photo_ed
ClioTrophy Club Member
I've just been ruminating on this over the last couple of days...
I know us Trophy owners are a keen bunch and in some cases real sticklers for originality, but there seems to be a reoccurring theme of certain parts coming onto the market recently with some eyewatering prices attached. And I'm not just talking about the 'pick a number' scenario being exercised by Renault themselves on some stuff.
I know bits for the cars are getting hard to find and difficult to source and as such that's obviously going to see their values increase with the rarity values much like the cars themselves, but just recently this 'Trophy Tax' as I call it has been in my opinion going a little bit silly. A pair of the remanufactured group buy front springs for £500 anyone? Five Hundred Pounds....
These were £150 in the group buy, and to be fair to everyone who's sold on a pair through this forum they've only ever asked that figure back, to cover their initial outlay. There's also the fact that these springs are still available from France - brand new - for around £180 (plus shipping and duty), and I hear Kam Racing and Grams are currently beavering away on creating a set of Springs to the original Trophy spec which will certainly be retailing at significantly less that £500.
The latest spring scenario is reminiscent of the set of dampers on eBay not long since - not perfect and definitely in need of a service before use - and the seller's buy it now began at several thousand pounds (£3.5k I think it was from memory). There's no doubt that some of the bits and bobs for our cars do command a certain value now, but some of the things I see just seem unrealistic and over the top, it begs the question do these sellers think that us Trophy owners are all a little gullible with more brass than sense?
I know us Trophy owners are a keen bunch and in some cases real sticklers for originality, but there seems to be a reoccurring theme of certain parts coming onto the market recently with some eyewatering prices attached. And I'm not just talking about the 'pick a number' scenario being exercised by Renault themselves on some stuff.
I know bits for the cars are getting hard to find and difficult to source and as such that's obviously going to see their values increase with the rarity values much like the cars themselves, but just recently this 'Trophy Tax' as I call it has been in my opinion going a little bit silly. A pair of the remanufactured group buy front springs for £500 anyone? Five Hundred Pounds....
These were £150 in the group buy, and to be fair to everyone who's sold on a pair through this forum they've only ever asked that figure back, to cover their initial outlay. There's also the fact that these springs are still available from France - brand new - for around £180 (plus shipping and duty), and I hear Kam Racing and Grams are currently beavering away on creating a set of Springs to the original Trophy spec which will certainly be retailing at significantly less that £500.The latest spring scenario is reminiscent of the set of dampers on eBay not long since - not perfect and definitely in need of a service before use - and the seller's buy it now began at several thousand pounds (£3.5k I think it was from memory). There's no doubt that some of the bits and bobs for our cars do command a certain value now, but some of the things I see just seem unrealistic and over the top, it begs the question do these sellers think that us Trophy owners are all a little gullible with more brass than sense?
I saw what happened with the 5GTT scene when parts literally disappeared overnight and I failed to read the writing on the wall with the Clio stuff until too late. Some of the stuff I have for the 5 is worth a small fortune, daft really.