Uk Glass headlights

Hi, a friend of mine can get me a set of new glass headlights for around £285.00 + vat each

Does anyone know anywhere which is cheaper ?

rrp is about £816 iirc so £684 is cheap then really....(well cheaper!)

where is he getting them from at that price?

Main stealers I think

He gets a good discount and is not putting anything on top.

maybe that was the price a month ago, toyota have just boshed up the price of these, once he re-checks it maybe a lot higher

Is this sudden price increase due to the cars getting older or because of the £ - ¥?

Buy ten sets if you can still get them at that price

Price on the glass lights have been steadily on the rise for a few years now. I remember buying a new set 8 odd years ago and was under 300 for the pair!

Think he's telling you porkies. Official price is well over £400 per light now and I called up this morning and Toyota didnt have any in stock at all - they had to be ordered in from Japan.

More and more parts are being discontinued now. A full restoration will soon be a daunting task.

You say that and it will be harder than going to a regular parts supplier thats for sure... Wheeler Dealers always manage to restore all sorts to get various cars from all over the world back on track, I think it would be a case of finding specialists who can recondition/refurb parts to keep them going rather than sourcing new as they're certainly drying up. Be good to have a list of places that would do that.

In the vintage exotica stuff is re-manufactured all the time, but the cars had little complication. The stuff that stops fairly modern cars being economically restored is plastic moulded trim, rubber moulded trim, bespoke switchgear, "fancy" light units, moulded semi flsxible body panels like bumpers, etcetera. There are plenty of places in the UK who will cast new blocks, new heads, make gears, make cams, valves, top hats, pretty much a new engine could be made using none Toyota bits if push came to shove. But if you need a new plastic moulding having the mould made for a bespoke piece of trim will be eye wateringly expensive. and when body panels dry up you can't make a new tailgate for example like someone can English wheel a mudguard for a Bugatti. The Supra will enter an era where cost of restoring a dog means they are scrapped or broken and only the best examples will remain, with owners fearing an accident or damage to trim.

It's the pain of repairing damage that stopped me buying a Lancia Gamma Coupe, a car I think looks lovely, or another Renault Alpine GTA, where parts are all but none existent now.

They also only pick cars that have parts available for them or specialists that can restore/refurb

Yup, agree with those sentiments.

Be nice to have a market like they do in the states for retro classic hot rods, where they can fit modern engines, press all body panels and get bits and pieces for them to totally restore relatively easy.

Maybe theres a business there for someone to look at supporting classic 90's Jap cars.. good money to be made in the future no doubt