Glad I stocked up on most of my copper wire needs last year. I saw the writing on the wall early on.
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The "Official Shortage Thread"......
- Thread starter Hobo Hilton
- Start date
True, but a contractor can never stock enough. At some point you will have to buy at the market price or go out of business.
For an individual there is no way to "hedge" the market. The only one's hedging successfully are the mega investment funds. And they are playing with other people's money..... Your pension money.
Over the past few months we have all dealt with either excessively high prices or simply being told "It's not available, at any price".
This week, it was time to do a routine oil change on my old beater car, before winter. A 1998 Chevy Cavalier, oil filter between engine and fire wall.
I had to visit 3 well known, National auto parts stores to find 1) oil, 2) oil filter and 3) correct oil filter cap wrench.
My suggestion for you today.
Go out and purchase oil, filter and oil filter wrench for your primary vehicle. Store it away.
Why ? Because if you let an engine go to shit over the nest year or two, you are screwed.
Even if you go to Jiffy Lube and are told "We are our of that oil, we can change oil but you will have to run the old filter or We can't get your filter off the engine"....
Possibly you get laid off and are using every spare dime to put food on the table for your family. An oil change will get you a little farther down the road.
Oil, filter and wrench have a very long shelf life.
Do it while you have the money, time and availability.
It is going to get worse.
This week, it was time to do a routine oil change on my old beater car, before winter. A 1998 Chevy Cavalier, oil filter between engine and fire wall.
I had to visit 3 well known, National auto parts stores to find 1) oil, 2) oil filter and 3) correct oil filter cap wrench.
My suggestion for you today.
Go out and purchase oil, filter and oil filter wrench for your primary vehicle. Store it away.
Why ? Because if you let an engine go to shit over the nest year or two, you are screwed.
Even if you go to Jiffy Lube and are told "We are our of that oil, we can change oil but you will have to run the old filter or We can't get your filter off the engine"....
Possibly you get laid off and are using every spare dime to put food on the table for your family. An oil change will get you a little farther down the road.
Oil, filter and wrench have a very long shelf life.
Do it while you have the money, time and availability.
It is going to get worse.
Ambulance chassis shortage affecting Montana agencies
Ambulances can pick up a lot of miles working in Montana, and emergency responders say that can mean big maintenance requirements as a vehicle ages.
www.kpax.com
Is this regional maybe?
its been a year or more, but I had a hard time finding mobil 1 in 5w-20, or most flavors of mobil 1, the shelves were sparce, but other brands (at least 1-2) 5w-20 were always on the shelf. I will use any synthetic, not stuck on mobil 1, just odd the mobil was oos.
Today (and for the last many many months), the shelves look full. I have already stocked up, did so when I saw supplies return and there were rebates to be had (5qt synthetic $14 after rebate). I have plenty of oil and filters to go 2 + years now.
I can't really speak to in store filters as I never buy those in a retail store (usually a rip off) usually buy in bulk much cheaper from rock auto for all my cars at once to spread out shipping costs. I hit a sale last year at an actual Toyota dealer online and got Toyota filters for even less after shipping than rock, but that is a rare sale.
I noticed last year that car batteries were a little hard to find too. That no longer seems to be the case either, battery shelf looks full now. I replace my 6 year old battery recently even though it still seemed to have some life left, didn't want to push it just in case at that age.
Tires might be my next concern, but checking online, they always seem to be available ready to ship from places like tirerack.
Haven't had any issues with oil or filters for probably a year or so. We no longer have oil allocations from our suppliers. No more issues getting grease either. There's a handful of parts that still haven't been available for over a year, we have had serpentine belts backordered all this time and still haven't got one. I know they are available at other suppliers from time to to but management doesn't want to set up accounts or use a company card so it's more of a poor planning issue.
Without a doubt "Regional".... But honestly, unless you are sharing info on a board like this, you are at the mercy of the government and the media to tell you what prices are in other areas. Even the AAA national fuel prices can be "slanted".
" Shelves look full" is one more segment of the Smoke and Mirror's game. If the one item you need is not available, all those full shelves are not doing you any good.
The "Hook Line" is being heard more and more.... "I can order that for you"... Now you are at the mercy of the regional warehouse and the shipping company....
The individuals with some inventory of parts that will be needed will be ahead of the crowd.
Mobil and Pennzoil have been in a synthetic oil rebate battle for years
This time it was Pennzoil Platnum
Mobil seems to have cheaped out on the rebate this year and only doing $6 to Pennzoils $10 (max of 2 per address)
Mobil 1™ – Terms
Walmart sells the 5QT pennzoil plat for $24 and change, rebate is $10
(you can argue all day long which is a better oil, for that after rebate price I will happily put Pennzoil in my 4 cylinder toyota)
Yep but those deals are getting few and far between.
Time to sit down, make a list of those "for sure" things you will need in the future.
The road will get bumpy.
I keep a pretty good stock of all that, buy it all along and stack it. And I never dispose of my old oil, if I had to, I have an electric oil filtration system.
I've been know to buy them when I find deals, I work in a rubber plant and can get a silicone preservative that I treat all my rubber with. I have a manual tire changer as well!
Here is something you will understand. I have a really old Polaris 4 wheeler I use around the homestead. Everyone laughs at it but it gets things done. I pulled a weed sprayer just this morning with it. The original starter lasted 30+ years. Recently replaced it with Chinese starters since no OEM's were available. Each one lasted 2 months. got curious and tore the last one down today. The material in the brushes is so soft they wear down to the stops in a couple of months. It is a PITA to change starters so I hand crank. Going to have shoulder surgery so I can;t be hand cranking during the winter... So, what's a man to do who lives paycheck to paycheck on a fixed income ? Of course that's me and 3 million other Americans at this time.
Looked like oil had got on the brush holder. Soaked it in lacquer thinner and nothing dissolved. It was not oil film it was carbon dust. Brushes were at the stops. Inferior carbon brushes. Think about that the next time you need a starter and the parts guy wants to sell you one from China.
Just replaced 2 in my Frontier, and had to use old sensors out of the fuel module to get the new one to operate. Working in the auto industry I can confirm planned obsolescence is very real!
The price on those donkey's and donkey carts is going to skyrocket very soon....
Should be a good show to watch.
The "spread" on cost for identical items is becoming evident. Vendor A list it for $20 and Vendor B list it for $15. Too many variances to grasp or speculate on.
Prices are varying from region to region. Online vendors are starting to charge sales tax for their home state regardless of where the buyer is located. It is becoming a game of "plus + plus + plus". Vendor's are rolling the dice with hope they can sell an item that is in short supply once the competition runs out. Not quite gouging but we will soon see it. Their plan is to get rid of any extra storage warehouses and keep a smaller inventory in their store front operation.
Now is the time to dig around and inventory your supplies. With inflation, many have been pulling out of their stash with the hope that prices will come down. IDK, it has worked in the past but conditions now are much different than the past. There are more mirages now than ever before. Online vendors continue to list items that are "No longer available".
Over the next 30 - 60 days could be the last opportunity to actually get certain items, at any price. Perhaps pass on some of the entertainment or luxury items and spend that cash on things that you know you will need that have a long shelf life.
Just a few of my thoughts.
Prices are varying from region to region. Online vendors are starting to charge sales tax for their home state regardless of where the buyer is located. It is becoming a game of "plus + plus + plus". Vendor's are rolling the dice with hope they can sell an item that is in short supply once the competition runs out. Not quite gouging but we will soon see it. Their plan is to get rid of any extra storage warehouses and keep a smaller inventory in their store front operation.
Now is the time to dig around and inventory your supplies. With inflation, many have been pulling out of their stash with the hope that prices will come down. IDK, it has worked in the past but conditions now are much different than the past. There are more mirages now than ever before. Online vendors continue to list items that are "No longer available".
Over the next 30 - 60 days could be the last opportunity to actually get certain items, at any price. Perhaps pass on some of the entertainment or luxury items and spend that cash on things that you know you will need that have a long shelf life.
Just a few of my thoughts.
