Losi Parts

[Steve.T]

I have one the best starts to season that I can remember, this year, which is due to the X5 being a very good car.
However, the xx4 losi is 10 years old? and I wonder about the availability of the spares which the X5 depends.
If X factory were to make their own version or buy the manufacturing rights to to the parts and make their own, it will cost a fortune.
Whats to be done?

[ben]

Ive heard all of the losi parts are still being made but i think its the "xx4" kit that is discontinued

[Darren Boyle]

The XX4 is indeed 10 years old, but the XX 2wd buggy is now 15 years old and we still have (and recieve regular) all parts for this still. That said we still get parts in for the JRX2 and Pro-SE which were late 80's, not all parts still but most of them. I dont think that the key parts from the XX4 will disappear just yet (maybe some oddball bits yes), and who knows two or three seasons down the line X-Factory may have new ideas and new projects to entice us all with instead, we may not need any XX4 bits............who knows what the future holds???

[YoungChazz]

Darren's right on here, and the initial poster's concerns are reasonable. Losi would never even consider to sell the rights to make parts -- think about it -- and if they did it would be ludicrously expensive.

But look at it from their point of view: The biggest cost of making any part is the tooling. Molds are incredibly expensive to produce, and once they are made, the cost per part goes down whenever more parts are made from the existing tool. After 10 years, the tooling cost of another run approaches zero.

Making additional xx-4 parts is very cheap indeed, and that = profit. As long as they're selling at all and the tools will make good parts, Losi will make parts for the xx-4 just as they do for the other cars Darren mentioned.

Like D.M.S. and other fine model shops, we have no trouble getting xx-4 parts, and X Factory maintains huge stocks of the parts that fit the X - 5. Right now we have a dozen of each shock tower, 24 sets of control arms, a dozen front bulkheads, etc.

If we ever discover that Losi will discontinue a part that fits the X - 5, we will endeavor to buy up Horizon's entire supply. But we don't anticipate doing that any time soon.

[sparrow.2]

There is although another aspect to consider.

For example here in Germany Losi has gone to a new importer who is only importing the RTR and nitro models. It is becoming increasingly difficult to acquire parts, which is one of the reasons X5's are very rare here (that and the bodyshell not really being everyones cup of tea )