It depends on how long you want or able to keep the car, barring something catastrophic.

Those parts and a few others are only going to be more expensive or even more scarce in the future as the number of survivors drop. Another cash for clunkers might just do it.

Since I have four Volvo's, I have a assortment of those crucial items rat holed away. In fact I might have too much as I sold a fuel pump to a person I barely know the other day.

It is a story so hang on.

There was this garage sale next door to my house last summer. An older man showed up in an 84 Volvo and I introduced myself. I learned that he was our local "Volvo Joe". He is into the one series line and the Amazons or 544's I think. He said cars before the electronics.

A few months later a fellow drives up in a van to ask me questions about his 83 that he has to fix up and said Volvo Joe sent him. I gave him some suggestions of what the problem was and we exchange phone numbers.

Now, last week I get a call from him and he wants to know if I have a main fuel pump that he can "borrow" to test out the car with. Volvo Joe had lent him a pump but it was one for the CIS system. His son, who now lives twenty miles from him and his work place, uses it for a daily driver and it has quit could I help him. HIM was a nice open ended term and I will explain.

I never heard of borrowing before but he was a nice guy so I said, Ok.

I have several and gave him a choice of two junkyard ones in case one might be bad. I try to pull good looking Bosch ones. I take my chances as I live a long ways from any self pull yards.

Well, it it turns out his pump was bad. It now works great and he came back home.

He in turn suggest to me several options. Can he leave it in until he can get one after his son gets paid at the first of the month, get one off the Internet new or used for a hundred bucks or buy mine if I want to sell it.

My thoughts went from, what happened to borrow, to financing and repairing his sons car! I never met the son.

I told him that this was a Bosch pump with the check valve attached and you do not get them new for a hundred bucks anywhere around here. If you do not want to pull it back out, since it was raining when he had to do it this time, I will have to have a 120 dollars for it and not next month from your son (him) as the deal was with you and me.

I figure that this would set the tone about borrowing! He himself, came up with the cash and the extra pump in his hands the same day! I think he got the point not to burn this bridge or at least not quite yet!

So having spares or even extra spare parts is not a bad idea when you or someone else needs one.

I was told, by that borrowing friend, that Volvo Joe has parts in a barn stacked to the ceiling for his son to sell when ever he is out of work. His son has been out of work but he still has them!

He knows this, as he bought two Amazons cars from him. One running and one for parts to put in his barn along with a menagerie of other stuff.

Is this better than having money in Cypress? Who knows what older men collect and why!

I will never get that bad and the words "borrow or lend" will have more thought given to it in the future.

For your thoughts of keeping a few parts....
If you want friends, just have hard to get parts or a pickup and you will not be forgotten during an estate sale either!
Phil