Frustrations Finding Low Prices For O Scale Vehicles

Trainworld....one of OGRs sponsors 

Haawk58, you have a Schnucks in Farmington, right?  It's a long shot but I've found some at my local Schnucks (St. Louis) on an end cap around the seasonal stuff.  Also, check Menard's.  If you can't find them at your local store, they're always on their website. They have a 16 car selection of cars for $34.71.  However, those are more modern than you're looking for.  They have older cars though not as cheap.  Like this one.  I found some at Sam's last Christmas season.

Ebay. Select 1:43 Die-cast,  check the vehicle years , then sort by lowest price first and start scrolling.

There are always folks that are selling someone else's collection for fair prices.

Haawk58, I hear you.  I remember going to York (Gold Hall?) and finding zillions of vehicles (Roadchamps, K-Line, etc.) for $4-5-6.  There were bunches of 1940's & 1950's vehicles at those prices.  Pretty slim pickings these days. 

George

I would say that modern Cars are more reasonable because they are current production.I know that ERTL used to be a Great source.Alot of manufacturers have gone out of Business,now it is China product if you support that System.

Mikey

Menards sells a few inexpensive O scale vehicles.

My suggestion is to go to your local drug store (CVS, Walgreens, etc)., an art supply store like Michaels, or even a store like Target or Walmart. They always have a small stack of diecast vehicles in a corner somewhere. Although they will not all be 1/43, 1/48, 1/50 scale, I can usually find one or two. For over a year every time I could go into one of those stores I would pick one up for $6 and by the end, I had enough vehicles for my entire layout.

Try www.diecastdirect,com.  You should find plenty of vehicles less than $35 a piece.

John

Give https://fairfieldcollectibles.com/scale/1-43/ a try.  There are plenty of 1:43 scale diecast cars from the 50s and 60s under $20.00 with many prices at $7.99.

Whenever you walk through a Walmart, Walgreens, Dollar General, wherever, walk through the toy area to see if they have any cheap vehicles.  I found these two "low rider"pickup trucks in a Dollar General about ten years ago.  The price for both of them in a blister pack was absolute ridiculous - - two bucks!  They looked great in front of the Starlight Diner on my last layout.

@Steam Crazy posted:

Try www.diecastdirect,com.  You should find plenty of vehicles less than $35 a piece.

John

@Steam Crazy, your link is busted. You have a comma between direct and com instead of a period.

@RJ I posted:

My suggestion is to go to your local drug store (CVS, Walgreens, etc)., an art supply store like Michaels, or even a store like Target or Walmart. They always have a small stack of diecast vehicles in a corner somewhere. Although they will not all be 1/43, 1/48, 1/50 scale, I can usually find one or two. For over a year every time I could go into one of those stores I would pick one up for $6 and by the end, I had enough vehicles for my entire layout.

Plus1 on the drug stores.  And they often have sales 2 for $5.

Not all, but many of these cars are from CVS Pharmacy.

Stay away from the 1:36.  But the 1:43s work well IMHO.

I’ll second or third on Diecast Direct.

@RJ I posted:

My suggestion is to go to your local drug store (CVS, Walgreens, etc)., an art supply store like Michaels, or even a store like Target or Walmart. They always have a small stack of diecast vehicles in a corner somewhere. Although they will not all be 1/43, 1/48, 1/50 scale, I can usually find one or two. For over a year every time I could go into one of those stores I would pick one up for $6 and by the end, I had enough vehicles for my entire layout.

A few years ago Walgreens replaced all the Rite Aid stores in my area and Rite Aid had a huge sale since Walgreens  wasn't using any of the Rite Aid inventory.   The rack of 42 cars (yup I counted them) was reduced to 50% off.  Most were 1:32 scale but there was about 10 that were 1:43.  Well after two weeks there were still 42 cars on the rack.  i found the store manager and ask what happens to the inventory when the store finally closes.  He said that most of it will go to other stores but the remaining inventory will probably end up in Lot type stores. For the heck of it I offered him $25.00 for the whole rack of cars.  He said SOLD but you have to take the display rack with them.  Well I kept the 1:43 cars and sold the rest of the cars along with the display rack to a flea market jobber for $100.00 . 

Another low price vehicle option is the Toys section of Tractor Supply Company.  They have cars, trucks and yes tractors in different scales and they also have farm animal figures.

On Diecast Direct, check the "Sale" items - many good buys there.

Try 3000 toys as well.

Stay away from the two (2) Classic Metal Works beverage trucks posted above - the website may be ok for diecast vehicles, but those two models, although listed as O scale, are definitely in the 1/64 scale area.

Finally, and I'm not sure how others feel about this and will probably get some push-back, but IMHO, the primary focus of a model train layout should be the trains, rolling stock, trackage, etc. and, like most other accessories, diecast cars and trucks should enhance, but not be the primary focus of a train layout. Accordingly, I rarely pay a lot for them.

My eyes are always peeled for inexpensive die cast vehicles.  I found this Corvette at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant for $5.00 and the VW pickup truck for $1.00 at my local grocery store.  

Thank you for your advice.

In my area of the Southeast, Cracker Barrel Restaurant has inexpensive O or close to it Vehicles. A cost of about $3/each.