PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - when will NLA parts be the end for our cars

ykobayashi · #21 01-01-2019, 12:33 AM

Yeah...um I’d say there are a lot of parts that are hard to find.

My latest w123 has forced me to go to the JY a lot more often than I used to. I also installed a URO windshield seal which is something I’d not risk in the past. Turned out great even though it wasn’t MB.

And, while I used to visit PNP and find three w123 cars at a time on the ground I now have to monitor three lkq yards in my county to find one car per month.

This situation clearly isn’t what it used to be.

As for demand I agree with D300. The demand is waning. Look at Craigslist and you see all the 300ds that just sit there. Only a few crazies like us want them. We are the market and nobody is getting rich serving us.

I happen to live down the street from the Mercedes Classics Center. I’ll tell you, there is a big difference between the 300sl gullwing owner’s getting batches of door seals made up and us. I walk in there and feel like I just stepped into an art restoration lab at a museum. No way am I going to pay the crazy prices to have batches of stuff made up for my $3000 diesel cars. I’m not Jay Leno trying to get brake drums casted for a 58 300sl.

One glimmer of hope is some of the aftermarket parts like sun visors that come out of Turkey. Probably for the North African cab market. I bet there is a business in there someplace...at least one guy is selling new sun visors on eBay.

I’m getting by. I use Pelican, eBay, Pick N Pull and I’ve gotten everything I need. It just is a bit harder than before. As long as it is fun I’ll still do it. I just rebuilt my existing oil cooler hoses because the replacement units available aren’t worth using.

There is nothing to worry about. We will all be goners at some point too. My kids are currently being forced to drive my diesels but they’re dying to break free and get corollas or accords. I told them if anything happens to me just post my cars up for $500 here for you guys and move on.