Vintage parts prices

[fishnjim]

I haven't been looking for some time, and I'm trying to round up a few items, so I'm ready when I do repairs.    1. Not much available, 2. Prices are outrageous - even for junk parts?
I'll have to look at other options.   
I think the value of my car has doubled just in parts...   
Hope like the virus this goes away.   As we say, "they ain't making 'em anymore."

[als58caddy]

I know what you mean! I have the odd look now again for parts for my 58 restoration project and some of the prices are unbelievable and then add in the shipping to the UK 

I'm just thankfull i'm not missing much in the way of trim parts or heavy items, lol!!

[TJ Hopland]

It depends which level of collector you are.   If you are in the lower end there have always been a few parts that can cost more than you paid for the car.  Hopefully you didn't learn that the hard way and paid too much for a car that needed that part then later found out how much that missing part is worth and maybe ended up with whole other car for less money.   That is especially true if the part is hard to remove from said car.

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

Sorry Jim, but chances are pretty slim that those prices will go lower. This CAN BE an expensive hobby.
Greg Surfas

[gkhashem]

I learned this lesson after the first collector car I bought.

Always find and pay for the best car you can afford, because in reality the car you can afford you really can't afford. You think you can fix it for less than it really costs.

So I find the best car and pay since it is cheaper in the long run, but still not cheap.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

The cost of parts has always been high.   And they get higher when one badly needs something.

It has been said that if one builds a new car from the spare parts department of the dealer, it will cost at least 3 times the cost of buying the completed car, and the car you build, still won't be fully assembled and painted.   The dealers make money from parts sales.

Some times it is best to buy 2 cars, and get the volume discount, then put one away, and then start using needed parts from that one to keep the original car going, but who can afford to do that.

When I purchased my '72 Eldo, I also purchased a pranged '71 Eldo and stripped it, and boy, that car has paid for itself many many times over, and still I have parts left.

Bruce.

[wrench]

I was at a car show a long time ago.

I was talking to a guy with a mint car. (not a Cadillac)

Anyway, his advise to me about this particular brand of vehicle was ‘Buy one already restored because you will go broke restoring one.’

That was a very astute observation at the time and more so now.

[Lexi]

I learned this lesson after the first collector car I bought.

...in reality the car you can afford you really can't afford. You think you can fix it for less than it really costs. So I find the best car and pay since it is cheaper in the long run, but still not cheap.

Amen. I learned that lesson way back in the '70s when things were a lot cheaper and parts more obtainable. Always buy the best you can possibly afford. It will pay dividends in the long run. An exception to buy might be a rare model where you don't have the luxury of choice. Your hand may be forced, so to speak. But even then, if you are missing pieces and other "unobtanium"-beware. Clay/Lexi

[fishnjim]

As luck would have it, I found a new stash for what I needed yesterday.   One hole dries up, another opens - biblical?   I looked through over 800+ Cadillac ads and only a handful '58s out there for sale.   Mainly far away from here.   No coupe parts cars.   I've been looking off and on for 5 years.   When I found one, the guy backed out and I ran when no title/numbers.   Parts are drying up and since a one-two year only, not much repro - easy stuff like emblems.   I got most everything I need or can fix, but always searching for better parts at the right price.   I can't compete with these NOS companies buying up stock then charging arm and leg.  Plus a '62 year old part, isn't likely to work for long just for "correctness".
I like to have the parts on hand, so you don't get stuck torn down waiting.
It's no fun, if you just get in it and drive it!  Much more exciting if you;re going to make it home or not!   
A guy I knew used take his deuce coupe to the Dairy Queen just to get out and adjust his tripower with a dime.   How cool is that?   
I'm doing two projects, so don't feel so sorry for me.  Plus last years model in the garage, etc.   But I think I will ask more for the '58 if I ever decide to sell.   I don't value these 2 drs as much as the convertibles to pay the big bucks.   I just like to look at it, even if not running.   My old guy eye candy.
I vaguely remember going to NAPA with my bud(deceased) who had a late '60s coupe back in the '70s.   He needed a muffler.   They wanted $300 for the "Cadillac" price.   The same muffler sold for a Chevy for $30+!   Our other buddy worked there and gave us the scoop.   So Caveat Emptor and a half.

[cadillac ken]

I was at a car show a long time ago.

I was talking to a guy with a mint car. (not a Cadillac)

Anyway, his advise to me about this particular brand of vehicle was ‘Buy one already restored because you will go broke restoring one.’

That was a very astute observation at the time and more so now.

Only one caveat:  Be sure the restoration was done right.  Make sure what is under all the rouge and lipstick is solidly done and done correctly.  Because fixing other folks short cuts and mistakes can be as expensive as doing one yourself the right way from the start.

[39LaSalleDriver]

I am prone to agree with many of the comments here. I thought I could come out ahead buying a fixer upper because it would be cheaper. I instead have ended up with a car that is probably twice the cost, but half the value. In other words, I'll never get out of it what I have put into it...and I'm still not done (i.e. possible paint job, definitely upholstery work, potential engine rebuild at some point)! Granted, it was more like paying as you go or as you can afford rather than dropping the dime up front; but unquestionably it would have been cheaper to buy one already done for $15,000 than drop $7,000 for a car and spend $20,000 fixing it up over time.

I have seen a few versions of my car that were already completely restored sell for half what I have into mine. Like Ken mentioned though, you have to watch those too or you'll break yourself undoing what someone else has done. When I got into this game I was somewhat ill prepared. I started off with a few sockets, hammers, screwdrivers, etc., but ended up having to buy a LOT of tools to do what I have accomplished. So that is something else one has to think about when going down this path. I also had a fraction of the knowledge base that I have now which is a good thing. I certainly knew about more than how to put air in a tire or change the oil, but there's a LOT more to it than that. You need to know as much as possible about your car to keep it running. 

Looking back, on one hand it wasn't all bad. Because I have had to replace or rebuild so much, I know my car intimately in a way that no owner who just buys a car and drops it off at the garage for occasional maintenance will ever experience. I know the capabilities it has, and the potential failures it may experience out on the road (and how to fix them if fixable on the fly). I have a bond with it now that would make it very difficult for me to get rid of it even if something shinier or better came along. It has given me hundreds, if not thousands of hours of enjoyment and opportunity to expand my mind, skills, and capabilities in ways that I never dreamed possible. In a weird way I'm sure some of you can relate to, it's more than a mere hobby, it's like my car has become part of me. Of all the cars I have driven or owned in my lifetime, none has had such a personal attachment to me.

But if I had to do it over again knowing what I know now? I'd buy one already or mostly restored! 

[fishnjim]

I've dealt with this issue here and on other sites.   
What I surmise, it's like gambling or any other form of recreation, you spend money on it, if you like it.   
From the financial side, I've pressed for better prices, which is a seller's fault and auction's no reserve and commission issue.   A lot of people collect, then can't/won't continue and they dump cars on the market.   Some aren't going to sell well that cost a lot to get to where they are.   Literally, millions of used cars out there competing for the dollars and you have maybe one orphan for sale.   Plus markets shift, so what you have may fall out in five years if you kept it too long.
Takes an "eye" to pick out a diamond in the rough.   Most people buy with their emotions; grampa had one, used to ride to school in one, etc.   I'm partly guilty.   If you are out looking for a new roof, floor pans, trim, motor, and all the interior for your project, you got the wrong project!   That's for Leno and Duesenburg's.   Lots of garage mechanics, used car places, etc. made a living selling what they'd fix up.   They knew what to buy and what sold well.   Still happening today.   It's not always a complete lose.   Takes some smarts, bargaining skills.
I could own a lot of other cars, and constantly search for a few I cherish, and time is getting shorter, so enjoy life.   More pragmatic, cars are down on my priority list, also.
I waited til I retired to get back in the saddle, so to speak, as I just didn't have the time when I was working.   My same age cousin committed to build me a motor and then passed on before I got my project car.  I waffled a few days when I found it, and lost it too.   Life's like that.   I had to let two go and the family tractor, when I moved because had no place to store and took a year to build another garage.  I passed up plenty of projects interim.  I also had to replace most of the tools I had acquired, since it was 30-40 years and they wear and evaporate.  They evaporate faster once you get bifocals!   You don't want to buy everything, just the essentials.  Otherwise, it snow balls, then you need a bigger garage, etc.  One man can only wield so many and farm some out when necessary.   We used to call it "tinkering".   
Back in the day, I learned to form sheet metal with a hammer and dolly and a few household items and paint out of necessity!  They were brazing and leading back then, today it's mig or tig.   Now it's out of, "I want to."   I was taught by a couple good bodymen along the way and been around the "cars" / garages since I was ~5, playing with, sitting in, and doing models, etc.   My oldest cousin(deceased ~30+ years) used to take me around to his hot rod club buddies in '50s, so I saw my first clutch change, duece coupe, dragster at an early age.   So spread it to the next generation or these gifts will evaporate as well.   Take a kid racing, car show, or swop meet.   
I put the great white whale in a virtual car show today for funzies.
I think we beat this one enuff.