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Why does a spark plug cost 50 dollars?

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faffi:
Just replaced the spark plugs in my 1.4 litre turbo passenger car at around 50 buck a pop. They are supposed to last 40k miles, and likely will go well beyond that without failing, so the cost per mile is not horrific. Still, for a piece of metal and porcelain, the price seems steep. Especially compared to what spark plugs cost when I began riding in 1980. And that is relatively speaking, taking inflation into consideration.

So, anyone have the insight knowledge to explain why many current sparkies are so costly? Are they that much better, or do the manufacturers just make more money?

TN Mark:
Without knowing the particulars of the plug and the car, difficult to say.
That being said, modern spark plugs routinely go 100k miles. Your 40K estimate also seems a bit odd.

If your car is a diesel, I have zero experience with glow plugs, their cost or their life expectancy.

Dirk_S:
Clearly your problem is that you’re buying the authentic NGK plugs. You should be getting the poorly made Chinese fakes off eBay.

turboguzzi:
if they irridium, then yes, thats how much they cost, some exotic material in there

regular, non fancy  NGK are still 7$

check price also here

https://www.buycarparts.co.uk/

faffi:
Skoda say the sparkies should be replaced every 60 kkm, which is 37kmi. As I wrote initially, they will likely last longer. However, even though they are costly, having one fail on the road by trying to extend the miles will cost more. I consider it preventive maintenance. For 4 spark plugs, new oil and filter plus a health check I paid the eqv. of 500 USD. I use a cheap garage that deliver high quality - using the Skoda shop would have cost 800 bucks. Could I do the service myself? Sure. But I do not want to. Opposite with bikes, where I will never use a shop and do everything myself.

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