Interesting Article

[e.mason]

I will refrain from making any comments about the "future of the hobby" or it being a "rich mans game".

BROOKSVILLE â€" When the tail light on Jack O’Donnell’s 2006 Cadillac broke, he requested the part from his dealer, but came up dry. After calling all the Cadillac dealers in the area, a tail light for his model was still nowhere to be found. The only replacement he could find cost about $4,000 from a private seller.

"I’m afraid to drive the car now," the Brooksville retiree said. He wants to avoid any further expensive repairs.

The predicament facing 77-year-old O’Donnell and collectors like him is fairly unusual. But it shows how expensive it’s become when auto aficionados have no choice but to hunt the parts aftermarket for their vehicle because the original manufacturer has stopped producing them. And depending on the part, pickings can be particularly slim.

O’Donnell buys and maintains vehicles he thinks will be worth a decent sum in the future, primarily Chevrolet Camaros. The goal is to rebuild and repair them with original components to maintain the cars’ value, but when those are unavailable, he turns to a parts aftermarket.

This particular tail light in a General Motors Cadillac is one of a handful of components that are relatively scarce, potentially jeopardizing the car’s value.

"The car is depleted in value," he said.

O’Donnell’s car is a Cadillac XLR-V, "an experimental luxury roadster with a super charger on it," he said. Its specialized hard top pulls back into the trunk to become a convertible, and with 450 horsepower under the hood, "it’s an experience to drive," he said.

General Motors stopped making it in 2009. O’Donnell bought the platinum-colored 2006 model â€" the first version of the car available â€" because the first release of a vehicle is often worth the most money in the future.

Cadillacs are a longtime love for O’Donnell. The first time he ever saw one was when he was 8 years old, standing on a street in Miami. A man pulled up in a 1949 two-door Cadillac â€" black with chrome trim, swoop back, wire-spoked wheels. If you pushed on the tail light, it lifted up to reveal the gas tank.

"This is the most beautiful car I’ve ever seen," he remembers telling the driver.

"You can have one just like it," the man told him. "All you have to do is work hard."

"I’ve been stuck in that situation ever since," O’Donnell said. He ran home and began mowing grass to save up for one.

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Since then, he’s had about a dozen Cadillacs. And he’s extremely precious about them: he never gets in his current model without towels on the seats to prevent wear, and drives it as little as possible â€" under 300 miles for all of last year.

O’Donnell estimates that a 2006 Cadillac XLR V could sell for between $35,000 and $40,000 right now, maybe even $45,000. He hopes it will continue to climb in value in coming years.

But the tail light throws its value into uncertainty because its next owner would have trouble repairing it, too.

Because the car is more than 10 years out of production, parts only come from the aftermarket. There’s no set time frame for when parts for a car are taken out of production by the original manufacturer. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates the auto industry, does not impose any such requirements on auto manufacturers. Many times, it depends on the part. Something as vital as an airbag, for instance, is likely to be produced longer than a sun visor.

"The reality is that demand drives the market for replacement parts for older vehicles," Andrew Lipman, spokesperson for Cadillac, said. "As you are looking for parts for vehicles that are 10-plus years old, it can become more challenging."

Collectors aren’t the only ones who need parts for their cars long after the original manufacturer stops producing them. To solve this, many manufacturers license out parts for the vehicle to third-party vendors, who continue to make the parts. Cadillac often licenses its parts out.

"We can without question say the vast majority of those parts are available through the independent aftermarket," Camille Sheehan, spokesperson for the Auto Care Association, said.

Using such parts does not typically void a vehicle’s warranty and can often be cheaper for consumers, said Bill Hanvey, CEO of the Auto Care Association.

But that’s if you can find them.

Joe Lisle, parts manager at Dimmitt Cadillac, acknowledged that the tail light O’Donnell is looking for isn’t currently available.

"There are no dealers out there that show having this part," he said. He hasn’t received other similar complaints from customers, though.

Cadillac’s Lipman said he believed the company has licensed parts out for O’Donnell’s model.

Without an economic way to repair the car for now, O’Donnell must keep his fingers crossed for a cheaper part at some point.

"I wouldn’t sell it to one of my friends or a stranger" with the tail light so scarce, he said. "It’s like selling a gold coin that’s not real."

[James Landi]

I read this article on the Cadillac XLR blog site... it is a common and fearful challenge, however, there is an aftermarket auto electronics outfit that very recently appears to be providing support for XLR owners with damaged lights.   Another positive for us Cadillac XLR owners is the gradual increase in their used car market price...  see below.


Your Kelley Blue Book® Values have changed

The week of:
Feb 02, 2018 to Feb 08, 2018
Remember!
If you've moved or put miles on your car, you'll want to update the information to ensure you're receiving the most up-to-date value possible.


2007 Cadillac XLR Convertible 2D Remove
Mileage: 28000 Update    Zip Code: 32901 Update
4% Increase in Value since Jan 23, 2018
Shop for my next car

[e.mason]

I believe Allante owners have the same problem in securing parts.

[64\/54Cadillacking]

It really depends on what kind of model Cadillac it is. The hobby is definitely geared towards the well off these days unless you buy a clean one already well taken care of or bought your car many years ago for next to nothing.

Some Cadillacs are more popular than others and like the article states it’s all about supply and demand. Plus independent passionate Caddy enthusiasts that sell parts on the side as a hobby which we all should be grateful for.

[wrench]

I have looked at the XLR-V and would buy one if i can find the right combo at the right price.

I know a guy with an XLR and he told me about the $4000 tail light issue and he had his LED strip replaced by some guy for about $400...

But it was a wake up call for him and me...

Plus, it appears that there is a high failure rate on the component, thus making you wonder what else will fail...

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Article isn't clear what is meant when saying the taillight "broke". I assume it means the taillight stopped working rather than being FUBAR.

If that's the case, he should look into this...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/XLR-Tail-light-Lamp-LED-REPAIR-SERVICE-for-Single-Assembly-LH-or-RH-Cadillac/142336929603?fits=Make%3ACadillac%7CModel%3AXLR&hash=item2123f12f43:g:VnUAAOSwhQhY46u0&vxp=mtr

[Bobby B]

Please send me all your tail lights @ $400.00 a piece, so I can retire early. I will be happy to convert them for you. I never heard of such absurdity. $4000.00 for a tail light? Just when you think you heard it all.......
                            Bobby

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Some parts are just expensive for whatever reason. (Well actually, the reason is always the same - supply & demand.) There was once a time the front headlight/cornering lamp assembly for a 1998 - 2004 Seville was ungodly expensive. Now they're being reproduced for $65.00.

Sooner or later, so will the XLR's taillight. Temporary inconvenience granted, but what else are you going to do? Cursing the darkness never did much good.

[e.mason]

Article isn't clear what is meant when saying the taillight "broke". I assume it means the taillight stopped working rather than being FUBAR.

If that's the case, he should look into this...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/XLR-Tail-light-Lamp-LED-REPAIR-SERVICE-for-Single-Assembly-LH-or-RH-Cadillac/142336929603?fits=Make%3ACadillac%7CModel%3AXLR&hash=item2123f12f43:g:VnUAAOSwhQhY46u0&vxp=mtr

Whatever the problem actually is.  One thing is certain.  Repairing todays cars is much different and costlier then days gone by.  There was a time when your headlight burnt out.  You could run down to your local Pep Boys and pick up a new bulb and replace it yourself.  Most cars today have the fancy LED lights that, besides being more expensive, usually require a professional to replace.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

It's also harder to restore an average 50s car than an average 30s car - but that hasn't seemed to have stopped anybody...

[e.mason]

It's also harder to restore an average 50s car than an average 30s car - but that hasn't seemed to have stopped anybody...

Not so sure about that.  Yes 50's car have a few more options, but parts for a 30's aren't that readily available.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Not so sure about that.  Yes 50's car have a few more options, but parts for a 30's aren't that readily available.

Equipment/accessories is only part of it. When body styles became integrated, the tolerances involved make it much more difficult to get panels align properly, ie: door-to-fender, fender to hood etc. Very different from the days when fenders were little more than splash shields. Interiors were far more basic as well.

A world of difference between restoring cars from the teens, 20s and 30s compared to the late 40s and pretty much anything beyond. Parts are scarcer that is true, but their relative simplicity also means they can be fabricated, and often are, but try fabricating a door for a 1962 Coupe. That's a whole different proposition.

[e.mason]

Equipment/accessories is only part of it. When body styles became integrated, the tolerances involved make it much more difficult to get panels align properly, ie: door-to-fender, fender to hood etc. Very different from the days when fenders were little more than splash shields. Interiors were far more basic as well.

A world of difference between restoring cars from the teens, 20s and 30s compared to the late 40s and pretty much anything beyond. Parts are scarcer that is true, but their relative simplicity also means they can be fabricated, and often are, but try fabricating a door for a 1962 Coupe. That's a whole different proposition.

I can agree with everything you posted. 

[59-in-pieces]

Are you kidding me - as time rolls on, the cars get tougher to work on.
Picture those 30's and 40's engine bays where you could almost sit in there and work on the engine - 50's on, not so much. ( oh yah I was allot skinnier then, but the point is still valid)
My XLR is more electronic space ship - right down to, it has lost the traditional door handles etc. etc. etc..
And don't get me started - when you open the hood and you see lots of new age designed plastic - you know and can hear an engine running, but you can't see it.
And if you can't readily see it, how's a guy supposed to figure out how to fix it.
Just say'n - but I love it.
Have fun,
Steve B.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Yup.

[James Landi]

Steve B and I both are XLR owners--- we love them, and they are durable roadsters in spite of some of the horror stories one hears.  If you have even a small impulse to test drive one, you'll be sold on an automobile that is truly unusually exceptional in so many ways.... Happy day,  Jame