That's what they've been doing for years, buy an unpopular Rolex to be eligible to buy a desirable model. (Oops, I'm to blame for starting page 5 of another Rolex unavailability thread.)
Well, Rolex ADs made this work for at least 5 years, and sold a lot of ladies watches, less popular PM watches, and innumerable diamond earrings. However, it seems that things are finally changing.
Rolex had a good run but the opening of their new factory is poorly timed. Countless companies have made the same mistake, expending at their peak. With 2 million modern Rolex watches sitting with gray dealers worldwide, it won't be pretty when Rolex opens the floodgates.
The Beanie Baby craze is a boon for parents in recent years. Tons of cute little stuffies perfectly preserved with the tags still on at garage sales, pick whatever you want for a dollar a piece. My girls got quite a few.
You're looking in the wrong spot. They have plenty of Rolex models available for sale in the "steel display box" in the backroom.
Photo was taken during the morning at probably 10am. Wasn’t taken by me, but by a Sydney watchmaker and dealer. Was in a newsletter he posts. He has walked past the window many times to the same empty display. I travel a bit with work from Aus to Dubai, NZ, Singapore and US and have battled to see any Rolex in airports or boutiques for years. Probably from late 2017 onwards they started to dry up. 2013 to 2015 I could have bought any Rolex available just about anywhere.
For the first 90k until the head gaskets leak. After that they are 100% safe as they sit in your driveway. Ugh. Never again. (Came for the Rolex bashing. Stayed for the Subaru bashing. )
I think that they actually fixed that issue some time ago. It was replaced with the excessive oil consumption issue caused by faulty piston rings. That was the issue with my 2013 Legacy which Subaru would never acknowledge despite the fact that I had to top up the oil every 1,500 miles. Ironically, I had the same problem with the Honda Accord that I had before the Subaru. Finally got it right with Mazda. On my second Mazda6 at present with absolutely no issues. First one was bulletproof too. So of course Mazda stopped making that model after 2021.
Everybody uses boron steel for the crash cages nowadays. It’s nothing special. But as you say good at protecting you from injuries in the case of an accident.