So why are parts so expensive these days?

[suladas]

‘Caterpillar parts………reassuringly expensive’………….

That’s probably why they figure on 10x. In any other brand it’s only a fraction of that.

 

[nicky 68a]

I sulk from time to time over the price of certain parts for my comercial and leisure vehicles,but I remind myself that if I don’t like it,then sell up and go flip burgers at McDonalds instead

 

[suladas]

I sulk from time to time over the price of certain parts for my comercial and leisure vehicles,but I remind myself that if I don’t like it,then sell up and go flip burgers at McDonalds instead

Totally. As much as I complain about parts prices and rates being low, still making an extremely good living.

But paying $1000 for a wiper controller which is just a tiny board really pissed me off though, I bet it didn’t cost $10 to make.

 

[nicky 68a]

The ability to make an ‘extremely good living’ as you put it,seems to have eluded me over the years but I do ‘fair to middling’ (that’s a common English term for modesty) .I put this down primarily to having half an idea how to move muck and sticking with the Cat brand.Yes parts aren’t cheap but neither is a Cat machine and you can allways sell a Cat if you have to.
Budgies are the only thing going cheap and see how much you can sell one of those for in hard times

 

[Flat Thunder Channel]

I got lost in all the comments. I apologize if it's a repeat. This is the beautiful thing about capitalism. If I have something you need I can charge whatever price I value that service or component at. You are not forced to use my services or products. Aside from some shady price gouging in the pharmaceutical world most price changes and adjustments are well within the ethical and legal definition of capitalism.

The pin and bushing in question does sound expensive. However you have to keep in mind it isn't just the material expense. The manufacturing company has a cost of keeping that component on the shelf as inventory. The less common a component the more expensive each piece will cost. Largely because all the extra expenses related to production, inventory and processing are distributed over a larger set of units sold; ie more pieces sold with less extra per piece.

All that being said I would investigate possibly sourcing custom machined components and or learning to make my own repair pieces. This has a potential to be expensive as well. If the replacement custom pieces do not perform as well as the factory originals you might end up changing them multiple times or worst case scenario get stuck from a failed component.

Without knowing all the details of the pin I could estimate a machine shop would bill out anywhere from $300 -$600 for a pin. If it requires heat treating or hard chrome it will be an additional expense. The extra processing is where the fees will spike. Usually these services have a minimum charge. The process itself is cheap on a per piece part of volume orders. Heat treating a basket of pins would require the same amount of work as a single piece.

It might be time for an in house machine shop? I would definitely try my hand at maching a new pin. Not so sure on the bushings. Keep in mind the material hardness needs to differ by a minimum of 5 points on the HRC hardness scale. If they do not it's a good chance they will pick up and metal 'galling' could occur between the pin and bushing. Possibly more than what you asked for..... Just my thoughts. Cheers,

 

[56wrench]

And then add 'proprietary' protection on electronic and computerized components and software or other technology and then you have a situation that has the potential to be VERY expensive after the warranty is off for the cost of repair until patents expire or somebody offshore reverse engineers the widget and offers it for sale on the web for a reasonable price

 

[mekanik]

I worked behind the parts counter at a Kenworth Dealer in British Columbia for a couple years.
A owner operator came in looking for a fuel tank cap. I looked it up and we had one. It was $99.00
He hit the roof and said "I can buy that for under $50.00 in Alberta and stormed out.
For curiosity I phoned a KW dealer in Edmonton Alberta and asked if the had a fuel cap for that truck.
They did and it was just under $50.00. Our computer inventory system said that we paid more than
$50.00 for that cap. Some dealers are crooks.

 

[cuttin edge]

I worked behind the parts counter at a Kenworth Dealer in British Columbia for a couple years.
A owner operator came in looking for a fuel tank cap. I looked it up and we had one. It was $99.00
He hit the roof and said "I can buy that for under $50.00 in Alberta and stormed out.
For curiosity I phoned a KW dealer in Edmonton Alberta and asked if the had a fuel cap for that truck.
They did and it was just under $50.00. Our computer inventory system said that we paid more than
$50.00 for that cap. Some dealers are crooks.

I think pricing can be regional as well. When the paper mill was in full swing, and people were making union wages, the car dealers were crazy, you could drive an hour and get a way better deal.

 

[chidog]

I worked behind the parts counter at a Kenworth Dealer in British Columbia for a couple years.
A owner operator came in looking for a fuel tank cap. I looked it up and we had one. It was $99.00
He hit the roof and said "I can buy that for under $50.00 in Alberta and stormed out.
For curiosity I phoned a KW dealer in Edmonton Alberta and asked if the had a fuel cap for that truck.
They did and it was just under $50.00. Our computer inventory system said that we paid more than
$50.00 for that cap. Some dealers are crooks.

That is pretty much normal mark up for many outfits, I have a buddy and his good friend would mark up 100% and he was the lest expensive to purchase from. Go figure.
The ones I like the best are the lies auto dealers say, and sorry there is no way they can pay for 5 million dollar dealership buildings by shop warranty work, or $500 over what they say they pay for the cars from the manufacture. Mark up, just a huge hidden tax. Ya all need to try living on a fixed retirement income, the tunes would change.

 

[Flat Thunder Channel]

Dealers at least stateside are allowed to charge full MSRP on parts. Most of them incorporate a discount over the list price, but it isn't always universal.

I used to purchase all my replacement car parts from my local Ford dealership. The parts guy knew returning customers were better than making a killing off of a single sale. I would even buy spark plugs, wires and brake parts from him when aftermarket units were readily available. I was a regular customer.

Flash forward a few years and the parts department rearranged personnel. My regular parts guy was replaced with a younger more business oriented woman. I made a total of one purchase from her. I informed her of my previous arrangement and how I would purchase all components from them. After I left I researched in more detail and discovered it was readily available at a fraction of what she charged me. I could even purchase it from other dealers for much less. That was my last purchase from them.

Now I shop more in the old intra nets and do not have a dedicated source for factory Ford parts.

 

[suladas]

Dealers at least stateside are allowed to charge full MSRP on parts. Most of them incorporate a discount over the list price, but it isn't always universal.

I used to purchase all my replacement car parts from my local Ford dealership. The parts guy knew returning customers were better than making a killing off of a single sale. I would even buy spark plugs, wires and brake parts from him when aftermarket units were readily available. I was a regular customer.

Flash forward a few years and the parts department rearranged personnel. My regular parts guy was replaced with a younger more business oriented woman. I made a total of one purchase from her. I informed her of my previous arrangement and how I would purchase all components from them. After I left I researched in more detail and discovered it was readily available at a fraction of what she charged me. I could even purchase it from other dealers for much less. That was my last purchase from them.

Now I shop more in the old intra nets and do not have a dedicated source for factory Ford parts.

I had a similar situation at Dodge dealer, many years ago I bought a few trucks a year at auction and flipped for profit so I was always buying parts, I got between 10-20% off at dealer depending on part so virtually all parts were actually a good price and the parts guy was good, none of this I need your vin for windshield wipers deal. After a very unfortunate event unfolding at the dealer there was new parts people who were awful and after a few times of dealing with incompetence starting going elsewhere.

 

[Flat Thunder Channel]

I had a similar situation at Dodge dealer, many years ago I bought a few trucks a year at auction and flipped for profit so I was always buying parts, I got between 10-20% off at dealer depending on part so virtually all parts were actually a good price and the parts guy was good, none of this I need your vin for windshield wipers deal. After a very unfortunate event unfolding at the dealer there was new parts people who were awful and after a few times of dealing with incompetence starting going elsewhere.

Sounds like the exact same experience! I think it stems from owners and businesses focusing only on profits. 'our parts department had more sales than the neighboring dealer, but only made a small amount more'. Pay no attention to the fact they generated more customer loyalty and return customers. Turning of times I suppose.

 

[Dakota_56]

I am in manufacturing/engineering. I see a lot of this as a moving target. Right now, I am seeing price gouge to the max. People are seeing what they can get away with. I have seen parts at $300, then $500 a week later, then back to $300. They are gouging. They are all making excuses about it too. Fuel is no exception!! There is ZERO reason for the price to be high other than oil guys take advantage of any change in the world as an excuse to raise price. They act like they can't hit demand when I know full well they have 80% of the wells on a trickle.

I'd love to build quality components for this industry, but to be honest, no one cares about quality anymore. Not even one! Even in the first post, it is about price. If only I could get my hands on some of that bubblegum alloy crap they call steel in China. I am just not that dishonest. I have learned that several industries have zero understanding of quality so they shop on prices. $5 is all it takes! But if demand is not there, guys are also waiting to gouge that market good.

Actually we innovated several parts in the auto racing markets. I personally designed and programmed them. Use to get people whining about price, but we are talking $60 for one part. They act like it should cost what the OEM does, which was friggin casted plastic and mine is a machined and hobbed part!!!! Then some asshat sent my part to China to be made cheaper. They of course did a complete **** job and everyone stopped buying ours. Then China did what they do, which is just sell it directly to consumers.

This is the pattern guys! People will whine paying a little more, even while getting REAL phone support, warranty, and knowing they got the good stuff. I still have guys online wanting to know where we went, why we don't answer the phone, etc. YUP!!!!!! Call China and tell them about your problem!!!! Me sow sowey!!! Not really. There is no one to call. I engineered many parts and they were all stolen by morons that don't even know the different between tension and compression, but they try to act like they do. Then wonder why I made an exit from that industry!!!!

Love to design/build parts for this industry but not convinced it will be much different.

FastLine’ you are 100% correct in everything you wrote. Exactly the same stories applied here in my small town in the manufacturing ind. from rail cars to chocolate factories bought for nothing and moved to Mexico.no machine shop can Compare to china either. As I was getting ready to retire and wanting to keep metal working and designing items for my self and making a few dollars on the side I purchased welding machine(s) and a lathe,milling machine for my hobbies for my enjoyment to be able to dream up stuff and build it. From excavator thumbs mods, to reversing gear to allow the install my 6ft snow blower on the front of my tractor instead of the rear to tire changers and balancers, even a couple of cannons. Too much of our trade skills are being lost over sea and we need young skill trades persons to ensure we don’t lose our future industrial independents. I was just one of this kids who grew up and didn’t know we were poor but my dad could built anything from nothing and I wanted to be the same,so I had to work for everything and learn to share with others who couldn’t.

 

[mekanik]

The dealer I worked for had a bonus system for the parts manager. There were different levels of
bonus depending on each months sales. The last week of the month the parts manager would go
through all the months invoices and work orders and adjust prices in order and make the next
level of bonus.

 

[John C.]

A dealer by definition in a capitalist system is able to put any price they want on an asset they are intending to sell. It is only the law of supply and demand that keeps prices in check. The only caveat to that is an outside source of influence such as contractural obligations and rules established through societal rules and/or regulations. That you got a better price is because you changed your status in the level of trade. You went from a retail level to a wholesale level simply because of the number of interactions and maybe a tax number. In today's economy, the checks and balances have been short circuited by past political practice and the sudden changes due to a pandemic. What might be asked is how much of these price changes are due to industries taking advantage of the situation? Why is the cost of power so high? Nothing has changed in the production and supply to the masses except the retail price.

 

[Birken Vogt]

It's like the suppliers collectively decided they were being too nice and decided to start wringing every drop. I have actually heard internal comments to that effect. I was kind of locked in with them at the time, but since then things have changed and I only go to them when I have to now.

"Excessive profits breed ruinous competition." That is in a book somewhere. We have not gotten to the ruinous competition stage yet. But it is coming. Unless regulatory influence is applied to keep competition out. We all know that happens as well.

 

[chidog]

The way fuel is going up I think it won't be too long equipment costs may come down, especially if the interest rates start the up creep. Housing will take a dive and so will construction projects. Farming will be the only demand for machinery and parts etc.
The way things are going I see huge auctions in the future. Just a prediction.

 

[AzIron]

The way fuel is going up I think it won't be too long equipment costs may come down, especially if the interest rates start the up creep. Housing will take a dive and so will construction projects. Farming will be the only demand for machinery and parts etc.
The way things are going I see huge auctions in the future. Just a prediction.

There is no cure for high prices like high prices

 

[Flat Thunder Channel]

I was just discussing this yesterday. The housing market is going to drive the economy. The major issue I see is everyone continuing to build new houses during high material prices.

I spoke with an excavator in 2020 and one of his foundation digs had a $21k price hike just for lumber! Yet the customers still choose to complete the house construction. I just don't understand.

Decisions like this will ultimately yield one of two things; massive inflation or a housing crash. The crash would come if everything stabilizes and home owners realize they are paying $200 for a $120k home.

Not 100% related to parts, but the economy as a whole. At the end of the day if people are willing to pay for it then someone's sure to sell it to them.....I'm not buying. I think strayed off topic on this and will stop posting my opinions. Make smart choices and educated purchases. Stay safe everyone! Cheers,

 

[JD955SC]

I was just discussing this yesterday. The housing market is going to drive the economy. The major issue I see is everyone continuing to build new houses during high material prices.

I spoke with an excavator in 2020 and one of his foundation digs had a $21k price hike just for lumber! Yet the customers still choose to complete the house construction. I just don't understand.

Decisions like this will ultimately yield one of two things; massive inflation or a housing crash. The crash would come if everything stabilizes and home owners realize they are paying $200 for a $120k home.

Not 100% related to parts, but the economy as a whole. At the end of the day if people are willing to pay for it then someone's sure to sell it to them.....I'm not buying. I think strayed off topic on this and will stop posting my opinions. Make smart choices and educated purchases. Stay safe everyone! Cheers,

this crash is going to make the last one look like nothing and no amount of spending funny money is going to make it “recover” it will bring down this made up economy completely and we will see hyperinflation and quite likely a complete collapse of government. I’ve studied enough history and economics to know that this cannot stand. It’s going to be wild.

and they are choosing to complete the build in the face of high material cost because they have to due to the extreme demand in many areas. I can sell my house for twice what I paid for it but because so many are moving here I would not be able to get into another house easily at all.

We have people selling 400-500k crappy normal houses out in Cali and bringing that huge cash amount here and buying any piece of property they want, often sight unseen, and either they are buying a new build house or if it’s an existing house they do a remodal or teardown to get what they want and they spend tens of thousands like a normal person spends dollars.

A person like me who has to to finance a house and deal with all that process has no chance for putting an offer in against a cash plus I’ll give you $50k over list buyer. Not to mention I can’t afford the houses anyway.