Thought About Selling My Celica Convertible....., Ever Had that Feeling???? Options

[FrankB2]

I wasn't aware of the lack/high cost of parts for the convertible when my wife and I bought it. The weather stripping for the windows is about $400 per side, and that's just for the rubber! There are pieces that the rubber attaches to, and they are expensive as well. We looked at Miatas, since they've made a zillion (closer to a million ) of those little suckers, and I test drove a Chrysler Crossfire a few days ago. The Crossfire was nice, but lacked the zippy steering of the Celica, and parts for that car are getting scarce as well! Crossfires don't seem to be much in demand, and this one is being sold by a new car dealership. They gave me the CarFax, and it shows that they've moved it to all three of their dealerships since April 2012, and still haven't been able to sell it!

While the Crossfire had a LOT of power, I was very glad to get back behind the wheel of my Celica on last Thursday. Parts might be expensive and hard to find for the Celica, but I don't think it's time to spend $12,000 on a used car with equally hard to find parts (Mercedes and Chrysler parts!!!), and the Miata just doesn't seem to go with my height. Guess I'm stuck with my Celica for now. I should mention that my Celica is in pristine condition, and doesn't need any parts right now. I was just a little concerned that the day will come when I'm just outta luck.

It was in the upper 50's yesterday, and we spent several hours burning up fuel with the top down. We did pass a Triumph TR6, and I said to my wife, "Now that's a roadster!" I then began to wonder how much parts for that car would cost.

[FrankB2]

I don't mind spending the money, as long as I can find the parts. We have had two larger sailboats since 1991, and have thrown tons of cash into those. Life is short, and we enjoy sailing and the convertible, I just want parts. The first of our larger sailboats needed a part for the mast, and it was no longer manufactured. I went to several machine shops trying to get a decent repair, and finally stumbled into an shop that made aerospace parts. They charged a LOT, but the resulting piece was a work of art. An exact replica of the piece that had cracked, but CNC'd from much better materials. I left it on our coffee table before driving it to the Jersey shore two weeks later.