Buick Parts Over Priced, Or Not???

1

1chance

Active Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2007
Ive been looking for other alternatives, to get parts for this car, and other projects i have, but these buick parts are 7time, or more what these supra guys, and other import guys pay. They can get a New trubo for $200, intercoller kit $200, wastes gates $50. I think we are getting screwd. Anyway anyone one have a the same, or diffrent thought. Im getting a new boost controller from there dealer for pennys what you pay for one at a Buick dealer!:mad:
 
I think I've noticed Buick anything is either more expensive or more difficult to find as opposed to other stuff.
 
That maybe true, but ive talk to these import turbo guys, and they can build the same turbo for 1/4 as much, and intercooler, boost controllers. They say we are getting hijacked!! All i can say is, its best to really look at all vendors, import, or domestic. He also said that he knew alot of Buick vendors that were buy things from him, and selling it at 7times the cost. He asked how can he get that price, and they say the imports sell to high school kids with no cash, but most Buick owners are older, and have cash to give away.
 
i've seen what you mean, i saw a kit- turbo-intercooler-pipes, exhaust, headers pretty much everything for $599 :eek: not bad at all. but it's no buick.
 
I dont see the import guys having it any easier. Ive never seen $200 turbos, intercoolers, or any type of stand alone fuel management for any import that would give a performance advantage. Maybe some chinese headers or some other chinese crap but thats it. A low 10 second Supra sure isnt cheap to build or race either;) If were getting screwed you should R&D so we can get those low prices. LOL!
 
i don't know -- i've done pretty well building my car with used parts off the forums. i guess its all relative -- our cars are somewhat rare, so of course parts aren't going to be as cheap as some of the really common cars out there like honda civics, where you can download free open source engine management, or small block chevys for that matter, where headers cost like 50 bucks. But let me tell you, turbo buicks are a whole lot cheaper to buy parts for than some cars, such as those with the 3800 supercharged for instance (something i have a little experience with). And still, no matter how you slice it, there are very few cars that can be as quick as ours with so little spent on mods. You can put one of these in the 12s for just a few hundred bucks for crying out loud.
 
parts pricing is driven by (in random order):

1. R&D time - if you're the one who spent 100 man hours to develop a part, you have to roll that into the cost of the part to recover some of the money you didn't bring in while you were "developing" parts instead of selling them. If you just copy someone else's part, you have very little, if any, R&D time invested.

2. material cost - it's a reality, the cost of metals and everything else are skyrocketing. that cost must be recovered in the final product cost or you can't stay in business very long. since most Buick parts are made in small batches, the manufacturers typically buy smaller quantities of the raw materials at a higher cost than a manufacturer who produces thousands of parts a year.

3. labor cost - many Buick parts are made by speciality fabricators and manufacturers with little or no automation and in small batches. This make them labor intensive to produce which drives up another component of the final product cost.

4. quality control - most of your less expensive manufacturers have poor quality control. they don't spend much time testing and checking parts before they sell them so they save money on the quality control process.

5. supply and demand - Turbo Buicks are a niche vehicle with relatively low production numbers and only a small following of enthusiasts. GM has pretty much orphaned our cars and the big aftermarket manufacturers don't offer much in the way of parts either (although it's better than some vehicles). Most of the quality parts come from either dwindling GM parts stockpiles or low volume specialty fabricators and manufacturers. Since they don't sell many parts, they have to charge more for the parts they do sell, just to survive as a business.
 
Ebay/Chinese parts are not worth comparing price wise, let alone that the GN community has a ton of parts designed by GN/USA business owners. I actually think a lot of our parts are very competitively priced FWIW considering there were around 40k of these made total.

This might be the first time someones said the Supra guys are getting stuff cheaper than we are. :eek:
 
expense

bison said:
I dont see the import guys having it any easier. Ive never seen $200 turbos, intercoolers, or any type of stand alone fuel management for any import that would give a performance advantage. Maybe some chinese headers or some other chinese crap but thats it. A low 10 second Supra sure isnt cheap to build or race either;) If were getting screwed you should R&D so we can get those low prices. LOL!
Click to expand...

True Story
 
I just expect to pay the same as I would for new car parts. It does make it fun when I get a deal on something or have to hunt down a cheaper price on something.
 
1chance said:
Ive been looking for other alternatives, to get parts for this car, and other projects i have, but these buick parts are 7time, or more what these supra guys, and other import guys pay. They can get a New trubo for $200, intercoller kit $200, wastes gates $50. I think we are getting screwd. Anyway anyone one have a the same, or diffrent thought. Im getting a new boost controller from there dealer for pennys what you pay for one at a Buick dealer!:mad:
Click to expand...

I just spent 1/2 hour responding to your post Herb and just accidently deleted it, maybe that is someone telling me to let it go..... I can't. I will again try to respond to your post.. I don't believe you came here by boat, but it sure looks like you want to purchase parts that came off the boat... I will tell you now that we sell the best available, designed and built parts money can buy because like you, I want the best. Our markup is lucky to be 10-15% on most parts that I sell over $20 dollars, including your turbo, ICer and wastegate. Out of that profit margin I pay for shipping to me, I have to also pay for the overhead it costs to run a full blown shop with payroll, taxes, benefits like I am sure you receive from your place of employment, holiday,sick and vacation pay. Shop insurance and workmans comp to the tune of $15,000 a year. I am not complaining just stating the FACTS FOR WHAT IT TAKES to run a business in America today. That does not include working out of your house or backyard.... I am only speaking for my company. As for all the money I make, I also had to purchase a trailer, not just for my racecar I have used over the years for R$D, but for transporting parts to the Buick shows so I can sell them to guys like you at an even further discounted rate with an even higher overhead, due to the fact fuel and traveling expenses have to be included in the cost of doing business. Lets not forget the cost and or loss of business as I close my still having to pay for overhead shop while attending Buick shows. I can go on further in that area but I hope you get my point..... Lets talk about the quality of parts we sell vs the $200 ICers, turbos and wastegates.... Do you know how well those parts are designed or where they come from or who designed and built them..... let me tell you what I have experienced with some of these parts. As an example, we service and sell parts to many of the local import guys or poor kids that purchase much of those parts.... from ebay, from a guy they do not know with a business they do on the side without a phone number to reach them or a tech line you can call and actually get tech support from when needed. I had several of those boys come in this spring with $200 turbos that have now purchased new $1000 turbos from me because they failed. We did several installs of ICer kits and wastegate because nothing fit and or pipes were blowing off or cheap hoses were blowing up because wastegates did not work properly, probably because the spring used in the wastegates were so stiff we could not compress them in a 5" vise. Good thing I had some quality springs from our $400 wastegates around to replace them with.. not to mention had the welders and other related equipment in the shop to mod the poorly fitting other $200 kits and parts.. Herb, are you the same guy I am getting the turbo repaired for, that you or your mechanic destroyed the compressor wheel on due to a loose object bouncing around in the MAF inlet pipe. You know, the one I am trying to get warrranteed ....? It's a tight economy for all of us, I understand trying to find our best deals is what many of us, including myself are looking for. But for Gods sake, making me or others look like the villian...... just is not right. I could continue on here, but I have been writing this response since about 6am and it is now 7:30am and I must go to work, open the shop up so that I can begin another day of 10 hours of free tech support for my custmers and some that are not....
 
JCotton said:
<snip>I could continue on here, but I have been writing this response since about 6am and it is now 7:30am and I must go to work, open the shop up so that I can begin another day of 10 hours of free tech support for my custmers and some that are not....
Click to expand...

Jack: we appreciate you! Just thought you could use some encouraging words :D
 
I you wanna get screwed buy a newer C5-C6 headers will run $1500, heads $2400, fast intake $1000, exhaust $800-1000 :eek:
 
Yes they do cost money but, what motorsports hobby doesn't. I actually try to avoid vendors that I see pushing the cheap chinese and crappy parts. I don't need the help of some junk parts screwing up my car, I can do that on my own.


Thanks for you response Mr Cotton.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Buick is in the family DNA
Replies
6
Views
1K
Chuck Leeper
Chuck Leeper
Anthony P
FS: 3.8L N/A engine - never fired, built several years ago $1100
Replies
2
Views
2K
Anthony P
Anthony P
G
100,000 mile engine service - a few questions
Replies
11
Views
938
granitestategn
G
Paulmac201
Bought a Lemon at Charlestown Classics in St. Charles, IL
2
Replies
24
Views
3K
TurboTGuy
TurboTGuy
turbodave231
200-R4 Tool set
Replies
11
Views
2K
turbodave231
turbodave231
Top