Stuart MacMillan wrote:
>
> "Kai M. Radicke" wrote:
> >
> > I've been following this thread and can't help chiming in that most of the
> > prices being posted are from the private sales. These prices do not reflect
> > what you would pay if you were to purchase an OD gearbox from an LBC
> > supplier.
> >
> > For example someone had said that $650 for a "good working" early MGB
> > overdrive box was a fair and reasonable price. The vast majority of
> > established LBC suppliers will charge you at least $1100 to $1300 for an
> > excellent 3 synchro D-type overdrive box. They're fairly rare and command
> > that price. The LHs on the other hand can be had much less ($750-$950) from
> > a supplier.
I agree with this logic, but draw a somewhat different conclusion.
Generally when a part is available both from a supplier and
from a private sale, the private sale is the "fair" price
to me. It's the price that generally represents the market price,
without overhead, profit, or the ability to charge more
to people who don't have the knowledge to look anywhere
else.
If something is selling for $100 at autojumbles and through
the internet, and $200 from suppliers, I would say that $100 is
the fair price and $200 is the amount you can pay if you
want piece of mind.
I think this is the opposite of what you are saying, which
is that $200 is the fair price and $100 is the buyer beware
price.
I guess it depends how you look at it.
I just bought a J-type overdrive box for my Midget 1500,
and I bought it from a supplier. The prices I was being
offered from private sales were from $200 to $1200, with
the "supplier" price around the middle.
I paid for the peace of mind of buying a unit from somebody
who was qualified to at least tell me what shape it was
in reliably.
I could have taken my chances with a $200 unit, maybe I'd
have been ok, maybe not, but for the amount of work I
needed to do to install it before I'd know if it worked, I
wasn't willing to take the risk.
As for the $1000+ for a J-type, well, what can I say,
some people are just clueless.
--
Trevor Boicey, P. Eng.
Ottawa, Canada, tboicey@brit.ca
ICQ #17432933 http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
"My car gets 40 rods to the hog's head, and that's the way I like it!"
-Abe
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