"You cant get parts for those"
Discussion
This is a phrase that drives me mad, my mate has just bought a Saab Convertible and people are delighting in saying that "you cant parts for those", Oh Really, Saab ceasing production made add component manufactures abandon the market for all those cars left and scrap all inventory ? all the secondhand parts no longer available, all the common parts no longer available ?
My uncle(s) manage to run an obscure, low volume British Sportscar (Jowett Jupiter) from the fifties and get bits when they need them. My dad has an MG ZT and hasnt had any issues, we had a sixties Fiat 500 and bits for those are all available, you can build a new MGB from bits.
I can imagine body panels for obscure Maseratis could be difficult to come by, the front wing for my 944 was looking very expesnive, so I repaired the original, necessity is the mother of invention and all that.
All those guys in Cuba that run fifties yanks, when the original stuff breaks, they covert it to something else.
Do cars get routinely scrapped for the lack of a part, or is it generally being low value and knackered that kills them, is the "Cant get parts for those" thing actually just ignorance and wanting to piss on someone else bonfire ?
My uncle(s) manage to run an obscure, low volume British Sportscar (Jowett Jupiter) from the fifties and get bits when they need them. My dad has an MG ZT and hasnt had any issues, we had a sixties Fiat 500 and bits for those are all available, you can build a new MGB from bits.
I can imagine body panels for obscure Maseratis could be difficult to come by, the front wing for my 944 was looking very expesnive, so I repaired the original, necessity is the mother of invention and all that.
All those guys in Cuba that run fifties yanks, when the original stuff breaks, they covert it to something else.
Do cars get routinely scrapped for the lack of a part, or is it generally being low value and knackered that kills them, is the "Cant get parts for those" thing actually just ignorance and wanting to piss on someone else bonfire ?
I was short of time and asked a local garage to do some jobs on my (rare but almost worthless) yank. Mrs proprietor was very polite and all in favour, saying she knew they also looked after a local Pontiac - went to check with mechanic who emerged and muttered "we don't do those - can't get the parts". It is b
ks spouted by ignorant folks.
It can work to your advantage - due to prejudice and ignorance I get to drive a 60s yank V8 convertible that seats four and would cost about five times as much as it did if anyone had heard of it. I have a choice of about 6 parts suppliers and the US ones are even helpful and want your business.
ks spouted by ignorant folks. It can work to your advantage - due to prejudice and ignorance I get to drive a 60s yank V8 convertible that seats four and would cost about five times as much as it did if anyone had heard of it. I have a choice of about 6 parts suppliers and the US ones are even helpful and want your business.
I guess cars get scrapped for the same reason (well unless they've been crashed) it become uneconomic to repair them.
I doubt it's nearly as bad as the people you mention think, but it has to be a consideration - when I was new to driving I drove a Mk2 Golf 13 years old at the time - common as muck, even the 16v's like mine - but it wasn't usual to be turned away from the counter at GSF or Europarts because some obscure part or other was only available from VW, back then though e-commerce didn't really exist like it does now.
Not sure it's such an issue for MG owners, the newest ones will be a decade old next year, which seems to be the expiry date for most mainstream cars, the few left with enthusiasts shouldn't be hard to keep running from existing stock.
I doubt it's nearly as bad as the people you mention think, but it has to be a consideration - when I was new to driving I drove a Mk2 Golf 13 years old at the time - common as muck, even the 16v's like mine - but it wasn't usual to be turned away from the counter at GSF or Europarts because some obscure part or other was only available from VW, back then though e-commerce didn't really exist like it does now.
Not sure it's such an issue for MG owners, the newest ones will be a decade old next year, which seems to be the expiry date for most mainstream cars, the few left with enthusiasts shouldn't be hard to keep running from existing stock.
The market is sort of self funding and self regulating.
A Ferrari 456, for example, has enormous part prices and low values so a few get scrapped and the parts pool is there
SAAB convertibles will probably be the same, there will be a few things that are now hard to get new but most stuff should be available and breakers will take care of anything you need that's older.
Side note, one of the French Concordes was broken up for spares to keep the others in the air back in the 90s so the same sort of thing happens in most industries
A Ferrari 456, for example, has enormous part prices and low values so a few get scrapped and the parts pool is there
SAAB convertibles will probably be the same, there will be a few things that are now hard to get new but most stuff should be available and breakers will take care of anything you need that's older.
Side note, one of the French Concordes was broken up for spares to keep the others in the air back in the 90s so the same sort of thing happens in most industries
It isnt like most people are buying parts every other day, well, I sort of did when I had my 944 but even so, it is all pretty much available.
The Ecommerce point is a good one, it makes life a lot easier getting bits, whole business exist to service a global market, Rose passion for Porsche, expensive but very little is unavailable.
My dad was telling me the otehr day, he was restoring his mk1 Capri in the 80's, he was anticipating being stuck getting the trim, most fo the bits were easy to come by but he was sruggling for the trim round the Vinyl roof, he walked in one place and said "I dont support you have these bits" and the guy said he had saved some years ago and that he knew someone would want them one day, made both their days, my dad got his obscure bits and he was proven right.
The Ecommerce point is a good one, it makes life a lot easier getting bits, whole business exist to service a global market, Rose passion for Porsche, expensive but very little is unavailable.
My dad was telling me the otehr day, he was restoring his mk1 Capri in the 80's, he was anticipating being stuck getting the trim, most fo the bits were easy to come by but he was sruggling for the trim round the Vinyl roof, he walked in one place and said "I dont support you have these bits" and the guy said he had saved some years ago and that he knew someone would want them one day, made both their days, my dad got his obscure bits and he was proven right.
The fact is that when MG Rover went bust, the parts business didn't, as it was completely separate. There are only one or two items that are hard to get, and there are plenty of used parts out there.
The only issue that some have found is that insurance companies will write the car off if they can't get a new part quickly and it has to be put on back-order... this is presumably because they don't want the repair delayed while parts are sourced, due to potential increased car hire costs in the meantime.
The only issue that some have found is that insurance companies will write the car off if they can't get a new part quickly and it has to be put on back-order... this is presumably because they don't want the repair delayed while parts are sourced, due to potential increased car hire costs in the meantime.
I hear this all the time, having run Rovers in the past and a TVR now.
I have found that insurance estimators tend to fall back on this excuse rather a lot for anything remotely interesting because it's not obvious where to look for parts. It can be frustrating as an owner who, as a car enthusiast invariably will know where to get anything needed to deal with insurance estimators or indeed most other people 'in the trade' because most of them refuse to acknowledge that a punter might just know a bit more about unusual cars than they do.
I have found that insurance estimators tend to fall back on this excuse rather a lot for anything remotely interesting because it's not obvious where to look for parts. It can be frustrating as an owner who, as a car enthusiast invariably will know where to get anything needed to deal with insurance estimators or indeed most other people 'in the trade' because most of them refuse to acknowledge that a punter might just know a bit more about unusual cars than they do.
I think non car people think that different car models are made up fo entirely different parts, that the 2.0 Engine in their Audi is completely different from a Skoda or a VW, that the brake pads only ever fit one make and model etc.
I think some owners would be disgusted if you said their Audi has an engine they use in a dirty dirty poor persons Skoda, the motor trade doesnt help, had a Toyota dealer telling us an Aygo is made from better steel than a Citroen C1 and only the Aygo has the Toyota engine with Toyota stamped on the manifold, so, Bert and Doris think they have got something different and better, even though its the same thing with a different badge and seat fabric.
I think some owners would be disgusted if you said their Audi has an engine they use in a dirty dirty poor persons Skoda, the motor trade doesnt help, had a Toyota dealer telling us an Aygo is made from better steel than a Citroen C1 and only the Aygo has the Toyota engine with Toyota stamped on the manifold, so, Bert and Doris think they have got something different and better, even though its the same thing with a different badge and seat fabric.
calibrax said:
The fact is that when MG Rover went bust, the parts business didn't, as it was completely separate. There are only one or two items that are hard to get, and there are plenty of used parts out there.
The only issue that some have found is that insurance companies will write the car off if they can't get a new part quickly and it has to be put on back-order... this is presumably because they don't want the repair delayed while parts are sourced, due to potential increased car hire costs in the meantime.
I suppose that as well, even the last ones are nine years old and mostly, relative to repair costs, worth very little, damge a £1500 car in any way and its basically game over for it if you involve the insurance in the repair.The only issue that some have found is that insurance companies will write the car off if they can't get a new part quickly and it has to be put on back-order... this is presumably because they don't want the repair delayed while parts are sourced, due to potential increased car hire costs in the meantime.
otolith said:
Certain components become temporarily scarce, after which a batch of bits turn up on the market.
For the classic mini that usually means a run of terrible pattern parts from China. Anything which has rubber as part of it will be shocking in comparison.Thankfully there is still a fair bit of OEM stuff and Heritage.
I think the difference, after spending the last 8 years running older cars is: can get parts from stock in the local Euro Car Parts vs. can get parts after spending 2 weeks trawling owners forums/ebay/facebook groups/obscure breakers years on the other side of the country.
The real issue is when the suppliers catch on that a certain part is hard to get hold of, the prices go through the roof. VW recently stopped making a certain cooling part for the 2.0 16v engine that is known to be a weak spot, within weeks all the remaining stock was bought up and trickled on to the market by traders at 3x the retail price.
The real issue is when the suppliers catch on that a certain part is hard to get hold of, the prices go through the roof. VW recently stopped making a certain cooling part for the 2.0 16v engine that is known to be a weak spot, within weeks all the remaining stock was bought up and trickled on to the market by traders at 3x the retail price.
Edited by lufbramatt on Tuesday 1st July 14:30
I remember about 10 years ago going into a well known BMW dealer in the middle of Birmingham because I wanted something for my e30 M3 evo, which is one of 500 made. The young man on the parts desk said it doesn't exist, when I had given him the reg no as it wasn't on their system. The original "computer says no".
The parts manager rushed over, moved the lad to one side and pointed out that the bright red M3 parked outside clearly did exist!
This was about 4.30 pm on a Friday before a Bank Holiday Weekend. My order arrived from Munich on the following Tuesday together with a copy of the build sheet for my car and details for Mobile Tradition, the BMW heritage people, should I have any problems in the future.
The parts manager rushed over, moved the lad to one side and pointed out that the bright red M3 parked outside clearly did exist!
This was about 4.30 pm on a Friday before a Bank Holiday Weekend. My order arrived from Munich on the following Tuesday together with a copy of the build sheet for my car and details for Mobile Tradition, the BMW heritage people, should I have any problems in the future.
Some Saab parts are like gold dust - springs for a 2.8 Wagon for example. My replacements were found in a stockroom in Aberdeen and shipped to the dealer in deepest Suffolk. Last set any of the official service centres had. None of the usual suppliers offer equivalents either - except Eibach lowering kits.
Rear lights are also extremely rare. The led unit failed in mine and the only option was salvage from another wagon which had been rear ended.
Surprisingly, the hardest part to find was a couple of cooling pipes (manufactured by GM and used on the Vectra as well). No VX dealer had them - I eventually found some online which came complete with an inch of dust!
Rear lights are also extremely rare. The led unit failed in mine and the only option was salvage from another wagon which had been rear ended.
Surprisingly, the hardest part to find was a couple of cooling pipes (manufactured by GM and used on the Vectra as well). No VX dealer had them - I eventually found some online which came complete with an inch of dust!
The problem in the future will be in things like airbags. and electronics..the #1 cause of scrappage in the US. for certain cars. Its generally illegal to fit an airbag from a scrapped or used vehicle, and replacement cost new is very high. There are many perfectly good vehicles written off for this reason.
CampDavid said:
The market is sort of self funding and self regulating.
A Ferrari 456, for example, has enormous part prices and low values so a few get scrapped and the parts pool is there
SAAB convertibles will probably be the same, there will be a few things that are now hard to get new but most stuff should be available and breakers will take care of anything you need that's older.
Side note, one of the French Concordes was broken up for spares to keep the others in the air back in the 90s so the same sort of thing happens in most industries
Side side note.... Went round British Airways Maintenance Centre in 2002 and they had a 747 that they were slowly stripping for parts....A Ferrari 456, for example, has enormous part prices and low values so a few get scrapped and the parts pool is there
SAAB convertibles will probably be the same, there will be a few things that are now hard to get new but most stuff should be available and breakers will take care of anything you need that's older.
Side note, one of the French Concordes was broken up for spares to keep the others in the air back in the 90s so the same sort of thing happens in most industries
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