Buick Parts Over Priced, Or Not???

Prices are expensive compared to and old school N/A small block chevy or Ford.
I have also seen used stock turbos for $200 for our cars.

The Supra guys I talked to stated they wish their parts were as cheap as mine!
 
+1 I agree. I hear a lot of people emulate the same thing. Mustangs are a hell of a lot cheaper to buy parts for and fix, (especially the 87-93 year foxbodys). I'm going back to Ford Mustangs, because parts/labor are so much cheaper- I'll keep one of my Turbobuicks, and just drive it very nicely and not break it or keep upgrading it for stupid reasons! Track Days are just about over with the economy and all the other prices of Everything else going up these days!
Turbobuicks are nice, but some of the prices are overflated just like Oil is! It's the speculators (us) who keep the demand up, and it is an expensive toy to fix, tune, paint, upgrade, etc, etc. If it aint broke don't keep fixing it! :D

I am not bashing our cars. I love these cars. :cool: But it's definitely starting to weigh down on me, especially with the economy in the tank the way it is and all. It's all perception. How much does a person really love their car? I know there's a lot of fanatical guys on here who are frickin nuts about their Turbobuicks, and that speaks for itself. But it's time for honest people who are struggling to take care of families, relationships, and other things in life, to come clean and admit, that Turbobuicks are nice but expensive, and to try not to break their cars, because when they have to sit and get rebuilt, or blow a head gasket, or driveability problems occur, it just plain sucks laying out money these days that's not so easy to come by....

To all those diehards who disagree, I say whatever! To the honest middleclass guys who drive their TurboBuicks every once in a while (when it's nice and sunny out, or the weather isn't all $hitty-) it's an EXPENSIVE Hobby! So don't go Crazy with your Mods, and Don't BREAK YOUR CAR! Or else you'll be $$$orrry!!!!! :eek:

87Regal3.8SFI said:
I think I've noticed Buick anything is either more expensive or more difficult to find as opposed to other stuff.
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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...

Welcome to a free market economy, and the laws of supply and demand.
8 jillion supras compared to 10,000 turbo regals.
How much do you think r&d costs in those two environements?

And to add, I've never seen a new $200 turbo. I call BS in a big way. SHOW ME.


If you honestly believe you're getting screwed over on-purpose, then I would STRONGLY suggest you sell your turbo regal on move into the import crowd.
 
Thanks for that response Jack Cotton.

When I called you last year on a Saturday afternoon you were at your shop and took time to answer all of my questions about my upcoming engine rebuild. I ordered my roller cam, springs, roller rockers, valve covers, etc. from you. I might have paid more but I know I was supporting you and your efforts to keep you business alive and your family fed. I also have a business with 14 employees. I know what it takes this day and age to make ends meet. I also know that I dont have a camaro with a small block chevy under my garage that is put together from Jegs. The reason these cars are running as well as they are today is because of guys like you that put the time and effort into R & D and share all of your valuable information.

Thanks again for everything you have done in the past and the future. You go ahead and charge what you need to to pay your bills and make an honest living. I know Im not getting ripped off. I believe all of our vendors are making there fair share of markup which is well deserved. When I start complaining about prices for my parts is the day there is a For Sale sign on my TR. And thats not gonna happen.

Ed
 
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 ....? .................................................[/quote] Well Jack i thank you for all you are doing for me, and the turbo.Now as far as the warrenty go, This was the understanding i had. I ordered at new T61$1400, then it took 3months to get here. Now after getting it1 week i took the car to shop, the shop says its making a noise, and send it back to you. Now after 4 weeks i call, and you say theres nothing wrong with it, i say fine send it back 3 weeks later i call you say they looked at the wrong turbo, and yours still on the shelf, so i say when can you check it, you say its really busy, and you dont know when you can check it, so i say send me any 61 you got , you say dont have any, i say you got a 66, you say it got 300miles on it, i say will you cover it with warrenty off the 61, you say send me $300, and your covered.So i was hoping that wouldnt be an issue about the warrenty, because ive heard nothing but good things about you, and that you stand behind your word, which is 1yr no nosense warrenty , but i made it a point to not mention any vendors. I cant say anything about you because this is our frist dealings, and im not bashing anyone. I can say that you by far you have been good to me so far, and also take time to answer my dumb ??. My question was are the prices fair for turbo buick parts in genaral? Im looking around at all the parts for a turbo car, and saw all these Low prices for there stuff, now you have been in the game far longer than me, and im sure you know your cars. Now from reading your post you have answered alot of my questions.
 
Agent86 said:
+1 I agree. I hear a lot of people emulate the same thing. Mustangs are a hell of a lot cheaper to buy parts for and fix, (especially the 87-93 year foxbodys). I'm going back to Ford Mustangs, because parts/labor are so much cheaper- I'll keep one of my Turbobuicks, and just drive it very nicely and not break it or keep upgrading it for stupid reasons! Track Days are just about over with the economy and all the other prices of Everything else going up these days!
Turbobuicks are nice, but some of the prices are overflated just like Oil is! It's the speculators (us) who keep the demand up, and it is an expensive toy to fix, tune, paint, upgrade, etc, etc. If it aint broke don't keep fixing it! :D

I am not bashing our cars. I love these cars. :cool: But it's definitely starting to weigh down on me, especially with the economy in the tank the way it is and all. It's all perception. How much does a person really love their car? I know there's a lot of fanatical guys on here who are frickin nuts about their Turbobuicks, and that speaks for itself. But it's time for honest people who are struggling to take care of families, relationships, and other things in life, to come clean and admit, that Turbobuicks are nice but expensive, and to try not to break their cars, because when they have to sit and get rebuilt, or blow a head gasket, or driveability problems occur, it just plain sucks laying out money these days that's not so easy to come by....

To all those diehards who disagree, I say whatever! To the honest middleclass guys who drive their TurboBuicks every once in a while (when it's nice and sunny out, or the weather isn't all $hitty-) it's an EXPENSIVE Hobby! So don't go Crazy with your Mods, and Don't BREAK YOUR CAR! Or else you'll be $$$orrry!!!!! :eek:

Click to expand...
Those who have to think about those issues impacting their lives dont have the $ for luxury items like our cars. Same thing goes for TV, cable, mobile phones, Ipods, MP3's and whatever other non necessities are pulling the individual down. There nice to have but not necessities. So either work a little harder to support your hobby or sell you cars. Plenty of guys like me will scoop them up.
 
Agent86 said:
+1 I agree. I hear a lot of people emulate the same thing. Mustangs are a hell of a lot cheaper to buy parts for and fix, (especially the 87-93 year foxbodys). I'm going back to Ford Mustangs, because parts/labor are so much cheaper- I'll keep one of my Turbobuicks, and just drive it very nicely and not break it or keep upgrading it for stupid reasons! Track Days are just about over with the economy and all the other prices of Everything else going up these days!
Turbobuicks are nice, but some of the prices are overflated just like Oil is! It's the speculators (us) who keep the demand up, and it is an expensive toy to fix, tune, paint, upgrade, etc, etc. If it aint broke don't keep fixing it! :D

I am not bashing our cars. I love these cars. :cool: But it's definitely starting to weigh down on me, especially with the economy in the tank the way it is and all. It's all perception. How much does a person really love their car? I know there's a lot of fanatical guys on here who are frickin nuts about their Turbobuicks, and that speaks for itself. But it's time for honest people who are struggling to take care of families, relationships, and other things in life, to come clean and admit, that Turbobuicks are nice but expensive, and to try not to break their cars, because when they have to sit and get rebuilt, or blow a head gasket, or driveability problems occur, it just plain sucks laying out money these days that's not so easy to come by....

To all those diehards who disagree, I say whatever! To the honest middleclass guys who drive their TurboBuicks every once in a while (when it's nice and sunny out, or the weather isn't all $hitty-) it's an EXPENSIVE Hobby! So don't go Crazy with your Mods, and Don't BREAK YOUR CAR! Or else you'll be $$$orrry!!!!! :eek:

Click to expand...

If the economy is hitting you that hard (as it is with many), you can try what I've decided to do. My GN's only get driven for street use.

No more racing (racing breaks parts)
No more mods
Regular driving, regular maintenance.

I now still enjoy driving them, without much worry of breaking parts. I still do a lot of tweeking and tunning on my 86 so I can keep abreast of the latest in the Translator Pro world and help with advice when I can.
 
You need to also realize with out our vendors we would be out of luck for these cars. It's not like you can walk into advance auto and pick up a lot of items for our cars. These vendors need to make some money to stay in business and we want them to stay in business so we can keep our cars on the road.
 
JCotton said:
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....
Click to expand...

Jack, thanks, saved me some time to answer some more tech questions about items people bought from someone else. Could not have said it better myself. I am glad I was not the only one who felt like I was being accused of doing something wrong.
Mike
 
Mike Licht said:
I am glad I was not the only one who felt like I was being accused of doing something wrong.
Mike
Click to expand...

I don't think you guys (Buick Vendors) need worry about being accused of doing something wrong. At least not from the people that have owned these cars long enough to appreciate what they are and their particular form of uniqueness (is that a word?) If you get my drift?
Keep on keepn' on.
 
Most Buick aftermarket stuff is overpriced,ill-fitting,poor quality crap...my .02
 
Are buick prices too high?

Hmm I wouldn't really know, don't have much basis for comparison giving that this is my first car to really mod. I have owned other stuff, domestic and imports, but never really did any serious mods to them. If you have seen my frame off thread, you know I am a novice who decided to take his buick apart in the garage on day. :eek:

Putting it back together has been a real adventure. I won't even put a dollar figure to it for two reasons: 1. it's early and I don't want to start the day crying 2. see number 1.

I have owned the car since last May and have driven it very little. Went to the track, blew the bottom end, been in the shop ever since. That was last Feb. Over the time I have developed new relationships inside this community and can honestly say I have had the most fun with the car in the shop not worrying about what it was costing. We have gone from freshening up the motor to a complete frame off and a tsm build.

Cost be damned, we have the best community with the best vendors (don't believe me, go to an event and watch these guys) and something no other car community has............................Turbo Buicks!!!!!
 
Buick aftermarket parts are fair IMO. Funny thing is some parts are cheaper than they were 10 years ago. Like injectors and intercoolers. And our Buick parts are a lot cheaper than Corvettes and Supras for example. I know I am glad Jack and Mike are still Buick vendors. As well as a lot of other good vendors on this board.

It is trying to get some of the NOS parts now. :mad: But what do you expect when finding parts for a 20 year old car. :p
 
shyster, sheister, scheister, shiseter, shyseter n.
probably from Scheißer "contemptible person, coward": slang or informal insult, an unscrupulous, dishonest, underhanded, unethical or questionable practitioner, especially a lawyer or politician, a pettifogger. An individual who is too cheap and or under employed to afford Turbo Regal parts but not aware of it.... :mad:
 
V8Assassin said:
Cost be damned, we have the best community with the best vendors (don't believe me, go to an event and watch these guys) and something no other car community has............................Turbo Buicks!!!!!
Click to expand...

Well said! :cool:
 
If you compare comparable quality parts, Buicks are actually cheaper. The $200 turbos will work on a TR too, but they are garbage. If you build a nice quality Supra, civic, STI, Evo, cummins TD, DuraMax, or Powerstroke truck, LS1 or LS2 car, or most anything else you will see it's always expensive to do it right. I have seen many times GM and Ford are the cheapest because of product competition. A fox-stang is about the cheapest car on the planet to make fast, but a TR is very close. Depending on what you call fast. I say 11 sec 1/4 is fast, now to make a TR handle, you may as well bring out your life's savings...it's new tech on old tech car......that's always $$$$$
 
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