forums list a few guys that can reprogram/repair/replace keys and there was way more information there than what I needed to include in that small section of the piece, so they just got a passing mention.
I was hoping some True Autopian Hero would mention some additional key specifics here in the Comments and thankfully, you showed up big time (with the exact discontinuation date!) with the above.
My deepest gratitude, good Sir!
No problem! Ever since I got into the parts side of the automotive world, some things will haunt me for the rest of my life. Or perplex me. It can be quite the adventure!
Good read, as always!
That’s exactly right. These “captive/donor cars”, which otherwise have nothing to do with anything else a particular brand makes, require a dealer to invest thousands a year in licensing software and tools for one model. Eventually, after that car is no longer sold and it’s been a few years, most dealers will quit licensing the foreign-brand software and tools. It wasn’t as big as deal when cars were more primitive, but now that they’re all complex, rolling computers, we’re going to see this phenomenon more.
When I had a newer Volkswagen Tiguan, I stood in line behind a woman who needed a key made for her Volkswagen Routan. This was in 2019, so the service advisor disabused her of the notion that it was a Volkswagen in the first place, told her they no longer supported the Routan, and directed her down the road to the Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ram dealership.
Other vehicles that will soon have this treatment likely include:
Sad thing is with those Routan’s, is that they aren’t the Mitsubishi Radier-type of “captive” vehicle. A CDJR dealer can look up and find/order anything for a Raider, I do believe even programing keys to the truck. The Routan? CDJR dealers don’t have access. It’s like they didn’t even have a hand in building it, as they don’t acknowledge it. VIN’s don’t work for anything: Tech’s Library, parts catalogs, key codes (from what I’ve been told) ….
Definitive bastard child.
Well, that’s just it. The Raider was a Chrysler vehicle. So you’d expect Chrysler to be able to interact with it.
Would a Mitsubishi dealer be able to do much with it? Probably not.
Same thing for the Suzuki Equator, which was a Nissan Frontier.
I mean, yeah, but you’d expect a re-badged Town & Country would be the same way also but nope.
Heard VW didn’t want their customers going to CDJR dealers.
Wow, I thought I had problems buying a replacement key for my JDM Toyota Caldina – the type of key I needed was only used on the Caldina/Corona, and only for two or three years. I sourced a plain blank and one with a plastic cap for $200, NOS in Japan – but it took several months of hunting.
I also went to two key cutting places and told them about how expensive the key was, and they both refused to cut it. Simultaneously I read a story about someone needing a hole drilled through a priceless pearl – they dressed poorly and treated it like a cheap trinket, which meant the jeweler who did the drilling was confident and surehanded. Third place I just said “cut this, please”, and of course there was no issue.
David should 3D scan his J10’s Muscle Grille while it’s still intact so he can reproduce infinite copies for himself and other J-truck owners, now and well into the future.
That’s way better than my idea of making one out of plywood and a jigsaw
I’d like to see an article from this idea!
Mercedes and BMW where refining the wallet draining garbage car schtick when I stopped patronising their products in the 80’s. VW already had it locked down by then.
GX460 – passenger side mirror, with all the proper power functions run about $700 (unpainted). aprox. $550 more than my previous Mazda3. I was “lucky” in that I was one that hurt the mirror, and I was able to find the small inner plastic trim that was actually broken, on Aliexpress for about $7. Still need to spend 3-5 hours taking the mirror apart to fix it.
I can relate. I had a brand-new 2021 GX 460 Premium Sport Design a few years ago, and–when it was a few months old–I backed out of a Sonic Drive-In stall too carelessly and hit the adjacent stall’s menu sign, bending back the passenger mirror. It wound up cracking the mirror’s skullcap and shattering the indicator light.
Fortunately, I found a new light on eBay for $50 (apparently, the core mirror on the GX 460 was the same as the 2013+ LX 570) and the mirror skullcap was $105, pre-painted from the Lexus dealer. It took 15 mins to fix. The Sport Design GX does have a unique mirror cap with a chrome accent surrounding the indicator light, but it was surprisingly cheap. I spent more repairing the mirror on a 1997 Jetta GLX VR6.
Mine was against a fence post on a narrow parking spot at an Airbnb. I stopped it just in time to not break the whole thing. The light broke, but painted cap didn’t, and mirror was fine. There is about a 3 inch strip of the inner black plastic running top to bottom on the far edge missing.
The part was cheap, but it requires me to remove the mirror (and door card) and take it entirely apart. There is one little loop on it that threads through everything. I want to take the time and do it slowly and properly, so I don’t end up out $700 on a new mirror, but that time is hard to find.
A friend complained about the cracked taillight covers in the Trans Am her father had gifted her. She’d tried to find junkyard replacements, but they were as bad as hers and she couldn’t afford to pay for anything refurbished or OEM (not that she could find any). Meanwhile, moisture in the lamp housing kept shorting out taillights. In desperation, she asked me for help (and she’d have to desperate). I painstakingly applied a coating of clear Flex Seal to the back of the cracked lights. Lucky result? No more leaks or electrical shorts and it’s not noticeable from the outside nor appears to reduce the lux level of the tailights. Of course the cracks are still there, but c’est la vie.
One of the reasons I sold my Saab 9-5 sedan is that Saab made all kinds of mid-cycle changes after three years on the market. A pre-2002 car may mechanically look identical to the refreshed ones, but a lot of the refresh parts seem to be much cheaper, ostensibly due commonality with GM parts or with high-volume parts from Opel’s German suppliers. My wagon is post-refresh and came with the exact same issues as the sedan, but fixing them will cost me half as much.
I have played this game as well. Years back, I picked up a Subaru SVX in trade for a $500 truck. I then spent $1100 getting it back on the road and swapping in a manual trans in place of the burned up auto. I daily drove that car for a while, but was constantly concerned about windshield. They were running about $1200 at the time, and I believe they have only gone up since then.
It is such a nerve-wracking feeling that one errant, flying stone can spell short-term financial doom and so greatly negatively impact your machine!
Hey, thanks a ton for reading and for the comment!
I think you may find the current status of the third gen Mercury Capri pretty interesting. Parts are mainly controlled by a guy, who bought up the NOS market and numerous parts cars. He then created a monopoly that goes by moderncapriparts.biz. Resulting in prices such as rebuilt brake masters being 750 bucks. This created a bit of revolt in the Capri community. They’ve been working together to keep parts cars/ parts stockpiles away from this dude to overthrow his Capri kingdom.
This is wicked intriguing.
I’m going to socialize this with the writing team in our Slack channel; thanks for reading and for sharing the above!
It’s kinda a wild story, I guess someone did the same thing to the Festiva community and he ripped the idea off that dude. Then some of the ranking members on Teamcapri, including some dude who goes by Rocketman that has sick 4wd/turbo Capri realized that it’s pretty damaging to the community. So, they started operation screw this guy at every turn. And to this day, if you ask about buying a specific part from Modern Capri on Teamcapri or 91-93 owners group, someone is telling you not to and combing the earth to find a different vendor.
What kind of childhood would lead a person to put such effort into being a total dick?
Talk about picking on the little guy (I guess the Festiva example below is even more egregious). As per my mechanic, something similar happened to Suzuki cars, but on a more corporate scale.
This may end up working out in the end, as it could mean better parts supply down the road. Maybe.
I remember reading an article in C&D about a new Jaguar XJ sedan they were testing. It was involved in a minor collision where the driver and passenger airbags deployed. No unibody damage, and the only bodywork was it needed a new hood.
But the interior work very nearly totalled it. Not for the airbag assemblies, though. It was the cost of replacing all the real wood trim in the dash.
I have an XK8 with that same dash! Geez, I hadn’t even thought about that.
Although, there are a ton of those cars in parts yards currently. There probably won’t be in 5 years from now though.
Hey, thanks a ton for reading and for the comment, my dude!
Time to start hitting the junkyards for all dash pieces you can get your hands on!
Grab all the wood you can get your hands on!!
Wait… that came out wrong.
“Fake wood; All good” -20th Century Wisdom
I’m going to go give my ’06 Sierra and my ’99 Corolla a hug now.
Cars with cheap parts prices and easy repair-ability are the ones that last the test of time.
Reliability is nice, but a less-than-reliable car that can be fixed cheap and easily will be able to hang on just as well as that indestructible ’98 Corolla as time marches on.
Thanks for reading and for the above, Shop-Teacher!
You’re welcome! It’s a great article, and a lovely balance to the seemingly endless flow of articles that encourage people to buy heavily depreciated cars, that are insanely expensive to keep on the road that come from other outlets.
I bought that ’06 Sierra brand new, and it has never let me down. Other than when I had the rusty rocker panels replaced (I live in the salt-encrusted shit-hole that is northern Illinois), it has never given me a repair bill north of $600. And that’s including having a trusted independent mechanic do some of the work. There are some tasks I don’t feel up to, and some I just don’t want to deal with due to rusty components.
The ’99 Corolla fell into my lap last year for next to nothing, when it became a surplus vehicle in a friend’s fleet. CarMax offered him $200 for it, and he was kind enough to just sell it to me instead. I was able to make it mechanically perfect for under a grand all-in, most of which was a new set of tires. I’ve put 8k miles on it. It’s about to need brakes too, but it’s such a great little car. I snapped a door handle when the door froze shut during that last arctic blast. A pair of repop handles was $13, shipped to my door.
There are some Pontiac Fiero parts that are trending this way, too. I replaced t-top gaskets on my former car and was lucky to find a pair of NOS for under $200 on ebay and was happy to pay it. People will pay a lot more.
The GT sail panel glass and taillights are in a similar boat to the Firebird. A community member went through the extensive trouble of having GT taillight lenses reproduced, complete with gaining approval as certified GM Replacement parts. However, he made his run, possibly lost a bunch of money, and is trying to sell the tooling. Lenses regularly go for $7-800. I have a set in a box, but I’m not even wanting to put them on, as those on my car are not bad.
That ’72 LeMans is beyond cool
Back in HS (mid 70’s) helped a friend put an Accel turbo system on his brown with gold vinyl top LeMans. Thing went like heck. Was a fun project before turbos really took off.
I think it’s actually a ’73. The Colonnades debuted that year (the ’72 A-bodies were the last year of the series that began in 1968) and only the front bumper is enormous – I don’t think the 5-mph no-damage mandate applies to both bumpers until ’74. But it’s definitely a cool-looking car. I’ve seen several of those Colonnade coupes online lately and it’s given me a new appreciation for them.
I’m no expert, I just think it’s cool! My only exposure to a LeMans was in college, when some friend-of-a-friend came through town on a cross country trip in a bright red LeMans. Hot damn that car looked good.
I noticed that the rear shock absorbers on my RR Silver Spur (Dampers if you’re a Brit! ) had a very minor leak, (there was slight oil residue on the boots) Anyway, off to the local RR dealer I went ( Actually it was a Bentley dealer) and I dropped the car off to have them replace the rear shocks.
So, 3 days pass and I receive a phone call from the dealer that my PMC was all done:
$4000.00! , each shock was $1000.00 and the gas springs and labor was the rest of the cost.
https://replacementpartsinc.com/1980-2003-rolls-royce-bentley/suspension/rear-suspension/rear-shock-damper-assembly-rolls-royce-1985-1989-rh3377/
I have to find a cheaper hobby! ┗(･ω･;)┛
I’m not surprised you were at a Bentley dealer. Technically, the old works (the combined entity that was Bentley and Rolls-Royce up to the point that they got split up) and the Crewe factory remain with Bentley. What used to be Rolls-Royce Motors is now Bentley Motors, and is of course a subsidiary of VW. Bentley also manages Crewe Genuine Parts, which supports Crewe-built Bentley and Rolls-Royce models between 1955 and 2009.
Meanwhile, BMW licensed the Rolls-Royce name and trademarks and spun up a new company, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, which launched in 2003. Many Rolls-Royce dealers only deal with the BMW-era Rolls-Royces, and won’t have anything to do with the Crewe-built ones, like your Silver Spur. But Bentley dealers will.
I have a friend with a 1996 Silver Spur. He calls it Peppermint Patty, because it’s white with a red interior. I got to drive it once. What a car!
Yep, I have owned this car for 21 years and so I have lived through the complex ownership of the brands and the parts and services arrangements! It’s crazy!
Anyway, There is an excellent book called:
“Kidnap of the Flying Lady: How Germany Captured Both Rolls-Royce & Bentley”
It goes into great detail of the shenanigans that went on to acquire these two brands.
It is a real page turner,(it was for me anyway!)
I will definitely be picking that book up. I know a lot about it, but am always interested in reading more.
So when are we getting the 12 Months Of SWG calendar? Asking for …a friend
You might be disappointed. He only has one look.
that he does, but he’s really hot lol
Who’s got the look?
I don’t know the answer to that question
Where’s the look?
If I knew I would tell you
What’s the look?
Look for your information
Yes, there’s one thing, one thing that still hold true
What’s that?
That’s the look, that’s the look
The look of love
That’s the look, that’s the look
The look of love
That’s the look, that’s the look
The look of love
LeTigre!
Blue Steel!