PeterUbers

The more I read these forms the more I feel that car parts for older vehicles are just not as prevalent as they were 10 years ago.

I might just making this up or is this something that can be backed by any type of facts? I know the pandemic decimated the supply chain and what not but was it that significant that even much older car parts were affected?

what is everyone else's opinion or experience in sourcing car parts or estimating the availability of car parts?

pjw1967

I feel it's like an inverted bell shaped curve. Availability bottoms out due to lack of demand. Then the market sees what cars survived and begins to provide either NOS or reproductions. This is more prevalent in the older classic car market. However I think there's a problem in the tech, especially with the emission mandates. Engine management has really changed in 10 years, so backwards compatibility is not something that's thought of. I have a 22 year old Epsom scanner that still works with Windows. I wonder what parts are interchangeable between my recently traded 2014 ML350 and a 2024 GLE450? Maybe a lot. I don't know....

W205C43PFL

I recently read that they discontinued a key fob? At least a forum member mentioned they can't order a key anymore for their vehicle. I think it was a GLK or something?

PeterUbers

exactly. The obsolescence (engineered or byproduct of the industry) is cost prohibitive now - I would pride myself in keep my cars a long time (more than 10 years) but now at least in this niche it seems it's better from many angles (time, frustration, financial, quality of life) to just get a new or newer vehicle ...

the lack of LiON batteries for the S class baffled me ... like the car which was relatively new became useless (until Benz ninjas software update to allow AGM batteries instead)

and no suspension parts for a w212 amg? A 2016 is only 8 years old and you can't get a rear suspension component

W205C43PFL

Yes 2016 is really not a long time, seriously strange they don't have new parts for it already.

W205C43PFL

I found the thread again: https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...continued.html

Baltistyle

I went through this years ago with a keyless go fob for my e55. The part did become available again. I also saw this during pandemic when a few parts were discontinued from Lexus. Mechanic broke a camshaft that literally never made it on the boat due to pandemic. I had to source from an engine rebuilder that hoarded parts prior to pandemic. Only new part I could find was in Russia, at the start of their war. The parts did become available again. Sometimes the discounted used part number is just now updated with a new number. As mentioned above, the inverted curve shows less demand, until the demand picks back up. I think a big distinction here is oem vs aftermarket parts. Aftermarket parts are out their. The oems are having a hard time keeping up with all the new tech issues instead of the mechanical parts issues of older cars. One could surmise that government mandates towards evs is also persuading car manufacturers to make old cars undriveable. To think a camshaft adjuster is more than 1k oem for a w212 amg is insane considering that is a non tech part that should have efficiencies in production and economies of scale. Yes, labor laws, minimum wage, international trade deals and IP all play their part. Some of these prices we see are predatory at the very least. Once the price goes up, suppliers re-enter the market because smaller batches are now economically feasible for their stock market investors. Used cars have higher values than ever before and are on the road longer than ever before and it would be smart business to supply the parts to gain sales from those people that will never be new car buyers.

W205C43PFL

Ugh all good points and I hope things improve.

ygmn

IMO: Depends on manufacturer and number of vehicles sold with that part.

Luxury buyers do not keep their cars for many years as most lease for financial reasons and are getting new cars every 2-4 years.
Domestic buyers buy their car and keep them longer since not too expensive to repair and keep them running and car prices crazy today.

The domestics tend to share more parts across model lines and just plain sell more vehicles.
Luxury do share some parts but not as many as they could

Example you can easily get parts for Chevy or ford pickups since the market is huge and a large after-market fills the void left by OEM.
Not sure but MB sales numbers but #1 vehicle sold in the world is Ford/ or GM trucks, (they fight over who sells more) but between them they sell something like 2.3 million trucks a year
or over 6300 per day or 262 per hour or 4 per second - JESUS those are huge numbers and why they care about quality as a recalls for trucks can get crazy expensive and hurt.

Ford and GM both claim to have sold the most trucks in 2023. Who’s right? - Hagerty Media

Most domestics share parts across lines to increase buy volume to get lower prices.

So; owners keeping cars longer, way more vehicles sold and more sharing of parts across models creates an enormous parts market.
Just makes business sense to make parts for Domestic trucks. Jeeze I wish I made a widget that went on 2.5M trucks no wonder the tire manufacturers fight for that business (10 million tires a year for trucks)

Luxury brands sell way less and do not share as many parts across model lines. less incentive for After-Market.
Luxury brands also probably lease way more then domestic and hence less incentive to keep them running past warranty as their customers are out by then and back into a new one.

SO no need to keep the long term owner happy; whereas domestic knows their cars are on road longer - think work pickups etc - and to get the repeat sale they need cheap and cheap maintenance and repair.

If you were in the parts business what you gonna stock?

chassis

It’s a segment thing (low volume luxury cars), a dealer thing (MBUSA) and a manufacturer thing (MB).

Low volume MBs compared with a Honda CR-V necessarily means fewer replacement parts in the world. Porsche, part of VAG as they are, seems a bit better because the brand is backed by the largest car company in the world. Porsche cars use Volkswagen parts found on Jettas and Golfs. Shocking (or not) but true. And Porsche supports a true enthusiast community in the 911 crowd and to a lesser extent the 718 crowd. This support spills over into the SUVs and sedans.

Dealers don’t care if parts are available. They would rather sell you a new car to replace the unrepairable 5 year old one you drive now.

MB doesn’t care for the same reasons dealers don’t care. Important to distinguish that dealers are not MB.

Honda is the gold standard for repairability. Take the CR-V as an example. Very high production volume and parts are widely available. Analogous to a VW Golf from a production volume point of view. I have two Honda outboard motors, one of them 25 years old, and parts are available directly from Honda today.

In summary: MB doesn’t care.

W205C43PFL

Well, in that case, dealers failed to understand if you are trying to sell the customer a new car due to not willing to offer aftersale support, they can switch to another brand.

chassis

Exactly. Dealers and MB don’t care. They want to sell new units. That’s all.

Baltistyle

I would also add that parts and service used to drive dealer profits, but they all got fat on pandemic mark up BS

PeterUbers

the pendulum has to swing back, no? Not everyone can afford a new car every 5 years .. or is the "pedantic" part of the world buying the Hondas and chevys etc so this isn't an issue for them - and as you said - lots of aftermarket parts readily available.

these unique/proprietary parts like the airstrut for a 2016 w212 amg - just not enough need in the market to warranty producing more of them. That has to factor into the equation now for a used car buyer (I guess it always has ... will the parts be available when it breaks down?)