Part manufacturing cost-to-consumer price ratio: Most expensive P80 part?

Post by **theWIFES_S70** » 24 Mar 2017, 18:51

I think this takes the cake... This is $0.30 worth of plastic, $0.05 worth of metal tabs, $0.25 worth of insulated wire and $0.02 for the fancy Volvo plastic bag... That's a whopping cost of $0.62 And it costs $28.29??? That's a 4450% markup!!!!!!!

Volvo Headlamp Wiring Harness (C70 S70 V70) - Genuine Volvo 9438738

Can you beat that? (And yes, I'm sour because I just blew a headlight and of course, the wires and the harness are coming apart!

)

Post by **tryingbe** » 24 Mar 2017, 20:32

Rear wing mounting bolts and brackets for wagon...

Post by **abscate** » 25 Mar 2017, 13:28

theWIFES_S70 wrote:I think this takes the cake... This is $0.30 worth of plastic, $0.05 worth of metal tabs, $0.25 worth of insulated wire and $0.02 for the fancy Volvo plastic bag... That's a whopping cost of $0.62 And it costs $28.29??? That's a 4450% markup!!!!!!!

Volvo Headlamp Wiring Harness (C70 S70 V70) - Genuine Volvo 9438738

Can you beat that? (And yes, I'm sour because I just blew a headlight and of course, the wires and the harness are coming apart! )

I might have clipped the harness off my 99 parts car - think it is the same??

BMW Transfer fluid - about 0.05 cents refined value, sells only at the dealer at $200/gallon

magna224 · Post by **magna224** » 25 Mar 2017, 21:43

This ones pretty bad too. Some plastic clips and Orings $38.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo- ... -3545662oe

Post by **erikv11** » 26 Mar 2017, 08:56

I love FCP but there aren't many Volvo-branded parts I buy from them. Either of these is 20% (or more) cheaper at the cheap dealer sites.

Post by **abscate** » 26 Mar 2017, 09:23

Do your other Volvo sources give you lifetime warranty too?

Post by **theWIFES_S70** » 26 Mar 2017, 10:32

For some reason, I'm alright with paying the OE markup sometimes. Those heater core clips, seem alright to me. Especially given their importance! (And especially if you get the whole coupling piece for -$10 more!) But this connector really gets me... The wire insulation is cheap! And the connector is cheap! That being said, I would've paid up to $18 for the connector. (And even that's insane markup!) There is a cost to work ratio that we all have to contend with: Do I make my life easier or fanagle some way around it... But $29? Maybe if it came with Volvo ceramic connectors... Maybe!

So instead, we will have to solder and shrink wrap it! I got a Dorman 84717 H7 connector for the job...

Post by **oragex** » 26 Mar 2017, 10:41

Some chinese factory may be able to make it for $0.5, but that doesn't mean Volvo had it manufactured at the same standards and with the same plastic quality.

Still, just throwing a wild guess, at $5 manufactured, there may still be other fees such as stocking, etc. but yes, Volvo does make an indecent profit on it's parts. To my understanding, the reason is not just the quality of some the parts (think exhaust components with are twice as durable as a Honda one for example), but rather the profit management approach. Volvo sells his cars at a rather low price considering the engineering and manufacturing costs, with the idea they will make the real profit out of repairs and especially out of selling parts. Plus, European manufacturers still produce many of their parts in Europe, which is clearly much more expensive than having them manufactured in Asia.

Post by **theWIFES_S70** » 26 Mar 2017, 11:58

oragex wrote:Volvo sells his cars at a rather low price considering the engineering and manufacturing costs, with the idea they will make the real profit out of repairs and especially out of selling parts. Plus, European manufacturers still produce many of their parts in Europe, which is clearly much more expensive than having them manufactured in Asia.

I hadn't thought about that... I saw some "cheap" S80s around here and started pricing parts for it and man, a lot of dealer-specific parts, YAW Sensor? electric fuel module?, are insanely expensive... makes a lot of sense to me now. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

But c'mon, Volvo could use a higher-gauge wire, double insulation, and ceramic in their connectors if they want to charge that much...

Post by **erikv11** » 26 Mar 2017, 13:16

abscate wrote:Do your other Volvo sources give you lifetime warranty too?

It's a good point, makes me realize I don't know that I've ever (ok, probably once) thought "dammit, where is the warranty?!!!" with a Volvo branded part.

I know, I need to concentrate more on breaking things during installation.