We recently had to replace the passenger side mirror on one of our cars. The mirror cast almost $1,000!!\u00a0
Cars, just like about everything else, have gotten more complicated over the years. There was a time when cars were simpler and didn\u2019t have lots of parts, but modern cars have an unbelievable number of parts, including all sorts of electronic components for powering high-tech accessories.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, cars are more complex, and have many parts that you can see and many more that are completely hidden. Just thinking about the passenger door on our car that just had the mirror replaced\u2026. it contains parts to control the windows, locks, side mirrors, plus all the pieces for the door latches and handles.\u00a0
I read somewhere that the average car today is built with about 30,000 parts \u2014 some of these are small nuts and bots and some parts are much larger, like the engine block.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So why are parts for cars so expensive? Why did a \u201csimple\u201d mirror cost us almost $1,000? I suppose there are a lot of legitimate reasons, like rising costs affect just about everything \u2014 car parts are no different, tight supply chain problems, higher labor costs, people don\u2019t buy parts very often, so there may be a storage fee, maybe parts cost more because more people are doing DIY repairs to save money, the parts are more complex for todays cars, some car parts are proprietary and are patented, and unless you are installing the part yourself, there\u2019s an associated labor cost to go along with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I read all the time about cars being stolen and then being sold for their \u201cparts.\u201d I\u2019m beginning to see why.
If you look at car thefts, for the most part, when a car is stolen for profit \u2014 not just to take a joy ride \u2014 valuable parts are removed from the car because they are worth more individually than collectively as a complete vehicle. Also, a complete vehicle is much easier to trace than an individual part from that car, so there\u2019s less risk of getting caught\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I\u2019ve strayed a little from the original subject\u2026. what I was thinking when I started writing was that if you bought a car in as many pieces as possible, it would cost over a million dollars. That\u2019s probably a bad guess on my part but my extensive research found one estimate that it would cost $125,000 to buy parts for a car that would sell for $20,000. Obviously the data was a little dated \u2014 I\u2019m not sure you can buy a new car today for $20,000\u2026.
Anyhow, I\u2019m glad we got the mirror replaced \u2014 I\u2019ve always been told that the best car safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it\u2026..
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We recently had to replace the passenger side mirror on one of our cars. The mirror cast almost $1,000!!\u00a0Cars, just like about everything else, have gotten more complicated over the years. There was a time when cars were simpler and … Continue reading