Good point CF & TS! Rising prices of 'rare' parts

Yeah I have noticed that too, its the convenience isnt it. probably the biggest 'random stuff' supermarket that you can get to with the click of a mouse. so now a buyer is paying what the daft and loaded people can afford to pay, for the special stuff. Wide x pack for spoke, they are a fair whack. 650 for some refubed ones i saw somewhere recently. oh and a Cossie 3 door splitter, about 900 quid IIRC! FFS thats stoopid!

Theres two things going on.

1. People who are not in the know about retro cars buying stuff as the scene has taken off and people want in, but don't have the background of 10, 20 years pigging about with old bangers so don't know about the "usual" sources so end up bidding against each other on eBay.

2. There was a finite amount of this stuff made and its getting used up. Prices will be driven by supply and demand. Look how the prices of desirable retro cars have gone through the roof (usually the Fords LOL) so if the car's worth the money, you know you can get it back, so you don't mind spending the long cash to get the right parts.

Theres guys getting into it who were into it back int he day and couldn't afford what they really wanted, but can now and theres guys getting into it who are here for the first time and its all new and exciting (and are probably used to the horrendous price of main dealer parts!)

I'm reminded of the classic car boom of the 80s when prices went mental and people were asking crazy money for any old tat. And then the market crashed and there were bargains galore.

One of the best games on muscle car forums now is "guess the stupid price of the eBay auction". Someone spots an old stock part and you all have to guess what the final bid will be. I saw a chrome window trim retainer (a bit of metal about 4" long and .25" wide) for a Baracuda sell for $1700 recently. A new gear stick retaining nut (just a freakin nut, but in a GM supply box) for a Camaro go for $400.

Its madness.

But the "fad" buyers will move on to what ever is cool next in a few years and some guys will be left holding piles of over-valued stuff they paid too much for 'cos that was the "market price" at the time.

the bay thing seems to me (for normalish fad car parts) that people havnt got a clue that scrapyards still exist. i pay for most of my car buying and fixing up through buying scrappy parts and letting dozy/lazy people pay for them on ebay.

remember kids and 20 quid weber carb for a golf from the scrappy will get you £65-90 on ebay ;D ;D

and long may it last

it would make sense. Any old tat sells on ebay!

It's a shame because it makes what used to be a cheap hobby now quite expensive. Parts for mine for instance have gone from cheap to ridiculous in the time I've owned the car. I can see it putting off young'uns from the classic car scene, but at the end of the day isn't that why the whole retro thing has come about? I mean retro as post-classic cars, so like mid 70's and on like most of the stuff on here is.

You have to know whats worth money to make the old scrapyard- ebay trading work. Theres loads of money to be made if you know more than the scrap man

I blame the Internet and car forums. Car parts now have exposure to so many potential buyers, it's only logical they are going up in value.

eBay has a similar effect on everything - been looking to buy a playhouse for our daughter and people are buying secondhand ones for not far short of what brand new ones cost, and then they've got the hassle of dismantling and transporting them.

eBay thrives on competitive spirit, and I suppose a male-dominated area such as cars will get a lot of that. Some people almost seem proud of how much they paid for something. Fortunately my tastes err towards overlooked models where people don't pay much......

there are a couple of specific dismantlers round our way (stevens for vw) (tbp for fiat) both are properly high prices for some bits
but on the up side they always have one.
i like going to scrap yards as it gives you ideas while you're there