Bumpers and more

[stall]

I ordered a new rear bumper for my Chevelle last summer; it cost $475 with shipping and required 10 bolts to assemble on the car. It appears that fixing a bumper on new cars is very different. According to Liberty Mutual insurance a new bumper on a 2014 car would run $1,845 and that escalates to $3,550 for a 2016 car. The villain is the sensors that measure distance and are located in the mirrors and bumpers.

All new cars have life-saving airbags but once deployed they are costly to replace. The total cost for professionally replacing airbags that deployed in a collision can be $1,000-$6,000 or more but averages about $3,000-$5,000, depending on the year, make and model of vehicle; The total cost for professionally replacing airbags that deployed in a collision can be $1,000-$6,000 or more but averages about $3,000-$5,000, depending on the year, make and model of vehicle.

There is no question that cars are safer but when you add the average cost of a new vehicle ($34,500) and the high cost of any fender bender you realize that driving is much safer but that trip to the grocery store is becoming much more expensive.

[studegary]

That is a good reason to have insurance. One problem that I see is that it now doesn't take much of an accident to total (based on repair cost) a few year old car.

[Stude Shoo-wop!]

That right there is why I plan to drive my GT Hawk as often as humanly possible. Due to their more simple nature, a lot less is needed in both time and money to fix it. Of course the trade-off is a dangerous lack of safety features but I’ve learned to live with the inherent danger.

[jnormanh]

The cost of repairing newer cars is very high because the only parts available are from the manufacturer.

One example: The rub strip, a 2" wide piece of plastic across the rear bumper on my Caddy was damaged at a car wash. It's just a 4' long plastic strip, but is available from GM for $380. I'll bet a Taiwan-made one, if it were available, would be 1/10th of that. You want one, you pay their price.

Fortunately I was able to repair mine, but...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cadillac-GM-OEM-93-96-Fleetwood-Rear-Bumper-Rub-Strip-12455126/182765972790?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41375%26meid%3D95604b3c6b044c78b87030cc1a860101%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D8%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D132190678986&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

I've restored several British car using parts made in Taiwan, Singapore, India. They were as good or better than factory original. And inexpensive. Front and rear bumpers plus 4 bumper guards for an MGB were $500, made in Taiwan and excellent quality.

[stall]

The cost of repairing newer cars is very high because the only parts available are from the manufacturer.

One example: The rub strip, a 2" wide piece of plastic across the rear bumper on my Caddy was damaged at a car wash. It's just a 4' long plastic strip, but is available from GM for $380. I'll bet a Taiwan-made one, if it were available, would be 1/10th of that. You want one, you pay their price.

Fortunately I was able to repair mine, but...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cadillac-GM-OEM-93-96-Fleetwood-Rear-Bumper-Rub-Strip-12455126/182765972790?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41375%26meid%3D95604b3c6b044c78b87030cc1a860101%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D8%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D132190678986&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

I've restored several British car using parts made in Taiwan, Singapore, India. They were as good or better than factory original. And inexpensive. Front and rear bumpers plus 4 bumper guards for an MGB were $500, made in Taiwan and excellent quality.

I feel your pain. Among the many things I wonder about is how the "aftermarket" for collector parts functions. On my Chevelle I can litteraly buy every part on the car and there are so many vendors selling Chevelle parts that there is price competion; parts catalogs are a couple inches thick with everything from the frame to radio knobs listed. I have a 64 Vette that I also enjoy vendors that sell every part and on the Vette how many can be left and aren't they all pretty much restored. How do these guys make money I wonder.

BTW, On my Speedster vendor parts are very slim picking especially body parts.

Just wondering

[jnormanh]

I feel your pain. Among the many things I wonder about is how the "aftermarket" for collector parts functions. On my Chevelle I can litteraly buy every part on the car and there are so many vendors selling Chevelle parts that there is price competion; parts catalogs are a couple inches thick with everything from the frame to radio knobs listed. I have a 64 Vette that I also enjoy vendors that sell every part and on the Vette how many can be left and aren't they all pretty much restored. How do these guys make money I wonder.

BTW, On my Speedster vendor parts are very slim picking especially body parts.

Just wondering

Don't know about American cars, but in the case of Brit cars, an agency called the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust was formed, and it collected drawings and tooling from many of the manufacturers as they went out of business. These drawings and tooling are loaned (rented?) to companies interested in producing parts. Like your Chevelle, several of the most popular British cars can be built from scratch to original specifications.

I suppose Studebaker tooling was mostly scrapped for a few cents per pound, hence no way to make "as original" parts.

[8E45E]

Don't know about American cars, but in the case of Brit cars, an agency called the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust was formed, and it collected drawings and tooling from many of the manufacturers as they went out of business. These drawings and tooling are loaned (rented?) to companies interested in producing parts. Like your Chevelle, several of the most popular British cars can be built from scratch to original specifications.

One can also order a documented transcript of the production order for the majority of British cars and trucks through them : https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk...e-certificates

Craig