MORE than expensive - outrageous!

This whole doller per unit of weight thing has got to go... A
pentium 4 3.2 Ghz costs about $600. It weight about 500 grams. Thats
$120 / gram. Convert to ounces youself. maybe you should buy a
Buick? I know you gave up Detriot long ago, but you said you're near
retirement age... i doubt you'll live long enough to see that car
start to fail and blow up.

 

With or without the driver and passengers? LOL!

 

|> ------------------------------
|
|A company I used to work for would yearly INCREASE the price of parts for
|their products as they neared the end of their 'long-term product support
|period'.They explained this as their way of letting the customer know it's
|time to buy a new unit.After the long-term product support period
|ended,parts for that item were discarded,and made 'no longer available'.
|Most consumer products have NO guarantee of parts support for any length of
|time,especially not after 22 years after last manufacture of the product.

This is the norm in the aftermarket these days, but for different reasons. As
parts decline in popularity it becomes more expensive to keep them on the shelf.
To pay for that, almost all parts stores us "velocity pricing", which gives the
most popular parts the least markup, and the slowest parts get the greatest
markup.

Here's a typical velocity pricing scheme for parts rated 1 - 7, with 1 being the
most popular. The basis is the manufacturer's suggested resale price:

Code 1 - 10% discount
Code 2 - 2% discount
Code 3 - straight price
Code 4 - add 5%
Code 5 - add 7%
Code 6 - add 10%
Code 7 - add 15%

This can happen at all three levels - manufacturer, distributor, and retail
store - which can add up to some staggering differentials in the price of
apparently similar parts. We watch for these and try to adjust.

Because one store's dog is another's hot item, it pays to compare prices.
Sometimes the best deal is the local Mom & Pop independent, because they don't
have the guile or the technology to play the pricing games. Also, you can
often get a better price on a part for a special-interest car from a speciaist,
because their hot numbers are dogs at the chain stores.
So, the more oddball or expensive the part, the more it pays to shop.

Most stores have a separate pricing scheme for the pros. Usually they have
little or no velocity pricing. If you buy a lot of parts, it may pay to trade
with a single store if you can get on their "dealer" price model. You might
occasionally pay a little more, but on average you will be better off and won't
have to spend a lot of time shopping. Deal with the manager, and expect to be a
good customer to them in every way. Give them complete ordering information,
don't abuse them on returns & warrantees.

If you buy a lot of parts,

 

|Actually, the hard part is understanding the rational for calling this
|a $28 part. It's just mental gymnastics to create rational
|explanations for made up "facts".... kind of fun and creative but not
|meaningful in any kind of real way.
|
|The only fact is that the part costs $193 from Honda. Is that
|expensive? Is that inexpensive? Who knows. The only other thing I'm
|sure of is that the price has nothing what-so-ever to do with weight!
|
|On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 04:02:06 -0400, "Den and Barb"
|
|>I have tried to follow this thread and have yet to read "WHY" a $28. part
|>retails for $193.

Just to stir the pot: Borg Warner charges us $41.17 for a 1991 igniter.

 

Miles and years factor into this equation whether YOU care or not.
That is why all car warranties are for x amount of miles and x amount
of years.

So given that you are discouraged that the part failed you should
consider it has lasted for 20+ years, which surpasses any warranty
I've ever seen.

 

$73.55USD from Majestic Honda
http://tinyurl.com/in0t

 

Somehow I get the impression that folks here do not consider $193 to be

Well, I sure do! It IS a rip-off!

As for finding an 1981 car in an auto salvage yard after all these
years, I have the SAME problem but a whole lot worse: Try finding a
1973 Datsun 1200!

Fortunately, though, it's got no igniters, ECU, CEL or sensors to
speak of...just a simple carbuerator, points, condensor, plugs...and
an oil filter that not only is mounted vertically (instead of
horizontally), but is quite easily accessible.

But as for parts, I haven't seen one of these cars in a junkyard for
years. Eventually I may have to give it up just for that reason...I
guess that sometimes happens if you keep a car long enough.

John D.

 

|
|As for finding an 1981 car in an auto salvage yard after all these
|years, I have the SAME problem but a whole lot worse: Try finding a
|1973 Datsun 1200!
|
|But as for parts, I haven't seen one of these cars in a junkyard for
|years. Eventually I may have to give it up just for that reason...I
|guess that sometimes happens if you keep a car long enough.

Buy a parts car from an individual and pay someone to store it for you where you
can access it as needed.

 

Max:

You're right, I don't have towing coverage. I drive an old car and I
know that I will have to be towed every now and again, maybe once every
decade. I keep $100 in a strategic place in the car just for that
purpose. But, remember, I have the work done that needs to be done.
The car is in perfect mechanical condition, at last as perfect as it
can be for it's mileage. My insurance is to tell the mechanic at oil
change time to sniff out anything that detracts from safety and
reliability. This time, I remember sitting in the car waiting for the
tow truck thinking that this was the first time that this car had been
on the hook, so my strategy works.

Your statement that "things are worth what people are willing to pay
for them" is good for discretionary purchases. But an igniter is not a
discretionary purchase. The car doesn't work without it and I needed
one now, not after trying to beat my mechanic's price and ticking him
off. It's a bit like the television ad where the tow truck drives up
and the stranded motorist asks the tow truck driver for his
competitor's rates. It just doesn't happen.

For your information, after the car was repaired, I drove to an auto
parts store and asked their price. $266. The dealer part actually had
a lower price! Go figure. My mechanic said that the same part for
later models was half or less than the one I hadda have.

I reject the notion that "You are just bitter you had something break
on you, even though it happened after 22 years of use (and all things
considered, did not cost that much.)." As I said before, it has
110,000 miles on it, not 22 years. If a car is used every few days and
is maintained properly, then time is irrelevant except for paint and
upholstery and other things that succumb to UV degradation and rust.

You say that "the cost of that part is not the just the cost of the
materials and manufacturing - it's the millions of dollars that went
into the design." Sorry, I don't agree with you. Companies write off
the expenses you refer to in the year of manufacture. The subsequent
cost of parts for replacement purposes is more in line with the actual
cost of producing the part and putting it through the distribution
chain.

If there is any residual cost like the one to which you refer, then it
is the "designing" (meaning scheming) costs of management trying to
figure out how to take advantage of their customers who break down and
have to get the part. This is not a part that the dealer mechanic
looks at during routine maintenance and tells you that it looks worn
out or is in jeopardy of failing and needs to be replaced. It ain't
that kinda animal. The only reason anyone needs the $193 (for a $27)
part is because of a breakdown. They have their customers over a
barrel on this one. And they really stick it to them. There IS no $60
aftermarket part.

-

 

First of all, half of that cost involves insurance and administrative
expenses. The rest pays the doctor and overhead like equipment. Of
course, I'm guessing, but just for the purposes of discussion. A part
is a part and not so complicated as the procedure you refer to. The
cost of distribution and stocking are amortized over thousands of other
parts in inventory. Apples and oranges.

Remember, now, my comparison was a "what if." I picked a notebook
computer because it has electronic components in a plastic case just
like the igniter. So the analysis was not "patently ridiculous," it
was maybe at most coincidental due to the similarity of materials and
components.

Yeah, but likely you had warning that this repair was needed. You
could have shopped around. You likely had time to prepare. I got
dropped off the hook and had no choice except walk or get the car
fixed. One of life's little extortions.

Okay, there's an age factor, but if the car is kept in good repair,
mileage is the primary consideration. The matter of age was brought up
in another context (i.e., my being grateful that the car lasted so
long, but I reject that notion because it is a low -mileage
well-maintained car).

$193 was the cost of the part alone.

 

I know better than try to get any leverage with threats to a sales
manager that I'll buy a different make of car because of the
outrageously overpriced part. However, I guess I did say as I left
that he should think about how to keep customers coming back after
having been ripped off by his parts department.

I didn't say anything about goodwill/word-of-mouth. This incident will
be my pet peeve for a long time. I'll keep that part right up on the
dashboard as a reminder to jawbone it to my passengers. Other dealers
might rip their customers off too, but this is the incident I will
remember and talk about for a long time.

Remind me not to buy a Dodge.

 

Somehow I have to believe that this is not the only thing that astounds
you.

The $19.30 figure was derived from the $193.00 price and my speculation
that perhaps some math-challenged Japanese fellow misplaced the decimal
point.

If you happen to run across an '81 Honda in a junkyard, take out the
igniter and pry off the cap to look inside. It REALLY DOES look like a
$19.30 part. If they sold it for $50, I wouldn't have a problem with
it.

By the way, I'm not a complete mechanical idiot. Next time you fly you
should think about the fact that I may have just worked on one of the
engines or perhaps the flaps or landing gear. Sorry in advance.

Oh, and age may have something to do with it, but a well-maintained car
is is less a creature of age than mileage. My '81 Honda is really sort
of middle-aged at 110,000 miles. But, if you looked at it, mostly due
to the bad paint year of 1981, it looks like it should be scrapped.

 

Makes sense.

 

I was speaking of 22 years not being as important as the mileage
strictly in relation to the unit, not to any parts
manufacturing/distribution/stocking dynamic.

 

I had fun with it. Have you seen the inside of an igniter? Inside and
out it really has a lot in common with a computer. Now, I'm silly
enough to say that they're equivalent, but it was a good comparison.

 

Oh, c'mon. The comparison was not intended to be scientific certain
nor meet any particular standards, specifications or conventions.

But, both parts are made of electronic components in plastic. So, it
was fun. Thanks for being so broad minded.

A Buick? Think it'll be as good as my '50 (3 on the column, straight
eight) or my 1955 Roadmaster?

My real objective is to ditch cars altogether. Perhaps I'll do it
earlier than I'd planned. Public transportation is okay with me. When
I need a car, a rental will do. The older I get the fewer places I
seem to have to go. That's why I have an '81 Honda with 110,000 mile
on it. And a brand new outrageously expensive ignitor, geeze.

 

Okay. That's fine. Mental gymnastics... kind of fun and creative... I
can agree with that. The only really pertinent facts are that the part
cost an arm and a leg as far as I'm concerned, I feel like I got ripped
off, and I am not taking it without complaint. The rest of the
discussion is fluff.

 

I really didn't have much of a choice. My only means of transportation
just got dropped off the hook and it needed that part. Shopping was
out of the question. What do I say? Loan me a good ignitor so I can
drive around to try to find a better price than the one you are wanting
to charge me? I don't think so. Don't be that guy.

I was stuck paying for the expensive part. No other option was
reasonably available.

 

Thanks.

Even the mechanic showed me later year ignitors and said that they were
half or less than half the cost of my igniter.

 

Warranty is not the question. I believe that this part should not have
burned out in the first place, but it did, in which and like cases I
expect to pay something reasonable (even if it's at the high end of
reasonableness) for a replacement part, not get my wallet jacked out of
my jeans.