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USED European Luxury Cars (pre 1990)
1109 messages, Last post on May 02, 2007 at 6:18 AM
You are in the Classic Cars Forum.- Your Host is mr_shiftright
What is this discussion about? BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi
#1108 of 1109 Re: Looking for BMW Parts? Mercedes? Porsche? Jaguar? Imports? [joyrider147] by Mr_Shiftright HOST
Mar 04, 2007 (8:27 pm)
Not surprised that they have a lot of those BMW models. Those are not really the "hot" models, so many of those old parts will rot on the cars I fear, although some folks will selectively pick stuff off 528s as they share parts with the i models. If they were 528i, 325s, Ms, 2002s and 635CSi, they wouldn't even be there anymore. And nobody wants junk 914s or 924s (the 914 aftermarket parts market is excellent---outstanding actually)...and definitely nobody wants old Jaguar XJ6s unless there is some cherry chrome on there.
Actually a very solid 914 tub would be desirable, as these cars can be build into great AutoX cars.
#1109 of 1109 Cost of Parts by hpmctorque
May 02, 2007 (6:18 am)
I know that Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche parts tend to be very expensive, but I don't know exactly why this is, or whether there's a valid justification for it. Do these manufacturers tend to price their new cars aggressively, relative to their cost to manufacture, and then try to recoup profits through replacement parts, kind of like Gilette does with razor blades and Kodak does with film? Do they simply charge what the traffic will bear, thereby taking advantage of the fact that owners of these cars are willing to pay considerably more for parts than owners of Chevys, Fords, Hondas, Nissans and Toyotas? Do German car parts tend to cost more to manufacture, due to their design?To expand the question to include parts and labor, why is the term "money pit", or variations of that term, associated more with German cars(and Swedish and British, for that matter) than with domestic and Asian brands? I know that mechanics who work on European cars frequently charge a higher hourly rate (which may be why they're more often referred to as technicians), but that doesn't entirely explain the higher labor charges. For example, I've been told that oil changes on Porsches cost about $250, because the engine has to be dropped.
Have Lexus, Infinity, and maybe Cadillac adopted the German/European pricing model, thereby leaving reliability as the primary cost-to-maintain differentiater between luxury models?
I can only guess about what the answers to these questions are, but maybe some of you have better insight on this matter than I do. One thing beyond question is that the high cost of parts, especially, is a deterent to owning an old German luxury car.
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