Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

It is always nice when you get a new parts catalog.  Then you place an order  I am talking about a good reliable company.  You order 8 items and they are out of 4 of them.  You say sub a different brand, we are out.  In the new catalog an items list at $27.00 but noe is 42.00.  Another item $19.98 now is $30.00.  This goes on for about every item I order from 3 companies.  Like I said new catalogs.  I  went on internet, they list the product but in little print it says out of stock.  Saw a set of rod bearings I needed.  Looked closer and there was bearings for 7 cyl not 8.  If you plan on building a car, start 1 year ahead of time and add 30% to the cost.

One thing that I have found with farm equipment parts is that sometimes you have to look outside your normal suppliers. Sometimes the problem with dealers and autoparts stores is that they will not do that. Many times they will say something is not available but you can find it, many times name brands on line. They complain about people buying online hurting their business but they won't put in the effort keep your business. Same also goes with price. We have an autoparts store that handles a lot of ag parts. I used to get all my filters there because of price. Last week I priced a fuel filter there and it was $27.99. I got it at the John Deere dealer for $19.05.

I am very good friends with a gentleman who owned a company that manufactures racing components for modifieds and late models.  The past few years were so challenging, he sold the company last summer.  He had to finalize his catalog 6-8 months prior to the season starting so he had the updated version available at all of the shows, the biggest one being the Indy PRI Show.  Having the catalog ready by the PRI show, meant calculating prices 2-3 months before the show, so the catalog would be complete, and printed in time.  Then, he was at the mercy of the steel market.  For a while, he would just eat it if the costs inflated to the point where he wasn't making a profit.  Then, the steel market became so volatile, he finally had to tell customers the costs in the catalog were not correct----which some drivers understood, and some simply would not accept.  He just could not afford to send a $20-50 bill out with every order.  

I know this gentleman very well.  He was an honest businessman.  This was a family owned business that his father started decades ago with just a few employees.  I don't think there is much these companies can do about the fluctuating prices of the raw materials as much as they would like to.

It's not just car parts. It's every industry right now. 

I saw the same one. I thought it was a good look.over at the engine building side of thr sport.

I mean this with a more than a bit of sarcasm, but I dont give a shit what cost what. Its all a matter of what you're used to. Candy bars?? You live long enough and you'll long for the day when things cost what they used to. "I remember when a gallon of milk used to cost (insert price here)".  Cool story Pops, that year is in the past. Prices rise. Have they gone up more over the past five years more than any  other? I don't know. I filled my truck up for $4.20 a gallon on 08. Gas is cheaper now. I grew up when a Snickers bar cost 50 cents. Now? I don't know, what are they? $1.49?

Things change. I don't worry about it. I adjust as I live. As far as complaints about prices go.... I'll paraphrase Burgess Meredith "You can complain in one hand, and shit in the other, and see which one gets filled first."

I'm sure everyone complaining about prices would have a shitfit, if after living in their house for 30 years, sold it for the same price they paid for it.

You are probably buying what used to be called King Size bars, chief. Either way, I don't really give a shit.

All that matters is purchasing power. My costs have gone up, but my salary has gone up. Again, I haven't had any problems. I've actually had fewer problems as I've gotten to 40. 

Not directed at you, but complaining about anything doesn't make it go away. Once you're done complaining about prices, you're still left in the same place you were before.

Maybe yours has, Chief, but I'm good looking.

Inflation has risen faster than salaries that's true what's also true is inflation doesn't give a shit what you look like.

Hey, Parnelli, it's a joke. Relax. I know you're old and crotchety. 

My major point from this whole thread is this: Do you think we're unique in 2024 complaining about prices and costs? Every generation before us has done it, and we've made it this far. I know it seems like the sky is falling, but guys back in the 20's, 30's, 40's all thought the same thing....

It sucked then and it sucks now. But I get it special agent Utah I'm old and your young dumb and full of.....ahhhh never mind lol.

Starting in late 2020 many companies went all in on DEI hires. I know mine did and production numbers and quality has suffered ever since. That would explain the shortage situations.

Exactly just ask United airlines their planes are literally falling apart.

If you owned a sprint car for over 30 years like I did you would give a crap

Same here.  The hires are no longer about those with the experience, education, and work ethic.   

I'm in New home sales in Charlotte.  Basically the guy that sits in the model at the front of the neighborhood and takes all the credit even though I did the least amount of work.

I'm selling 320k homes to buyers at 2500 a month just in mortgage.  That doesn't include car payment and insurance, savings, food, social life.  

I have a neighborhood of homeowners that just go to work and come home to sit in front of a TV and watch it till they  pass out because they can't afford anything else.

Its heartbreaking.

Brandon McLain
United Sprint Car Series Driver
2014 Season
National Rookie of the Year!
National Points - 8th
Southern Points - 3rd
Asphalt Points - 3rd
18 Races, 3 Top 5's, 14 Top 10's

Not to brag but I have, actually about a 50% increase but it involved a couple job changes.  I guess I looked at things a little different than others these last couple of years.  Everyone talking about nobody being able to find work and people thinking "Nobody wants to work anymore" (which I don't believe), I decided to apply for jobs I might not have been qualified for.  Not that I lied to any employers about my experience but they were having trouble getting qualified applicants and I guess they liked work ethic and work history.  Since taking my last job, I have had two different companies contract me indirectly saying they wanted to talk to me.  So yes, if you stayed in place, your salary probably wasn't going to increase a whole lot.  But without the chaos of the last few years, I never would've gotten the last two jobs I held.  So there was some opportunity.

Utah does have a point that everything has seemed expensive as long as I can remember.  But here's one to think about.  I don't have all the specifics but I remember reading this.  In 1946 the average BRAND NEW house payment was roughly 25% of ONE person's income, also this was a national average.  Meaning anyone could afford a BRAND NEW house.  To add on to what Mcclain is saying, I doubt the average income in his area is $120,000 per year.  Some of this might not seem as extreme in your areas but look at San Francisco, the average home is $1,600,000 with an average monthly mortgage of $7,990 which equates to about $95,000 a year in mortgage payments.  The average school teacher there makes around $72,000 a year.  So in San Francisco if the average school teacher didn't pay taxes or do anything else they still couldn't afford to make a mortgage on the average house there.  So Utah I can agree that moving past 40 things seem to be easier financially but I think of my kids, one is a freshman in college and the other is a freshman in high school.  I have no idea how they're going to be able to buy a home, at least the conventional way.  They're going to need a run down shit hole or have a ton of room mates or win the lottery.