What happened to the 'Sense of Community'?

[Metalhead]

Sorry about the emotive title but I just wanted to post a few thoughts as I'm keen to hear what others think....

I've been 'playing' with Honda's (fixing, modding, restoring, etc.) for the past 25 years. I've been part of the 'scene' from the early 90's, when the 3G Prelude was the current model, through the MK2 CRX fandom of the late 90s and latterly with the DC2, EP3, S2K and NSX which have all had fantastic forums and communities. Over the years I've had friends and complete strangers help out with advice and offers to work on a problem and I've always done the same in return - that was the 'norm'. We all helped each other to keep our old cars on the road.

Having recently started restoring an old 3G I'm finding that sense of community has almost gone. Yes, people are still prepared to offer advice and there are some (thankfully on here) that happily work on each others cars and help to keep as many of these old cars on the road, but it seems to be much (MUCH) less than in previous years. The real 'sour taste' for me seems to be the monetising of spares (maybe this is a 3G thing?). In the past I'd part a car and sell the bits I didn't need for minimal cost and be happy that another car was being kept on the road, it wasn't just me that did this - nearly everyone did. Now I'm finding people get in touch to say "I have xxxxx that you need, what's your best price mate?". (which incidentally is never enough regardless of the offer!). That approach is basically saying, 'I will take as much money off you as I can because I know you need this part'. Sad times.

These cars are worth very little these days but looking on Ebay you see parts that are just obscenely expensive (given a 'complete' Prelude will cost between £300-£2k on average) - how about £100 for a cracked wing mirror or £130 for a rusty wishbone? Just because the car is rare doesn't make it valuable but that doesn't seem to stop opportunists trying to cash in. Is this just Ebay opportunism or a reflection of the way things are in the Honda/car enthusiast community? I'm not sure?

I guess things change and the growth of Facebook and social media has maybe diluted the network of enthusiasts rather than reinforce it, but I don't feel that the scene is anything like what it used to be. I'd be interested to hear what the long-termers and noobs think? Maybe it's just me???

~Phil.

[NafemanNathan]

There are certainly a few on here that ask premium prices for used OEM parts. (I personally would put "aftermarket/performance" parts in a different catagory. Generally these items have less mileage on them and you can still look up their current RRP for comparison and/or buy them new.)

In the past though I've had no choice but to buy second-hand OEM items from at least one of these members (grudgingly), as I simply needed the parts fast (for a car show), even though I knew that given time the parts would eventually turn up at under half the cost In my eyes though, this/these particular members aren't true club members, they're "breakers".

Then if you look at breaker prices on the likes of eBay, most of the time I believe they're clueless to the current Prelude second-hand market and therefore look the corresponding part prices up from the Civic second-hand parts handbook For example I spotted 3rd gen electric wing mirrors on eBay the other day (Not folding, just electric adjust, so not even that rare)... £100 EACH!... Before delivery

So these "club member breakers" are consulting eBay breaker top prices and then ever-so-slightly under-cutting them on the forum to hope to us they look like they're giving us a good deal

Although there's also another wing mirror on eBay now (A driver's side) at £13.50 with free delivery, so go figure.

Unfortunatley though, there aren't many 3rd gens being broken on the forum generally. There never have been, so you just have to get lucky or be incredibly patient if you want to find a bargain/reasonably priced item. But if you look at the 4th & 5th gen second-hand market on the forum it's a completely different story! Spares are more plentiful, so the prices are that much lower. Quite often parts are even given away at just the cost of postage! I've done it and in return I've received numerous parts at no cost

At the same time though, you have to remember that these/us enthusiasts are trying to fund a hobby. I don't expect anyone to give away parts. That's why I mentioned a divide between OEM parts and upgrade/performance parts. I've got a fair few of those for sale at the moment, but they're parts I've bought, haven't used myself, changed my mind, and so am trying to sell them on at the same price I paid for them. I'm not forcing anyone to buy them, so if they sell at the price I'm asking then there's no loser.

OEM parts I've removed from one of my lude's though I'd have trouble asking much if at all anything for! I've either removed it because it's knackered or because I just don't want it (Weight-saving and all that ). I have quite literally hundreds of OEM parts I've removed over the years and just thrown in my shed if it's still functioning. I keep telling myself once I've had the garage built I'll organise everything and try and sell bits at the bare minimum, just to make a couple hundred quid and to justify having held on to it for so long Otherwise it's a case of throwing it away and that really does seem a waste.

I've also got a shed load of brand stickers I've received from god knows how many parts and shops in the past!... Looks like I could be set to make a good amount of profit from those as well!

[Metalhead]

The parts thing is disappointing but I guess some people will just latch on to anything where there's money to be made. I do find it baffling that Preludes are in the mix as they aren't exactly expensive to buy or particularly collectible. It reminds me of people clambering for absolutely anything "JDM" in the early 2000s and trying to sell it on for ridiculous sums!!!

The point I was trying to make was how disparate the Honda community has become. 15 years ago there were a handful of well used forums and EVERYONE was on there so we all knew each other, to a lesser or greater extent. Now there's literally hundreds of Facebook groups, Instagram accounts, Twitter feed, YouTube - you name it. The effect is everyone is actually less connected and more spread out than they used to be and this seems to have made the scene weaker rather than stronger. Maybe it's just my perception?

[Sailor]

I'm not sure that the 'network of enthusiasts' is particularly diluted, but the rise of ebay has no doubt changed the culture somewhat. Everyone these days imagines that everything has a monetary value. Where we would once say "do you want this before I throw it away?", we now ask "do you want to buy this before I throw it away?"

But the non-breakers among us aren't sure what price to ask, so we have a look round to see what else is about. This doesn't always work. For example, you want to sell rear brake calipers but can only find a current offering for fronts. Or you have some 3G bits but can only price up 5G. Even more inaccurate would be when there's no equivalent Prelude parts around but there are for another model - or even marque.

It's hard to know what to ask if you've rarely or never done it before. That's one of the reasons I've accumulated enough junk to either not know where something is, or even what it is.

[NafemanNathan]

I'll never understand why people would choose to use Facebook over a forum like this. It's so faceless in my opinion. I never use it and I have no idea about the others at all! I'll think you'll find nearly all on this forum (at least all the older members) will agree with you though.

I've noticed a slight dive in activity on this forum over the past year or so. Normally there'd always be a lull once a year for a couple of months, but this time it's never really picked up again. I think this has had an effect as less build and banter threads has allowed the percentage of for sale threads to increase. Quite often recently I've logged on to the forum only to find 10 or so new threads, 50% of which are for sale items. Back in the day I would have logged on to find 50 new threads, but at that time only 10% for sale items. Still the same amount, but the sheer volume would go unnoticed.

[Metalhead]

I'm not sure that the 'network of enthusiasts' is particularly diluted, but the rise of ebay has no doubt changed the culture somewhat. Everyone these days imagines that everything has a monetary value. Where we would once say "do you want this before I throw it away?", we now ask "do you want to buy this before I throw it away?"

But the non-breakers among us aren't sure what price to ask, so we have a look round to see what else is about. This doesn't always work. For example, you want to sell rear brake calipers but can only find a current offering for fronts. Or you have some 3G bits but can only price up 5G. Even more inaccurate would be when there's no equivalent Prelude parts around but there are for another model - or even marque.

It's hard to know what to ask if you've rarely or never done it before. That's one of the reasons I've accumulated enough junk to either not know where something is, or even what it is.

I agree entirely - there's a huge difference between what happens on good forums between friends and what exists on Ebay with traders. The thing I find most distasteful is someone buying an MOT failure for £500 and then seeking out genuine enthusiasts and trying to sell small parts (such as wing mirrors for £100 each) at disproportionate prices. To me, that's opportunistic at best and completely immoral at worst. Still, as mentioned for some cash is king!!! Maybe I'm too much of an old hippy to understand?

Again, the cost of used spares is just one aspect of the post - it's interesting that, as Nathan points out, forum use seems to be dwindling. I'm seeing this on other forums too so it's not isolated to here. IMHO forums are much easier to search and track replies and perfect for building knowledge bases. I can't imagine why anyone would prefer other platforms?

[firstlude]

i would have to tend to agree with you all with this whilst saving my lude from the scrap yard i have come across a varied selection of sellers of parts , some have been really good others even though i have needed the parts they had i have just said no because i dont feel they should get rich from my need for parts , after all we are on here because of are passion for these cars and are desire to help others keep theres on the road , if i had the room i would buy up as many ludes as i could to save them from being broken i am sure the need for parts out weighs the desire to put them back on the road

[tom023]

Im new to the game at 23 (bday was yesterday ) As a noob I can say that this is the only forum I have ever really stuck to and I don't use fb much either.
Even though I don't post much I do come on a few times a day just to see anything that I might fancy reading.
One of the reasons I like it here so much is how friendly and close everyone is. There are no trolls, little spam and people just trying to help out in general.
Nearly ALL of my aftermarket/upgrades have been bought through LG and I haven't had a bad experience yet. Every seller has helped me out with prices due to the extra cost of shipping to Spain which I appreciate a great deal.

Cheers to everyone in general and especially the admins, mods and gurus that always help out.

Sent from my Redmi Note 2 using Tapatalk

[simonc]

I second every single word that @tom023 has written. This site has been a God-send, a true community of like-minded folks, ready and willing to help out - no matter how daft my questions have been.

[mart609]

I used to frequent plenty of forums a few years back.
Now this is pretty much the only one I go on anymore, and thats just because of the friendliness, likeminded people and great banter.