Possible parts remanufacturing

Hi all, well wish i had good news to fill you all with hope of identical replicant parts made at an awe inspiring price.
sad be the reality.
The company i was using seemed to be switched on and willing , but looks like its all to hard.
i would have thought it quite easy to just scan and 3D print things like the horn covers tool tray etc but they seem to think it would be better to vacuum mould
this entails making silicon moulds (that only produce about 20 items) and is very expensive.
the water bottle i had all my hopes on, they did get some Chinese company's saying they would make the moulds and produce the bottle,HOWEVER! Chinese being Chinese i wasn't overly keen to fork out $4000.00 plus my only water bottle and leave the mould in their hands only to find after i spent all that money they where popping up on Ali Express.
they are all happy to make the moulds so long as they keep them.
so waiting on a Kiwi company STILL to see of they will make a mould and produce here(atleast i can get some protection here regarding them using the moulds to produce back door items).
so if i ever get any where with it ill let you all know, but unfortunately its not looking to promising.
if any one has some suggestions throw them at me and ill follow up.
regards Dion

It is surprising they haven't even offered a price for direct 3D printing, I thought the market was specifically moving in that direction for very low volume (≤100) or pre-production etc.

The volumes will never justify any tooling cost, whether customer or supplier.

Did they say what the barrier is?
I wonder if some 3D firms prefer to print-only, and have the 3D file generated by someone else?

This was the dilemma/obstacle I found. A company in India could make OEM style Nitrophyl floats....... for $1100.00 for the 1st one with an order of 1000 pcs ! So I started making the Brass Floats.
CNC programming for the first Cleaning Tool was similar but the cost per each for a minimum order was reasonable based on a hypothetical volume of sales which took a while but was met.
The Spin-On Oil Filter Adapter was quite expensive as a one-of but was a personal challenge and I wanted an easier way of replacing the oil filter with less mess......so I swallowed that one !
I haven't pursued Over-Flow bottles and with several "plastic" companies locally I may look into it. But as has been pointed out: The "cost to tool a mould" plus a usual minimum order would likely rule out this possibility as a speculative venture.
Anything can be made - it's the cost to do so that creates the obstacle.

Rchaloner
i hope to hear next week about a avenue the company i have pursued this this through has approached, thats regarding the bottles
regarding the other stuff i was really surprised that they did not seem to want to just 3D print he seemed to believe their could be issues regarding underside and fitment.
they did offer to do all the computer work set up at their own expense, being that all parts sold would obviously be via them and their commission on top of actual cost.
so i thought that was a winner as i dont want anything out of it, i believed this would keep costs down, but as said they seem to think the Vacuum mould is the way.
that just works out to expensive though.
so as Scotch has also pointed out from his experience the technology is still maybe to fresh to make it viable for small order stuff as it would be.
As Kawboy mentioned in the beginning a logical approach would be to place a order 50/100 realistically i would say 100 items with moulds all made and able to do future runs, but that would cost me minimum $4000.00 mould only with no control over its use, then cost of each unit plus freight, if they stuffed up i would be liable for that to you with probably no chance of holding them accountable ( Chinese business in China being what it is).
im quite deflated over it all myself, however im in a small ish town chasing the biggest crowed here , so as time goes by ill find approach bigger company's in Auckland and see if i get anywhere their.
for me it is all about the control (legally) of the mould, as i dont care about making money off other KZ Z guys but i do need to recover my costs
well looks like i better just fix the holes meanwhile in both of my bottles.
thanks
ks for your input
Dion

Here in the UK the hard to find items are :
Chromed Tank badge holders
Chromed Air box covers
Horn covers
Basically the plastic Chromed parts

And rear light lenses