33 left in the USA (across all Pick and Pulls) How close are we to total obsolescence?

[Lazerskull]

I found this interesting. Searching via Pick and Pull website, across the entire U.S.A. there are only 33 1997 Ford Explorers. 33! How many years until that number is 0?
One of the joys of owning one of these over the years has been sourcing stuff through Pick and Pulls. Soon that option will be no longer.

So the only Pick and Pulls left will be those running whose owners have the knowledge and resources to keep them running good.

What happens then? Does there value go up like a collector's car?

Of course I did not count the other years of Explorers. In total 1995 - 2001 there are probably more like 300 - 500 explorers out there or soon to be submitted to Pick and Pulls.

Anybody have any thoughts on this?

 

[BrooklynBay]

You won't be able to get parts at some point. My vans have the same issue. There aren't too many left.

 

[mountaineer2004]

All good things must pass.

 

[fosterzcj]

I'm sure someone can custom make parts for more money than the car is worth. That's the nice part about machines. They never truly die. Any part can be replaced.

 

[Pete Deering]

I'm sure someone can custom make parts for more money than the car is worth. That's the nice part about machines. They never truly die. Any part can be replaced.

Easy said than done. I have a car, where some parts are not available. There are some car guy that are resourceful. There have access to mold making and 3D printing. I been using other cars parts, over makes and models ( modified too fit) On my car.

 

[toobladink]

I'm sure someone can custom make parts for more money than the car is worth. That's the nice part about machines. They never truly die. Any part can be replaced.

phew, i'd rather buy a second car the same year and have it sit for when i need it!

 

[410Fortune]

This is why I have several complete trucks out back… personal parts donors
I’m buying more all the time

Getting very difficult to find old bronco iis in the yard

 

[J_C]

It will be a gradual decay, because there are a good # still out there in service, not a lot but more than 33 and as each eventually gets taken off the road and put in the junkyard, a new donor exists. The unfortunate part is some will be crushed right away.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Jay Leno has his own restoration crew design & manufacture custom parts for his collection. There's a Youtube video explaining how they design the custom part with a CAD program, and then use a metal cutting CNC machine to manufacture it. He has these parts in the steam engine of one vehicle.

There are 3D printers which use metal instead of plastic but they are very expensive. The roll of metal is also expensive. A lot of interior & exterior parts could be 3D printed on a standard low cost 3D printer.

 

[429CJ-3X2]

This is why I have several complete trucks out back… personal parts donors
I’m buying more all the time

Getting very difficult to find old bronco iis in the yard

It's why my '01 Sport Trac with the bad engine is still parked next to my driveway 2 years after the front timing cassette broke, and why I bought spare parts after I bought the '02 ST 12 years ago. And 40+ years ago I parted out several '70 Montegos to stockpile parts for my '70 Cyclone that I'll never get restored.

 

[tinman_72]

Thank Obama for "Cash for Clunkers ". All the plentiful Crown Vics and Grand Marquis' disappeared at that time, too.

 

[410Fortune]

Cash for Clunkers targeted our suvs specifically
There were rows and rows of perfectly good explorers and blazers that got crushed.. they put silicon in the cylinders so no engines could be saved. That sucked
I saw 10-20 explorers in rows at different Denver yards just a sample of what was being crushed and probably sold to china

 

[C420sailor]

Fortunately we still have fairly good aftermarket support.

It will get to the point where we just have to start actually fixing parts instead of replacing them. For example. I just replaced a faulty headlight switch with one from the JY. When those dry up, I’ll have to start cracking parts like that open in order to actually repair them.

The toughest I think will be electronic items like PCMs, but fortunately they don’t fail at a high rate.

Many other parts can be adapted.

 

[toypaseo]

Is that website for a specific company?

It is not showing any inventory of any Explorers in my typical yards…

 

[410Fortune]

Yes it’s just pick n pull brand yards
They own quite a few

 

[manimal]

Thank Obama for "Cash for Clunkers ". All the plentiful Crown Vics and Grand Marquis' disappeared at that time, too.

The Explorer was #1 on the list

1. 1995-2003 Ford Explorer/Mercury Mountaineer: 46,676
2. 1996-2000 Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth minivans: 23,998
3. 1993-1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee: 20,844
4. 1992-1997 Ford F-150: 20,222
5. 1984-2001 Jeep Cherokee: 18,329
6. 1988-2002 GM C/K pickup: 17,202
7. 1995-2005 Chevrolet Blazer: 15,668
8. 1999-2003 Ford Windstar: 12,157
9. 1991-1994 Ford Explorer: 11,612
10. 1994-2001 Dodge Ram 1500: 8,103

Almost all of these vehicles would probably still be on the road today in one form or another if they weren't crushed - especially the Cherokees and Ford/GM/Dodge pickups which likely still had a lot of life left in them as work/farm trucks.

Most of the people who turned in cars under C4C probably turned around and bought some cheap garbage GM or Chrysler product that's not even on the road any more.

My dad had the 96 that I still have at the time and refused to take part in that program. The 96 will soon be going to my nephew as his first vehicle. Still starts every time and runs strong, while the vehicle that likely would've replaced it is surely already crushed somewhere.

 

[boominXplorer]

I worked at a Ford dealership through all of it. Sad thing is those vehicles were only bringing $2500 as trade ins at the time. The cash for clunkers program gave $4500 so it was a no brainer for anyone trading in. Just sucked seeing some nice ones die and how long some would run on no oil and liquid glass was amazing

 

[410Fortune]

Ford offered my brother $500 for his bronco ii in trade on a new 96 5.0 … I’m still driving the bii and I ended up with the explorer as well, that was about 4 years before “c4c”
$4500 would have been a no brainer… bye bye bronco ii

 

[V8]

I had just purchased my '01 5.0 Explorer when "Cash for Clunkers" was announced. A Ford Dealer offered me more than I paid for it towards a new "compliant" vehicle. There was some sort of spiff involving vehicles in the V8 Explorer class. I turned it down because I didn't want the extra debt, New Explorers were over three times what I paid for the '01. Now parts are hard to find, specialty items are almost non-existent. Local parts stores no longer stock parts for 20+ year old vehicles. I had to get creative trying to replace the stupid crook shaped molded vacuum hose under the intake manifold plenum, and ended up routing bulk hose around the plenum because this can't go on forever just because I want to use the original design parts.

In comparison, my '95 Bronco has a very healthy aftermarket for parts. I can rebuild it completely with almost every part except the ECM being available from multiple sources. It doesn't seem right somehow.

 

[C420sailor]

Weird, I don’t have any problems getting parts for my two explorers.