Spare Parts (or Lack Of)

[lindorf 3]

This post is not an attack on Tamiya, just my own personal opinion.

The lack of spare parts for some cars new & old to me is a real concern for keeping these machines on the road esp the older models.

My thoughts are i would want Tamiya to stock the parts for cars new & old or let a third party do it under license, so you are not scared of running that model and thinking u cant replace a part without it been no longer avaible or costing so much its not worth it in the first place.

A lot of us here love to restore a lot of Tamiyas great classics, buts it getting harder and harder and harder to get the parts in any way shape or form for some of these machines, and thus its means more and more of them end up on shelfs not seeing the outside world no more cause if something gets damaged chances are the part is going be hard to find.

I know for a fact at meets when the older classics are run they draw more of a crowd and attention than the newer models .. but less and less of the older ones are coming out to play, all we is doing is keeping Tamiyas great legacy alive for future generations to see where it all started and how things was back in the day, this i would have thought would be of benefit to Tamiya as shows off just what amazing designs they have done and the people i speak to at meets ...seeing the classics makes them want to buy a Tamiya and join the family.

If the parts was produced for there machines across the board ... i am sure they would sell in there bucket loads, i know for one i would buy a fair few.

Again this is not an Attack on Tamiya just my own thoughts.

[bromvw 744]

With the internet and the likes of e bay and all the members on here i think that in general parts are fairly easy to find . It's mostly a case of time . In my case in the uk i'am lucky to have found some really great suppliers who have stocks of many vintage parts . I honestly dont see it as a major issue . Obviously there will be the occassion when the almost impossiable to find part is just either not available or very hard to locate but to me thats half the fun of modeling .

[TamiyaDan 8]

.

[SteelRat 46]

Tamiya are no more likely to make parts for an old Falcon or Wild One any more than Ford are going to make parts for a Mk II Cortina or Capri. This lack of spares also is in part to do with what makes old Tamiyas, just like old Fords draw so much attention at a show or public gathering. Unlike Ford though, when Tamiya re-release an old classic then it's usually a fairly faithful reproduction of the original and what makes spares for the originals suddenly abundant once more.

Additionally remember too that for many vintage collectors, the hunt for hard to find bits is part of the thrill of owning an old car (both full and scale sized versions!), so could a sudden influx of newly created bits for old cars suddenly take the thrill out of that and make the bottom fall out of the vintage restoration market? I've seen a couple of examples on here where someone's managed to bag a vintage Sand Scorcher for less money than the re-re, when not 2 years ago, you'd be lucky to get one for less than £4-500.

[lindorf 3]

All Good points made......and i agree looking for parts is great.. but i dunno .. sometimes i look and think i would love run that car but im scared it will get broke and i cant get that part no more .. i guess .. im having a bad day .. but i just love running them

[TamiyaDan 8]

.

[SteelRat 46]

The 1:1 car example was just that, an example - not a hard and fast direct comparison. Whilst Ford may have made parts for 30 year old cars in the US, I'm pretty sure (although would be happy to be proved wrong if it were the case) it's not the case here in Europe.

I don't buy Tamiya's to keep them on the shelf. I run them, but I don't run them to destruction. There seems to be a misconception that running RC's means that you have to break bits every time you take them out. You really don't.

Any parts for the cars I have, with the exception of the Falcon have been fairly easy to get hold of up until now, but that's largely because I've purposely avoided getting models based around chassis with legendarily weak and / or difficult to get hold of bits like the Fox and Avante and also because I still have fun with them without being stupid. In the two years I've been back in to the hobby, I can't remember breaking anything on any of them, except a number of ORV gearboxes, the front shock tower of the Falcon (which was busted and bodge-fixed when I bought it anyway) and the odd cracked PS Bodyshell or light bar. That's it.

OP, don't worry about breaking your Tamiyas and not having parts for them - most of them are tougher than you think!

[lindorf 3]

I also dont run them to destruction or go out to break parts.. but accidents do happen .. like a radio problem or somthing unforseen .. its just nice to know incase of an accident parts can be obtained.

It just puts a air of doubt in my mind when i run some of my older cars if i have an accident can i repair it?

[qatmix 812]

I always race tamiya and never found it a problem to get parts. My trf's also don't break as much as some other manufacturers. Tamiyas are popular at quite a lot of club level races.

As has been mentioned for some old restoration cars I have to hunt around, but that's fair enough it's unreasonable to expect stock to be held for cars so old.

With re releases most of the cars are made for the shelf, or light running so it's reasonable to not expect lots of spares available, as that would be a waste. But for current mainstream cars all parts are very easy to get.