sky high prices

Are air stream spacific parts prices to high? I want to see what air stream owners out there think.

NOTE: POLL SHOULD STATE "are prices for are stream parts too high"

i realize this isn't going to change anything......and this is probable a waste of time....the forum says anything goes

[uwe]

this is difficult to vote on, because of the wording. Rip off sounds borderline criminal to me. My vote would therefore be a NO.

i was unable to edit the poll? can you? i want it to say "are prices for are stream parts too high" i cant change it becouse i dont have axcess and i am also unable to delite it as well...

[uwe]

I never posted a Poll. I can edit my posts just fine using the EDIT function, but I am not sure how to edit a Poll Bar.This would be a question for a moderator,no?

yes they are the onlyones that can do it as far as i know

[Inland RV Center, In]

I think Chevy parts prices are out of this planet. How dare they charge me more for parts than it took to build the car.

Wow!!! If I bought all the parts one by one, the cost goes over $100,000.00.

Not bad at all.

But then GM doesn't sell too many cars so I guess buyer beware.

I think we should start a poll about outrageous prices at the grocery store. But my parents taught me well. "IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE PRICE, DON'T BUY IT," because gripping about it, just wastes time.

And besides, one man's treasure is another man's junk.

It's all in the eye of the beholder.

That last poll I saw, had Dewey a shoo-in as president. So much for polls. Haven't seen one, since then, that meant much, except to those who started it, especially on the net. They seem to be designed to allow anyone to vote, time and time again.
Sounds self serving to me, with swayed biased results.

It's also interesting to note that consideration is never acknowledged that the cost of parts used for manufacturing are very different from, stocking, warehousing, advertising, general and administrative expenses of running a business, labors and taxes, the investment of money, that all apply to "replacement parts."

But then, a person would also wonder what opinions would be rendered, if they were told,"sorry, that part is no longer available."

Price a Toyota part!! You will think your buying a part for a Boeing 747.

Andy
inlandrv.com
airstreamparts.com

[uwe]

Many valid points and many opinions in this thread. I feel that some hard to find parts can fetch a high price and that's fine. The reasons are already posted. OK, I pay close to 50US for a door lock tumbler with 2 keys from Airstream. Rare Part, narrow application window, high price, all good. I do pull up my eyebrows at wheel seals that cost at least 3 times more from Airstream than from a parts outlet, or rubber parts that cost an arm and a leg, plus your first born. I don't see the reason for the high price in some of the items. It comes down to making choices. I chose to pay $17.50 for a $ 3.00 grease seal, because i don't have time for experiments, and some of the part numbers posted here were not available from Napa. The seals fit perfectly, despite my cussing at them for being so expensive. My $ 50.00 tumbler locks my door now, and looks original. I learned to write checks while looking the other way.
Anyways, choices is what it's all about. If Airstream has it, and you want it, make a choice. THEY did!!

who is talking about building one from the ground up?

ok lets build a late model chevy with all new parts and just factory parts 100,000 you say......now lets go build an air stream with air stream spaific parts......whats the price of that? would it be way more?

i have a toyota and i just threw a brand new motor in it......toyota price 3500 ATK price 1499 with a 150 dollar core thats less than half price! plus a 3 year warrenty. if i couldn't get one from toyota and nowone rebuilt or made them.... i'd go to a junk yard..... or get parts to rebuild mine. and if some dealer had the last few in the world and they said it's worth 50,000 i'd say no way! the value of the vehical isn't worth it.

say toyota used the airstream method.....the increase of a airstream part i am familiar with that cost 22 times as much now as it did 25 years ago

KT door latch $22.50 in '76 X 22 = $4950.00 todays prices

now take a toyota part that is cosiderable more valuable....(a motor is worth more than a door latch....to some anyway)

toyota long block $3500 in '02 X 22 = $77000.00 25 years from now

if you use an air stream price increase.

could you Imagine paying that much for a stock engine? what is the diffents? it' the same thing. could you imagine paying 77,000 bux for a motor thats 25 years old? why pay five hundred for a door latch?

i dont like the price there for i will not buy one.........i am in search of other sorces....complaining?.....it's a dicusion and mabey it's educating some people on what some of these things cost........this must be one of those things your not aloud to talk about.

[uwe]

Overlander,
you are allowed to talk about it, and yes, this is a discussion forum. Your opinion surely is as important as anyone elses.I am not sure about Toyotas and Chevys, don't see the relevance in the comparison.They have different MO's. If I brought my car experiences in to this, Airstream would look very poor indeed......

[RoadKingMoe]

Sounds like H-D... which stands for a hundred dollars... I believe that's the least a Harley part costs. But it's available for a premium at the local dealership, and it fits correctly a bit more often than the aftermarket equivalent.

If you want an antique collectable to be original, especially if it was limited production item, you're gonna pay. If you don't, drill, grind, and adapt something else... sometimes the aftermarket replacement that isn't. Just don't expect it to have the value of an original item.

And the aftermarket availability depends on the orignal volume of production. I don't see how mass-marketed Toyotas even begin to compare with Airstreams, which are relatively limited production items (compared to Honda, Toyota, Ford, Chevy, etc)

You gotta pay if yer gonna play.

he brought up toyota and chevy prices. i was trying to use it as an example.....probable a bad one. i was just trying to make a point.

[Curtis-79MH]

I know a person who will spend hours searching for a "deal" to save a buck. I like a bargain myself, but, only recently, have I REALLY realized that my time is finite and valuable. So, I would pay the price, buy the lock, install it, admire it, feel secure with my new lock, and know that is one less thing I have to worry about. Plus, chances are the price is going to go up (now only if stock prices did the same!):

[sbernasconi9]

I know there are exceptions to all maxims, but what this guy had to say over a hundred years ago seems appropriate to this discussion.

"It is unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. It cannot be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better. There is hardly anything in the world that someone can't make a little worse and sell a little cheaper and people who consider price alone are this person's lawful prey"

John Ruskin 1819-1900

[airstreamcaravel]

We had to find someone from the 1800's to put this all in prospective.

Great snipet!

Thanks!

DMC

[smily]

Overlander,
Can I buy your AS? or I will trade you for SOB.

Smily

[gwsullivan]

Boy, John Ruskin sure hit that nail on the head!

[Inland RV Center, In]

John Ruskin stuck his neck way out when he said that, back then when freedom of speech wasn't an item.
Would be interesting to read how he may have altered that saying, to fit todays thinkings.
But since we are all free to make our own choices, is no excuse or reason to dam anyone for having a difference. Everyone is not always right, or wrong.
Some people, when it comes to money, and quality, like to live on the edge, or lean way over the edge. Others don't bother considering risks, they go for the best that they can, and save the time, and use that time to do useful things that are satisfying to the mind, like fishing or just enjoying life.
Life is too short as it is, that's why some eat dessert first.

Andy
inlandrv.com
airstreamparts.com

[davidz71]

Like many, I shop around when it comes to making purchases. Some of the guys at work say that if bought something then I did my research (or homework). There have been times I have found considerable differences in pricing for the same item while other items did not vary much in price. I have never felt that I cheated myself out of anything if I didn't save a penny. Furthermore, there have been times when only one source had the item I wanted or needed. I "bite the bullet", pay the price and go on with life. I could complain with "what a terrible thing" but where would it get me? I have the choice to buy or not! This forum has given me sources for parts I needed and I am glad for that. I have purchased from Inland RV, Ace Fogdale Airstream, Camping World, Cullem and Maxey in Nashville (an ex-Airstream dealer from the '70's) and I continue to bookmark sources in my computer for parts/vendors mentioned in the forum for my trailer. I want to keep a nice looking Airstream for my own satisfaction as well as the satisfaction for the people who purchase it later on. It's a personal thing!