I put my 1970 Cutlass project on hold for the last 2 years . After looking on line yesterday at the major aftermarket part suppliers, it seems the prices on everything increased dramatically. I don't remember a set of Chinese bumpers costing over a thousand dollars. Has there been a price increase?

 

On everything, I wish it was just car parts.

 

Apparently, you've also been living under a rock while not working on the car as well. It ain't just car parts.....
Oh, and if you think the prices are high, go ahead and order something. Good luck finding anything in stock.

 

To add another element of comparison, Christmas Day was invited to in-law's house for the big meal. My aunt who is not a cook was responsible for bringing a dessert. She picked up a coconut cream cake at her local bakery, a beautiful thing, and very, very delicious. Later during conversation she mentioned the cake cost $67.00. I almost fell to the floor.

 

corporate fat pigs.

 

My new chromed rear bumper to my 88 -65 cost me 1544 $ so it,s expensive here to.
And this should come from US they said.

 

That cake looks delicious. Agree it's pricey, but the fact it came from a bakery as compared to a run-of-the-mill grocery store I'd pay more for it.

 

I haven't worked in my gun shop in a few years and I needed a few things for casting bullets for a friend, I could not believe the cost of equipment and dies. Dies I paid 15.00 for are now 55.00. Wow, a'm I out of touch..... Tedd

 

If what you are buying is coming across the ocean, a large part of the cost increase is in the shipping cost. Owners of those cargo ships don't let them sit idle in the bay for free.

 

You haven't seen anything, yet. A lot of the stuff was in warehouses and in the "pipelines." A local farmer just said on the radio. He has to order and pay for seed and fertilizer ahead of time. The same amount, last year, $23,000. This year, $46,000. He'll pass all the increase on. Everything has petroleum involved somewhere.

 

No. I'm a widower for the past 3 years. I do My own shopping for food and stuff. Just seems car parts increase a lot more.

 

Things are far worse than we are led to believe. The real inflation number has been heavily manipulated over the last 30 years.



And please don't make this political guys. As you can see by the chart both parties and administrations have been in charge while the numbers were/are played with ...

 

We're screwed

 

Agreed this isn't political, it's a fact of life.

 

Corporate greed!!

 

The next depression that is around the corner will make the crash of 29 look like a picnic, especially with all the looting and murders that go without any consequences. THE END IS NEAR! At least we’ll have our Oldsmobiles to live in.

 

This one IS political.

but we are not allowed to talk about it, so I won’t.

 

Good God

 

I disagree with the broad term "Corporate Greed." The farmer on my local talk radio (rising prices, home heating, food, gas, etc, are frequent subjects) he is between a rock and a hard place. He needs to buy/pay now to get in line for his farms needs. We garden/can as a hobby/fresh and non GMO vegetables. We saw shortages of certain seeds being sold out. These businesses cost have jumped. Workers wages --up, cost of finding workers--up, fuel--up, etc etc. They all have to pass on cost or they'll be out of business. Jmo.

 

Farmers are getting royally screwed around here. I feel especially bad for the Cattle guys, 365 days a year of work. My Father and Mother Inlaw got Christmas, we made sure the last few years and about 10 Holidays in 35 years before selling out. With the drought on top of all this BS, feed is ridiculously priced, Cattle prices meh and no water or dangerously low. Grain guys are getting hosed on seed from big corporations and huge carbon tax on fertilizer. Tough times for everyone.

 

Building/construction costs are bonkers also. The inflation issue is on everything. Where this will end? Probably not in a good place. Also, this problem is worldwide. Not just the USA.

Honestly, you are better off just buying a ready car than trying to restore it now yourself. You will end up spending 4x what the car is worth.

Unless you have DEEP pockets, don't attempt a restoration today, you will go broke very quickly. Especially if you are not doing the work yourself and paying others to do it. It's news people don't like to hear but reality sucks and that's the reality of product and labor costs today.

 

I think it has always been a better financial option to buy a completed car than it is to do a restoration (unless you are buying at one of those auction places where the cars are selling for way more than they're worth). Doing a restoration may be more expensive these days than it used to be, but it has always been the case where the cost of restoring a car was more than the finished car was worth.

 

Inflation has always been around. From 1929 to the 1990's average annual inflation was 2.9%.