Should I start stockpiling OEM parts?

[Limelight]

So I’ve had my 2013 ZL1 for 3 years and I never plan on selling it. Lately I’ve wondered if I should start stockpiling OEM parts for ease of repair in later years when perhaps replacement OEM parts are no longer available at the dealer (or maybe I’m already too late for that with a 10 year old car??).

I was thinking things like the window/door rubber trim, power window motors (not sure if the motor than lowers the window when the door is opened and then closes once the door is closed is a separate motor) etc.

Anyway, I’m curious to know if people think that’s a dumb idea or not. Will replacement aftermarket parts always be readily available on 5th Gen Z’s or is this something I should be looking at stockpiling? And if so, what would be other good common wear items that would be worth grabbing now and storing?

[chef-beavis]

If I had had the cash over the past decade, I'd have already been hoarding. Smart investment and cheap insurance to have spares. A lot of stuff is already unavailable. It is criminal, in some instances, if you ask me. No excuse for mag ride and headlights to be gone already. Greed. This ain't the 80's anymore. In 1989, I bought every stitch of my 68 Camaro new at my local GM parts counter.

[el ess A]

It's a bit late for that now. Should have started in 2013 or so. It's going to be a lot harder now that most parts will be dug up from 3rd party sources. There may be a few GM parts around, but their price only goes up at the dealer until they're discontinued and that's happening faster than anyone would like.

I've done this myself when I restored an old 71 442. I had to buy 3rd party and searched under rocks. Then I bought a new 1985 442 and had the same thoughts as you do now. Keep the car forever. I still have both cars. So in February 1985, I picked my car up from the dealership, and that week went back to the dealership and started ordering parts. And did it up into the 2000's when still available. I can open up my own parts store now. People thought I was dumb spending $10 on a bumper emblem for example, which now sells on 3rd party places for around $50 if you can find it.

The good part is that people thought I was stupid paying dealership prices for stuff. Turns out, when parts become unobtanium, you have them in stock when you need them and know you likely paid less for it than they will IF they can even find them. You know you have them and all the other fiddling grasshoppers out there who didn't save for a rainy day will come crawling and begging for you to share your stash with them.

There's a fine line between restoration and insanity! Trust me. I went insane. I've got nearly every NOS part available to rebuild the car from the frame up. Gotta have a lot of storage area available because the parts do take up a lot of space, eventually.

[Dega Man]

I've been doing that on parts like starter, alternator, waterpump, upper and lower driver seat cover, hoses and some rubbers, etc, at this point there are bunch of OEM parts still available from the dealer who knows how long this will continue.

[PhantomBlack]

I bought a oem Z28 flow tie emblem for my front grill on my 14 SS years back for $75 dollars. I thought it was a bit pricey at the time but I wanted it. Recently I searched for one to have just as a spare. Come to find out the part looks like its discontinued and the few places that has them want $500+ dollars for one. Same goes for the 14-15 oem 1le front splitter I bought way back. Can't even source another one as a spare. Gone forever. It's really a shame.

[CamaroCracka]

I've been stock piling for a few years now, but most of the Gen5 specific OEM stuff is gone now. I mostly stockpile used pieces now when they come up for a good price. I did build a lot of storage space in my garage, so where to put it is not a problem. I have found myself selling a number of piece because people needed them more than me, e.g. I've had two complete spare sets of DSSV shocks but have sold them all to Z28 guys that needed them. For me, going to coil overs would not be the end of the world, but I know a lot of Z28s have to have the OEM pieces. Overall, I would say I don't have that much invested when you account for the money from selling some parts. That does not account for my time though.

[ZEDL1]

Quite a few of our 5th Gen ZL1s ended up being in accidents that sadly rendered them non-repairable.
Looking into salvage yards that have them may be a good source of OEM parts to buy and put away.