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So the part didn't even go to a Firebird owner to restore their own car, it went to a scalper who's only in it for the money.
Wish someone made aftermarket reproductions of these center sections and the full taillights.
It sold four days ago. Did you have ebay searches and notifications setup to look for the parts you need for your T/A?
The last time I saw a NOS for sale a few years ago (when I set up the notifications) sold for about $80.
Unfortunately this one was posted and sold while I was sleeping. I only get notifications once a day early in the morning. Is there a way to get push notifications to get them the instant something is posted for sale?
From: Franklin, KY near Beech Bend Raceway, Corvette Plant and Museum.
Car: 1992 Pontiac Firebird
Engine: 5.0L L03 TBI
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Sellers scalping hard to find parts
I also remember before and during Covid-19 lockdown before the Government started giving money away like it grows on trees for FREE we were buying pretty nice to mint 3rd gen Firebirds for $5,000 to $15,000. Now the range seems to be $12,500 to $35,000. These cars and NOS parts for them ain't getting no cheaper.
Entire empires have been built on firebirdude's business model. IIRC, this is how Year One (or one of the national restoration parts sellers) came to be. One guy restores a car, gets noticed, restores another and then goes cross country buying all the NOS parts for a given of model, or models that he can. Then it morphed into a repop business.
Frustrating to be sure but I suppose we all had our chance.
On the flip side, there are those who buy up as many cars that they can (model specific) and then part them out. There's a facility not far from where I live that buys Camaros and Firebirds exclusively. You'll rarely find anything for sale locally and I can't say how far abroad they'll travel for a score. But there are literally thousands of cars in the yard and the reselling price is astronomical.
I used to buy whole thirdgens for $500-$600. Would take what I wanted and some extras and then sell the rest to fund projects. Those days are long gone.
Is that place a picture of David T’s? Those poor cars are gonna rot into the ground and be worthless. Inquire on parts from him and be sitting down when he replies. Prices were crazy even before the pandemic. Probably worse now. I think the owner is just a hoarder and isn’t really serious about selling anything.
Everybody knows his prices are shameful. That's old hat, not even worth talking about any more.
But he works his *** off doing this though. If he got to it first, believe me, he earned it!
If you want that hobby then you too can spend all waking hours doing it and accumulating a junkyard on your property. Still jealous?
Maybe just work a few extra hours in your good job instead, and be glad that's all it took to get the item of your dreams.
I used to buy whole thirdgens for $500-$600. Would take what I wanted and some extras and then sell the rest to fund projects. Those days are long gone.
Is that place a picture of David T’s? Those poor cars are gonna rot into the ground and be worthless. Inquire on parts from him and be sitting down when he replies. Prices were crazy even before the pandemic. Probably worse now. I think the owner is just a hoarder and isn’t really serious about selling anything.
Yep. David T's. I've been there several times but have learned what to expect. Consequently, I haven't been there in a long while. I'll wager a guess and say the land he occupies is worth a great deal more than the sum of all the cars on the lot. I doubt he cares about their destiny.
That said, I've no longer the need for salvage parts. Or a parts car. Or another project for that matter. I've got some and they're verrry nice! (Quote Monty Python and The Holy Grail)
I've got the T-shirt too. And a key fob. Perks of once being a "preferred purchaser".
Every time a contact David Ts they say they don't have the part and the haven't had any of those parts in years for those cars.
the used /NOS parts market has dried up. Parts cost what people will pay for them. I payed 150 for a center console for my 82 TA. I payed 300 for the car in 1997 and it was in good shape. Those 82-84 cars have some rare parts.
I have no problem with people buying parts and reselling them. I do this also to support my hobby by selling or trading the parts I acquire. Driving on a Sunday 3 hours each way to pick up parts for free and resell them gives me the right to do that. Especially since family time at our our starts Sunday at 5 pm which we had that tradition for over 20 years.
Yes parts have dried up for not only our cars but most cars over 25. Crap I even paid $300 shipped last night for an NOS C4 vette rear hatch weatherstripping as my C4 is a Top Flight winner.
You got to pay the piper if you want to play in the old car world.
Considering the NEWEST 3rd gen is 30 years old..... parts becoming rare really shouldn't come as a surprise..... Yep, folks are gonna take advantage of that. Buy cheap, sell for outrageous prices. But, if folks will PAY those prices, this will continue to be a viable business model.
Good OEM parts are going for a lot of money. Until the aftermarket steps up with good or great replacement parts, the price of the dwindling supply of good OEM parts will continue to go up.
Every time a contact David Ts they say they don't have the part and the haven't had any of those parts in years for those cars.
the used /NOS parts market has dried up. Parts cost what people will pay for them. I payed 150 for a center console for my 82 TA. I payed 300 for the car in 1997 and it was in good shape. Those 82-84 cars have some rare parts.
It's looking like the relatively mint (from a rust perspective) 82 Berlinetta roller I picked up for $700 CDN is looking more and more like a bargain. That was three or four years back from the Canadian equivalent of Craigslist.. Might be a home for one of the LM7's I have kicking around. Maybe a retirement project (which isn't too far off).
This is gonna sound totally crazy but if I needed that center tail light section and couldn't find one or fix one I'd probably have to cough up the cash! The bird on that one is silver so it's the more common one. If I needed a gold one I can't imagine what it would cost. At this point I don't see all these different parts getting reproduced to be honest. It's cool that hawks has some stuff but I can't see them producing that much more. I'd imagine the support will never be that of the 60-70s cars.
Finding replacement parts for 3rd gens is getting harder, and that's not likely to change for the better. As far as sellers asking high prices for rare parts goes, that's how a free-market economy works; something is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.
Something to consider is that it there weren't people involved in chasing down and selling said parts, they wouldn't be available to those who need them.
That's old hat, not even worth talking about any more.
