Topic: ridiculous prices continue........

[116Benz]

Styria, I hope you didn't think I was having a go at you, just making some comments about prices of parts, you don't decide the prices MB charges you for the parts.
I do appreciate your help in these matters as you have always been a most helpful chap and others here will testify to that.

Absolutley. Your on the money Des!

[Andrew280SEL]

+1 to that!

[oscar]

Here's an interesting video of the Classic Centre in CA.  Still committed to providing parts "no matter how old the car is". 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AXMuY-c-Om0

I find it amazing that of all the MB's sold in the US post WW2, 72% are still on the road and he quotes there being 550,000 classic MB's in the US.  It's a good speech but surely they're missing the point that a lot are at risk of becoming wrecks due to ridiculous parts prices.   It's hardly a commitment when that percentage is likely to fall due to the unjustified exorbitant parts prices.

The old Benz market is completely different to the new Benz market and I honestly believe keeping old benzes on the road does not affect new car sales.  It's a testament to the company and free advertising to see older benzes on the road.  And surely they'd move more product, spares and new cars.  Case in point, that d-jet manifold pressure sensor @ $2200 was the quote for brettj.  How many of those would they sell a month?  If they were priced at $300-500, still a bit steep at the top end but they'd probably make more money by selling more at a cheaper price.  And what about hubcaps. 50-60-70 dollars.  100 dollars maybe.  Who on earth will pay $500 other than to replace the hubcaps on museum pieces.

[nathan]

thread hijack, yoinks!

oscar, perhaps when he says 72% of MBs sold in the US after the war are still on the road, maybe as a silly yank he is referring to the iraq war!  seriuosly though, id agree with that figure for mid 80s on cars in the US but not before that, definitely not...its on 72% as a figure because several hundred thousand of each model range fom the 90s on were sold cf several thousand of each model before the 80 (Des, dont bring 123 figrues into this! i know theres shitloads)...so really, there wouldnt be many 'old' mercs left as benz priced them off the road but they miff the figrues so it sounds good i reckon...clever statistics!
cynically
nathan

[s class]

Certainly W140's can be costly to run, but often that is a result of previous owners' negligence.  Maybe because I'm acclimatised to this, but presently I am finding 6.9 ownership pleasantly cost effective. 

I discovered something amazing at the main dealer - for recent models - say W203/211 onwards, bumpers, rear view mirrors etc come pre-painted - you order with your VIN.  Can you imagine what this does to the cost of inventory - EVERY item has to be stocked in EVERY colour.  

Ryan

[carl888]

I think we need to put all this in perspective.  I am old enough to have restored and run classic cars pre-internet in the late 1980's.  I remember when it was necessary to jump on an airplane to the States and Europe then spend three weeks touring swap meetings and car shows chasing new and used parts than to buy bits here.  Not because they were over priced in Australia, but because you couldn't buy them here at all! 

What about 32% sales tax in the late 1990's and parts only coming in by sea freight?  I still have my old Agfa microfiche viewer for spare parts catalogues that I used in the 80's and 90's. Service and spare parts books could not be purchased unless you were an authorised dealer and I had to bribe a service manager $200 cash to accidentally sell me a set of fiche for my car!

But the fact is, if it wasn't for the efforts of the "Stealership" in the first place, then none of us would have a 116 now.  We should also be thankful that we have a choice, we can order the parts from our local authoroised dealer, we can support an independant, we can cross reference any Bosch part because they all have that 9 digit code on them so we can buy direct from Bosch if we need to.  We can order parts electronically from just about anywhere.  Freight charges are moderate and fast, pretty hard not to have anything in your hand within 6 days from order from overseas.

Finally, we can jump on this great forum and ask people all around the world what they do, we can whinge and bitch, but the fact is, we have never had it better.  We can get a part number, download the workshop manual, even check the colour chart and decipher the options codes.  We can even swap parts amongst ourselves.  People on this forum have even sent me parts for free!

My 280 SE cost $17,650 AUD on the road in early 1974.  That was about the same price as a single story terrace house in Carlton which would sell for about $500,000 of todays money.  We are lucky that 116's are very very cheap now and haven't gone the way of Ferrari Daytona's and Porsche 911 RS 2.7's.....just about any 116 can be bought for no more than 4 months depreciation on a new Commodore.

I'm not saying that some parts are not expensive, because many are, but we must all be thankful we have so many resources at our fingertips today. 

Regards,

Carl.

[CraigS]

The various Presidents from the MB Clubs are meeting from around the world in Stuttgart next week. I have passed on this thread to Stu Hammel - M100 club President, as he, and others, are taking up this issue, and the issue of availability of parts, at this meeting.

[nim205]

The guy in the Youtube link told it as it is: "a viable business". It all boils down to how much people are willing to dish out for a hobby, and apparently it is quite a lot in the case of a classic MB.

The only way to lower prices is by lowering demand or increasing supply. The internet has done just that. To give an example, my local dealership wanted about $500 USD for a cold-start injector. I got it from Autohausaz for about $150, and the MB dealership will be stuck with their parts until they realise they have to make a smaller profit if they want to sell.

[Andrew280SEL]

But the fact is, if it wasn't for the efforts of the "Stealership" in the first place, then none of us would have a 116 now....

...Finally, we can jump on this great forum and ask people all around the world what they do, we can whinge and bitch, but the fact is, we have never had it better.  We can get a part number, download the workshop manual, even check the colour chart and decipher the options codes.  We can even swap parts amongst ourselves.  People on this forum have even sent me parts for free!

Very true.

I'm such a bitch.

[oscar]

Carl, you make some good points and it reminds of someone, can't remember who, posting a while back on the difficulties faced by owners of marques no longer in existence whereby no official parts stream exist.  Ingenuity of individuals or groups the only resource for fabricating some items.  There's no way I could have done what I've done, or know what I know had it not been for the net, online catalogues, the forum and relatively cheap shipping plus the quick clearance of items thru customs in Aus when the value is under $1K.  No complaints here.

Nim, I agree with the "viable business" comment in the video and I have to think in big US terms of how much for example the Pebble Beach kind of attendees will spend on a complete resto.  No doubt, price isn't an issue there.  Reliable availability is.

I'll still whinge though about the ridiculous v the reasonable of course.  Only making the point that the company themselves, and the dealers are pricing themselves out of a possible market gain in OEM parts.  I wouldn't expect supermarket style pricing motivated by quantity selling at clearance prices, however, I would guess more competitive reasonable pricing and parts availability would lead to more sales and an increase in profits.

Nathan, I got my doubts about certain figures too.  For one, even we all had a debate sometime ago with no finite answer as to whether the w116 could be classed as a classic.  So how many of the 550,000 are classics, and are mainstream 80's and 90's MB's classed as classics, and do they make up the bulk of the 72% of all MB's sold in the US still on the roads.

[nathan]

Oscar,
you know a good slab of that 72% would be 124s and 126s (40% of people know this !)

its funny though, mums still got her 124 wagen we bought off the dock in 1990...i cant consider this car classic, although its now a 20+ yr old design, as i grew up with it...i have trouble considering cars old when they existed in my youth...which is why i dont necessarily still see the 116 as an old car, although im starting to now as i hardly ever see them on the roads anymore (too many of the 20 yr old miners are driving 70 thousand $ HSV utes rather than classic motoring!)

attached is a pic of old faithful at the fremantle docks, by the way, what is the car behind it between the shitty rangies
another pic of its predecessor, our 123 wagen dad collected form the factory in germany and drove around before bringing back to perth...my goal is to one day own a tidy silver wagen to match the silver 6.9

[116Benz]

HOLY CRAP! another 300TE in Almandine Red! I had one of those.

(keeping the thread on track) A while ago, there was an MB incentive for W123 & W201 Owners to get discount rates on parts and accessories, in order to bring back money to MB and not go into the coffers of other places. In the U.K BMW have a cheap alternative (still uses BMW parts, just sometimes reco'd, and a lower labour rate). Still, I wonder if we would all show up and get our cars servced there if MB was to do something similiar.

[oscar]

Don't suppose you still have that round number plate   Great pics.
Shitty rangies indeed

Anyway, this may sound a bit too coincidental for this thread but I swear, whilst fueling up on Friday, a guy walks out of the inkjet cartridge place next door to the service station and starts asking me questions about the 350.  He said he couldn't get over how good it looked from his window 15feet away, he just had to check it out in person.  We're standing at the back and he's saying how good the paint was and how does it go? How much have I spent?  Nearly $9000 now I said, (halve that if MB had realistic parts prices ).  The best bit though, he asks - what is it, a 380? He looks at the badge as I say 350.  He asks what year 1980 something? Nope, 1973, it's 34 years old.  Nearly floored the poor bloke.  Yes, great cars indeed we agreed.  We went our separate ways wearing ear to ear grins.  At that moment Jennifer Hawkins could have walked up and asked me out for a movie, I wouldn't have noticed her. (Unless she was naked maybe)  

But how's that for advertising, living the dream, keeping up appearances, giving MB credibility for quality design, engineering and durability 34 years on.

I deserve cheaper parts and I second the motion.

[116Benz]

Plates? no unfortunatley, In the pic is some 190's, Rangies, a Jag and a few Volvo 240's. People like that always make you grin.
I had a google, the BMW solution is called BMW plus four (BMW's over 4 yrs of age, other than that theres no age limit), cheaper parts, labour etc.

[CraigS]

But who does Autohaus get it from ? MB of course, so if Autohaus can sell it for that price, why can't MB ?

The only way to lower prices is by lowering demand or increasing supply. The internet has done just that. To give an example, my local dealership wanted about $500 USD for a cold-start injector. I got it from Autohausaz for about $150, and the MB dealership will be stuck with their parts until they realise they have to make a smaller profit if they want to sell.